european roller

This annual migrant comes to spend it's winter in Sub Saharan Africa, just like most of the human tourists from Europe!😉

European Roller سبزقبا

European Roller سبز قبا سبزقبا

European Roller from Bird Hide BSP6 in the Alentejo region of Portugal. More photos at: https://birdwatchingalentejo.com/bird-hide-photography-bsp6-portugal/

My SF theme for this week is wet and bedraggled. These were the next three shots (alphabetically) in my file from that day anyway, but as it happens they work as an SF theme. All three were looking pretty damp from the storm. The Red-backed shrike and European roller were two of the few...

mating on a nesting box near the road

even though the European Roller I got a close shot of when the sun came back on our last day and a half in Kruger Park wasn't posed as perfectly as that grey day one I posted yesterday.

One bird I'd been hoping to see in Kruger was a Lilac-fronted Bee-eater. From internet browsing before the trip I had been led to believe they could be seen all over the park. We did see a few eventually, but what we saw far more often were Rattling Cisticola (dozens by the end of the trip)...

A European roller illustration from 2011. Also painted for the German bird atlas.

Snapped a few shots, took a few steps closer, repeat, repeat again, then after this shot he flew off. Too bad I didn't manage to capture him in flight. They put on a great show of those flashy blue wings :D

I probably should have skipped posting this shot since I got closer to a roller the next day without cropping, but they're so beautiful I couldn't resist.

After those white-headed LTTs and my long awaited success with the Kingfisher, this Roller (the second we'd seen, the first I got a shot of) was like dessert, or the dot over the i, or whatever happy metaphor you wish.

European Roller in road

LUIS SITGES http://birdingtrekkingandnaturecom-luis.blogspot.com.es/2014/06/birding-llanos-de-caceres-carraca.html

LUIS SITGES http://birdingtrekkingandnaturecom-luis.blogspot.com.es/2014/05/birding-parque-nacional-tablas-de.html

Days of honey buzzards and rollers in the Strait of Gibraltar!

European Roller, Basilicata - Italy