ComingsBirds.com/PacificCoast

To the Beauty of Birds

The Belted Kingfisher Ceryle alcyon inhabits the rocks and trees along streams. It tends to be very skittish. During our trip down the coast of Oregon I had five chances for a photograph, only to have it fly off just before I released the shutter. It was getting to be very frustrating. The more I missed it the more I wanted to photograph it. Thus, when we returned to the Rouge River for a fishing trip in mid October, I was hopping to get my chance. Sure enough, we were barely on the river just below Grants Pass when a beautiful female Kingfisher settled on a nearby tree (58680 and then on a nearby rock (5811). It seemed to have sensed my frustration and wanted to be photographed as much as I wanted to photograph it. In contrast to most birds, the female is the more brightly colored with a rust colored band on its abdomen and a similar colored spot on its lower flank (5858, 5860). Both of these may show up in flight (5815). Photo 5865 shows a full frontal view including the stripped tail.

Belted Kingfisher