Australian Laughing Kookaburra

This beautiful creature seems to have taken up residence in our front garden.

I've seen him / her a few times over the last few weeks but today she hung around for hours.  I believe the females have less blue in their plumage so I'll go with "her".

Today I noticed her just before I stated a meeting at 3:30.  She looked a little odd and at first I thought she had a damaged wing.  It was raining pretty hard.  I noticed a few minutes later that she had a fairly substantial lizard hanging down from her beak (about 12cm or so long).

I was working, so couldn't take a photo, and was not paying too much attention but I'm sure she did not move from the spot.  She would've caught my eye.

By about 4:30, a little before, the lizard was gone - but she was still in exactly the same spot.

For the next two hours I looked up every now and then and she was still just sitting there.  I can only assume she was not flying due to having a lizard in his guts.

This shot was taken about 8pm - she'd been flitting about the garden since about 6:30.  The last I saw, she was arcing down and up into the bowels of what we call "the maggie tree".

This was a tricky shot as it was pretty windy in falling light.  It'll do.  My son took one with the lizard - I will have to get a copy and file it as an extra.

Laughing Kookaburras are one of the largest kingfishers in the world.  This one is up there in stature but not so much in girth.  Some of them are very plump.