Okay, all the excitement is over, so here are some lovely birds to calm everyone down and get you thinking about the beauty of southern Africa again.  These were taken on game drives at Savuti Camp in the north central part of Botswana between the Okavango Delta and the Chobe National Park.

The lilac breasted roller is an incredibly beautiful bird.  It has always been known as the national bird of Botswana and they are everywhere.  There is a move afoot to change to the fish eagle as the national bird.

They perch on dead trees and insects are attracted to their bright colors and the rollers then eat the bugs.

This is my favorite.  It's spectacular full size, but I have made them small for easier sending. I have already painted it too.

They are called rollers because of their display flights which often include elaborate and violent aerial maneuvers.  They also have a rocking motion when they fly which some people use as a reason why they are called rollers.  When they fly, they show brilliant iridescent turquoise wings.  I have tried and tried to get a picture of one flying, but haven't captured it yet.  Apparently not many others have either--I looked at the images on Google and there were no flight photos in the first hundred or so images I looked at.  I guess we'll just have to go back and try some more.