A grey-headed kingfisher sits on a curled, weathered snag in Kenya's Amboseli National Park, back half-turned, red bill pointed into a wash of green. We were working the swampy woodland late in the afternoon when we came across him on the deadwood. He kept his eyes on the ground ahead and held the perch, the sapphire of his wings and tail bright against the black of his back, the chestnut of his flank warm in the soft light. I gave him most of the frame to look into. The loop of the old branch anchors the corner, and everything beyond it falls away to green, so the only thing left to read is where he is looking. The species is secure across much of Africa. What matters here is the ground beneath the snag, the wooded swamp edge that draws so much of Amboseli's life toward water.
