{"id":92477,"date":"2021-07-23T05:42:46","date_gmt":"2021-07-23T11:42:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=92477"},"modified":"2025-03-09T09:08:12","modified_gmt":"2025-03-09T14:08:12","slug":"immature-belted-kingfisher-with-a-spider-web","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/07\/23\/immature-belted-kingfisher-with-a-spider-web\/","title":{"rendered":"Immature Belted Kingfisher With A Spider Web"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last year I followed and photographed a Belted Kingfisher family<\/span><\/a> from April until the end of July and shared a post of the progress the family made throughout their nesting season.<\/p>\n

\"ImmatureImmature Belted Kingfisher and a spider web close up – Nikon D500, f71.1, 1\/2500, ISO 500, -1.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

That post had a large number of photos of the adults and their young. Editing the 50 plus photos took a a lot of my time and I guess that after a bit my eyes got tired because I missed seeing something in a series of photos that I took of an immature Belted Kingfisher on the last day that I saw the young kingfishers which coincidentally was exactly one year ago today.<\/p>\n

What I missed seeing was that the immature Belted Kingfisher had spider webs stuck to its face in a long series of photos that I took of it next to a creek in the Wasatch Mountains<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

This close up photo shows the spider web attached to the branch and the head, bill, and crest of the young kingfisher.<\/p>\n

\"ImmatureImmature Belted Kingfisher with a spider web on its face – Nikon D500, f71.1, 1\/2500, ISO 500, -1.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I took hundreds of Belted Kingfisher photos that morning of the adult male and the young kingfishers that flew in. Adding to the action were swallows that kept dive bombing all the the Belted Kingfishers in front of me.<\/p>\n

It might be a little hard to see the spider webs in this photo of the immature kingfisher.<\/p>\n

\"ImmatureImmature Belted Kingfisher with a spider web on its face – With inset – Nikon D500, f71.1, 1\/2500, ISO 500, -1.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I added an inset of a larger view of the spider webs attached to the bill, head, and crest of the young bird to this frame.<\/p>\n

I haven’t had as many opportunities with the Belted Kingfisher family this year because the creek was running so much lower this season due to our ongoing drought.<\/p>\n

Speaking of our drought, last night it poured rain where I live in the Salt Lake Valley for about 40 minutes. It was a real gully washer and it felt marvelous to stand just inside the open garage door to watch and smell the rain.<\/p>\n

We got almost an inch and a half of moisture where I live! I felt so much joy because of that rain.\u00a0 One neighbor was even out dancing in it.<\/p>\n

I would have joined him but the lightning crashing around us made me think more than twice about that. The rain last night won’t end our drought but I sure have missed seeing and hearing a good rain storm roll through.<\/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":"

What I missed seeing was that the immature Belted Kingfisher had spider webs stuck to its face in a long series of photos that I took of it next to a creek in the Wasatch Mountains.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":141380,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[500,27,1731,26,773],"tags":[2432,4897,3940,4142,4067,10265,4071,4934,4933,3008,4069,4104,9626,5251,2382,2315,5986,4193],"class_list":["post-92477","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-belted-kingfisher","tag-branch","tag-canyon","tag-close-up","tag-immature","tag-inset","tag-juvenile","tag-kingfisher","tag-kingfishers","tag-megaceryle-alcyon","tag-mountains","tag-perched","tag-riparian-habitat","tag-spider-web","tag-spider-webs","tag-summer-3","tag-web","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/belted-kingfisher-immature-spider-web-mia-mcpherson-0364.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-o3z","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":91937,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/07\/09\/immature-and-adult-male-belted-kingfisher-images\/","url_meta":{"origin":92477,"position":0},"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 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":102733,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/05\/28\/spring-male-belted-kingfisher-portrait\/","url_meta":{"origin":92477,"position":1},"title":"Spring Male Belted Kingfisher Portrait","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 28, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I took my first of year male Belted Kingfisher portrait photos three days ago high in the Wasatch Mountains when this bird flew in close to me.","rel":"","context":"In "Belted Kingfishers"","block_context":{"text":"Belted Kingfishers","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/kingfishers\/belted-kingfishers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Spring male Belted Kingfisher portrait, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/belted-kingfisher-male-close-up-mia-mcpherson-8772.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/belted-kingfisher-male-close-up-mia-mcpherson-8772.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/belted-kingfisher-male-close-up-mia-mcpherson-8772.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/belted-kingfisher-male-close-up-mia-mcpherson-8772.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":92477,"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":92477,"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, 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Kingfisher Plus A Rare Migrant Northern Waterthrush","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 24, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"If I hadn't been sitting exactly where I was at the time I was photographing the Belted Kingfisher I would have missed out on seeing this rare Northern Waterthrush.","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 in a willow portrait, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/belted-kingfisher-summer-mia-mcpherson-4920.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-summer-mia-mcpherson-4920.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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