On a cloudy, misty afternoon yesterday at Huntley Meadows Park, this female Belted Kingfisher ( Megaceryle alcyon) couldn’t make up her mind where to perch, flying from one rotted tree to another in the marshland. I was thrilled to get this shot when she took off from one of her perches.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Wow!
Wow! This is a superb image, Mike. It’s almost mystical with that very dark background.
Thanks, Laura. Quite frankly, I was surprised that I was able to get a decent image at all, given the fact that there was limited light because of the cloud cover. I like your choice of the word “mystical” to describe the feel of the image–it’s almost like it has a metaphorical significance that transcends the reality of the photo.
Fortunate you! We never can get those Kingfishers to stay still enough to get a photo and here you captured one in action. Great.
Thanks. It definitely takes a lot of luck to get a shot of a kingfisher under any circumstance–they seem so skittish most of the time.