Todiramphus sanctus vagans

Look out, fishies.

This is a Sacred Kingfisher, the only native species of kingfisher in NZ. It has a wide distribution across Australasia, though the subspecies vagans is only found in New Zealand. Here it's simply referred to as Kingfisher, or called by its Maori name, Kotare.

I've had no luck photographing it until this morning, when I was winding my way down the Queen Charlotte Drive through Marlborough Sounds. I pulled over in the car when I spotted it on a roadside telephone line; it didn't seem to mind me as long as I stayed inside my big metal machine.

Every encounter with a bird these days feels like a send-off....A farewell. One week from now I'll have my feet back in California. Hard to comprehend.