I participated in the 2012 and 2013 MYGB (My Garden Birdwatch) bird count. And now, I am hooked on bird watching. Any sound that a bird makes (a chirp, a hoot, a tweet) or the ruffling of leaves in the trees now thrills me. I cannot help myself each time when this happens. I just have to take a peek outside hoping to confirm what I have heard is indeed what I have guessed; or just to take a snapshot; or simply just to admire them. Indeed, I have even identified a number of birds that I never knew existed in my neighbourhood. They were always there but I just wasn't looking.
I always get excited whenever colourful birds make an appearance. And White-throated King Fishers are just one of them. I was lucky enough to capture one on my Nikon Coolpix L27 digital camera recently - up-close at about 8 feet away from me, resting on my roof. I would not have known about its presence if not for its loud continuous cry. Of all the 300 odd pictures that I have taken with my month old camera, this is definitely my favourite. I have taken pictures of King Fishers before but at something like 20 feet away - the pictures were not so detailed despite having maximum optical zoom at 5x. At such distance, I will need a more expensive camera with powerful lenses.
It is more common to find King Fishers perching high up on telephone/lamp posts, electrical/telephone wires and tree branches. I guess I was lucky when it landed on my roof. My attempts at approaching them were never successful as they will always take flight whenever I am around the 20 feet mark. They are just not as friendly as pigeons.
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