My name is Amy and I live in the Chicago area.
Besides birding I love to travel. 
I’m digging into the archives for this one. The Pied Kingfisher was one of the most abundant species we came across during our visit to the Gambia in January 2007.
These guys are cute and noisy. We heard them almost everywhere we went if we were close to water. You can hear what they sound like here. We saw them perching in trees, where they would call one another, or, more interestingly, hovering above the water hunting for fish.
Here’s one relaxing on the rocks between hunting sessions.
This one appears to be taking the easy route – hunting from the side of a bridge. Scouting before going out there and hovering is probably a good idea.
This is how they look when hunting. They were so fun to watch!
Be sure to check out the other bird photos submitted for this week’s Bird Photography Weekly.
9:34 am
Oh yes, the Pied Kingfishers. They are such wonderful models. They’ll sit still for ages. I also love the way they hover in the air. Lovely pix Amy