Topic: Little Bee-eater in the morning sun.
Technical data: Canon R6 MII with RF lens f11/800mm | ISO 640 | 1/500sec | ev+0 | WB 6500K | AV Mode | hand-held
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Blog bonus pictures 😊
Yesterday evening I took these images of two of my favorit Europeans.
The first one is a European Bee-eater and the second one is a European Roller.
They are seasonal migrants which spend March to September in the Northern Hemisphere and for the rest of the year they return to the South to enjoy our summer.
About 12% of all bird species on Thanda Safari‘s bird list are summer migrants.
Both birds are great photographic targets as they often perch in the sun. They also often return repeatedly to the same branch after catching insects on a short flight. If one times it carefully, one can catch them with open wings during landing.
Technical data (Bee-eater): Canon R6 with RF lens f11/800mm | ISO 320 | 1/500sec | ev+0.5 | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Crop to 25% of original image
Technical data (Roller): Canon R6 with RF lens f11/800mm | ISO 320 | 1/500sec | ev-0.5 | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Crop to 10% of original image
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One of my favorite genus of birds is the Bee-eaters (_Merops_). These fast flyers are mainly hunting insect.
As a photographic subject they are especially interesting because many of them have the habit of hunting repeatedly from the same location (eg tree branch) and are returning to the exact same position after their hunt, again and again.
That allows photographers to use manual focus on the departure/arrival location and then shoot fast bursts to get images during take-off and landing. But make sure your shutter speed is 1/2000sec+ as they are very fast. This is how I got the shot of this Blue-cheeked Bee-eater (_Merops persicus_) recently at the iSimangsliso Wetland Park.
10 species of Bee-Earers can be found in Southern Africa (Little, European, White-fronted, Blue-cheeked, Böhm‘s, Northern Carmine, Olive, Southern Carmine, Swallow-tailed, White-throated). The first four have been sighted on Thanda.
_Technical data: Canon R6 with EF lens f4.0/500mm | ISO 200 | 1/3000sec | f4 | ev0| 500mm | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Crop to 30% of original image | hand-held_
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This Southern Carmine Bee-eater was hunting when I took this picture.
A lot of patience to capture this fast flying bird on camera. S-100 road near Satara Rest Camp, Kruger National Park.
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After a week at Pakamisa the Green Mamba and I are back on Thanda.
Today’s picture/video post is of a White-fronted Bee-eater colony on Pakamisa.
Enjoy the video and have great week!
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This is a Little Bee-eater in flight. It is the world’s smallest Bee-eater species.
Enjoy your evening.
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These Little Bee-Eaters stayed close and warm during a chilly night. It is interesting to see the various stages from juvenile to a fully developed adult (the one in the middle). Juveniles lack the black gorget.
This is one of my favorite bird pictures, ever.
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Christian Sperka Photography | Custom Luxury Tours 