Whitefronted Bee-eaters

While driving along a dry riverbed in Botswana’s Mashatu Game Reserve we came across these two Whitefronted Bee-eaters (Merops bullockoides) perched on a twig with the riverbank in the background. This provided an attractive, sand-coloured backdrop that’s different from the usual blue sky and/or green leaves against which perching birds are normally photographed.

I used a borrowed Canon 300mm F4 image-stabilised lens with a 1.4x converter attached to my Canon EOS 450D body for the picture. Shutter speed was 1/400 sec with aperture-priority set to F8. The 300mm is an excellent lens for wildlife as it’s relatively light and not too bulky, so can be carried on a vehicle without too many hassles. Even with the converter it’s a little short for bird photography, but is great for most animal shots.

Tagged with: birds

Filed under: Wildlife

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!