PKF with catch

[Bhargava Srivari]

We'd seen this pied kingfisher bird perched on top of a dry tree stump and went as close as we could.
With the king seriously looking for a meal, it was only a matter of time before he treated himself to a large fish. For us, it was a waitin game that paid off after 20min:-)
f7.1, ISO 400, EV 0.3, 1/125sec, 400mm, cropped
canon 60D, canon 100-400 L IS USM

[Abhishek Jamalabad]

Why a small image? Would like to see a larger one. Nice that you got it with a catch. Wish it were closer to you. Moving to the right if possible would have given you a more side-on shot. Of course, when you witness a moment like this you usually don't have much time to think before clicking :). These fellows use the same perch day after day as a vantage point to fish from, so I'm sure you could keep trying till you get the perfect shot.
TFS

[Mrudul Godbole]

Nice to see it with a catch. I think the whites are slightly blown. The clean background looks nice. Wish it was closer and on a natural perch. Thanks for sharing.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

I agree with Abhishek and Mrudul. If possible, it would be good to set up a makeshift hide and observe and photograph these beauties. That would give you a better closeup image.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Bhargava Srivari]

Making a hide for this place is not very viable: one- the birds are already kind of comfortable with people around (it is frequented by tens of families everyday!) and two- all the perches I have seen birds on in the last couple of months happen to be tree stumps/rocks/wires too much into the water and the closest one could get to the birds is just what is seen in my pictures:( If one can have 800 mm focal length on a 1.6x crop factor body, it might be possible to get close up shots :)

Thanks guys for the suggestions.

[Saktipada Panigrahi]

Pied Kingfisher is known for its bushy crest and Powerful Thick Bill.Nice evidence of the Power of the Bill with the size of the catch. Thanks for sharing.SaktiWild

[Roopak Gangadharan]

Nice Bhargava. Wish this was closer.they tend to hover a lot. try catching them while hovering. will make a nice image...

TFS
Roopak