Common Kingfisher

 Time when familiarity further fosters fondness, for one that's pretty predictable, pretty aural-detectable, almost.

And so, a speeding glint of blue, had me rush to locate where the Common Kingfisher had landed as it flashed past skimming the flowing water, and it turned out to be almost like trying to locate the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow!

It seemed to have disappeared.

Then, unexpectedly, was found on a relief of sandy rocky spread that had defied gushing river water.

Blue-eared Kingfisher

 Oh mine, how the young Blue-eared Kingfisher has grown over approximately 4 weeks, and perhaps being young, has yet to develop heightened sensitivity to human presence as he did not display any sign of wariness as he flew in to perch so very close below where I was.

And hardly daring to move, still I felt a little dismal, thinking that all 's offered was merely a study in back profile!

And then off he dived but whether successful or not, he did not reappear.

And unwilling to give up, I decided to stage a hide-out, impatience was not an option.

And the little gem of a kingfisher came to reward, and more.

It was a little essential pause  as he had to offload the remains what he couldn't digest.

AI Overview:

A kingfisher’s pellet is white because it is made almost entirely of cleaned, bleached fish bones and scales. Unlike owls, whose dark pellets contain fur and feathers, kingfishers eat fish. Their digestive acids and gizzard grind away the flesh, leaving behind white bone material that gives the cast pellet its pale color.

And one last re-appearance before he fled downstream.

Blue-eared Kingfisher

 About week later.

As long as the juvenile still hung around, and the parents too, it's only natural that the parent happily offered a meal or two when both met.

Blue-eared Kingfisher

 A fledgling of only a couple of days old, this Blue-eared Kingfisher was seen fleeing up and down the stream, unable to perch for long being a new kid on the block, it appeared to be chased off by other older birds when it attempted to perch.

AI overview:

The nest of the Blue-eared Kingfisher is an excavated horizontal tunnel built into vertical mud or soil banks along shaded forest streams.

Tunnel shape: A horizontal burrow dug directly into dirt banks, roughly 0.5 to 1 meter long.

Entrance size: Small circular opening measuring about 5 to 6 centimeters wide.

Height: Positioned roughly 0.5 to 0.7 meters above the water or ground level.

With the nest so hidden away, the only clue of a chick was the parents bringing back mainly small fishes and immediately disappearing into the dense and dark undergrowth, also cleverly shaded by low hanging branches and leaves.

It was impossible to foresee that the chick was already big enough to fledge, which it did just within a couple of days after I had spotted the parents' behaviour. 

The one and only occasion that this juvenile perched so openly and long enough for some record images - its wet appearance suggested that it was already fishing for itself away from its parents that were nowhere to be seen.

White-throated Kingfisher

 The White-throated Kingfisher retreated to where it's high and dry, where none could reach out for or seize its prized catch.

And there to conduct its so many hits and tosses in the swing of kill.