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Chestnut Headed Bee Eater Juvenile


Chestnut Headed Bee Eater Juvenile
Photo Information
Copyright: iris'hues ss (iris) Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 389 W: 40 N: 729] (2300)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2008-05-18
Categories: Birds
Camera: Canon SX100 IS
Exposure: f/4.3, 1/250 seconds
Photo Version: Original Version
Theme(s): Open Up ...Part I [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2008-05-21 21:13
Viewed: 665
Points: 62
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Hello,
It has been raining incessantly here in Delhi. This is quite uncharacteristic of North Indian summer. In fact met reported that yesterday we had the coldest summer day in 10 years!!! All this reminds one of the monsoons that are part of Kerala’s (southern most state of India) weather, a state so dear to me for several reasons.

So here is something for you from my Kerala trip. Presenting the juvenile Chestnut Headed Bee eater that I found near my uncle’s home that is on the bank of a river. To my delightful surprise my very short visit (of just about 20 minutes) to his home recently was enlivened by the finding of these wonderful birds in and around his courtyard. I hardly went inside to say hello to my aunt spending most of the time looking through my camera at the river nearby, the bee eaters, the butterflies that frequented the 5-6 types of lantanas he has planted in the garden.

I wished I could have stayed back, but had to leave as I had already overstayed my vacation.

The time was one of those late summer mornings with the sun beating down in all its glory and me fighting a runny nose and cold still not wanting to lose the opportunity to click these beautiful creations.
I hope you like this.

Thanks for coming in :)
*******************************************************
The Chestnut-headed Bee-eater, Merops leschenaultia is a near passerine bird in the bee-eater family Meropidae. It is a resident breeder in southern Asia from India east to southeast Asia and Indonesia.
This species, like other bee-eaters, is a richly coloured, slender bird. It is predominantly green, with blue on the rump and lower belly. Its face and throat are yellow with a black eye stripe, and the crown and nape are rich chestnut. The thin curved bill is black. Sexes are alike, but young birds are duller.
This species is 18–20 cm long; it lacks the two elongated central tail feathers possessed by most of its relatives

This is a bird which breeds in sub-tropical open woodland, often near water (no wonder that I found them in the open shrubbery by the side of the river). It is most common in highland areas. As the name suggests, bee-eaters predominantly eat insects, especially bees, wasps and hornets, which are caught in the air by sorties from an open perch.
These bee-eaters are gregarious, nesting colonially in sandy banks. They make a relatively long tunnel in which the 5 to 6 spherical white eggs are laid. Both the male and the female take care of the eggs. These birds also feed and roost communally. The call is similar to that of the European Bee-eater.

References:
1.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chestnut-headed_Bee-eater
2.http://www.indianaturewatch.net/displayimage.php?id=13661
rcrick, maurydv, gracious, eng55, PaulH, haraprasan, gannu, boreocypriensis, jaycee, Argus, JPlumb, marhowie, smitha, eqshannon, Miss_Piggy, CeltickRanger, Alex99 has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To Argus: Perch!iris 1 05-24 10:14
To eqshannon: The cable!iris 1 05-24 10:09
To Jamesp: Yes....iris 2 05-23 03:12
To joey: Welcome!iris 1 05-22 22:17
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Critiques [Translate]

  • Great 
  • rcrick Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 623 W: 42 N: 1142] (3696)
  • [2008-05-21 21:28]

Hello Iris,

Wonderful capture of this Chestnut Headed Bee Eater, beautiful colours, superb detail, and the diagonal lines from the OOF background really make this image stand out, really lovely work, congratulations, all the best,

Cheers Rick :)

Héhéhé,
splendid capture my friend
I like so much his pose with his beak open
splendid colours and background, perfect focus and lovely composition,
cheer,
friendly,
Pat

Splendido momento di cattura, ottimi POV e composizione con il gruccione in una bellissima posa, ottima nitidezza, molto belli i colori e BG. Grazie e complimenti. Ciao Maurizio

  • Great 
  • Jamesp Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1251 W: 0 N: 4829] (14332)
  • [2008-05-21 23:49]
  • [+]

Hi Silpa

A lovely shot - great pose with very good detail.

James

Thanks again - I hope you have received my reply :)

Hello Iris,
Good pose well captured on this Chestnut Headed Bee Eater with it's beak open!
the impressive bg colouration too!
the subject is sharp with nice colour and details, may be just lost a bit of details on the plummage due to OE but still a pleasant presentation!
well done
regards to you and family
Tony

  • Great 
  • eng55 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 353 W: 3 N: 376] (1127)
  • [2008-05-22 0:51]

Hello Iris,
Beautiful capture of this beaeater.Lighting,BG and visual impact are excellent.
Thanks for posting.

  • Great 
  • PaulH Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1031 W: 26 N: 2984] (10774)
  • [2008-05-22 1:12]

Hi Iris,
wow what a visually stunning shot! A very dynamic image with excellent clarity and sharp focus...superb work my friend, very well done!
Paul

Hi Iris,
A lovely capture of this beautiful bee eater juvenile. Excellent composition and sharp details. Thanks a lot for sharing.

Hi Iris, wonderfull capture of this cute juvenile of Chestnut Headed Bee Eater with nice DOF, POV and framing. The posture and its diagonal positon also are excellent. TFS.
Cheers,

Bayram

  • Great 
  • gannu Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 916 W: 4 N: 2277] (10628)
  • [2008-05-22 5:20]

Hello Silpa
Very beautiful and you can see the rain drops on the bird. Excellent beak open pose and lovely sharpness. Ganesh

  • Great 
  • jaycee Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1778 W: 8 N: 4597] (14871)
  • [2008-05-22 9:41]

Hi Iris,

I love this adorable open-beaked bee eater. Wonderful pose - pretty colors - very good details. A great composition on the diagonal rope. Fascinating background adds to the picture.

Jane

  • Great 
  • Argus Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2596 W: 133 N: 7433] (23169)
  • [2008-05-22 10:00]
  • [+]

Hello Iris,
A fine captue of a juvenile Chestnut-headed Bee-eater. I have photographed a couple in Goa but didn't get this close.
Excellent pose, POV and composition on the cable (funny how kingfishers, bee-eaters and rollers, the most colourful of Asian birds often perch on cables and lines). Nice OOF palm leaf BG too.
TFS this beauty,
Best wishes,
Ivan

  • Great 
  • joey Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1681 W: 242 N: 5550] (19643)
  • [2008-05-22 14:02]
  • [+]

Hi Iris!
Great capture of this beautiful Bee Eater!
Superb pose and you've made the most of the POV.
Sharp and crisp.
Very good composition too.
I love the BG.

Well done!

Joe

p.s thankyou very much for adding me as a favourite :-D

Hello Silpa, this is a great singer you have here. The clarity on the bird, with that great colour, especially around the head is excellent. Love the capture of that open beak and that eye. It looks like he is looking at you as he sings. Interesting background.

Thanks, John

  • Great 
  • Swats Silver Star Critiquer/Silver Note Writer [C: 37 W: 0 N: 44] (488)
  • [2008-05-23 3:30]

Lovely capture of the juvenile! Nice composition, details, light and colours.

Hello Iris,
Very beautiful photo of this Bee-eater. Great colours, light and very good details in the bird. Good composition and POV. Excellent timing.
Regards,
Peter

I like the open-beak pose Iris, nice POV.
Good detail/DOF and color, just a bit OE on the backside of the bird. The BG is unique and I like the diagonal lines, but again a bit OE.
TFS this beautiful bird today!
Howard

Hello Iris,,
Nice capture of the Chestnut headed Bee eater with excellent details and sharpness. I especially liked the pose captured here with the juvenile hungry for its food. Well seen and well captured moment.Seems like you must make more of these family visits.:)
TFS & Regards,
Smitha.

  • Great 
  • uleko Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2458 W: 168 N: 7420] (23432)
  • [2008-05-24 3:58]

Hello Iris,
Lovely view of this pretty Bee-eater in strong light that you've managed very well. I like its pose and the way you caught it calling. A fine composition too.
Many thanks and regards, Ulla

I do believe Ram caught one as well...well seen Iris...I am still in wonder as to these perches of strong cable I see..I must ask my Punjabi friend today when I see him...I shall bookmark this page and sent it to him...although he does not take pictures, he is my closest tie to your country!
Bob

No cabe duda de que esta foto tiene encanto.
La actitud del pajarillo la hace familiar, al tiempo que las formas y el colorido la hacen exótica.
Buen ojo fotográfico
Saludos
Jacobo

  • Great 
  • Mana Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1714 W: 24 N: 4988] (16346)
  • [2008-05-24 8:22]

Hi Silpa,
Wonderful shot of this beautiful Bee-eater in a fantastic pose. Great colours and details on its plumage with perfect handling of natural light and exposure levels. The BG looks superb. Excellent POV and composition. Kudos.
TFS.
Sumon

Hi Iris,
This is such a beautiful specie! The picture is very original and well done. You captured good action and this background gives a nice dynamic effect at the picture. Colors, exposure and details are very good. Thanks,
Claudine

  • Great 
  • arfer Gold Star Critiquer [C: 2731 W: 0 N: 0] (0)
  • [2008-05-24 19:46]

Hello Iris

A very interesting shot of this beautiful bee-eater.
The colours are vivid.
Excellent sharpness and detail.The image is well focused.
I like the OOF BG.
TFS

Rob

Hi irishues, fascinating bird with fantastic colors and fine details, splendid blurry BG, excellent sharpness, I like a lot, have a good week end, ciao Silvio

Its so wonderful to see you back here! I sure missed you. I haven't been online much lately. Now I want to catch up with all my favorite artists and you're on that list! :)

Great shot! Very creative depth of field. WOnderful sharpness and amazing color. Great action pose. Just one of those great shots! :)

Hallo Iris
Time is little, but I cannot pass without leaving my comment and appreciation for this beautiful photograph. I am always amazed with the variety of colours of this bird, as if I see it for the first time, and everythime it is beautiful. I like the round pitch black eye, the slender built body and the opened beak. This one is indeed looking for some food. A good presentation. I think you have managed this photo technically great. I thank you kindly.
Kind regards
Anna

  • Great 
  • izler Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1262 W: 78 N: 869] (7848)
  • [2008-05-26 10:18]

hello iris
good capture and wonderful species
i like composition, POV, colours and details
TFS
regards
izler

hello Iris

in my absence from TN i lost alot of great images
and your photos (this one and the next one) are of them,
very fine image of this Bee eater, fine POV, DOF and framing,
very beautiful luminosity of the image, excellent sharpness and details,

TFS

Asbed

  • Great 
  • Alex99 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3029 W: 148 N: 4520] (14595)
  • [2008-06-26 22:35]

Hi Irishues.
I like this species a lot and like shots of him. I also like diagonal composition of the image and very impressive inclined lines on BG. Pictured scene and moments are fine. Exposure is excellent in spite the strong sunlight. My best regards and TFS.
Alexei.

hello Iris,
a beautiful composition with a nice vertical green BG.
i like this Chestnut Headed Bee Eater
captured with fantastic sharpness and vivid details...really smart work!!
p.s. Thanks for putting my picture among its series "unforgettable"

best regards sERGIO

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