Framed Oil painting

14 x 14 (Image Size) Oil on board

Pitt Street Princess ~ Portrait of a Belted Kingfisher!

After a couple of years of hearing her laugh at me as I chased her back and forth along the Pitt Street Bridge, she finally let me get close enough to photograph her. Now, it’s actually happened several times. Each time I became nervous taking the photos because Belted Kingfishers are so fast and they rarely sit still for long. I didn’t want to blow it by having the wrong settings on my camera. Fortunately my photos of this precocious little bird were nice and clear; material that I knew I could work from should I decide to paint her.

Female Belted Kingfishers have a rust colored belt across their bellies which differentiates them from male Belted Kingfishers. This particular kingfisher was busy fishing at the time I photographed her. She kept diving into the shallow tidal water and coming up with small fish in her beak. I believe she was busy nesting and stocking up on food for herself and maybe some little ones.

She would return each time to the pilings of the old Pitt Street Bridge that now make-up a scenic park-like setting overlooking Charleston Harbor. She’s living a dream life in Mount Pleasant with plenty of fresh seafood at her whim. Her only complaint might be that the local birding paparazzi are always trying to photograph her. :)

I always liken the elusive Belted Kingfisher to Mighty Mouse. The way they dive off rooftops, trees, boat masts, pilings, etc… makes me think of the cartoon character saying, “Here I come to save the day…” They are lightning fast, and although little, have a toughness about them. They will bristle their head feathers upward and puff out their chest and take on much larger birds if necessary to protect their territory.

I’ve actually seen a Belted Kingfisher chase a Great Blue Heron out over a pond where the heron decided to bail out into the water to avoid the wrath of the pesky little kingfisher. I was concerned that the large wading bird wouldn’t be able to escape the water due to the weight of the water on its wings. It was a bit of a struggle but the heron managed to make its way to land.

I loved painting the Pitt Street Princess and plan on painting some more Belted Kingfisher paintings.