Caption: Juvenile Broad-billed Roller (Eurystomus glaucurus) perching on branch, Mashatu Game Reserve, Botswana.

Camera: Canon EOS 50D; Lens: Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM; Focal length: 400mm; Shutter speed: 1/3200; Aperture: f/5.6; ISO: 400

The broad-billed roller is the smallest of the rollers found in southern Africa, and the only one with a yellow bill. The adult broad-billed roller has colorful cinnamon-brown underparts and lilac-purple below.

The juvenile bird also has a yellow bill but the breast and belly are a rather dull grayish blue.

The broad-billed roller is a fairly common resident, arriving in southern Africa towards the end of September or early October. However, it’s upstaged in the region by its more famous relative, the lilac-breasted roller (Coracias caudatus), which is sighted more often and is the favorite of many because of its spectacular coloring (below).

Caption: Malachite Sunbird (Nectarinia famosa) in splendid iridiscent green plumage poses on a wild pomegranate (Burchellia bubalina), Curry’s Post, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Camera: Canon EOS 50D; Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM; Focal Length: 400mm; Shutter speed: 1/500; Aperture: f/5.6; ISO: 400.

In August this year I posted a couple of photos of a malachite sunbird in non-breeding or “eclipse” plumage, that in-between stage found in birds that do exhibit a distinct breeding plumage — see Malachite Sunbird on Aloe.

Since then I haven’t seen much of these birds, but today — while trying to photograph some other birds in the garden — I was rewarded when a malachite in its full breeding plumage posed briefly for me.

As can be seen, the sunbird is now entirely iridiscent green except for the blue-black wings and tail.

Caption: Male Malachite Sunbird (Nectarinia famosa) in non-breeding colors perching on Aloe flower, Currys Post, KZN Midlands, South Africa

Camera: Canon EOS 50D; Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM; Focal Length: 400mm; Shutter speed: 1/320; Aperture: f/5.6; ISO: 400.

The male malachite sunbird is usually depicted in its unmistakable breeding plumage — overall bright, metallic green colors with bright yellow pectoral tufts.

I’ve been watching a pair of malachite sunbirds flitting around the aloes flowering in my neighbors’ garden. Up to now the male remains in “eclipse” plumage — that comparatively dull, seasonal stage found in birds that do exhibit a distinct breeding plumage.

I’m hoping that before too long it’ll appear in its full, bright green finery while the aloes are still flowering so that I can get some shots of it with red or orange aloe blooms as a backdrop (right).

While waiting with camera on tripod for the sunbirds to co-operate, I took some shots of this strelitzia flower (below) as one seldom finds such near-perfect specimens of strelitzias (also known as crane flower or bird of paradise flower).

Caption: Great Egret (Egretta alba) flying low over the water, Lower Zambezi National Park, Zambia.

Camera: Canon EOS 50D; Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM; Focal Length: 400mm; Shutter speed: 1/500; Aperture: f/5.6; ISO: 400.

Formerly known in southern Africa as the Great White Egret, this large heron is found across most of the world’s tropical and warm temperate regions, including parts of North America, southern Europe, Africa, and Asia.

Other names by which this bird is known include White Egret, White Heron, American Egret, Large Egret, and Common Egret — all rather confusing, but probably a result of its distribution across so many different parts of the world.

The above photograph was taken from a motor boat while exploring some of the Zambezi River’s many channels during a brief visit to Mwambashi River Lodge in the Lower Zambezi National Park. I took a Manfrotto tripod on board which was fitted with a poor man’s gimbal head, the Manfrotto 393 Heavy Duty Telephoto Lens Support (also called Bogen 3421).


The Manfrotto 393 (left) is around $180 from Amazon, compared to the $600-odd you’d pay for a Wimberley gimbal head. I guess if you can afford a $9,000 Canon or Nikon 600mm lens, then 600 bucks for a top-of-the-range gimbal head is well within budget, but regrettably I’m not in that league and my longest lens is a Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L telephoto.

This lens is not image-stabilised, so it’s essential to use a support and, for my purposes, the Manfrotto 393 works just fine, with either a Canon EOS 50D or EOS 1D Mk II body. For a comprehensive review of this head, see Manfrotto 393 gimbal head by Richard Peters Photography.

Caption: Giant Kingfisher perched on a branch watching for potential prey, Ruaha National Park, Tanzania.

Camera: Canon EOS 1D Mk II; Lens: Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM; Focal Length: 400mm; Shutter speed: 1/1250; Aperture: f/5.6; ISO: 400.

The Giant Kingfisher (Megaceryle maxima), the largest kingfisher in Africa, is found across most of the continent south of the Sahara Desert.

Like other kingfishers, the giant kingfisher is a fairly stocky bird with a short neck and straight, dagger-like bill. In size — about 45 cm long — it is not much smaller than a green-backed heron, with a similar shape and flight pattern.

Both male and female giant kingfishers sport a shaggy crest, while the male has a rufous breast band with black and white speckled underparts (as in photo above). In contrast, the female’s breast band is speckled and the belly rufous

The giant kingfisher feeds on fish, crabs and frogs, caught in the typical kingfisher way by a swift dive from a perch, from where it can usually be sighted scanning any nearby water for potential prey.

To find out more about this kingfisher and others found in the southern African region, see safari guide Roddy Smith’s article, Kingfishers of Southern Africa.

(Please Note: If you’re not reading this post on Scotch Macaskill’s Wildlife Photography Blog, then you’re not seeing the original version. Please go to Giant Kingfisher Scanning for Prey to read the original.)

Caption: Lesser doublecollared sunbird hovers while using its long beak to extract nectar from the blossom of a freylinia tropica plant, Curry’s Post, KZN, South Africa.

Camera: Canon EOS 50D; Lens: Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM; Focal length: 220mm; Shutter speed: 1/320; Aperture: f/8.1; ISO: 400.

The Lesser doublecollared sunbird (Nectarinia chalybea), a member of the nectariniidae family, is a small, insect and nectar-eating bird with a down-curved beak adapted to flower probing.

The brilliant, iridescent plumage of the male (above and below) is quite spectacular in sunlight as it flits from blossom to blossom, feeding on the nectar.

Female lesser doublecollared sunbirds, in comparison, are rather drab and definitely come a distant second in the fashion stakes (below).

(Please Note: If you’re not reading this post on Wildlife Photography Blog from Wildlife Pictures Online, then you’re not seeing the original version. Please go to Lesser Doublecollared Sunbird Feeding on Nectar to read the original.)