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kingfisher


kingfisher
Photo Information
Copyright: Marcin Pakulski (marcin) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 138 W: 0 N: 268] (2057)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2007-06-08
Categories: Birds
Camera: Nikon D50, Sigma 135-400mm f/4.5-5.6 APO
Details: Tripod: Yes
Photo Version: Original Version
Theme(s): Kingfishers II, marmottelolo theme, A - Z Birds [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2007-06-08 14:29
Viewed: 4066
Favorites: 1 [view]
Points: 62
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note [Polish]
kingfisher
Description

* Size: Slightly larger than a sparrow (ca. 18-19cm., with wings averaging 7.5 cm),

* Appearance: Adult is bright metallic blue in the upper parts, cobalt on the back, and showing greenish reflections on the head and wings. The ear coverts and under parts are warm chestnut, the chin and sides of neck white.
The bill of the female is blackish and reddish orange at the base; the bill of the male is all black; the legs are bright red with a dark blue stripe. In the young the bill is black.

* Flight: The flight of the Kingfisher is rapid, the short rounded wings whirring until they appear a mere blur. It usually flies near the water, but during courtship the male chases the female through and over the trees with loud shrill whistles.
The Kingfisher sometimes hovers over the water, with body held almost vertical, the tail and head bent slightly forward and the bill inclined downward.

* Courtship: From February onwards the male has a trilling song, a modulated repetition of many whistles. He also signals with a whistle to the female when he is feeding her, this being his share of the nesting duties. This whistle is produced even when his bill is loaded with food, yet is clear and distinct. The female will reply and emerge from the nesting hole, and may fly to meet him, take the fish from him in the air, and return to the nest.

Food

The bird has regular perches or stands from which it fishes. These may be a few inches or many feet above the water. It sits upright, its tail pointed downwards. It drops suddenly with a splash and usually returns at once with a struggling captive.

Large fish are beaten on a bough or rail; small fish and insects are promptly swallowed. A fish is usually lifted and carried by its middle, but its position is changed, sometimes by tossing it into the air, before it is swallowed head downwards.

Fish, aquatic insects and crustaceans are eaten. It eats numerous freshwater shrimps Gammarus.
from wikipedia
Thanks for your time!
kjpweb, Kaszek, Tamrock, MMM, elroyie, nglen, Juyona, Hil, falke, GLEM, simon182, ldsouza, Alex99, cicindela, Debz, red45, wingle has marked this note useful
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Critiques [Translate]

  • Great 
  • kjpweb Gold Star Critiquer [C: 326 W: 86 N: 1084] (4788)
  • [2007-06-08 14:33]

Great capture - the perfect Kingfisher portrait! Great Clarity!
Kudos - well done!

  • Great 
  • hester Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1515 W: 18 N: 3165] (11638)
  • [2007-06-08 14:39]

This is just a great capture, lovely sharp details, great colours, amazing pose and perfect DOF

TFS

Karan

Exquisite Marcin...Looks like he's just landed...hasn't turned the fish yet. Great detail, colour. V.nice. Best, Brat.

  • Great 
  • Kaszek Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 237 W: 50 N: 391] (1451)
  • [2007-06-08 14:43]

Czesc Marcin,
Fantastyczna fota! Kolorki wprost cudowne. Bardzo dobra ostrosc i kompozycja. Troche zal tylko tego szczupaczka ;)
Gratuluje!

very good marcin!
really sharp with fine
pov and dof and nice
lightning!
well composed to!

  • Great 
  • ridvan Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 498 W: 0 N: 1136] (5205)
  • [2007-06-08 15:19]

selam ; excellent shot of this kingfisher, good details presented , very nice BG and POV, well captured with splendid colours TFS
regards
ridvan

  • Great 
  • MMM Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1114 W: 0 N: 2546] (11425)
  • [2007-06-08 15:22]

Hi Marcin
Excellent capture.Sharp image with nice POV.Color & sharpness are excellent.Nice dark BG and beautiful details in the plumage.Also like the catchlight in the eye.
TFS Michel

Very good capture for you both...

  • Great 
  • reina Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 257 W: 1 N: 330] (2032)
  • [2007-06-08 15:26]

Hi Marcin, great you captured this kingfisher, Im not too sure its all sharp (the mouth) but for me it would be a big celebration to catch in on film. I realize now I dont know much about its habitat.
TFS Reina

  • Great 
  • pvb Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 385 W: 16 N: 531] (1981)
  • [2007-06-08 15:36]

Hi Marcin,
This capture is amazing. A kingfischer with lunch.
Good sharpness and details. Good timing and nice colours and bg.
TFS Paula

Witaj Marcinie!
Bardzo ladny kadr. Bystre oczko, wyrazne piorka, piekne kolory i nierozpraszajace tlo.
Gratuluje i pozdrowienia - Roma

P.S.Ja nawet nigdy nie widzialam zimorodka w naturze. Moze tak blizsze dane Marcinie, gdzie mozna go chociaz zobaczyc :).

  • Great 
  • nglen Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2883 W: 30 N: 9683] (36145)
  • [2007-06-08 16:28]

Hi Marcin. This is a excellent shot. very good detail and colour ,with sharp focus.a very nice POV against the green back ground. great timing to get the fish. very well done TFS.
Nick..

  • Great 
  • Juyona Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor [C: 2232 W: 10 N: 2971] (16891)
  • [2007-06-08 17:03]

Hola Marcín,
perfecta compo,
los colores excelentes,
iluminación y detalles preciosos,
saludos

  • Great 
  • Hil Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 696 W: 13 N: 1407] (5035)
  • [2007-06-08 17:34]

Hi Marcin,

Superb shot of the Kingfisher, nicely presented with a great POV and a fine pose with the fish in the beak, very good detail and excellent colours which are beautifully lit by the lovely lighting.

TFS Hilary :o)

Great shot Marcin.
Composition is excellent and soft green BG color tones, against wich the feather colors of the kingfisher do stand out beautifully, are wonderful.
Excellent work. Thanks for sharing.
Warm regards and have a great weekend, Harry

  • Great 
  • SelenE Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2249 W: 65 N: 4205] (13972)
  • [2007-06-09 3:49]

Hi Marcin,
Very nice capture of the kingfisher with his fish :o) Very nice pose and composition. TFS.
Selen

bonjour marcin
c'est le deuxieme martin pecheur que je vois aujourd'hui et il est magnifique aussi.
bravo.
laurent

  • Great 
  • falke Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 153 W: 18 N: 479] (1863)
  • [2007-06-09 8:18]

This is a splendid action photo of the Kingfisher and his capture! Incredible hard to do, so many congratulations from me! (I really wish I get an opportunity like this some day... ;o)

I like the composition very much with the calm subtle colours, the warm BG and the colourful bird! Fantastic!

Well done, mate! Regards/Bengt Falke

  • Great 
  • GLEM Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor [C: 540 W: 87 N: 750] (10)
  • [2007-06-09 11:05]

hello Marcin,
superbe couleurs de ce martin pêcheur, par ailleurs la netteté est bien maîtrisée.
bravo

gl

Very good photograph Marcin,
Timing, POV, composition, DOF, and exposure all outstanding.
Perhaps a slightly faster shutter could have frozen the fish more.
Well done, this sort of shot requires patience and skill to get right, you've done an awesome job.
TFS
Simon

Hello Marcin,
At first, I thought that this bird had a big, big beak but then I realized that it was a fish :) This is a very good capture with superb details, great action caught and beautiful lightning, especially in its eye :) Well done and thanks,
Claudine

Lovely shot. Fish is a little OEed, maybe dodge/burn in PS can help? love the comp, focus on the bird feathers is a little soft.

Great capture!

TFS!!
Liezel

Hello Marcin,

This is a wonderful capture of a beautiful Kingfisher! This picture is next to perfect since I wasn't able to find any nit except for some minor overexposure in the fish. Kingfishers are one of my favorite birds!

Composition:

Composition is perfect! I love everything about it: The clean profile of the bird which is easily identifiable on the outstanding background, the distribution of the empty space around the subject, the great eye-contact and the perfectly OOF background which isolates the bird perfectly! Very well done!

Colors:

The colors are brilliant, showing all the nice patterns in the plumage. I find them natural looking and well saturated. The green background is a compliment for this color combination!

Contrast:

Contrast is very good! It helps emphasizing all those fine details!

Exposure:

You showed great skills in controlling the light! Exposure is very good, preserving the details in most parts of the picture. There are some small areas where the whites were slightly overexposed but I guess it's just because of the wide dynamic range. It doesn't distract me from the beauty of this picture! You also captured some nice catchlights in the eye of the kingfisher!

Focus:

Excellent work on the focusing part! You accurately focused on the bird while using the DOF to control the background. This was mandatory for the success of this picture. The details in both subject and branch are sharp and look outstanding! Great job!

Excellent work, both artistically and technically! The well written notes complete your posting! Well done! Thank you for sharing!

With Friendly Regards,
Eddie

  • Great 
  • Alex99 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 4072 W: 133 N: 7096] (23735)
  • [2007-06-20 12:33]

Hi Marcin.
What a great picture you have created. I am amazed. I don't know how I could miss it. Terrific scene, tremendous quality of the shot. The light, colours, details and composition as well as the BG are simply outstanding. Bravo. Extraordinary shot. My congratulations.
Alexei.

  • Great 
  • Debz Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 505 W: 0 N: 847] (3307)
  • [2007-06-25 16:30]

This is an excellent photo of a fine Kingfisher. So nice to see it over europe. A great pov with good use of light, great colorrs and nice and sharp. Great composition.
tfs
debz

Czesc Marcinie!
Jakos przeoczylem te fotke wczesniej. Musze przyznac, ze zimorodek w Polsce, choc szeroko rozmieszczony nie jest latwy do zobaczenia, a tym bardziej do sfotografowania. A Tobie nie dosc, ze udalo sie zrobic bardzo przyzwoita fotke to jeszcze z ofiara w dziobie! Gratulacje, bo efekt jest naprawde niezly! :)
Serdecznie pozdrawiam,
Radek

  • Great 
  • EOSF1 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1393 W: 119 N: 5267] (23955)
  • [2007-08-12 19:41]

Hello Marcin ! Great bird and you photographed it well. Sharp, good background and nice pose. Thanks,

Mario

  • Great 
  • red45 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2636 W: 74 N: 9091] (31094)
  • [2007-08-16 8:26]

Czesc Marcin!

O rany! To jest dopiero cos! Nie dosc, ze udalo ci sie zlapac zimorodka, to jeszcze taki moment! Wszystko perfekcyjne - kolory, swiatlo, kompozycja, detal. Gratulacje! Najmniej zadowolona jest na pewno ryba :-)

  • Great 
  • Tomasz (500)
  • [2007-08-24 13:09]

Cze¶æ Marcin,
wielkie gartki za udane foto zimorodka !! kapitalnie uchwycony moment sniadanka:-),kadr,kolor,GO super !

Hello Marcin,
What a splendid capture! sharp details, beautiful OOF background and gorgeous colors. The fish is an added bonus.
Congratulation on a fine photo! Thanks for the share.
Wing

Witaj Marcinie!

Zimorodek - bomba! Wspaniale uchwycony. Hmm nie miałem nigdy szczęścia spotkać na żywo - nie mówiąc nawet o tym żeby to spotkanie utrwalić.

Pozdrawiam
Jacek

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