Belted-kingfisher free-for-all.

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Ralph

Ralph

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The kingfishers were establishing their pecking order(pun unintended😜) yesterday and were chasing each other for at least 45 minutes. There were at least 4 males, possibly 5. There we’re very challenging lighting conditions and I did the best I could. Used auto iso but at times there was quite a bit of backing lighting or they were in very shaded areas. I should have dialed down the shutter speed and adjusted the EC but I didn‘t want to miss the shots I was looking for so I kept the shutter speed at 1/2000. It was very confusing at first because they were everywhere and I couldn‘t decide what to shoot(perched or BIF) . And during all this a bald eagle flys by. I did manage to get a shot. I figured that under exposing was better than over exposing. I was very humbled by the situation but I did managed to get some of the shots I was hoping for. And I was ready when one landed extremely close to me. The closest I have ever gotten to date. Of course , he landed on a pipe.☹️. More photos to come.

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DRwyoming said:
Fantastic Ralph!

Really fun when you get one of those days when lots of subjects give you shooting opportunities. That's the payoff of getting out a lot. Good on ya!
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Thanks Dave. It was so confusing. You always learn from your mistakes which means I learned a great deal😂. It was pretty funny how they keep exchanging perches. One would land and then another would chase him off and take its place. They were flying all over the place and constantly chattering.
 
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Ralph said:
Thanks Dave. It was so confusing. You always learn from your mistakes which means I learned a great deal😂. It was pretty funny how they keep exchanging perches. One would land and then another would chase him off and take its place. They were flying all over the place and constantly chattering.
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Those are memorable days!
 
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Ralph said:
Thanks Dave. It was so confusing. You always learn from your mistakes which means I learned a great deal😂. It was pretty funny how they keep exchanging perches. One would land and then another would chase him off and take its place. They were flying all over the place and constantly chattering.
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Hi Ralph, I had the same experience. This went on for three weekends ( I have to pay for this hobby during the rest of the week). They would do the same thing, chase each other around - perch, chase, repeat. This activity helped me learn their favorite perches, and their call is now rooted in my brain. They were very entertaining to watch. My thought is that they are this years chicks. The reason I think this is the case is I was also photographing an adult female as well, and she was very tolerant of them - and they had lots of energy as kids do. I went out hoping to see one and ended up with three.
 
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These are outstanding images Ralph. I’m struggling with kingfishers right now and like you, learning more from failures than successes. Keep at it!👍
 
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airestudiosmt said:
Hi Ralph, I had the same experience. This went on for three weekends ( I have to pay for this hobby during the rest of the week). They would do the same thing, chase each other around - perch, chase, repeat. This activity helped me learn their favorite perches, and their call is now rooted in my brain. They were very entertaining to watch. My thought is that they are this years chicks. The reason I think this is the case is I was also photographing an adult female as well, and she was very tolerant of them - and they had lots of energy as kids do. I went out hoping to see one and ended up with three.
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Steve, That makes a lot of sense. It is definitely entertaining. I went back today and you are right about there favorite perches.
 
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Larry Sherertz said:
These are outstanding images Ralph. I’m struggling with kingfishers right now and like you, learning more from failures than successes. Keep at it!👍
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Thanks Larry. Besides being elusive and quick as hell, the lighting has to be just right or you blow out the whites.
 
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