King For The Day: Belted Kingfisher Male & Female

Birders. We are an interesting group. We often keep our eyes on the periphery, in hopes of discovering a bird, when others are focused on the task in front of them. We sometimes schedule our errands around the hope of seeing a particular bird along our planned routes.

The fog and haze that has blanketed Utah County for what seems like a month or more gave way to the sun Monday. I had some errands to run during the afternoon and realized I'd be passing by a location in Pleasant Grove where I had observed a male Belted Kingfisher working a little fishing hole the Friday before--when the light was not so great. I grabbed my camera and put it in the car so I'd be prepared if my little friend happened to be fishing in the same spot again.  The lighting from the afternoon sun was great when I arrived at the location, but I did not see the bird along the short length of the fishing hole. I decided to turn around and leave the area to finish my errands. As I began my two point turn I caught a glimpse of my new-found friend as he flew up to a fence post. I pulled into the parking lot near the bird hoping that all the crunching of the snow beneath my tires would not spook him from his perch. Kingfishers are notoriously skittish and keep their distance from humans.  My "king for the day" was calm and remained on his man-made throne as I captured a few images, including the one below. You can't see it in the image below, but I positioned myself so his background became a snow-covered mountain--a much better background than the freeway just a short distance to his rear. I noticed a rather large, oblong hole at the base of his bill and wondered how that might have happened.

Male Belted Kingfisher  in Pleasant Grove, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper) 

I did capture a couple images of presumably the same male Belted Kingfisher when I first discovered the little fishing hole last Friday. I didn't like the lighting that day, but thought I'd include one of those images to compare the left side of the bill. Friday's bird was either a different male or the same male before somehow creating the hole on the left side of his bill. Here is a picture from last Friday.

Male Belted Kingfisher in Pleasant Grove, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

The image below is from Monday again and was taken as "the king" was perched on a concrete bridge that allowed him to look down into a small stream. Kingfishers often perch in conspicuous spots where they watch for prey to appear in the water below. They dive head first into the water to snatch their prey with their bill.

Male Belted Kingfisher in Pleasant Grove, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

Just before I left I captured an image that allowed a little bit of a view of the tail with its spotted pattern. I will go back in the near future to see if I can get some flight and fishing images to show the impressive tail and wing patterns.

Finally, in order to add just a little extra color to today's post, I'll share one of my old images of a female Belted Kingfisher. Unlike most bird species where the male typically has more colorful or ornate patterns, it is actually the female Belted Kingfisher that has more color. The male has a blue and white pattern with a blue belt across the chest. The female adds a nice rufous color to its sides and lower chest. This image was captured last winter along a stream near the American Fork Boat Harbor in American Fork, Utah.

Female Belted Kingfisher in American Fork, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

Antelope Island Highlights October 27

Rich Young is a retired biomedical photographer who started adding birds to his portfolio several years ago. He was extremely generous with his time and talents when I jumped into digital photography in the spring of 2010. I was struggling to align my photography skills with my passion for observing the birds of Utah. I noticed several people who were posting sightings to the Utah birding listservs and groups who were including some really nice photos with their posts. I emailed a couple of them behind the scenes to see if they would be willing to hook up in the field and teach me a little about digital photography. I was hoping that someone could orient me to my brand new Nikon D5000 digital camera. Rich was quick to respond AND he was also a fellow Nikon user. His willingness to get together and share his experience and expertise led to a great friendship. Much of what I do today, including this blog, was enabled and encouraged by Rich.

Female Harlequin Duck Along Antelope Island State Park
Causeway in Davis County, UT (October 2012)

I hooked up with Rich October 27th and spent most of the day at Antelope Island State Park in Davis County, Utah--about 25 minutes north of Salt Lake City. We arrived at the park entrance just as the sun was coming up and it was still quite chilly. We looked for and quickly spotted the continuing HARLEQUIN DUCK on the north side of the causeway that leads to the island.

We had several of these ducks, including one male, show up on the Antelope Island SP causeway last year and they drew hundreds of admiring birders who were eager to see a very rare duck for Utah.

Young Male Harlequin Duck Along Antelope Island State Park
Causeway in Davis County, UT (November 2011)

We spent quite a bit of time photographing BONAPARTE'S GULLS near that same bridge while we patiently waited for the Harlequin to get used to our presence and allow for the close up shots shared above.  The Bonaparte's were fun to watch and photograph because they are beautiful gulls and they were not afraid to fly in and land in the water right in front of us. I captured one image of a gull with a low wall of water forming around it just after it made its landing.

Bonaparte's Gull Landing in Great Salt Lake Along the Antelope Island State Park Causeway in Davis County, UT

As my luck would have it, I received a call on my cell phone from one of my sons as the Harlequin Duck took flight and passed right in front of us. I managed to put down the phone and lift the lens just in time to get one half-decent flight shot. I was a split second too late to get completely honed on the bird, but decided to go ahead and include it in this post since it was a unique view.

Female Harlequin Fly-by Along Antelope Island State Park
Causeway in Davis County, UT

We were watching a HARRIER hunt along the causeway at one point and it flew up toward a KESTREL perched on a pole. The Kestrel took flight with a vole it was trying to enjoy. The Kestrel dropped the vole in the water and then the Harrier hovered over the spot as if it was thinking, "Should I try to retrieve that thing from the water?" A second later it slowly descended to the water, snatched up the vole with a talon, and went away to eat its hijacked meal.

We saw a distant GOLDEN EAGLE, some other typical suspects, and three first-of-season ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS on the island. All three "Roughies" were flying rather high along the road or along the ridge as we drove to Garr Ranch, but I did manage to get one image to include in the web album just because I love hawks and it was a seasonal milestone.

First-of-Season Rough Legged Hawk Above
Antelope Island State Park in Davis County, UT

We saw four or five coyotes throughout the day. One was so close that it wouldn't fit in my frame. I tried to back up and it just walked toward me. That's a first--most wild photo subjects want to go away from me. We encountered a small group of Antelope along our journey from the causeway to Garr Ranch. I've added some photos of coyotes and Antelope at the end of this post.

A large group of boy scouts was at Garr Ranch so we didn't spend much time there. However, seeing a COOPER'S HAWK take flight from a tree near the restrooms was a treat for this raptor lover.

We did a quick check of Jensen Nature Center, also in Davis County, on our way back to our homes. We were able to get a few images of a female Belted Kingfisher and a female Great-tailed Grackle. Below are some images of those two birds and additional images of birds and coyotes from our time on Antelope Island.

Female Belted Kingfisher at Jensen Nature Center in Davis County, UT

Female Great-tailed Grackle at Jensen Nature Center in Davis County, UT

Coyote on Antelope Island in Davis County, UT
This coyote practically walked right up to me while I was taking photos.

Coyote Watching Jeff and Rich Take Photos on Antelope Island
in Davis County, UT

An Antelope, of course, on Antelope Island in Davis County, UT

Antelope on Antelope Island in Davis County, UT