Blue-cheeked Bee-eater

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Blue-cheeked Bee-eater : Merops persicus

I have a lot of backlog of images to process. Just processed one to share.

Canon EOS 1D Mark IV, Canon EF 400mm f2.8 L IS USM, EF 2xII TC, ISO 400, f6.3, 1/800, full frame image.

It was cloudy and I was clicking and hoping that the Sun comes out. And it happened briefly to cast the golden light.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Bhargava Srivari]

Lovely image. The glint in the eye is nice. As an aside, placing your copyright at the bottom would have been better for this particular image as it is too close to the head region of the bird.:)

tfs

[Atul Sinai]

Wow, great details. Loved the pose. TFS

Regards,
Atul

[Saktipada Panigrahi]

Rare and Nice Photograph.
Shri Sabyasachi,
Have you photographed this in The Himalayan Foothills or Rajasthan during Migration or is it a Resident Bird.
Kind regards,SPP
Thanks for sharing,SaktiWild

[Mrudul Godbole]

Lovely eye contact. The fanned tail looks nice. Good colours and details. Nicely captured. Thanks for sharing.

Saktipadaji, I think this was photographed during the BR hills safari.

[Roopak Gangadharan]

Nice details and BG. The eye looks lovely.

TFS
Roopak

[Sabyasachi Patra]

This is a migrant, photographed near Kaveri river.

In the Birds of South Asia, Ripley's Guide, Pamella C. Rasmussen and John C. Anderton has mentioned about Blue-cheeked Bee-eater: "Summer visitor to plains and valleys of Afghanistan, most of sub-Himalayan Pakistan (Baluchistan, Mekran Coast, Indus Valley) and NW India east to Haryana, and south to Kathiawar Peninsula (Gujarat). Spring migrant (Apr-May) across Arabian Sea; autumn migrant (Aug-Nov) farther east and south".

So I checked other images of this bird and I found the tail to be blue. So I guess this is a blue-tailed bee-eater rather than a blue-cheeked bee-eater. The size of these two species is the same with the blue-cheeked bee-eater having more greens in its body.

Sabyasachi

[Saktipada Panigrahi]

Many Thanks, Shri Sabyasachi, for the detailed information.Migration takes place even upto Kaveri River or beyond is a Knowledge gain for me.As far as blue cheeked or blue tailed,a photographer of your experience who himself has seen the Bird and whose views we value,can only confirm.Kind regards,SaktiWild

[Dr. Kalpamoi Kakati]

Nice pose & eye contact.Clean BG has added to the image.Narrower aperture would have been better.TFS