I LOVE SITTING …

I love sitting in a particular spot in our front garden where I am sheltered from the hot summer sun while I keep an eye on the bird feeders and can look out towards the side garden.

This is a special place where I can breathe in the fresh air, listen to the bird calls and – occasionally look up at the tangle of branches above me and spot one of the three Common Fiscals that visit the garden daily.

Sometimes, once the main flurry of visiting birds is over, a Southern Boubou might appear without a sound to see what food is on offer. These birds feed on the ground too and make good use of the bird bath not far away.

The hanging bird feeder attracts a variety of visitors. Here are Village Weavers and Streaky-headed Seedeaters, while on the path in the background you can see three African Hoopoes.

Now and then I gasp quietly in surprise when an unusual visitor turns up – like the Cape Glossy Starling.

Sitting for a while in this part of the garden is something I do every day. It might be while I am having breakfast; I could be enjoying a cup of tea; or it might simply be because I enjoy watching the setting rays of the afternoon sun highlight the top of the Natal Fig growing to the right of where I usually sit.

I love sitting out here and will miss this garden: the sounds of it, the smell of it; the peace it blankets me with; the surprises it holds; as well as its wild beauty. Before the year is out we will probably have moved to a much smaller place with a postage stamp-sized garden, where new discoveries will have to be made …

7th FEBRUARY 2026: SATURDAY MORNING BIRDS

The weather has been working up to 34℃ outside since early this morning. The Real Feel is 37℃ because of the humidity. All this means that it is not a great day for sitting outside to watch birds in our garden. I filled the bird baths as the contents evaporate very quickly in this heat; filled the nectar feeder for that had been emptied since I filled it yesterday afternoon; scattered crushed mealies on the ground; filled the hanging feeders with fine seed; and placed some cut apples on the spikes of the flat feeder placed in the fork of the tree. The feeders were still in shadow when I sat nearby with my toast and coffee for breakfast.

Given the heat, even then, it is not surprising that I didn’t record many avian visitors. I didn’t spend more than half an hour outside anyway as the sun rose quickly enough above the trees to put an end to my shadowy haven. These are the birds I saw:

Bar-throated Apalis
Black-eyed Bulbul (Dark-capped Bulbul)
Black-headed Oriole
Cape White-eye
Laughing Dove
Lesser-striped Swallow
Olive Thrush
Red-eyed Dove
Red-winged Starling
Southern Masked Weaver
Village Weaver

I didn’t have my camera with me, so you may have seen some of these images before. Let me tell you about some of these birds.

Red-eyed Doves were quick to arrive. Two of them flew down from the height of the Erythrina affra trees to perch in the branches above where the seed had been scattered on the ground. They still hadn’t come down to eat by the time I had left, although I saw them through a window later eating seed quite happily in the company of the Laughing Doves. The latter tend to muster together before one is brave enough to fly down to try out the seed. The others then flutter down very quickly. Their motto seems to be that there’s safety in numbers!

There have been several Red-winged Starlings around lately. So many, that a neighbour complained recently that they appeared to have usurped the presence of the African Green Pigeons. This all has to do with the availability of food, really. Anyhow, they were quick to fly down to assess the quality of the fruit I had put out – took a few bites and returned to the sky to join a flock circling around the garden.

This summer – so far – has not been a particularly good one for seeing weavers, although there is an almost completed weaver nest in our front garden. Southern-masked Weavers have been seen more regularly, along with the Village Weavers – one of which is shown below.

A pair of Bar-throated Apalises daily make their raucous way through the shrubs and bushes in the garden, while the Lesser-striped Swallows grace the sky or perch on a wire in our back garden. I never tire of watching the antics of the Olive Thrushes: they often spear something from the feeding tray and take it off to eat elsewhere, or busy themselves turning over dry leaves to find something to eat underneath.

Black-headed Orioles and Black-eyed (Dark-capped) Bulbuls enjoy eating the fruit. They prefer coming when there is less of a crowd, although are not shy to give another bird a shove if they feel they have been waiting for too long.

The really shy ones are the Cape White-eyes. I hear them chatting to each other high above my head and see them at a distance flitting through the spekboom and other shrubs. It is usually only once the feeders are quite free of other birds that they visit either the fruit or the nectar feeder. For the sharp-eyed, don’t be concerned: I last coloured the water (ignorantly so) years ago and haven’t done so since. I happen to like this picture though:

OLIVE THRUSHES IN OUR GARDEN

Olive thrushes were among the first birds to be identified in our present garden thirty-six years ago. I was beyond excited to make the acquaintance of new birds in our new environment – there were to be so many of them over the years, as my monthly bird lists (when I still posted them) showed very clearly. Perhaps because it was the first, I have tended to feel rather privileged whenever an olive thrush appears near to where I am sitting outside. I count them among my favourite garden birds.

I usually see them singly, or in pairs, searching for worms, insects and other invertebrates on the ground. They are not shy to tuck into the fruit I put out either! Sometimes, I become aware of their presence in a gutter as they toss aside dry leaves and other plant matter in their search for food. Until the neighbouring cats moved in and initially scared off the smaller ground feeding birds, the Olive thrushes had become tame enough to peck at food quite close to where I sit. Over time the birds, the cats, and I have reached a cautious truce.

It is known that olive thrushes tend to be both monogamous and territorial, so I am not surprised when a young – and obviously independent – thrush disappears after a while for it has doubtless gone to seek a territory of its own. The youngsters are spotty in appearance.

Over the past week or so now, I have seen four mature looking thrushes in the garden. Not one appears to tolerate the other whether on the ground, at the feeding station or perched in a tree. This has surprised me for I have understood that breeding pairs tend to remain in, and defend, their territory throughout the year – they are seen in my garden every month of the year. See the mud on its beak from foraging on the ground.

Perhaps they are more defensive during the breeding period and so one pair is not keen for another to muscle in where they have found a good living.

As olive thrushes are birds that prefer forest and woodland, our garden provides prime living and breeding space. There are a lot of mature trees – many bearing berries – thick undergrowth, plenty of water, and a regular supply of supplementary food should they need it. Given how ubiquitous they are, it is easy to tell that these birds have adapted well to suburbia. This one is collecting food to take back to its nest.

 

ODD FINDINGS

Who says one has to travel far to spot strange and interesting things? Over the past while, I have come across several odd things of interest right here at home. The first ‘found’ me while I was working at my desk. Seemingly from nowhere, this spider dropped down onto the paper I was writing on:

Then, I was washing dishes when I looked out of the kitchen window – my attention was caught by something ‘solid looking’ apparently bouncing or hovering in one place against the wall of the garage. What could it be? Of course I had to go outdoors for a closer look. It turns out to be a rainspider web – nest might be a better description – made up of dried Erythrina leaves bound in silken threads and firmly anchored to the rough plastered wall. Whenever I come across webs such as these, I wonder why it is that I haven’t noticed it being constructed. I looked it up: they take only three to five hours to complete.

Here is a songololo making its way thrugh the weeds on my lawn.

So much for the creatures around. While wandering through our drought-stricken garden, I couldn’t help being attracted to these holes in the leaves of the giant Delicious Monster growing in a shady area.

Lastly – and I doubt if any of you would be expecting this – I happened upon this pile of copper coins (no longer legal tender) on the top of a wall along the side of our home. Who emptied them there and why? My grandchildren? It was an odd, yet fun, find which I have left untouched.

AQUA

Some colour is required on this blog, so why not start at the very beginning and start with A for aqua. Here is an aqua sky with two donkeys on the foreground, grazing on a little island of grass at the end of our street.

I would also like to share with you this lovely drawing of a Lilac-breasted Roller given to me by my granddaughter, Ceridwen.

Then there are the Agapanthus, which are indigenous to this part of the world.

An aqua pullover in front of which the wearer is making Cat’s Cradle shapes.

Our swimming pool in the garden.

Lastly, spot the aqua on a Scrabble board!