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Kingfisher & the Crab


Kingfisher & the Crab
Photo Information
Copyright: Richard Cridland (rcrick) Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 717 W: 37 N: 1558] (5011)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2008-06-12
Categories: Birds, Crustacia
Camera: Canon 5D, Canon EF100-400 F4.5-5.6L IS USM, SanDisk Extr. IV 2Gb, Hoya 77mm Pro1 DMC UV LPF
Exposure: f/11, 1/500 seconds
More Photo Info: [view]
Map: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version, Workshop
Theme(s): Port of Brisbane Wetlands [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2008-06-17 0:52
Viewed: 1034
Points: 10
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Change of I.D, 18/06/08 @ 06:58:00 I managed to catch this little Kingfisher on one of our trips down to the Port of Brisbane Wetlands recently with fellow T.N photographer Jplumb.

At first I thought it might be Sacred Kingfisher, after an e-mail from John we narrowed it down to two species a Forest Kingfisher or a Collared Kingfisher, it appears the Forest Kingfisher has a white patch in front of the eye but also has one on the upper side of both wings and can be seen in flight, so I've ruled this out I did manage to capture this little fellow taking off and I can't see any white patches on the wings, (see W/s) so I'm pretty sure its a Collared, (many thanks John) and I have to point out the crab unfortunately didn’t fair too well.

The Collared Kingfisher (Todiramphus chloris) is a medium-sized kingfisher belonging to the family Halcyonidae, the tree kingfishers. It is also known as the White-collared Kingfisher or Mangrove Kingfisher. It has a wide range extending from the Red Sea across southern Asia and Australasia to Polynesia. It is a very variable species with about 50 subspecies.

The Collared Kingfisher is 22 to 29 cm long and weighs 51 to 90 grams. It varies from blue to green above while the underparts can be white or buff. There is a white collar around the neck, giving the birds its name. Some races have a white or buff stripe over the eye while others have a white spot between the eye and bill. There may be a black stripe through the eye. The large bill is black with a pale yellow base to the lower mandible.

Females tend to be greener than the males. Immature birds are duller than the adults with dark scaly markings on the neck and breast.

It has a variety of calls which vary geographically. The most typical call is loud, harsh and metallic and is repeated several times.

It is most commonly found in coastal areas, particularly in mangrove swamps. It also inhabits farmland, open woodland, grassland and gardens. In some parts of its range, especially on islands, it can be seen further inland, ranging into forest or into mountain areas. Birds often perch conspicuously on wires, rocks or bare branches.

Small crabs are the favoured food in coastal regions but a wide variety of other animals are eaten including insects, worms, snails, shrimps, frogs, lizards and small fish. The bird perches almost motionless for long periods waiting for prey. When it spots something it dives down to catch it and then flies back to the perch where larger items are smashed against the branch to subdue them. Any indigestible remains are regurgitated as pellets.

The nest is a hole, either a natural tree hole or a burrow excavated by the birds themselves in a rotten tree, termite mound or earth bank. They will also occupy old woodpecker holes. Two to seven rounded whitish eggs are laid directly on the floor of the burrow with no nest material used. Both parents take part in incubating the eggs and feeding the chicks. The young birds leave the nest about 44 days after hatching. Two broods are often raised in a year.

Details; Shot Raw and converted to Jpeg cropped and resized, sharpened slightly for posting.

Camera Model Canon EOS 5D
Shooting Date/Time 12/06/2008 11:47:02 AM
Shooting Mode Aperture-Priority AE
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/500
Av( Aperture Value ) 11.0
Metering Mode Evaluative Metering
Exposure Compensation -1/3
ISO Speed 500
Lens EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM
Focal Length 400.0 mm
Image Size 457x800
Image Quality Superfine
Flash Off
White Balance Mode Auto
AF Mode AI Focus AF
Picture Style Neutral
Sharpness 6
Contrast 2
Saturation 2
Color tone 1
Color Space sRGB
Noise Reduction On
File Size 165 KB
Custom Function C.Fn:00-0
Drive Mode Continuous shooting
Owner's Name Richard S Cridland
Miss_Piggy, JPlumb, pekkavalo1, ramthakur has marked this note useful
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Critiques [Translate]

Hallo Richard
Stunning image. Fantastic colours. Excellent details. Spot-on focus. Perfectly framed.
What more can I say?................... Really a pleasure to look at. The mirror image in the water just adds that extra sparkle to this already great image. Thanks for sharing.
Kind regards.
Anna

Hey Rick, you really nailed this one well. This is a perfect shot of this guy with the crab, and the reflection really adds to the shot. The detail and colour on the kingfisher and crab are excellent, with very excellent depth of field. I like how you can see the "crab balls" on the mud. What an amazing spot you introduced me to there. I expect we'll see lots more from you from this spot, as well as the one down the road. Very beautiful work.

Thanks, John

Hi Rick
Excellent work once again. I like the way the kingfisher has the crab delicately snared in his beak. Lots of interesting bits in the shot with the crab balls and the reflection.
Cheers
Sue

Hi Rick,

This Kingfisher is not bothered of his whites getting muddy. Very good composition, interesting sharp details, nice BG and colours.

TFS

Pekka

I am delighted to go back to this great image I missed somehow, Richard.
The beautiful Kingfisher holding a large Crab in its beak seems to be smiling in glee.
Superb POV, spot on focus and really beautiful colours.
Well done and TFS.
Ram

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