Rainbow Bee-eaters

This post is for World Bird Wednesday.

I often find Rainbow Bee-eaters (Merops ornatus) when I go out to Inskip Point. They are such beautiful birds that I can't resist more photos of them. The male bird has the very long tail shafts and the female has shorter shafts. These two were very vocal as they sat on a branch in a gum tree and then went swooping off after insects.

Rainbow Bee-eaters

I often see Rainbow Bee-eaters (Merops ornatus) when I am out at Inskip. These photos were taken in different amounts of light and shade and the plumage seemed to take on different colors. All photos enlarge when clicked on.
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Inskip 2 - the Fun!

I know I have posted photos of Rainbow Bee-eaters before but they are such beautiful birds...
...and every now and again you get lucky and photograph something you haven't seen before. While I was watching and photographing yesterday this bird flew up and caught a butterfly then came down to a branch just above me to eat it. Unfortunately this put it against the strong light - but it was worth a few shots and then later a bit of post-processing to lighten them up a bit. The bird had trouble getting the butterfly ready to swallow and at one stage even hit it on the branch a few times.Thanks to Neil for identifying the butterfly as a Meadow Argus.
Earlier in the morning the fog was quite thick and still rolling over Inskip Point and out to sea. This photo was taken with the fog all around. The bird on the left is a juvenile without long tail shafts and with feathers that still look rather fluffy.
This post is for Bird Photography Weekly.

Sea, sky and birds

Whenever I can, I go out to Inskip Point for a few hours. I especially like the feeling of unlimited space from views where the sea and sky meet out on the horizon.

Looking east to the open ocean

Looking north along the Great Sandy Straits with Fraser Island on the right
The car ferry on the left takes vehicles to and from the island

There are always birds out there too – either shorebirds or 'bush' birds. This time I got some great views of Rainbow Bee-eaters. I think this is a particularly beautiful and colorful looking bird. A group of them were flying over head, swooping and whirling. and every now and again coming to rest on the open branches of trees.

What were they watching so carefully?