The Carmine Bee-eaters are still in the Luangwa in huge numbers. Most of them are concentrated along the sandy rivers where they are rearing chicks in nest holes excavated into the banks.

Trying to photograph them is a frustrating business as they are very agile and change direction in the blink of an eye. I found that if you followed the movements of an individual bird, you could tell which group of nest holes it was heading to, and at least have the camera pointing in the right direction to capture the action.

Here are a few shots of the ‘Carmines’ returning to their nest holes with insects for the chicks inside.