{"id":109609,"date":"2023-01-14T03:46:16","date_gmt":"2023-01-14T10:46:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=109609"},"modified":"2023-01-14T04:03:43","modified_gmt":"2023-01-14T11:03:43","slug":"low-light-female-belted-kingfisher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/01\/14\/low-light-female-belted-kingfisher\/","title":{"rendered":"Low Light Female Belted Kingfisher"},"content":{"rendered":"

I found a perched female Belted Kingfisher while I was at Farmington Bay WMA two days ago. This was after the clouds came back in creating low light conditions. The light was bad enough that I considered not even taking photos of her.<\/p>\n

\"FemaleFemale Belted Kingfisher in low light conditions \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/400, ISO 500, +2.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead I raised my lens and focused on the slaty blue and russet bird on the branch through my viewfinder. I took photos of her despite the cruddy lighting conditions. I’m glad that I did and I am happy with the quality of the images that I took of her.<\/p>\n

\"LowLow light female Belted Kingfisher on a branch \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/320, ISO 500, +1.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Because of the low light, I moved my Jeep slowly forward to get slightly closer to the Belted Kingfisher<\/span><\/a>. She was actually fairly cooperative while I had her in my viewfinder. Typically this species can be quite skittish.<\/p>\n

I often hear<\/span><\/a> the rattling call of Belted Kingfishers before I see them. That wasn’t the case with this female. She caught my eye and my attention when she flew past me.<\/p>\n

\"WinterWinter female Belted Kingfisher under cloudy skies \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/640, ISO 1000, +1.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though I had poor lighting conditions while this female kingfisher was in my viewfinder, I enjoyed her presence.<\/p>\n

Belted Kingfishers are year round residents in northern Utah.<\/h2>\n

I find this species where there is open water during the winter near the marshes, ponds, lakes, and rivers. I am thoroughly delighted to have Belted Kingfishers that are within a few minutes from where I live in town.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Belted Kingfisher photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I found a perched female Belted Kingfisher while I was at Farmington Bay WMA two days ago. This was after the clouds came back in creating low light conditions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":109601,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[500,27,1022,697,26],"tags":[4004,2432,4897,6577,4101,4828,4070,715,4934,4933,156,3008,4104,1984,13527,13634,12516,13633,4095,373],"class_list":["post-109609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-belted-kingfishers","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-belted-kingfisher","tag-branch","tag-branches","tag-clouds","tag-cloudy","tag-female","tag-glover-pond","tag-kingfisher","tag-kingfishers","tag-low-light-2","tag-megaceryle-alcyon","tag-perched","tag-pond","tag-queenfisher","tag-russet","tag-skies","tag-slaty-blue","tag-wetlands","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/belted-kingfisher-female-cool-mia-mcpherson-8253.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-svT","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":108672,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/12\/11\/queenfisher-2023-aba-bird-of-the-year\/","url_meta":{"origin":109609,"position":0},"title":"Queenfisher – 2023 ABA Bird of the Year","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 11, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The 2023 ABA Bird of the Year was revealed yesterday evening. The bird of the year is the Queenfisher, also known as the female Belted Kingfisher.","rel":"","context":"In "Belted Kingfishers"","block_context":{"text":"Belted Kingfishers","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/kingfishers\/belted-kingfishers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Belted Kingfisher on her throne, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/belted-kingfisher-female-farmington-bay-mia-mcpherson-9262.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/belted-kingfisher-female-farmington-bay-mia-mcpherson-9262.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/belted-kingfisher-female-farmington-bay-mia-mcpherson-9262.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/belted-kingfisher-male-flight-mia-mcpherson-6607.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/belted-kingfisher-male-flight-mia-mcpherson-6607.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/belted-kingfisher-male-flight-mia-mcpherson-6607.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/belted-kingfisher-male-flight-mia-mcpherson-6607.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":36257,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/02\/24\/a-female-belted-kingfisher-and-her-rattling-call\/","url_meta":{"origin":109609,"position":2},"title":"Female Belted Kingfisher and Her Rattling Call","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 24, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday I had my first opportunity to photograph a nearby female Belted Kingfisher in Salt Lake County, Utah and I had fun getting to know her.","rel":"","context":"In "Belted Kingfishers"","block_context":{"text":"Belted Kingfishers","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/kingfishers\/belted-kingfishers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Perched female Belted Kingfisher in Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/belted-kingfisher-female-mia-mcpherson-3836.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/belted-kingfisher-female-mia-mcpherson-3836.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Kingfishers","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/kingfishers\/belted-kingfishers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Winter snow and a male Belted Kingfisher, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/belted-kingfisher-winter-male-mia-mcpherson-8032.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/belted-kingfisher-winter-male-mia-mcpherson-8032.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/belted-kingfisher-winter-male-mia-mcpherson-8032.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/belted-kingfisher-winter-male-mia-mcpherson-8032.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I took several hundred images of a female Belted Kingfisher looking for and catching prey while it was bright and sunny yesterday afternoon.","rel":"","context":"In "Belted Kingfishers"","block_context":{"text":"Belted Kingfishers","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/kingfishers\/belted-kingfishers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Belted Kingfisher with prey, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/belted-kingfisher-prey-mia-mcpherson-4236.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/belted-kingfisher-prey-mia-mcpherson-4236.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/belted-kingfisher-prey-mia-mcpherson-4236.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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