{"id":48724,"date":"2017-09-30T06:10:17","date_gmt":"2017-09-30T12:10:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=48724"},"modified":"2026-02-02T16:16:29","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T22:16:29","slug":"frustrations-in-bird-photography-belted-kingfisher-with-branches-in-the-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/09\/30\/frustrations-in-bird-photography-belted-kingfisher-with-branches-in-the-way\/","title":{"rendered":"Frustrations in Bird Photography – Belted Kingfisher with Branches in the Way"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FallFall Belted Kingfisher male – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Anyone who has ever tried to photograph birds knows that it can be a frustrating endeavor and I mean the hair pulling, sailor-cursing, foot stomping kind of frustration.<\/p>\n

Bird photography isn’t easy.<\/p>\n

I say that a lot and if I had a dollar for every time I said it I would be one rich bird photographer and I’d have to rent a storage unit for all the gear I would buy with that money.<\/p>\n

Most of the time I only post the “good” outtakes of my bird photography journey, today I am switching that up and writing about those frustrations by sharing these two photos that I took yesterday which frustrated me.<\/p>\n

The first frustration occurred when I heard a familiar rattle which was the call of a Belted Kingfisher flying in to a local pond where I was sitting photographing migrating Yellow-rumped Warblers.<\/p>\n

I caught sight of the kingfisher as it was flying in to a nearby tree.<\/p>\n

Slowly I raised my lens and got ready to photograph the blue belted beauty as it landed but then the bird and I both heard a sound that startled the kingfisher and made it turn sharply in flight so that it could fly to a tree that was further away to land.<\/p>\n

That sound? One of those screamer crotch-rocket motorcycles that the driver decided to make scream at the precise moment the kingfisher was going to land.<\/p>\n

#?!X@#. I cursed, yes, I cursed. I despise the sounds those crotch-rockets make and yesterday I learned to despise it even more.<\/p>\n

When the kingfisher landed on the tree that was further away I took a few images of it through some branches in the tree that was closest to me and wouldn’t you know it… there was a very frustrating, curved branch in front of its bill.<\/p>\n

The male kingfisher didn’t listen to me when I pleaded to him to move his bill either. I grumbled.<\/p>\n

My only hope at that time was that the kingfisher would take flight and that I’d be able to photograph him out in the open while in flight.<\/p>\n

\"BeltedBelted Kingfisher in flight – In Stealth Mode – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The Belted Kingfisher did<\/em> take flight and I fired my camera as I saw it begin to lift off, hoping that I would get some nice flight shots.<\/p>\n

This… this is what I got. The Belted Kingfisher in a dynamic flight pose, wings fully extended, nice light, great eye contact and the kingfisher was calling with<\/em> out of focus branches in front<\/em> of the bird.<\/p>\n

It was almost as if the bird was flying in stealth mode. Oh how I wish those branches had not been in the way.<\/p>\n

I never did get any decent shots of the Belted Kingfisher<\/span><\/a> yesterday but I am glad to know he is back at the pond and that I should have more opportunities with him. That is if<\/em> nothing gets in the way. So I will say it again, bird photography isn’t easy.<\/p>\n

Maybe “Frustrations in Bird Photography” should be a regular Saturday feature here on my blog.<\/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 never did get any decent shots of the Belted Kingfisher yesterday but I am glad to know he is back at the pond and that I should have more opportunities with him… if nothing gets in the way. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":168387,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[500,27,709,26],"tags":[4004,2432,4620,4052,1023,4934,4933,4062,3008,6152,10698,4104,1984,8018,17117],"class_list":["post-48724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-belted-kingfishers","category-avian","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-belted-kingfisher","tag-fall","tag-flight","tag-frustrations-in-bird-photography1","tag-kingfisher","tag-kingfishers","tag-male","tag-megaceryle-alcyon","tag-obstructions","tag-park","tag-perched","tag-pond","tag-urban","tag-winchester-pond-park"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t