We just recently came back from a trip to Bulgaria, a perfect destination for bird and animal lovers. It’s a place which could be easily described as true wilderness. At the beginning it was difficult to get to grips with identification of birds. There is so many of them around: night heron, little bittern, pied wheatear, turtle dove, booted eagle, short – toed eagle, crested lark, red – backed shrike, golden oriole, roller and others. Collins bird guide comes very handy in such situation. In our case we were very lucky to have a brilliant ornithologist Boris Belchev who has an amazing birder’s eye, obvious knowledge and enthusiasm for it.
In Bulgaria our prime aim was to photograph European Bee - eaters during a very busy young feeding period. Unfortunately the birds had arrived back into Bulgaria 2 - 3 weeks later than normal so it meant that the feeding had not started yet. It was a bit disappointing however we still had good photo opportunities of this incredibly colorful bird.
Bee - eaters are active feeding early in the morning. So an early start of the day was a must as we also wanted to make the most of the beautiful early morning light.
As the name suggests bees are on the top of the menu for bee - eaters though they’ll prey on dragonflies, butterflies, moths – just about anything that flies.
Smaller insects, such ants and termites, are usually captured during longer, swooping flights and eaten while still airborne. With the bees is a bit different - the prey is caught after a short chase in flight from a tree...
In order to get venom free meal, back to the perch with a catch, bee-eaters toss it into the air, catch it with its bill tip and bash it repeatedly against a hard surface to remove the stinger. The food is then safely swallowed whole.
Preening and stretching activity comes after a good meal.
To our big relieve one of the days was exceptionally good because two or even three birds were landing on a perch. There are few of our favorite shots.
Morning photo sessions used to finish around 10 am because the sun was getting too harsh. With the temperature rising bee - eaters were less active as well and prefered to perch with open beaks.
Overall it was a great photographic experience in the company of beautiful, elegant and strikingly colorful birds.
As it was mentioned before, Bulgaria is full of wildlife which could be found relatively easy. Sometimes driving along country roads can give pretty good results.
We are waiting now for the next year. Photographing Bee - eaters during mating and breeding season is still on the top of our list.