Giant Kingfisher

I never imaged I'd get so close to the incredible bird, but that's exactly what happened on this dreary morning. The subject was perched on a concrete dam, and he didn't flinch as I inched the car forward, until I was at the minimum focus distance of my 600mm lens (~15 feet). Closing the lens down to f/9 helped preserve the feather details across the back and flanks, and I went with a close-cropped headshot to eliminate the concrete perch. The white background results from the gray sky reflected on the water behind/below the bird.

Lower Sabie, Kruger National Park, Mpumalanga, South Africa, 7/22/22
Canon 600mm f/4 IS II + 1.4x III on EOS R5
1/320 at f/9, ISO 2500