Bee-Eaters are colorful and make for great images. We were on a photography boat on the Chobe river in Botswana during one of our (with my photography partners Don Smith and Henning de Beer) workshops. We saw this bee-eater and parked the board on the riverbank. The bird flew here and there and did not stay on one perch for long. It seemed too quick to allow for enough time to make a good image. So, how then do we capture nice photographs of this bird in this situation?

The best way to photograph these birds, when they seem to zip around without lingering anywhere long enough to acquire the bird in the viewfinder to photograph, is to put the camera down. Yes, put the camera down, stop photographing. The thing to know about these birds and many other species is that they are habitual. They have certain favorite perches and will always go back to the same ones. Spend some time to just watch them, take note of where they land, and sit. Once you find out their routine, where they always go, choose the perch that the bird actually uses that suits you best. Think about the distance between you and perch and how long your lens is. How does the background look? Are you at the best angle? What angle is the light coming from? You have time. Think about all these things and pick the best perch that will yield the best image.

          Now, set up your view for only that one spot, and just wait. The bird will come back (if you picked one of the bird's favorite perches). The next time the bird comes to that perch you will be ready. Even if the bird only stays there momentarily you will be ready because your viewfinder is fixed on the perches and you have already acquired proper focus before the bird even showed up (or reasonably close to it). So be patient, watch the bird, learn its habits, and then prepare to photograph it accordingly.

          An added benefit to this course of action is that it minimized your movement. Some birds can be very skittish. The slightest movement from you can spook them. Having picked one perched and being pre-setup means that you are not moving around. You are just sitting still waiting. This makes the bird more comfortable to stay there a bit longer.

          Getting the know these birds can be the difference between getting the image or not. So spend some time watching them prior to photographing them if they don't sit still for long.