Bird on a stick, Part II

Alcedo atthis in the sunshine.

Somedays the sun shines and something like this happens.  It is a very welcome relief after the last few days of dullness.

I've put up an extra of the bird in flight, as it emerged from a fruitless fishing expedition,  but I'm not entirely happy with it.  I think that I needed a faster shutter speed and the focus is definitely on the bird's tail rather than its eye.  Compositionally I needed to be taking this from the direction in which the bird is flying - if I ever figure out how to manage that I'll be sure to let you know.

Sadly this was the only time the kingfisher went diving when it was anywhere within range so I only got this one chance.  I now know that I'm probably going to need something like a 1/5000th shutter speed to freeze those blurry wings properly.

But the main, I love the main, just look at those tiny pink/orange toes - worth a look in large!