Hello everyone!:) Many thanks to one and all, for your much appreciated comments, most of which I saw only moments ago. Your good wishes for us to have a happy and relaxing holiday were fully realized, because we had a splendid time, full of adventures, and we really did enjoy every minute of each day. If you remember, my quest to find and photograph the Bee-eater, was high on my list of things to do, and photograph a Bee-eater I did, but only at a distance, never the less, it was a mission accomplished, and here are the few shots, I was able to get.
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The Bee-eater Meropidae |
It can eat around 250 bees a day. The impact on bee populations, however, is small as they eat less than 1% of the worker bees in the areas where they live. They nest in colonies in sandy banks, preferably near river shores, usually at the beginning of May. We found their tunnels, with the help of a friendly farmer, but alas they were all disappointingly empty, and it seemed unlikely that I would see any at this stage.
They make a relatively long tunnel, in which they lay five to eight spherical eggs in June. Both male and female care for the eggs, which they brood for about three weeks. They also feed and roost communally. If only Americo and I had been able to leave earlier, we would have seen, so many more bee-eaters, but it was exciting looking for stragglers, and when we did eventually see one, it was a heart stopping moment.
On another day we were on our way to the marshlands by car, when I spotted what I thought looked like a bee-eater sitting on a fence. So Americo stopped the car, and I climbed out to get a clearer shot. We couldn't risk driving nearer in case it took flight, so here are the three captures I managed to get.
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WILD BIRD WEDNESDAYS
SATURDAY'S CRITTERS
I'D RATHER B BIRDIN
GOOD FENCES
