Hey everyone. I saw this guy hunting fish from a tree near the Ord River on Aussie day. He didn't seem to take any notice of me and let me get to within about 5m. I noticed that he/she had two favourite perches on this tree, a high one for hunting from and a lower one for landing on after a dive, whether the dive was successful or not.
Hey KingBrown nice shots, great colours on this Kingfisher. Is #6 the same bird? it seems to be more blue chested or is it just the angle of the shot that gives the illusion. Either way great work, they are a lovely streamlined bird with that long beak. I see a lot of Sacred KFs around Redland Bay, don't think I've spotted any Azure's.
Great work, Cheers.
Great shots KB .... he is a good little fisherman, and got everything worked out with his diving and eating perches. They are brilliantly colored birds, I had seen a couple but my pics didn't come near the quality of yours.
Cheers guys. Yeah Dennis they are all the same bird, although there was another one that would come and visit him every now and then and they were quite chatty while together. We get a lot of Sacred KFs here too, especially this time of year, but I'd only had fleeting glimpses of Azure's before so I was stoked to be able to get so close to one, and to see their fishing technique was awesome.
Gorgeous bird, and such rich colours beautifully captured KB.
Must have been fun to watch! 
Hope you remember where it is for next time. Brilliant.
Sad to say, this species is now extinct in the Mt Lofty Ranges thanks largely to habitat clearance. So if you have them, treasure your Azure Kingfishers by protecting & restoring their habitat.
Don't worry richman, I know exactly where that tree is and i'll be going back there this weekend as there is a Sea Eagle and a pair of Jabiru there that I haven't managed to get a decent photo of yet. Sad to hear about the Mt Lofty Azures Woko. It sux when human activity causes local extinctions. Although I think ours have actually benefitted from the damming of the river because it gives them year round habitat.
KingBrown, up your way I suspect the Azure Kingfisher's gain is another species' loss.
Fantastic, brilliant colours & love that you caught him with his catch! Hope your Sea Eagle and Jabiru's were kind to you over the weekend
West Coast Tasmania