Topic: A Malachite Kingfisher in the reeds on a waterhole bank
Technical data: Canon R6 MII with RF lens f11/800mm | ISO 500 | 1/500sec | ev-0.5 | WB 6500K | AV Mode
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Photographing birds in flight is quite challenging, but Kingfishers and Bee-eaters make it somewhat easier due to their hunting and bathing behaviors.
Both Kingfishers (with 10 different species in Southern Africa) and Bee-eaters (also with 10 different species) enjoy perching on trees to hunt or bathe. Additionally, they frequently return to the same branch after flying off to catch an insect or dip into the water.
Here is a brief guide on capturing in-flight birds before landing:
1. Place the camera on a beanbag or a tripod.
2. Set your shutter speed to 1/2000 second or faster.
3. Switch the camera to manual focus and ensure you do not touch the focus ring.
4. Set the camera to ‘continuous shooting mode’ with the highest frame rate available.
5. Frame and focus on the perched bird, leaving enough room for aerial landing images.
6. Wait for the bird to depart for its hunt or bath without looking through the viewfinder but watch the bird instead.
7. Begin shooting as the bird returns towards the perch, continuing until it is stationary again. Be sure to press the shutter button gently to avoid moving the camera from its target area.
8. Review your images (I typically shooting 20-40 frames for one landing) and select the best ones.
This process requires patience. For the Brown-hooded Kingfisher landing in the picture, I captured seven approaches with a total of 197 images taken, resulting in a satisfying outcome (and as you can see from the droplets in the air he returned from a bath).
Technical data: Canon R6 with RF lens f11/800mm | ISO 10000 | 1/3000sec | ev+0 | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Cropped to 10% of the original image.
For more stories and pictures, visit my blog at https://sperka.info/blog/.
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There are ten species of Kingfishers to be found in Southern Africa. Five of them are aquatic species and therefore hunting mostly fish. The other five are forest species catching predominantly insects and small vertebrates.
This is one of my favorite pictures of a Brown-hooded Kingfisher, the most common forest species on Thanda Safari (the other four are Striped-, Woodland-, Pygmy-, and Grey-hooded). The five aquatic species are Malachite-, Mangrove-, Half-collared-, Giant-, and Pied-).
Technical data: Canon R6 with EF lens f4.0/500mm | ISO 100 | 1/750sec | f4 | ev+/-0 | 500mm | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Crop to 30% of original image
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I love Kingfishers and I recently took these pictures of a Woodland Kingfisher at Thanda Safari.
FYI: We have an exciting Birding Weekend coming up in April. If you are interested to come and do some birding and bird photography at Thanda then please contact reservations@thanda.co.za.
I will be there all weekend to answer wildlife and bird photography related questions and to give photography lessons.
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No words needed 😊
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These little birds are so colorful that they sometimes sparkle in the light like little gems.
I miss my regular photography excursions to Lake St.Lucia in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park and to Nsumo Dam at Mkuze Game Reserve where one can find Malachite Kingfishers and many other aquatic bird species.
Have a pleasant day!
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One of my favorite pictures of one of my favorite birds – a Malachite Kingfisher – as a special Christmas treat.
Enjoy the day wherever you are!
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I am featuring a species or family of species per week on my social media channels. Here is a summary of the last week’s posts (and some blog bonus images). I hope you enjoy some of my favorite Kingfisher pictures :-).
Pygmy Kingfisher
Note:
Grey-headed Kingfisher and Half-collared Kingfisher are the two South African Kingfisher species which I have no pictures of.
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After yesterday’s post about a Malachite Kingfisher on Thanda a few people have asked me about the various South African Kingfishers. So, here is a short post about them:
There are ten Kingfisher species in South Africa. Five are aquatic species and five are considered woodland Kingfishers. Up til now I took pictures of eight of these ten species. I am still missing the Half-collared Kingfisher and the Grey-headed Kingfisher.
Four of them (Woodland Kingfisher, Striped Kingfisher, Brown-hooded Kingfisher and African Pygmy Kingfisher) are regularly seen on Thanda Safari Private Game Reserve and I had one – rare – sighting of a Malachite Kingfisher. Giant Kingfishers, Mangrove Kingfishers and Pied Kingfishers are aquatic species and are therefore not resident on Thanda.
Enjoy the pictures!
It is always very exciting to see a bird in an area where it usually does not occur. Malachite Kingfishers are one of the aquatic Kingfisher species. They live on Rivers or other large bodies of water. Finding one on Thanda Safari – Private Game Reserve was a very special treat for our bird-loving guests. Bheki (my Zulu tracker) spotted it at the waterhole near my home.
These are not my best Malachite Kingfisher images, but they are very special to me!
To view more of my Malachite Kingfisher images go to http://www.sperka.biz/sgb10
The Malachite Kingfisher (Corythornis cristatus) is an aquatic, small Kingfisher which is widely distributed in Africa south of the Sahara. It is only 13 cm (5.1 in) in length. This species is common to reeds and aquatic vegetation near slow-moving water or ponds. The flight of the Malachite Kingfisher is rapid, with the short, rounded wings whirring until they appear a mere blur. It usually flies low over water. The call of this kingfisher is then a short shrill seek. The breeding song is a chuckling li-cha-cha-chui-chui.
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