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Gottshotz

Gottshotz

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Crossing the 150 metre wide Kazinga Channel which links Lake George to Lake Edward in Uganda, I noticed quite a number of Pied Kingfishers hunting along the Papyrus reeds on each shore . Occasionally though, one of them would take off and fly low over the water to reach the other side. As there was a queue to cross the bridge, I took a few practice bursts of the birds crossing and discovered in a single burst of 20 frames 2 showed the Kingfisher flying along with its head fully turned 180 degrees, looking skyward.


A1C02943-Edit-Edit.jpg
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That this bird had turned its head very rapidly is evidenced by the water droplets spinning off upwards. Normal attitude returned after these 2 frames as it sped off to the far bank.

A1C02962-Edit-3.jpg
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I have never seen this behaviour before, and I have seen many Kingfishers flying in different countries, but then this was an exposed open water crossing of some distance and the look skyward was almost certainly to check that there wasn't a raptor targeting him from above.

A1C03004-Edit.jpg
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Having safely reached the other side the bird started fishing again, before finally perching among the reeds.

A1C02988-Edit.jpg
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E-gads! Right out of the “Exorcist”! But is likely shaking water off head… Very unusual capture.👍
 
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NorthernFocus said:
I suspect the bird is just shaking it's head(note the closed eyes). Too fast to see in real time but revealed by high fps. I've captured similar images with terns.
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Hi Dan, you may be right, however my supposition was based on the observation that the semi opaque nictitating membrane was in operation here, which from my research indicated that vision is still maintained while the eyeball itself is being protected --- diving birds including terns gannets etc, usually bring it into play as they hit the water to prevent damage to the eye but allow the bird to still see its prey underwater. Of course it still doesn't explain why this bird would do it above the water ---makes for an interesting discussion however.
 
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Gottshotz said:
Crossing the 150 metre wide Kazinga Channel which links Lake George to Lake Edward in Uganda, I noticed quite a number of Pied Kingfishers hunting along the Papyrus reeds on each shore . Occasionally though, one of them would take off and fly low over the water to reach the other side. As there was a queue to cross the bridge, I took a few practice bursts of the birds crossing and discovered in a single burst of 20 frames 2 showed the Kingfisher flying along with its head fully turned 180 degrees, looking skyward.


View attachment 78211

That this bird had turned its head very rapidly is evidenced by the water droplets spinning off upwards. Normal attitude returned after these 2 frames as it sped off to the far bank.

View attachment 78212

I have never seen this behaviour before, and I have seen many Kingfishers flying in different countries, but then this was an exposed open water crossing of some distance and the look skyward was almost certainly to check that there wasn't a raptor targeting him from above.

View attachment 78213

Having safely reached the other side the bird started fishing again, before finally perching among the reeds.

View attachment 78214
Click to expand...
Very cool👍👍👍
 
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K9Kirk said:
Making sure no fighter pilots on his 12, :LOL: What a great set, and a hurrah for high fps cameras to capture what used to be almost impossible! 🍻
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Thanks K9Kirk --- actually, I find I am getting better pics of butterflies and dragonflies now, solely due to using the ultra high frame rates available on the Sony a1.
 
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