Here is a belted kingfisher for this #featheredfriday
I hear these guys near lake around where I live but in all my years of birding I have never been able to pin one down for a shot until now.
I heard its machine gun call and looked across a semi-frozen lake and saw its belt.
Sadly I wasn't close enough to get a good shot of it gulping down this fish. I think the key to getting these guys on film is to catch them while they are eating.
Thankfully as it was feeling the fish wiggle around in its belly I was able to sneak around the lake and get some closer shots.
The darn branches were in the way though and I missed a few good compositions because of these branches.
Finally it got suspicious of me and flew across to the other side of the lake.
It was a bit cold and wanted to warm up in the sun so I was able to sneak back around again. Again too much tangled branches for a nice composition.
I almost lined up the perfect shot before some hikers walked behind me and scared it away again. Might need a ghillie suit for Christmas.
Thankfully the hikers didn't scare away the coyote I saw just a few minutes later. I'm sure its off to find whatever it can scavenge.
Lately they've been eating mostly rotted wild plums pit and all. Soon when it gets really cold they will be raiding people's garbage cans if they aren't tied down, perhaps a few cats if they aren't kept inside.
That's all for now, thanks for looking :-)