Watching Their Backs

Perched to the left of its eight peers, one little bee-eater seems to be keeping a lookout in the opposite direction

• Martin Harvey
• Dec 01, 2007

Perched to the left of its eight peers, one little bee-eater seems to be keeping a lookout in the opposite direction. South African photographer Martin Harvey came upon the birds at nighttime while traveling in a small boat along a river in Botswana's Okavango Delta. "We approached the reeds very slowly to avoid making any noise so we could get close to the birds without disturbing them," he says. Little bee-eaters often huddle together after sundown for warmth.