It is at this time of the year that the Cape Honeysuckle puts on a fine show of cheerful bright orange flowers so beloved by sunbirds, weavers, Cape White-eyes, bees and butterflies.
Aloes vie for space among the crassulas plants edging our swimming pool. They too provide cheer and attract the Greater Double-collared sunbirds, weavers, Black-headed orioles, and Black-eyed Bulbuls as well as bees and ants.
The Spekboom growing in various places in the garden does not mind either the icy weather or the drought.
A large flock of Red-winged Starlings visit the fig tree daily and often perch in the top branches of the Erythrina caffra to catch the early morning sun. These trees are now devoid of all but the hardiest of leaves and are covered in clusters of black seed pods that have split open to reveal the scarlet ‘lucky beans’ inside. Flower buds are making their spiky appearance, so before long the trees will look resplendent in their scarlet blooms.
A Black-headed Oriole perches in one of the many Pompon trees that are rapidly losing their leaves. The formerly beautiful pink blossoms now look like miniature floor mops that have been hung out to dry.
A male Garden Inspector / Garden Commodore (Precis archesia archesia) sees what the Canary Creeper flowers have to offer. We have seen very few butterflies in our garden so far.
Something Over Tea 
We grow so many of the same plants. The flora is so similar. But, I wish we had a Garden Inspector.
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I was thrilled to see these butterflies 🙂
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We have far less butterflies than usual, too
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Friends elsewhere in South Africa have noted the same – very odd.
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Lovely post, Anne.
Of your birds we only see the Double Collared, and then infrequently, even though I planted Aloes all over the place just for the sunbirds.
Would love to see the Oriole.
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Your comment made me look at the distribution patterns for sunbirds and I am taken aback to find relatively few spread over your area. The aloes probably attract other birds though. The Black-headed Oriole was one of the first (‘exotic’ at the time) birds seen in our garden when we moved here over three decades ago. I was so excited that my regular bird list started immediately 🙂
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Wat ‘n vrolike warm kleur is die Honeysuckle! Ek kry die voëls so jammer in die winter. As ek kon het ek hulle in my huisie ingebring..
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Dit is belangrik om vir hulle kos te gee gedurende die koue weer.
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Love your photos–as always!
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You are kind, thank you very much!
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A garden inspector gives your garden an air of authority.
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That’s what I thought too 🙂
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What a beautiful garden you have! I’d have a hard time going inside 😊
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Thank you, Belinda. I do spend a lot of time outdoors 🙂
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Every garden needs an inspector. That black-headed oriole is a striking bird. So handsome!
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I watched one drinking from one of the bird baths this afternoon. Unfortunately it flew off as soon as I got too close to the window. They are really pretty birds.
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Your winter is much better than ours! You still have lots of plants and activity to observe. The cape honeysuckle is esp. striking and it sounds like it attracts many.
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We sometimes complain about the cold, yet it is actually a beautiful time of the year with sunny days and chilly nights. There are numerous flowers and many of our indigenous trees are evergreen.
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Love yor garen! So colourful!
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Thank you very much, Aletta 🙂
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You have a constantly revolving collection of colors and visitors to your garden.
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Many of our birds are quite colourful and we are blessed with some indigenous flowers that bloom during the colder months.
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It is very stark here in Winter, though some of our ornamental grasses hang on through the end of the year adding a little color to the landscape.
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Reblogged this on Wolf's Birding and Bonsai Blog.
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Thank you very much.
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Jou tuin is spesiaal en pragtig.
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Dankie Christa 🙂
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