Blue Banded Bee

Overcast and was not expecting anything special, yet the safari started off with a bang, with a large mongoose crossing my path. Unfortunately it saw me at the same time and vanished into the undergrowth alongside the stream. I sat down and decided to give it half an hour, as these creatures are very rare and very shy. It wasn’t to be though, but well worth the effort. I have only seen this creature once before and was fortunate to fire off three shots.

I was walking down stream for a change. At the end of the walk, there is a bush of blue blooms. It was particularly busy today with blue banded bees. These gorgeous little creatures are notoriously difficult to capture, as they are so fast, shy and never pause for more than a second.

It was definitely a numbers game, because if you fire off one shot for a blue banded bee, you are most unlikely to come away with much better than a blur. Take ten shots and you have a fair chance of a piece of bee, so I stood there, leaning on my monopod and fired off something close to a hundred shots and was rewarded with my best blue banded shot to date. Quite pleased is a massive understatement, ecstatic would be closer.

Another quiet night on the rat front. Not a peep or a rustle, but I did manage to get some sleep. With five traps sprinkled around the abode, the rat is likely to accidently walk into one, rather than being drawn in by the portion of smelly fish. This is fine though, it takes as long as it takes.

Dave