I seem to be in a black and white phase lately which feels a bit odd with spring color popping all around me. But if that is what is inspiring me to post, then so be it.

I was out early this morning experimenting with one of my old lenses, a classic Minolta 70-210, f 4, to see if it is worth hanging onto. There was a good variety of birds on the water but it was the silhouettes of this Belted kingfisher flying overhead that caught my eye when I opened the images on my computer. I think it is partly the contrast between the soar and the dive. I don’t have the big honking lenses to do justice to birds in the distance so I go for more of a “feel” of the moment.

Kingfishers alway bring to mind a poem by Gerald Manley Hopkins (1844-1889)

 

“As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame;

As tumbled over rim in roundy wells

Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell’s

Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name;

………………………..”

 

And it keeps going with the wonderful crisp, words reminiscent of a Kingfisher chattering.

 

p.s. For those interested in the other birds I saw this morning while on the shore of Chuckanut Bay, here they are – Barrow’s Goldeneye, Harlequin Duck, Red-breasted Merganser, Eared Grebe, Common Loon, Turkey Vulture, Bald Eagle.

 

 

 

 

06 Apr This entry was published on April 6, 2014 at 11:27. It’s filed under Birds, Nature, Pacific Northwest, Sky and clouds, Whatcom County and tagged BEKI, Belted Kingfisher, bird, black and white, Chuckanut Bay, flying, minolta, natural history, shapes, silhouette, spring. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.