Kingfisher

As the winter months drag on, I look forward to the spring and have been perusing photos from last year. Above is a Kingfisher (click for larger version) taken in February 2009. I've actually seen them in the same place throughout this past winter, fishing on the same stocks as yesterday's Little grebe.

This is about the best shot I've ever got of a Kingfisher, requiring many months of half-chances at too great a distance and in poor light before finally getting a good bright shot fairly close up. You can tell that it's a male because it has an all black bill whereas in females the lower mandible of the bill is red/orange.