One of the delights of visiting the Victoria Falls area of Zambia, is cruising on the mighty Zambezi as sunset approaches.  It was a major highlight of my holiday there this summer, and my strong recommendation is to go in a small boat so that you can get close to the wildlife.

There is no way I would have had this good a view of these gorgeous bee eaters if I’d been on a bigger boat.

From a distance, the river banks at this spot on the river were covered with black spots.  Get closer, and you find tens of white-fronted bee eaters going in and out of their nests.

There are many species of bee-eaters, all beautiful; these white-fronted bee eaters have a distinctive white forehead, a square tail and a bright red patch on their throat. They have a complex social structure,  nesting in small colonies on river banks or cliff walls.  These colonies are composed of clans of two or three pairs, their helpers, and offspring.

From what I have read since, they are a pretty rough bunch.  The males alternate between guarding their mate and attempting to mate with other females; the females attempt to lay eggs in their neighbours’ nests; meanwhile, other birds specialise in stealing prey collected by other colony members.

They are best observed just after dawn or around dusk, when they are preening themselves in preparation for the day ahead or are back at the colony socialising before bed.  I took these photos around sunset, when the birds were sitting around or flitting in and out of their nests.  Every now and then most of them would disappear into the holes they have so carefully dug out of the bank.  Then, on some unseen (by me) signal, they would all re-emerge at speed and in perfect unison.

Linked to the Next Challenge: Birds and Wild Bird Wednesday.