I sat motionless on the deck of our beautiful bungalow at Souimanga Lodge in Senegal. The Pied Kingfisher on the nearby fence gripped his just-caught fish in his long bill. I hoped to see him flip it and swallow it; my camera was poised to capture the moment. But suddenly the fish flapped its tail and twisted out of his grasp. Fish gone, the bird flew off, and I like him was left ruing the one that got away.
I am by no means an expert on birds – far from it – but I do like photographing them. I have been enjoying Lisa’s Bird Weekly posts and have decided to join in the fun from time to time. So for this week’s theme, here are a few …
Birds that eat fish
Pied Kingfishers are among my favourite birds, and they have a great habit of staying in the same place long enough to be photographed, unlike most kingfishers.
Souimanga is a water bird lover’s paradise. Each bungalow has its own private deck looking out on to the Sine Saloum Delta. At the end of a wooden jetty there are comfortable bean bags and shade, perfect for relaxing, camera in hand, to see what birds will pass by. There are pelicans …
… egrets (I believe this is a Little Egret but I may be wrong) …
… and of course herons – this I think is a Grey Heron
Talking of herons, on a visit to a local (small) stately home last November, Osterley Park, we came across the least timid heron I have ever seen. He posed so beautifully for us as we both took lots of photos. He must be used to people stopping to admire him!
Caught in the act
But let me finish with another bird actually eating a fish. While road tripping in Washington State a few years ago we went on a boat ride from Cornet Bay through Deception Pass. This is a narrow channel which separates Whidbey Island from Fidalgo Island, some miles north of Seattle. It is most famous for the iron bridge that spans it, but the most exciting sight of our excursion by far was this Bald Eagle. He was perched on a dead tree in the water and allowed our pilot to steer the boat quite close. I managed to get several shots of him tucking into this eel, before he tired of having an audience while enjoying his meal and flew off to eat somewhere more private among the trees on shore.
I visited Senegal in 2016 and Washington State in 2017
24 Comments
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bushboy
Fabulous photos 🙂 🙂
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you ☺
blhphotoblog
Superb shots!
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you, I appreciate the compliment Brian 🙂
thehungrytravellers.blog
Fabulous photos, so clear! Love the Bald Eagle in action 😁
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you, I was so happy to get those shots! The boat pilot was very obliging, circling so that everyone could get a good view. And we were lucky that the boat was only about a third full so it was easy to take up a good position for photos 🙂
I. J. Khanewala
The bald eagle seems to be a rather messy eater.
Sarah Wilkie
🤣 Indeed he is!
CadyLuck Leedy
How DO YOU GET so many good shots of Birds! I wait and wait and still get NOTHING! Cady!
Sarah Wilkie
🤣🤣 I guess I wait and wait and wait and wait! And then throw most of them away and keep the handful that turned out OK 😀
CadyLuck Leedy
That is me exactly, but you have some very smart photos! Definitely worth the effort! Cady
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you 😊
restlessjo
I seldom even attempt it. Birds and butterflies outwit me every time 🙂 🙂 And I didn’t even know there was such a thing as a pied kingfisher! Isn’t he handsome?
Sarah Wilkie
Yes, I love the Pied Kingfishers 😀 And as I mentioned, they have a habit of staying in the same place for quite a while so are relatively easy to photograph compared to some other birds – certainly compared to our kingfishers! I enjoy the ‘thrill of the chase’ in attempting bird shots, even if only a relatively low percentage come off successfully!
Photography Journal Blog
This is a great collection of images, hard to pick a favorite.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you, I’m glad you liked them 🙂
Tracey
That eagle in Washington!!! What a shot!
Sarah Wilkie
I was so happy to get this Tracey! It was worth the rather high cost of the boat trip alone, and in fact was the highlight of it for sure 🙂
Lisa Coleman
I apologize for not responding sooner. Your post and 4 others for Bird Weekly went into my spam folder. Gorgeous photos this week! Amazing to photography that Kingfisher. Those are amazing and too bad the fish got away. Great Blue Herons are not that intimidated in Florida. Too many people and they have gotten used to us being around. Right place and the right time for the Bald Eagle. Thanks for sharing your awesome gallery with us! 🙂
Sarah Wilkie
You’re not slow in responding Lisa – I was late in posting this week and only did so less than an hour before you made this comment 😀 Thank you for the kind words about my photos 😊
Lisa Coleman
Oh, well…I’ll not give myself a lashing then. LOL! There were others that were a few days old and I felt bad about it. 🙂
margaret21
These are fabulous Sarah – I find bird photography a frustrating and thankless task, but these images show the rewards to be had. I wish I’d had a better camera when I was in India, as we saw some fabulous birds that I’d previously known only from books. Never mind: there are always pelicans in St. James’ Park.
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks Margaret, and I know what you mean. I have missed or messed up far more bird photos than I have succeeded with 😆 I feel the same about our Galapagos trip. We had so many amazing experiences and I came back with OK photos but not as good as I would have hoped 🙁