Tag Archives: Belted Kingfisher

Belted Kingfisher On The Move

You often hear a Belted Kingfisher before you see it, with a distinctive chatter as they swoop over ponds or marshes looking for a fish lunch.

Belted Kingfisher
Belted Kingfisher

This one landed in the Spoonie Tree, too far for a good photo of such a small bird, but a picturesque scene.

Belted Kingfisher
Belted Kingfisher In The Spoonie Tree

A little while later one that was clearly on a mission passed me as I walked along a dike.

Belted Kingfisher
Belted Kingfisher

And then he landed in another artful looking dead tree, creating an unmistakable silhouette.

Belted Kingfisher
Belted Kingfisher

Donnelley Wildlife Management Area, SC
September 2, 2023

Kingfisher On the Spoonie Tree

There are almost always a Belted Kingfisher or two swooping around the ponds at Donnelley WMA. This morning I thought I was going to get a real close up of one on a rice field trunk. Ha!

Belted Kingfisher Flying By
Belted Kingfisher Flying By

Before I could even get my camera to eye level she was gone.

Belted Kingfisher Flying By
Belted Kingfisher Flying By

I did track her across the pond.

Belted Kingfisher Flying By
Belted Kingfisher Flying By

Where she landed on the Spoonie Tree…way to far for a good shot, but she did stop moving!

Belted Kingfisher at top of Spoonie Tree
Belted Kingfisher at top of Spoonie Tree

Donnelley Wildlife Management Area, SC
December 29, 2022

Belted Kingfisher Flying By

I photographed a few passes of this Belted Kingfisher including this set as he swooped along a marsh inlet.

Belted Kingfisher
Belted Kingfisher

She had sounded the characteristic Kingfisher chatter just before taking flight or I probably would have missed her.

Belted Kingfisher
Belted Kingfisher

She is identifiable as a female by the brown stripe on her chest that males lack.

Belted Kingfisher
Belted Kingfisher

Botany Bay Wildlife Area, Edisto, SC
December 3, 2022

Kingfisher Eludes Me

Acutally, he flew almost into me as I was watching a Great Blue Heron standing at a water trunk. We both jumped and he made a speedy exit to this tree top down the trail.

Treetop Kingfisher
Treetop Kingfisher

I inched my way along the trail towards the tree, the Kingfisher zipped back to the spot he originally wanted on the trunk.  This gave him a close view of the Ashley River just beyond the trunk and the rice field pond that now was between us.

Kingfisher on Trunk
Kingfisher on Trunk