Kingfisher's Tiny Prize!

In midsummer I like to visit Fernwood (north of my home here on Salt Spring Island) to see the new families of Purple Martins in their nest-box neighbourhood. At the beginning of August this past year I was heading up the dock when I spotted a Belted Kingfisher perched on a boulder below on the tide flats. I couldn’t miss the opportunity to get a bit closer to this fast fisherman so I walked down the steps to shore and found a spot about 10 m away from this young Kingfisher, who captivated me with his incredible technique—hovering in the air and then, suddenly, plunging into the water after which he brought back his catch to show me (or so I like to believe). What a character! I’m so glad I resisted the urge to get closer to this friendly, but feisty Kingfisher as he gradually moved closer to where I was standing and, so I was finally able to capture some of his delightful expression in this shot which I like to call, “Young One so Proud of his Tiny-fish Prize”. This was the first time I’ve ever been able to get that close to one of our island Kingfishers and I thank him for letting me stay so long to watch him!