Day 281: Belted Kingfisher (Ceryle alcyon) is a skittish little creature who invariably eludes my lens, but yesterday I managed to take one somewhat by surprise in a small lilypad-filled backwater of Lake St. Clair. I was pushing the capabilities of my camera to capture even these grainy shots taken at a substantial distance from my elusive subject.
Contrary to what you might expect, only the female of the species wears two belts. The male has a single dark grey band across the upper part of his breast. The fashion-conscious female sports rust-brown coloration on the flanks and in a smaller band beneath the one on the breast. Both male and female have a distinctive crest on a head which seems disproportionate to the bird's body. Don't be fooled, though. Ungainly as a Kingfisher may appear, they are very skilled at taking small fish and amphibians directly from the water.
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