{"id":75342,"date":"2020-11-15T06:00:17","date_gmt":"2020-11-15T13:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=75342"},"modified":"2026-02-03T07:35:35","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T13:35:35","slug":"adult-male-belted-kingfisher-close-up-with-prey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/11\/15\/adult-male-belted-kingfisher-close-up-with-prey\/","title":{"rendered":"Adult Male Belted Kingfisher Close Up With Prey"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MaleMale Belted Kingfisher close up with prey \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 500, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Just a simple post this morning because I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed by the spikes of the coronavirus in Utah and across the country and have been wondering what that will mean as far as me getting out into the field this winter because of it. The number of cases is rising rapidly in Utah and frankly I see no signs of it improving because we have people here that simply don’t care if they put the lives of people around them in jeopardy, who don’t social distance, don’t avoid large gatherings<\/span><\/a>, and refuse to wear masks<\/span><\/a>. It is more than disturbing.<\/p>\n

I was looking through images I had taken this summer and decided to share a close up of a male Belted Kingfisher with prey that I photographed in the Wasatch Mountains this summer. I believe the fish is a fingerling trout but I can’t be 100% certain.<\/p>\n

It isn’t often that I can be this close to a Belted Kingfisher. They are well known for being very skittish.<\/p>\n

I followed a family of kingfishers in from spring through late summer<\/span><\/a> and of them all I photographed this male more than the rest of the family. He had a few favorite places he liked to perch and he was definitely the most visible of them all. I enjoyed observing and taking images of the Belted Kingfishers and hope that they will be in the same area next year and that I’ll be able to watch them again next spring and summer.<\/p>\n

Belted Kingfishers are year round residents in northern Utah but they will move to areas with open water during the winter.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

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

I was looking through images I had taken this summer and decided to share a close up of a male Belted Kingfisher with prey that I photographed in the Wasatch Mountains this summer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":168435,"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":[500,27,1731,26,773],"tags":[4004,2432,3940,4142,11604,1130,4934,4933,4062,3008,4069,4046,4106,9626,2315,11603],"class_list":["post-75342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-belted-kingfishers","category-avian","category-summit-county-utah","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","tag-adult","tag-belted-kingfisher","tag-canyon","tag-close-up","tag-fiish","tag-food","tag-kingfisher","tag-kingfishers","tag-male","tag-megaceryle-alcyon","tag-mountains","tag-portrait","tag-prey","tag-riparian-habitat","tag-summer-3","tag-trout"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/belted-kingfisher-male-with-trout-mia-mcpherson-4001.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-jBc","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":71524,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/07\/04\/adult-male-belted-kingfisher-with-his-freshly-caught-fish\/","url_meta":{"origin":75342,"position":0},"title":"Adult Male Belted Kingfisher With His Freshly Caught Fish","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 4, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The male Belted Kingfisher had been perched and without warning dove into the water, caught a fish, returned to his perch, and ate it all within close proximity to where I sat in my Jeep.","rel":"","context":"In "Belted Kingfishers"","block_context":{"text":"Belted Kingfishers","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/kingfishers\/belted-kingfishers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Belted Kingfisher male with a small fish, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/belted-kingfisher-male-with-fish-mia-mcpherson-4265.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-with-fish-mia-mcpherson-4265.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/belted-kingfisher-male-with-fish-mia-mcpherson-4265.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/belted-kingfisher-male-with-fish-mia-mcpherson-4265.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":91937,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/07\/09\/immature-and-adult-male-belted-kingfisher-images\/","url_meta":{"origin":75342,"position":1},"title":"Immature And Adult Male Belted Kingfisher Images","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 9, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Three days ago I was delighted to have both an immature and an adult male Belted Kingfisher in my viewfinder as I sat next to a creek in the mountains.","rel":"","context":"In "Belted Kingfishers"","block_context":{"text":"Belted Kingfishers","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/kingfishers\/belted-kingfishers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Excited adult male Belted Kingfisher, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/beleted-kingfisher-adult-male-mia-mcpherson-0494.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/beleted-kingfisher-adult-male-mia-mcpherson-0494.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/beleted-kingfisher-adult-male-mia-mcpherson-0494.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/beleted-kingfisher-adult-male-mia-mcpherson-0494.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/belted-kingfisher-male-with-fish-mia-mcpherson-7156.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-with-fish-mia-mcpherson-7156.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/belted-kingfisher-male-with-fish-mia-mcpherson-7156.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/belted-kingfisher-male-with-fish-mia-mcpherson-7156.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":70964,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/06\/19\/in-my-viewfinder-belted-kingfisher-male-up-close\/","url_meta":{"origin":75342,"position":3},"title":"In My Viewfinder: Belted Kingfisher Male Up Close","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 19, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"It is always a thrill when birds fly in close to me and that is what happened yesterday with a handsome male 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":"Male Belted Kingfisher close up, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/belted-kingfisher-male-mia-mcpherson-7262.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-mia-mcpherson-7262.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/belted-kingfisher-male-mia-mcpherson-7262.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/belted-kingfisher-male-mia-mcpherson-7262.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":47208,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/06\/09\/male-belted-kingfisher-near-the-jordan-river\/","url_meta":{"origin":75342,"position":4},"title":"Male Belted Kingfisher Near The Jordan River","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed this male Belted Kingfisher last month as it perched on a thin branch at a small pond close to the Jordan River in Salt Lake County, Utah.","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 perched on a thin branch, Salt Lake County, 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male Belted Kingfisher photos that I have taken this spring in the Wasatch Mountains starting with one that I took yesterday morning.","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 Kingfisher male in front of yellow wildflowers, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/belted-kingfisher-mountains-mia-mcpherson-2232.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-mountains-mia-mcpherson-2232.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/belted-kingfisher-mountains-mia-mcpherson-2232.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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