Have seen pied kingfisher a few times in all these years, although not as frequent as I have seen our most common, white-breasted kingfisher. White-breasted kingfisher can be easily seen in green areas around water bodies in and around Delhi. But first time, I saw the pied kingfisher was when I was part of an international river expedition on the Ganges from Gangotri to Gangasagar as a media person. There were a few distant sightings along the riverside. Well, that was way back in 2009.
Then, some years later, I went to Bharatpur bird sanctuary. We had a guide with us on our bicycle safari. Going deep inside the sanctuary to get a close view of sarus cranes, we got a distant sighting again of a pied kingfisher. It was so far that, we needed a binocular to see it, and I used full focal length of my tele lens to get a slightly blurred photo of that.
There were few more similar sightings in coming years.
But this post is about the sighting I had some time back at Ramnagar, gateway to Corbett National Park and Tiger Reserve. Kosi river barrage at Ramnagar is one of the better places for bird sightings. It is a popular wintering spot for migratory birds. In winters you find a big colony of Ruddy shelducks or the Brahminy ducks here.
While on a casual stroll along the barrage, I could unmistakably spot a pair of pied kingfishers sitting on a high-tension power line going across the barrage. It was so far the closest and most distinct sighting of the pied kingfishers I have had, and most satisfying as well.
At first, it looked like resting leisurely. But then I realized that it was quite focused on something below in the water, which was at least 40-50 fts below from the wire. What happened next was something I was seeing for the first time for pied kingfishers.
Pied kingfishers have unique style of capturing their prey- mostly fish. They keep looking from a high spot, and once they spot a prey, they hover in the air for a while and then dive straight below like a rocket towards the target in the water!
Here this pair was doing the same routine. They would watch from the wire, spot a prey, hover over that spot for a while and then dive straight towards water, in attempt to catch the prey. All in a flash. Once done with the routine, they will sit for a while on the grassy area on the bank or a tree close by. Few seconds later, they will be back on wire spotting another prey.
It was amazing to see them doing this routine over and over, until they are either tired or had enough! I kept watching the pair and taking photographs for a long time. Later rued for only taking photographs, whereas I could have taken a video of the whole routine as well, at least on my iPhone. Well, there is always a next time.
It was an entertaining experience, quite knowledge-enriching as well. Because, after such sightings your curiosity often prods you to learn more about these birds and their habits. So, was the case with me. It is something that happens all the time, whenever you either see a bird for the first time or watch any of its habits for the first time. What we are able to remember is altogether a different story though.
Still, birdwatching is always a fascinating experience. What this experience has also done is that it added Ramnagar as a birdwatching pit stop for my regular biking trips to Kumaon.
Have you seen such antics from a pied kingfisher or any other bird? Share your experiences with us in the comments sections below!
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