While I took pics of the magpies from yesterday, I was pleased to see a pied kingfisher return a few times and hover not too far away. I know that this other type of kingfisher is popular with some readers (eh Simon?).
oooops how did this chappy sneak in? more like streaked in....
This is a slightly older photo of it hovering above a hide.
(Ceryle rudis) is a water kingfisher and is found around lakes and ponds....here shot from a hide in Mai Po at the start of 2021.
Originally described by Linnaeus in 1758, Males have a double band across the breast while females have a single gorget that is often broken in the middle. And our word for the day is "gorget" which means "A patch of coloured feathers found on the throat or upper breast of some birds"
I had hoped this photo would look more appealing. A difficult shot for focus and speed.
The pied kingfisher was one of the many bird species originally described by Linnaeus in the landmark 1758 10th edition of his Systema Naturae, and old Mr Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778) was a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming organisms. He is known as the "father of modern taxonomy". So now you know.
