I spent a considerable amount of time one morning earlier this month at Huntley Meadows Park trying to get some shots of this skittish female Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon). It was almost impossible to get really close, so I had to rely on my long telephoto zoom lens.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Mike Powell 
Stately looking bird.
Excellent!
I’m glad you got these shots as its the first time I’ve seen a photo of this kind of kingfisher. I’m surprised how many different kinds of kingfishers there seems to be!
One of the coolest thing about following postings from bloggers in different parts of the world is that I get to see species that may be related to the ones that I see all of the time. I especially like it when folks post photos of the “ordinary” birds and insects that may seem exotic to folks in other places.
Yes, that’s so true! Like the robin for instance. Our NZ robin is very plain albeit quite a character. But robins in Australia, US and UK seem much more colourful. Interesting!