Dragonfly beats bee-eaters

Dragonfly with a sweet tooth? Maybe not so sweet. 

It made short work of honeybee - sting and all - in Tyto today.

But Rainbow Bee-eaters unlikely to resent the catch.

Seldom see them buzzing after honeybees.   
Click pix to enlarge 

Right little upright mannikin

Standing up for oneself widely admired, but not so desirable for bird picture - as evidenced by this Chestnut-breasted Mannikin (Lonchura castaneothorax) in Tyto today. An upright avian citizen indeed. More generally, immature flocks of mannikins are starting to gather. Soon there'll be groups of 40-50 young birds foraging amid the seeding grasses.

In past years Rainbow Bee-eaters (Merops ornatus) also have gathered in large flocks. But not in the wetlands recently. Have almost given up hope of decent aerial shots.

Even more limited exercise of capturing birds with intact tail-shafts showing clearly has proved trickier than expected. Who said practice makes perfect?

Shining Flycatchers persisting with nest today. Noticed male's only role is to chase Wille Wagtails away. Appears to do nothing toward building.

Underneath the (rainbow) arches

Rainbow Bee-eater (Merops ornatus) takes a comfort stretch against a grey sky in Tyto yesterday. The bird stayed put on a bare branch as I sidled up along a wooden walkway/bridge close to the over-brimming first lagoon.

Bee-eaters rarely show so willing. It went through a repertoire of bill-clacking and wing-twisting exercises, mostly with head turned away from me. Luckily, waiting and hoping paid off with the above happy alignment of head, body and movement.

Didn't envisage having to lighten the image so much that the grey sky almost vanished into the now-whitish background. Nor at first was I going to retain all three branches. Sometimes the final offering simply grows more (subjectively) attractive in spite of a picture's technical faults.

Bee-eaters: just my b..... luck

Seldom have much luck getting close to Rainbow Bee-eaters (Merops ornatus) when I've a camera in hand. Large flocks close up against blue skies are memories of non-photographic yesteryears. 

But there have been a few pirripping here and there in paperbarks and launching out after dragonflies and other insects - almost certainly not bees. (At risk of repeating myself, Rainbows rarely show any interest in Tyto honeybees, which four years ago swarmed in to a large tree hollow and took over from a pair of Masked Owls.)

Two of the birds this week proved a little less wary than the rest. The light was ever changing as clouds white and grey rushed west, now and then leaving frustratingly small blue holes and some sunlight. 

Just my luck, though, to find the one bird that stayed low and let me walk up to it looked as if it recently went through a car wash - backwards! It seemed healthy, without any sign of parasites. Just moulting, I suppose. The other bird let me even closer, without ever presenting itself in good light or at good height. B..... bee-eaters!