The Belted Kingfisher is one of my favorite birds to see, hear and photograph. Kingfishers always seem to be hard at work on the waterfront, swooping overhead then diving to the water for food. And with their distinctive chattering or rattling call you can hear them coming from quite a distance.

They frequent the waterfront in Edmonds, Washington, where I live and do much of my bird photography, and I always enjoy getting a closeup shot of one like the photo above of a female Kingfisher that posed for me on a recent June morning.