Kingfisher

My son has identified some thirty different birds which show themselves around our house. Some, like the common Crow, Pigeon, Bulbul, Robin, Koel, Koucal, Sun bird and the kingfisher are fairly common and we see/hear them every day. Some are seen occasionally (Green barbet, Minivet, Horn bill) and some rarely (Oriole, Coppersmith, Parakeet, Hoopoe, Owl).  The whistling thrush is heard every morning this time of the year but never seen.

Almost all the commonly seen birds have already got into my camera, often devoid of a feather, beak or feet and then have settled in this blog. The Kingfisher, however, had escaped. I see the bird on the power line (its favourite perch) almost every day when I come out for a walk, but whenever I have the camera in hand, the bird is not on the line. And since I am always at a lower level, there has been no chance of getting the full bird.

The other day I saw the Kingfisher on top of the house when I was returning from the walk and it remained in place till I got into the house and then came onto the balcony with the camera. Camera in hand I tried to climb up the ladder very slowly, without making any noise, for a closer look and a chance for a picture. I think my back brushed against the ladder. I did not hear anything. But the bird looked down (may be with annoyance) and the next second it was gone. Looked like it did not want to have anything to do with us humans after the disrepute brought to its name by one of our fellow humans. This is all I got to show for my effort and photography skills.

This afternoon I finished my siesta and casually looked out of the window and saw the kingfisher sitting on the power line directly across me, its head, neck, feathers, beak and even the eyes in view. Since I was looking out of the window and had the window grills to support my hands, got some fairly good pictures with full zoom. It sat there for a long time turning this way and that and in general posing for the picture.

When I went to the balcony in the evening the KF was again in sight, this time on the tree, its colours in contrast to the dark green back ground. Again it waited till I got the camera out and clicked a few pictures.

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May be it understood that this human is different and posed for the photos providing me with a chance to get my best bird photograph till date.