Even the East German judge had to give Mom Belted Kingfisher a perfect “10” for her takeoff from the nest hole! Until this morning I never knew that kingfishers often fall out of their nest holes backwards and upside down after feeding their young.

While birding near Lake Vermilion this morning (thanks once again to Vermilion Dam Lodge) I noticed some chicks making themselves known at the nest hole opening. The end result is the nest hole is really full of small birds which leaves very little room for mom or dad kingfisher when they land to deliver a meal. Apparently the practical result of a hole being full of kingfisher chicks is that there is very little room, if not any, for the parent birds to turn around when taking off to leave. Look closely at the first “takeoff” photograph of mom and you will see she is upside down facing the wrong way. Within a micro second this problem is alleviated and she is in proper flight mode. The total elapsed time for this sequence of images is only a few seconds. Thankfully, I had noticed that mom kingfisher had landed on a nearby boulder, and when she took off in the direction of the nest, I pressed the shutter down (and kept it down). My camera was already pointed and focused on the nest hole area.

Belted Kingfisher Approaching (overall scene)

Mom Kingfisher Approaching (close-ups)

Feeding Chicks

Mom Kingfisher Exiting / Takeoff

Although Belted Kingfishers spend most of their time fishing ponds, marshes and shallow bays of lakes, these birds may actually nest a short distance from the water. Kingfishers do not make nests but rather tunnel into the sides of steep banks where predators can not reach their young. Often the nest holes are in the sides of a stream or river ravines, but in my case this morning I found quite a few active nest holes in an optimal habitat area about 1/2 mile distant from Lake Vermilion. I also owe a HUGE thanks to the Vermilion Dam Lodge who gave me permission to bird their private property. The nests were NOT located in a public area of their resort.

Mom Kingfisher with a minnow for her newly hatched young.

Dad Kingfisher (he makes extremely quick visits to the nest hole to deliver food)

Visit #1

Visit #2

Sometimes you get lucky in terms birding. Read on …

I am with my entire family on the very remote NW side of Lake Vermilion … all my kids, their spouses and my 7 grandchildren. Thus, Grampa / Dad is limited in terms of birding opportunities. We have an entire small great resort to ourselves for seven days! We are staying at Vintage Vermilion

While sitting on the dock yesterday morning I heard a Merlin crying out very near to us. I told everyone that the call was from a Boreal Forest falcon. Both my daughter and oldest son chimed in that they had heard the bird throughout the previous night. They are in two different cabins with their respective families.

Anyhow I grab my binoculars, my Bluetooth speaker and play a couple of Merlin calls. Oh my, it was like a dam burst. Within seconds Momma Merlin screamed back at me. A couple of minutes later I located their nest in a tall white pine.

Sometimes you get lucky! Happy 4th everyone!

Boreal Forest Merlin

Our Local Common Loons