{"id":43333,"date":"2016-12-03T06:02:44","date_gmt":"2016-12-03T13:02:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=43333"},"modified":"2026-02-02T14:41:35","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T20:41:35","slug":"continuing-male-belted-kingfisher-and-snow-covered-farmington-bay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/12\/03\/continuing-male-belted-kingfisher-and-snow-covered-farmington-bay\/","title":{"rendered":"Continuing Male Belted Kingfisher and Snow-covered Farmington Bay"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MaleMale Belted Kingfisher with freshly caught prey – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/2000, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

More snow has stayed on the ground at Farmington Bay than it has where I live and that excites me because I can get snow in the background of my images that are taken there.<\/p>\n

Yesterday I had the opportunity to photograph the continuing male Belted Kingfisher with the snow-covered marsh in the background, a few times he even had prey.<\/p>\n

At home the snow has only stayed on the ground where there are shadows all day because of the low angle of the winter sun.<\/p>\n

Once the kingfisher flew down and as he snatched prey from the water below I got set up to capture some landing shots because I expected him to land on his favorite perch.<\/p>\n

I pre-focused on the perch… but he didn’t appear in my field of view. Then I saw that he had landed on a second nearby perch instead of his favorite post.<\/p>\n

Ah, the best laid plans and all that. So I quickly swung my lens towards the second perch and was able to photograph him as he swallowed the fish.<\/p>\n

\"BeltedBelted Kingfisher after eating his prey – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/2000, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited <\/span><\/p>\n

Truth be told, I was happy to photograph him on the second nearby post because there were some grasses above the snow in the background which gave the images a bit more interest than a plain white, snowy area might have.<\/p>\n

In this frame the kingfisher had just finished shaking after he consumed the small fish.<\/p>\n

\"PerkyPerky looking male Belted Kingfisher – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/2500, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited <\/span><\/p>\n

The Belted Kingfisher didn’t stay on the post very long after he ate the fish, he shook, raised his tail, defecated and flew back to his favorite perch that is closer to the water below.<\/p>\n

This kingfisher is likely to hang around the same area of Farmington Bay WMA<\/span><\/a> until the surface of water in the small creek freezes solid and then he will move on until he finds another water source that is open.<\/p>\n

Even though we have had snow here it is still much warmer than it normally is at this time of the year so he may stick around all winter if this warm trend continues.<\/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":"

Yesterday I had the opportunity to photograph the continuing male Belted Kingfisher with the snow-covered marsh in the background, a few times he even had prey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":168342,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_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":[2432,4432,4934,4933,4062,3008,4104,3819,4106,4050,373],"class_list":["post-43333","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-belted-kingfisher","tag-fish","tag-kingfisher","tag-kingfishers","tag-male","tag-megaceryle-alcyon","tag-perched","tag-perky","tag-prey","tag-snow","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/belted-kingfisher-male-prey-mia-mcpherson-7795.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-bgV","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":48480,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/09\/16\/male-belted-kingfisher-in-winter-at-farmington-bay-wma\/","url_meta":{"origin":43333,"position":0},"title":"Male Belted Kingfisher in Winter at Farmington Bay WMA","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 16, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Belted Kingfishers are year round residents in northern Utah but my best opportunities to photograph them at Farmington Bay WMA are during the winter.","rel":"","context":"In "Belted Kingfishers"","block_context":{"text":"Belted 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 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":43228,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/11\/23\/fun-photographing-a-male-belted-kingfisher-at-farmington-bay\/","url_meta":{"origin":43333,"position":1},"title":"Fun Photographing a Male Belted Kingfisher at Farmington Bay","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 23, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I had fun photographing a male Belted Kingfisher at Farmington Bay as he caught prey and ate it on a post near a little creek.","rel":"","context":"In "Belted Kingfishers"","block_context":{"text":"Belted Kingfishers","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/kingfishers\/belted-kingfishers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Belted Kingfisher lifting off from a post, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/belted-kingfisher-male-lift-off-mia-mcpherson-5596.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-lift-off-mia-mcpherson-5596.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/belted-kingfisher-male-lift-off-mia-mcpherson-5596.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/belted-kingfisher-male-lift-off-mia-mcpherson-5596.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":108672,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/12\/11\/queenfisher-2023-aba-bird-of-the-year\/","url_meta":{"origin":43333,"position":2},"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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/belted-kingfisher-female-farmington-bay-mia-mcpherson-9262.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":109609,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/01\/14\/low-light-female-belted-kingfisher\/","url_meta":{"origin":43333,"position":3},"title":"Low Light Female Belted Kingfisher","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 14, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","rel":"","context":"In "Belted Kingfishers"","block_context":{"text":"Belted Kingfishers","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/kingfishers\/belted-kingfishers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Low light female Belted Kingfisher on a branch, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/belted-kingfisher-female-cool-mia-mcpherson-8253.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/belted-kingfisher-female-cool-mia-mcpherson-8253.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/belted-kingfisher-female-cool-mia-mcpherson-8253.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/belted-kingfisher-female-cool-mia-mcpherson-8253.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":42977,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/11\/04\/male-belted-kingfisher-at-farmington-bay-wma\/","url_meta":{"origin":43333,"position":4},"title":"Male Belted Kingfisher at Farmington Bay WMA","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 4, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I wasn't expecting to see a handsome male Belted Kingfisher at Farmington Bay WMA yesterday but that is exactly what happened and I was able to get some nice photos of him too.","rel":"","context":"In "Belted Kingfishers"","block_context":{"text":"Belted Kingfishers","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/kingfishers\/belted-kingfishers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Belted Kingfisher wing lift with open bill, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/belted-kingfisher-male-stretch-mia-mcpherson-0813.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-stretch-mia-mcpherson-0813.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/belted-kingfisher-male-stretch-mia-mcpherson-0813.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/belted-kingfisher-male-stretch-mia-mcpherson-0813.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":112942,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/04\/26\/missing-my-time-in-the-mountains\/","url_meta":{"origin":43333,"position":5},"title":"Missing My Time In The Mountains","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 26, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I have been missing springtime in the mountains. There is so much snow up there from this past winter that most of the mountain roads I use are still closed.","rel":"","context":"In "Belted Kingfishers"","block_context":{"text":"Belted Kingfishers","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/kingfishers\/belted-kingfishers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Belted Kingfishers after mating in the mountains, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/belted-kingfishers-mating-summit-county-mia-mcpherson-4987.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-kingfishers-mating-summit-county-mia-mcpherson-4987.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/belted-kingfishers-mating-summit-county-mia-mcpherson-4987.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/belted-kingfishers-mating-summit-county-mia-mcpherson-4987.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43333\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/168342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}