Love is in the air....

in photography •  7 years ago  (edited)

For many birdwatchers and photographers this species is one of the most beautiful birds from our region.
Look @ those bright colours. Just magnificent.

I knew we had a pair that started with nesting in my area. It's a well know spot to many photographers. But. You need BIG telephotozoom @ that place. Distance to that perch was like +15m i guess. Quite a distance to photograph such small creature.

This is why many of us birdphotographers work with telelenses ranging from 300mm to 800mm focal length. They are so small you need a bigger lens to fill the frame. This image was made with a Canon 800mm f5.6 and yes, that is a beast to work with.

Many many people came to visit those Kingfisher and hope they could catch some images full of action.
As you can see i was the lucky one. :) When they come they mate like 2 (when lucky) times on that branch over a time period of 6 hours. So visiting on a regular times is a key for such image.

Something was very interesting to see from those two. If you know the difference between male and female and you look @ this image. What would your toughts be ?? Is this a male and female? Or are they both female?

A male has black beak. The female has some orange in it.

They both have that orange in their beaks. Many of us really tought like... Hey they are gay! :) ?? !
It was quite a discussion. But this pair succeeded in bringing 4 little youngster to this world.

When the female has her eggs she stays day and night with those eggs. The action is gone and it is waiting if they have luck in breeding.
Daddy goes catch fish and brings food for his female and for the baby's to the nesting hole.
After +-20 days when you see the father catching more and more fishfood it means the eggs have hatched. Then it takes 10 more days to see the baby's come fly out from their hole.

Until now i have not witnessed baby's flying out from their hole. You only have one day to see that action. You really have to nail that day. If you miss it... better luck next year :)

This image was taken 5 years ago i guess? so until now i still hope to see those chicks one day coming from their nest :)

Thanks for watching/reading

Have a great sunday all !

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Wow!!! @olivierc such beautiful pictures!! I went back and looked at all of them and they are stunning!! You have such a great talent, I hope you aren't gone for good, I would love to see more from you!! I absolutely love the Milky Way picture, I always look up to the stars, and have never seen anything as gorgeous as your picture ... Thank you @dreemsteem for sharing this with us!

You are the BEST for coming to visit!!! Thank you for encouraging him to come come come back to us!!! hehehehe I hope he gets our messages and returns :) Isn't he amazing???

Oh my, yes, I was in awe looking at his pictures!! I will definitely do my part in trying to convince him to bless us with more!! Talent like this shouldn't go unseen!! I wish I could resteem it!!

i know it! but it's older... but when he comes back - lets show him some LOVE with our influence heheehe

Lol, consider it done! I don't have very much influence but I will upvote and resteem the crap out of it!!! LCL

we all have influence! and he doesn't ever care about the votes or the amounts... he cares about touching people with his work! so your comments and appreciation will mean the world to him!

I'm just sad that I was on vacation for so long! In that time, he left. But COME BAAAAACK @olivierc!!! :)

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

Thank you so much for this very kind reply monchichi. When i was a little boy like, 2 years old i had a real Monchichi. It was a very known cuddly bear (translated with google) from the early 80's. :) I still have some images from myself when i was a baby, sleeping with that monchichi :) . I'm not quite sure if your nickname refers to that cuddly bear. But as you see it did bring back some memories, thx for that :). Awesome you like my first milkyway attempt. it's not quite there but maybe when i'm in far far away foreingn country i will for sure do my best again for better ;) Thanks so much !

I love that my nickname brought back memories, and yes, it's the same as the toys and also cartoon from the 80's, I actually did a post about them. It brought back memories for @dreemsteem too. I can't wait to see more from you. You definitely have a good eye!! Or two i should say lol. I'm so glad that you came back, I was worried that we wouldn't hear from you. And THANK YOU for sharing your talent with us!!

So dreemsteem also had a monchichi as baby :)
But since it's your nickname you must of have tons of those little bears to sleep with ;).
You're very welcome.

I had some monchhichis, I watched the cartoon, and I got the nickname because I had cheeks like the monchhichis. Lol

lovely cheeks ;) i have to say :)

Lol, thank you @olivierc 😊

whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!?!?! LOLOLOL this is the FIRST time i have ever seen this before!!!!!

oh my gosh!!! this is so amazing!!!!!

you haven't posted anything more since i've been away??? I hope you start again now that I'm back! hehehehe

you're gone gone gone :(

and i'm sad... sadder.... saddest.

not quite yet :)

you're back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) hooray!!!!!
you'll be so proud of me! Go look at my photos that I posted over the last two days hehehee

https://steemit.com/smartphonephotography/@dreemsteem/feeling-like-a-real-photographer-420ac0b09fa33

and

https://steemit.com/smartphonephotography/@dreemsteem/have-i-been-bitten-by-the-shutterbug

and today - i have more to post.... but i need to leave the house now before the bank closes - but i'll post tonight and show you!! :)

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

I just had a big loud laugh seeing your reply :) :) hahahaha

hehehehehe i'm so glad that you're here again!!!! I would have been really sad to see you go!

I shall have a look. ;)

I so much appreciate all this information you are providing with your spectacular photo, especially including your own experience. I always thought the male was the more colourful one (the beak): clearly not! Two times for good measure? Is this more common in the bird world (I always thought one quick flash did the trick.)?
Good luck with the kingfisher fledgelings this year. One of them will have to wobble-fly your way, soon! (And then their first dive!...)

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

Very kind words from you sir. i do appreciate this :) I hope to be posting some more later this week. The two times in the morning does apply for when they are both perched on that branch. They also have a much larger habitat. They do have more moments during daytime (always most active in the morning). But the nest they have is close to that branch. So when they visit there is hope for action...

Now look at this hehehehe
When I was on Vacation.. i had the opportunity to photograph birds also!!! 😂😂😂

IMG_20180306_123041361_HDR.jpg

:) fabulous. you're getting there :) I was thinking to maybe get some chickens for our garden. .. ? I've been away from the steemit community for a while now. Maybe i'll post something new later on this week or so. I hope you had a terrific holiday with your family Dreemie.

Hi!!!!! We're on the same wavelength!!!! I literally JUST walked in the door from 18 days of vacation hehehhee

Go take a look at my latest post... Are you on that platform too??? 😊 If you're not...maybe you should try that one too.it might be more conducive to your beautiful photos!!! :)

I really love this photo - you're right their colours are fantastic! I very rarely see kingfishers here - I used to see just one but never a pair.

i'm glad i can share this special pair with you :) with their tropical colours. (it's a tropical bird that also found his place in our tiny country.)