Monday, December 28, 2009

The Kings Raising a Family - Part I

A pair of White-throated Kingfishers have taken up residence at the back of the house and I have been quietly observing them without encroaching into their space. The pair seem to have gone past the incubation stage and are busy raising chicks.
Here the female is seen in the nest hole feeding its chicks. As the pair are very fast and unpredictable I have not been successful in capturing any flight shots. In order not to disturb the birds, I have chosen to photograph them without using flash and they don't seem to mind it that much. Note that the female is covered in mud while the male is relatively clean.This pair seem to have a routine the female feeds the chicks while the male stands guard. If one of them isn't around the other will call gently to its mate. Today, one of them caught a skink but did not approach the nest hole as the other bird was not around.It flew off several times as the other bird was too far away to hear its call. Other times, human activity caused it to abandon its attempt to approach the nest hole. Unfortunately, I had work to do and could not continue to observe the pair to see if they successfully fed the skink to their chicks. Wonder what they will catch tomorrow and when the chicks will emerge?

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