“How ya doin’ down there?”

Home » “How ya doin’ down there?”

“How ya doin’ down there?”

Posted in

Nov. 7, 2012, at the Ridgefield NWR.  Here’s some modified text from my old blog post for 7Nov12, when this was the one time I saw a Kingfisher at this location on the refuge:

“I approached the area of the refuge where there are three large trees in a clump, very close together.  It’s quite well known to seasoned refuge goers that once you just pass the last of the three trees, you can look up to the left (and back a little) and see several dead snag-type branches that are always bare.  This set of snags is a favorite spot for raptors to just relax or use as a spot from which to spot potential prey.  The snags are about 20 feet off the ground.

Well, today (7Nov2012) when I drove by the three trees, I looked up and immediately heard and saw a Belted Kingfisher perched on one of the bare snags.  I immediately positioned my truck so I could shoot out my passenger’s side window using my bean bag.  As I watched and shot frames, the bird was rattling off vocalizations and repeatedly diving into the water below from over 20 feet up.  I wasn’t able to get any flight shots or diving shots due to my position but the snags he was landing on were obstruction free.  The negative aspects of this location were that the bird was a good 25 feet away from me and up high.  I much prefer birds at the level of my camera but I guess we can’t have everything we want.  🙂   This was still by far, the best and longest opportunity I have had in my 6-years of bird shooting with a Belted Kingfisher.  In fact, I have never seen a Kingfisher at this location before now.  I shot hundreds of frames over about a 20-minute period.”

This image has been previously published only in this old blog post.  I reprocessed it using my updated post-processing workflow and hope you like it.  By the way, the tree where this bird is perched has unfortunately blown down, but since the tree is on the ground, it has created some nice lower-level perches for birds to use.

VIEW LARGE

Canon 5D Mark III, 1/500, f5.6, ISO 800, 400mm, 11:27 a.m.

Posted in

Nov. 7, 2012, at the Ridgefield NWR.  Here’s some modified text from my old blog post for 7Nov12, when this was the one time I saw a Kingfisher at this location on the refuge:

“I approached the area of the refuge where there are three large trees in a clump, very close together.  It’s quite well known to seasoned refuge goers that once you just pass the last of the three trees, you can look up to the left (and back a little) and see several dead snag-type branches that are always bare.  This set of snags is a favorite spot for raptors to just relax or use as a spot from which to spot potential prey.  The snags are about 20 feet off the ground.

Well, today (7Nov2012) when I drove by the three trees, I looked up and immediately heard and saw a Belted Kingfisher perched on one of the bare snags.  I immediately positioned my truck so I could shoot out my passenger’s side window using my bean bag.  As I watched and shot frames, the bird was rattling off vocalizations and repeatedly diving into the water below from over 20 feet up.  I wasn’t able to get any flight shots or diving shots due to my position but the snags he was landing on were obstruction free.  The negative aspects of this location were that the bird was a good 25 feet away from me and up high.  I much prefer birds at the level of my camera but I guess we can’t have everything we want.  🙂   This was still by far, the best and longest opportunity I have had in my 6-years of bird shooting with a Belted Kingfisher.  In fact, I have never seen a Kingfisher at this location before now.  I shot hundreds of frames over about a 20-minute period.”

This image has been previously published only in this old blog post.  I reprocessed it using my updated post-processing workflow and hope you like it.  By the way, the tree where this bird is perched has unfortunately blown down, but since the tree is on the ground, it has created some nice lower-level perches for birds to use.

VIEW LARGE

Canon 5D Mark III, 1/500, f5.6, ISO 800, 400mm, 11:27 a.m.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

My Gear:

  • Canon EOS 5D Mark IV & Grip
  • Canon EOS 7D Mark II
  • Canon EF 500mm f4L IS II
  • Canon EF 24-105mm f4L
  • Canon EF 50mm f1.8
  • Canon 1.4X III Extender
  • Canon 2x III Extender
  • Canon 580EX Flash
  • Zoom H1 Recorder
  • Better Beamer
  • Manfrotto tripod/monopod
  • Manfrotto Gimbal Head
  • Sandisk Compact Flash Cards
  • The Molar Bean Bag by Vertex
  • Joby Gorillapod Focus & Ballhead
  • Canon EG200 Backpack
  • Storm Jacket Camera Cover
  • Kinesis Safari Sack
  • Original Bug Shirt Elite Edition

Software:

  • Adobe Photoshop CC
  • Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
  • Nik Color EFEX Pro 4
  • Nik Sharpener 3
  • Nik Dfine 2.0
  • Nik Viveza 2
  • Nik HDR Efex Pro 2
  • Nik Silver Efex Pro 2
  • Nik Analog Efex Pro