Green Kingfisher, Estero Llano Grande SP and World Birding Center, Weslaco TX

I always hope for a Green Kingfisher when I go to Estero Llano Grande State Park and World Birding Center in Weslaco Texas. In fact, on this, my second visit to the site in two days, Green Kingfisher was very much on my mind. You might say it was the bird I was requesting of the day. The tiny Green Kingfisher is one of my favorite birds. It has color…and it has attitude. In fact it seems to have more attitude than would reasonably fit in such a small body (it is not much bigger than a sparrow). This might be an very immature male, or it might be a female with some interesting staining on the plumage. It is a bird that is never completely still for long. These four shots were taken over just a few moments…as you see…all on the same perch. The light was not great, and there was still a touch of mist in the air from the retreating morning fog, and the bird was a bit far away…but still, I would never pass up a Green Kingfisher! Especially after requesting one.

Nikon P900 at 2000mm equivalent field of view…cropped slightly for scale. 1/160th @ ISO 400 @ f6.5. Processed in Lightroom.