Happy June! It’s well and truly Winter now and I hope you have all managed to stay well.
This month your bird’s eye-view calendar pinup is the gorgeous Forest Kingfisher (Todiramphus macleayii). This photo was taken at Lake Samsonvale, Forgan Cove. It features the female bird of a pair of these kingfishers. She is distinguished by the white collar that is broken with blue at her back (males have a white collar that goes all the way around).
I’ve spent many a visit to the lake watching them catching food and flitting about, and perching and glowing in the sunshine. I love the many hues of blue that colour their feathers.
Forest kingfishers can be distinguished from Sacred Kingfishers (which has yet to feature in a bird’s eye-view calendar!) by the white spot in front of their eyes. They sound quite different to a sacred kingfisher. If you are interested you can compare forest and sacred kingfishers sounds on ebird. Sacred kingfishers are also more widespread across Australia than forest kingfishers.
You may remember this pair featured in a recent drawing I did which was exhibited at The Churn Room gallery in Dayboro as part of the Feather & Fur exhibition (it’s beautifully framed and still for sale by the way if anyone is interested).
In other updates, I have 5 pet portrait booking spots left for the rest of the year. If you were thinking of a pet portrait for Xmas or for a special occasion, then now is the time to book. Gift certificates will still be available all year too (no limit on those!). More details about pet portraits are available here.
Have a great month and stay warm!