This fellow was perched on a branch of a tree that was in a small hollow. With myself on the outside edge of the hollow, I was almost on eye level with him, and maybe only 5-8 metres from him. He hung around and allowed me to take a large number of shots, even as I changed position a few times, picking up and plunking down my tripod! This is a crop of the original, which you can go to, if you want, by clicking on the pick. Warning: OneDrive seems a little slow to render images (5-10 seconds or more, sometimes) and does still not seem to render as well as images I have seen from Flickr.

[PJ1]

A very nice shot. Great feather detail and a good portrait crop.

[eaglem]

A very nice shot. Great feather detail and a good portrait crop.

I agree

[Bengan]

Very nice capture with excellent detail

[ToddK]

Fantastic close-up! They are such a cool bird...

[Apet-Sure]

He/she was very cooperative, allowing you to grab a lovely portrait. Well done.

[lesmore49]

I've never seen a picture of a Kookaburra that close before. A nice portrait.

I have read that the 'song' of the Kookaburra is quite odd and that many vintage movies (1930's to '60's) made use of the call of the Kookaburra in their soundtracks...even if the film was taking place in the African or South American jungle...so much that it almost became a signature sound for many a jungle movie of that era. It became the sound of the jungle...any jungle...and for awhile there in moviedom...every jungle or so it seemed.

Of course the Kookaburra only lives in Australia, I believe.

[Apet-Sure]

I have read that the 'song' of the Kookaburra is quite odd

The picture reminded me of a song I heard as a kid. I only remember bits of it now. "Kookaburra sits in an old gum tree...........laugh, laugh, Kookaburra laugh, Kookaburra gay your life must be."

[Des]

Very nice Peter. Well done. Even a nice tiny catchlight in the eye!

The picture reminded me of a song I heard as a kid. I only remember bits of it now. "Kookaburra sits in an old gum tree...........laugh, laugh, Kookaburra laugh, Kookaburra gay your life must be."

The Kookaburra song was written in 1934. It is familiar to most Australian children. The lyrics and story are here:Kookaburra (song) - Wikipedia

As described in the Wikipedia article, the copyright holders to the Kookaburra song successfully sued the band Men at Work, on the basis that the flute solo in their hit song "Down Under" breached copyright in the Kookaburra song. (Even though to my ears, and those of many others, the flute solo sounds nothing like the Kookaburra song.) The story had a sad conclusion. Greg Ham, who created the wonderful flute solo, was devastated by the allegation of plagiarism (and financially ruined by the litigation). He died in 2012, not long after the litigation was concluded, at the age of 58. Many of his friends and family blame the legal action for his early death: How the song turned sour for a beautiful man - The Age.

[Tonytee]

Superb wildlife photography. What more can one say? Many thanks for the treat. )

TT

[Apet-Sure]

As described in the Wikipedia article, the copyright holders to the Kookaburra song successfully sued the band Men at Work, on the basis that the flute solo in their hit song "Down Under" breached copyright in the Kookaburra song. (Even though to my ears, and those of many others, the flute solo sounds nothing like the Kookaburra song.)

That is a very sad story. I can definitely hear the Kookaburra song melody in 'Down Under', especially in the Youtube video where the flute and synth are soloed. It's such a shame that this harmless homage to a familiar children's song created a lawsuit.

[K2 to K50]

Thank you, everybody, for your kind comments and "Likes". Very encouraging. Had a lot of co-operation from this bird, who tolerated my "photographer" antics.

The picture reminded me of a song I heard as a kid. I only remember bits of it now. "Kookaburra sits in an old gum tree...........laugh, laugh, Kookaburra laugh, Kookaburra gay your life must be."

I also think of that song whenever I hear the local Kookaburras start up their "laughing" song. I believe the second line is "Merry merry King of the bush is he".

@Des, that was indeed a very sad story reported in that link you included there.