A most beautiful little bird.

And a new first one for me that I got at a new place.

I will show you this lovely Kingfisher and also a Snake bird in a dam.

We saw this dam near the main road between our two towns and by instinct I turned off to go and have a look at the dam. So glad that I did, as I found many treasures here.
The dam is in a valley on a river between the high hills and the views from it were terrific, which I will show you in another post.
So come and look at this guy.

He is a Half-collared Kingfisher (Alcedo cristata), an uncommon resident and nomad at wooded streams, channels in large reed beds and coastal lagoons.

This is the dam where I got the bird.

This was when I saw him first and of course I followed him.

A real little beauty isn't he?

And here was a bonus as I saw this bird below at the other side of the dam.

It is an African Darter (Anhinga rufa), also known as a Snake bird by the locals.

And here is the reason why they call him a snake bird, as when he swims his entire big body is hidden underwater and only his long neck can be seen that he twists like a snake.

Of course after a swim, a man has to dry himself in the sun :)

I made friends with the guy that was fishing at the dam and can you believe that his name is Spook. He had a lovely model bait boat that he used to take his lines in that he operated with a remote and while we were chatting he pulled in two big fish. I will show you in another post. I was so glad to see that he also practices the "catch and release" principles.
I also used to fish for many years, but since the photography bug bit me I have never fished again.

My one remaining cousin is in the Springbok fishing team and the team represents South Africa in fishing competitions all over the world. Men and their hobbies can drive many females mad, but luckily my wife likes to forage in nature when we go out, so she doesn't give me a hard time.
Instead I have to keep an eye on her as she wanders far and wide and hopefully she will not run into a snake somewhere.
Such is life.

I hope that you have enjoyed the photos and the story.

And That's All Friends.

Photos by Zac Smith-All Rights Reserved.

Camera: Canon Powershot SX70HS Bridge camera.

Thank you kindly for supporting a post on behalf of @papilloncharity