Pied Kingfisher - Arugam Bay, Sri Lanka

Pied Kingfisher (Ceryle rudis) - Arugam Bay, Sri Lanka

I hadn't photographed a Pied Kingfisher until my last trip to Arugam Bay in July. I came across a pair of them hunting along a small waterway on the side of the road. They were making short flights out over the water and hovering for a while and returning to their perch on a telephone wire. Fortunately for me, they hovered for long enough for me to take a few photographs.

More inside.

 Pied Kingfisher (Ceryle rudis) - Arugam Bay, Sri Lanka

Pied Kingfishers range from sub-Saharan Africa across to west Asia. The species found in Sri Lanka is considered to be a sub-species named leucomelanura. They are about 17cm in length and are white with a black mask. The males have a narrow second breast band while females have a broken breast band. The photographs above are of a male. It hunts by hovering over water to locate prey and then diving bill first to capture fish. 

Pied Kingfisher (Ceryle rudis) - Arugam Bay, Sri Lanka

These photographs were taken with a Canon 7D and the 100-400mm lens. The conditions were not ideal as the clouds were a very bright background for these flight shots. I also had to push the ISO up to be able to shoot photographs of the birds in flight. I'm hoping to get some better shots in the future but they are not too bad for a first effort.

Black-winged Stilts - Yala, Sri Lanka

Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus) - Yala, Sri Lanka

Black-winged stilts are common waders found in most Sri Lankan tanks. Their distinct red legs and black wings make identification straightforward. I hadn't actually photographed this species before our last trip to Yala and was quite keen to get a few shots of them in flight.

More photographs inside.

Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus) - Yala, Sri Lanka

We stayed at a house outside the park during our time in Yala. Just before leaving for Colombo, I walked down to the bottom of the garden and found a number of Black-winged Stilts in the tank adjacent to the property. The photographs on this post were shot during the 30 minutes I spent at the tank.

Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus) - Yala, Sri Lanka

Males of this species are said to have a black back with a greenish gloss while female's backs have a brown hue. Immature birds are grey in colour  instead of black and have a sandy hue on their wings. The Black-winged Stilt belongs to the avocet family and mainly feed on insects and crustaceans.

Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus) - Yala, Sri Lanka

These photographs were taken with the canon 7D and the 100-400mm lens. If I were to take these shots again, I would probably get lower down to the ground and shoot at a similar level to the birds as they fly past.






  

Little Green Bee-eater - Sri Lanka

Little Green Bee-eater (Merops orientalis) - Yala, Sri Lanka

The Little Green Bee-eater is a common sight throughout Sri Lanka's dry zone and can often be heard twittering in open grasslands. Its Blue/Green chin makes it easy to differentiate this species from other Bee-eaters found in Sri Lanka (Blue-tailed Bee-Eater, Chestnut-headed Bee-eater and the European Bee-eater).

More photographs inside.

Little Green Bee-eater (Merops orientalis) - Panama, Sri Lanka

On my last trip to Sri Lanka I photographed this species on a number of occasions in Yala, Panama and Anuradhapura. Most of these photographs were taken when the species was perched on branches at or below eye level. Later on I read that Bee-eaters in Sri Lanka seem to divide the airspace vertically with the Green Bee-eater occupying the lower part,  the Chestnut-headed Bee-eater occupying the middle region and the upper region occupied by the Blue-tailed Bee-eater.

Little Green Bee-eater (Merops orientalis) - Panama, Sri Lanka

This species of Bee-eater is distributed throughout sub-Saharan Africa, Western Arabia and Asia. Several variations in plumage can be found across different regions and a number of subspecies have been identified. Some populations are said to move around seasonally but patterns have not been observed.

Little Green Bee-eater (Merops orientalis) - Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka

The Green Bee-eater's diet mainly consists of insects including Bees, Wasps and Ants which are caught in flight. This species seems to hunt from perches which are relatively close to the ground (less than a meter in height). Once it captures it's prey it can often be seen thrashing the insect on its perch to get rid of stingers and the exoskeleton.

Little Green Bee-eater (Merops orientalis) - Yala, Sri Lanka

This species is also known to sand bathe quite frequently (picture below) and have been known to bathe in water too. These birds are solitary nesters and their nests are tunnels dug into a sandy bank (some can be as deep as five feet). A clutch consists of 3-5 eggs which are incubated by both sexes. The eggs take 14 days to hatch and chicks fledge in 3 - 4 weeks.

Little Green Bee-eater (Merops orientalis) - Panama, Sri Lanka

All these photographs were taken with the Canon 7D and the 100-400mm lens. Photographing these birds in flight is tough as their flight paths are not predictable. I haven't been too successful at getting decent flight shots of them to date but will keep trying.