Great-billed Kingfisher

Great-billed Kingfisher

This is the picture of Great-billed Kingfisher (Pelargopsis melanorhyncha) that I saw when in the mangrove forest of North Sulawesi. The bird was bigger than most other kingfishers. I was traveling with 4 Taiwanese tourists in Tangkoko region when we decided to do a trip to a river in North Minahasa to watch the bird. We went there by car. It took around 1 hour to reach the birding site. We had to continue our trip by a motorized boat through a river where mangrove trees and other coastal plants grow on its both sides.

Our boat moved slowly and all of us carefully observe every branch of the trees to find the bird. Suddenly the kingfisher flew fast from the back of us to the front of the boat and disappeared in the next turn of the river.
Some striated heron flew above our heads. There were also little egret flying from one branch of the tree. We also saw heron, and slender-billed crow.
As our boat moved deeper into the river, we saw the Great-billed Kingfisher was sitting on the lower branch of a tree above the water. Suddenly he dived into the water and then came out with a fish.

Coastal area of Minahasa

Boat driver immediately turned off engine. We used paddle to slowly approach the bird. As the bird was within the shooting distance, the Taiwanese tourists began to shoot the kingfisher. I also aimed my Canon 200D camera with Tamron 150-600 mm G2 at the bird. I tried different settings to get the best picture in low light condition. It was sunset time.
The bird then flew to other branch that was more visible to us. We took the opportunity to make more pictures.
When everybody has made pictures of the bird, we slowly returned to the river mouth. The view of the beach was very beautiful. We liked it very much.
If you are interested in taking a birding tour in North Sulawesi, and want me to organize your tour, please, contact me by e-mail to: leororing@gmail.com