Dundee dallying

You saw how delightful it was to be camped near the beach during the day. It only got better in the evening as the fishing boats came racing across the sea to make the final slots to be brought in by the tractor. We, on the other hand, were ensconced on the beachfront cliff, drinks in hand, watching their busyness. Eventually the jumping schools of fish got to much for Mr Fisherman but unfortunately they all got away.

The fish declined to bite.

As sunset fell the bee eaters stopped flitting and we lit our fire all the while looking out to sea. Dinner was easy-as with prepared lamb massaman and curried deli sausages. Yum!

One of the kind-of strange things to get used to in the Top End is that mostly the sun sets over the ocean. To those who grow up on the east coast where the sun rises in the east, it’s all a bit weird at first.

Did we have a lovely evening? Indeed we did!

Rainbow bee eaters

On the weekend we were camping near the beach and just on sunset the rainbow bee eaters (Merops ornatus) were out looking for their dinner snacks of insects. They are the most gorgeous birds but very difficult to photograph because they’re tiny and incredibly fast on the wing. I managed to get some photos with the telephoto lens and have cropped them down so you can see them up close. They have two long tail-type things at the end of their tails which you can see more clearly in some shots.

You can see how well camouflaged he is when sitting quietly in the tree.

While not a great photo, this one shows his resplendent colours in flight.

I first saw these beautiful birds, one of my favourites, in Kakadu on a camping tour in 1991 but not long afterwards I saw a big group of them near Brunswick Heads in northern New South Wales.