Mother Nature

This fellow was teasing me since the first day we got here. I knew it was a Parakeet, but not what kind.

I simply coulnd’t catch a shot. He flies out of the same area almost every morning at the same time. That’s what I learned watching this fellow.

Two days ago I finally found the spot where he comes out from. Yesterday I waited for him and surely didn’t see or hear him (or her?). But today I got him.

Not great, but I got him.

That fellow is so fast and flies in a wavy way like he has the devil on his tail.

I was lucky today. He posed for me in our big Mesquite (?) tree, but I couldn’t get closer due to some cars coming and when I finally got closer, he was already on his way to a different place.

I’ll keep trying Such a beautiful bird! But he makes a weird noise

Sound via Xeno-Canto (the second call comes close to what I hear in the mornings before I get to see him)

More Info on Birdforum

Translation via Bavarianbirds

Saw this tiny fellow this morning on our walk.

He wasn’t bigger than my fingernail, but he gave me his ‘teeth’ when I got too close with the lens.

I think, from what I found on the net, this fellow could be a Wolf spider Jumping spider (Salticidae). See update.

Any ideas what Jumping spider?

Update:

This wee fellow seems to belong to the family of jumping spiders (Salticidae).
Glad I backed off when he showed me his ‘teeth’
I love to take photos of spiders, but eeekkkk, I don’t like them too close!

The tip came from Salticus at Birdforum - thanks!

This morning I took the dogs for a little detour, away from the beach (it gets boring to see the Slender-billed gullsmigrating in masses, but too far from the shore for me to get decent shots).

We walked a bit through the neighbourhood and I was looking for the White-eared Bulbuls when a sound kept boggling my mind.

It took a while until it clicked and my mind registered: Bee-eaters!

(More photos in my gallery)

And sure as heck, there they were. Flying around and catching Dragonflies. I saw one struggling with one, but couldn’t catch a shot. It was a funny sight for sure :>>

When I left Sharm I thought I had said ‘Byebye’ to them and wouldn’t see them again.

Yet, here they are. I am a happy Camper today :>>

Yesterday I didn’t want to go anywhere. The weather is just hot and humid and it makes wielding a camera a torture.

But I needed to get out or I would go nuts. I go in the mornings with the digs, but since I can’t let them roam around it ain’t that much fun either, plus without the dip in the ocean they easily overheat.

So I decided to walk to Fahaheel in the morning. There was one bird in particular that caught my attention the last time. A noisy fellow, but I couldn’t ID him from the crapshot I took.

I also wanted to check out the shore birds during low tide. Not many of those, just 2 Greater Sand Plovers and that was it.

Found the noisy fellow though. They are even noisier than the Bulbuls

He wasn’t shy for some guys sitting under a tree. Birdie was sitting close to them on the ground, but some guys approaching behind me and me with the camera made him take off.

Well, I got some shots, good enough for ID-ing. Since he’s a resident here, I probably will get a better shot of him one day when I am NOT drenched after a less than 5 minute photo shoot. Talk about yuck! 

More Info about the Common Myna

Listen to the sound of the Common Myna (via Xeno-Canto)

Translation of names via Bavarianbirds

A new one for my Lifelist.

I almost didn’t take a photo, since I thought it’s ‘the’ Greater Sand Plover again.

But I wanted to check if he’s affected by the oil spill and so I took one. On the screen I thought, ‘uh, looks different’