I reserve this post to the honor of only one bird that appeared out of nowhere.
Now I like to post a variety of birds, but in this case I will show you only this guy as he is royalty. Come and meet the king of the Kingfishers.
Oh! And I will use a Malachite in the rain as a line-break.
Luckily it was a rainy day and there were no people around, so he came in to hunt with his large spear shaped beak. The photos were taken today and it is a second part of my previous post about the weather and the light changes.
Needless to say I was very happy to see him as it is a first in this area for me to see one.
So without further ado let me show you some photos of this master hunter.
This was the place where I found him and it is on one of the wine estates.
Many of you will know that feeling of surprise when you see something and you wonder if your eyes are lying to you :)
Was it really a Giant Kingfisher? (Megaceryle maxima), indeed it was!
Drat! I was careful and out in the open, so he saw me and there he went.
I was happy that I could at least get a few shots of him and in between running back to the car to dry myself, I just continued to take shots of other birds like the one below.
Look at this Malachite's disappointed face as his date didn't turn up in the rain :)
But then WAIT!, the Giant Kingfisher came back and this time he sat at the other side of the water feature.
I was also in a better spot and made sure that he didn't see me.
He didn't mind the soft rain and neither did I. So he would simply shake his hairdo and I would shake my clothes :)
I was fascinated by that large beak of his.
And finally it was time for me to go as the madam was waiting for me in the car and I didn't want her to come out in the rain to look for me.
The great thing is that I am only two species short of having all of the kingfishers in this area. I have the Pied Kingfisher, Malachite Kingfisher, and now the Giant Kingfisher. So I only need to get the Brown-hooded Kingfisher and the Half-collared Kingfisher. They are scarce, as they are only occasional visitors to the Western Cape Province, but one never knows, as I might just be out on one of the occasions and then I will get them.
I hope you have enjoyed meeting the King of the Kingfishers, and that you liked the story.
And That's All Friends.
Photos by Zac Smith-All Rights Reserved.
Camera: Canon Powershot SX70HS Bridge camera.
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