Kingfishers

I got to add the Belted Kingfisher to the Blue Jay Barrens bird list this week. When the little bit of water you have completely dries up each summer, it’s hard to attract water associated species. This female and her presumed mate were searching for a meal in the recently filled pond.

I was working beside the house when I heard a splash from out front. I walked around the corner and saw a male Kingfisher fly off and this female sitting on the wire with a mouth full of dripping weed stalks. By the time I got my camera out of its holster, she had shed the debris and was back to scanning the water.

A lot of the water flowing into the pond comes off the road, so it’s usually pretty brown after a heavy rain. Since the pond was dry for nearly two months during the summer, I know that there were no fish for the Kingfisher to catch. It doesn’t seem possible that it mistook a weed stalk for a fish.

After a couple of quick pictures, the bird took off in the direction of the male. She didn’t seem bothered by my presence and probably would have stayed longer, but was startled by a pickup roaring down the township road just behind the pine trees. It was fun while it lasted.