Kingfisher

Kingfisher with Stickleback.
One from the archives. This bird found it quite difficult bashing a fish to death on a squidgy bullrush head.
All been done before I know.
Nikon D100 Sigma 100-300mm
500 ISO
Camera low contrast.

great pose and perch, the light on the fish is excellent, the background is perhaps a bit distracting over too the right though

Great looking Kingfisher along with prey item and Bullrush.
Only very small nit is that BG John. Excellent

Major.

Great perch and love the bird pose with the fish-do agree the background is abit distracting but hey i would love it

Dave

Thanks - I agree about the background.
JohnR

this is a great image. The background may not be perfect but the perch and fish in mouth are superb. I'm also impressed that this was taken with a 300mm lens (or less maybe!).

Matt

Yes, good work at <300mm

Ian

Done before or not, it's still a lovely shot. The highlights on the right could be toned down easily enough and then it would be great.

Nice image John - only nit for me already covered

Thanks.
Just under 300 mm. The bird had been using a perch in front of a long standing hide we had up for Snipe. It then started using a bulrush to the left of the hide and there wasn't much room to move the tripod so the lens just rested on the hide material through the hole. No problem at just under 300mm though. I later hung the camera on some string from two corners of the hide. The bird also was taking great numbers of dragonfly larvae.
JohnR

I'm surprised the camera's mirror slap didn't disturb the bird given how close you must have been to it.

Matt

Matt. It did at first and still makes stuff sit up at my pool hide.I have been working on a baffle but haven't got it sorted yet. The Nikons shutters are quite noisy.
If you've ever done a Kingfisher though they are sometimes so confiding its unbelievable.
This bird was roughly 9 feet away.
Cheers
John

Nit mentioned..if you wished it would be fairly easy to remedy, but that is down to your views... it is still a lovely image...

Thanks Phil
I could sort it no problem in Paint Shop Pro but unless it's someting really bad I don't bother too much these days. Its always a problem as in this case with the bird in the shade and sun catching reed stems.
Cheers
John

I would just like to SEE one of these. This is a very beautiful image despite the prominent background.

Lovely shot John and great detail on the stickleback too.

Tim

Wow, what a great bird, fish and pose...never mind the bg..you might be able to blurr it a bit more in PS perhaps.

Cracking image

Nit about the BG has been said.Just clone out the stuff on the right would sort it out anyway.

Wow, one day I'll get one, in need of a stickleback shot. Great one.

Tim

Great capture, the fish and the unusual perch really adds

Hi John,

Superb capture!

Great shot John,
its a lot of tension in it.
Bird and BG.
Greetings
Bertl Menegoni
Innsbruck
Austria

This is absolutely Superb.
John

Thanks all for your interest.
JohnR

Doesn't bother me in the slightest how many times a shot has been done before. A good shot is a good shot regardless, and this certainly fits that bill.

Wonderful shot, John - comp, colors, action and perch - all fits very well together!

Super shot John. I would just try toning the background down a little on the right, but I prefer shots that look like they weren't taken in the studio.
Eric