Finally...a Photo of a Belted Kingfisher on the Little Miami River

Almost every time I walk the Little Miami trail, I hear the strident, rattling calls of the resident Belted Kingfisher. Sometimes I even catch glimpses of him through the trees as he wings it down the river screaming at some unknown terror, but I never get to see him up close. Two weeks ago, however, my luck changed. Instead of packing for the Ann Arbor trip, I snuck over to the Little Miami trail for a quick bit of birding. It was the first cool-ish day of the season, and at 57 degrees, the slight nip had brought a lot of people out on the trail for a taste of Autumn weather. After about five minutes of unusually high foot and bike traffic…and very few birds, I decided to take it to the river and found a small deer trail that led through the brushy undergrowth to the river below. Just as I made it to the rocks at the bottom, I looked up to see a Belted Kingfisher heading my way! I froze, and watched him land on a branch about 30-40 feet above me. Trying to move slowly and lift the camera at the same time, I studied him as he studied the water, looking for movement that might end up as his dinner!

Look at that spiky head! I LOVE that unkempt, oily looking crest!

Then there's the huge head...long bill...short tail...and tiny feet--put it all together, and you've got a really big, crazy-sounding hummingbird (until, of course, you remember it dives headfirst into the water and eats fish--still...).

This is the male. The female is more colorful with a rust-colored belt around her upper belly that shows down her sides as well.

Bullet bird!

Our Belted Kingfisher sat on a low-hanging branch for about three minutes, waiting patiently before he dove headfirst into the water and came up with a fish!

...flying back to the perch over my head, he rested for a second before taking off down the river. I watched him fly out of sight, listening to his calls fade away slowly. About 15 minutes later he came back, but he never returned to my side of the river and always stayed at least 150 or so yards away.