FEBRUARY 2023 GARDEN BIRDS

Another month has flown by in a flurry of activity, leaving little time for photographing avian visitors to our garden – never mind being able to enjoy watching them without the nagging thought that I ought to be doing something else. The real problem – and partly why this post is late – lies with the long bouts sans power that we endure every day. This means one rushes around doing what needs electricity to be done when there is power and catching up with all sorts of other things when there is not. Thank goodness for the birds though: they are always there – seen or heard – to provide some respite from this mad rush.

There have not been as many weavers around as we usually see at this time of the year and of these, Southern Masked Weavers have been dominant. Red-eyed Doves too have been heard –usually early in the morning and during the late afternoon – more than seen. Redwinged Starlings are gathering in ever larger groups now and make various flypasts during the day – one hears them before seeing them whizz by. There will always be an abundance of Laughing Doves attracted by the seeds I put out daily and I am very pleased to note the return of Fork-tailed Drongos. Other welcome returnees this month include the Barthroated Apalis – its cheerful chirps can be heard throughout the day, Fierynecked Nightjars – lovely to hear them at night, and a few fleeting visits from a pair of Yellow-fronted Canaries.

It is always pleasing to actually spot an African Green Pigeon. This one was perched on the branch of the Tipuana tree early one morning:

The presence of Rednecked Spurfowls make me feel as though I have woken up in a game reserve! This small family makes regular forays onto our front lawn and from there to the seed that has fallen under the feeders next to the swimming pool. I have seen them in the back garden too and so have taken to scattering crushed mealies there every now and then. This one is looking up at me in surprise:

Bronze Manikins never fail to amuse the way they huddle close together on the feeders – there always seems to room for one more – and yet, they too, sometimes peck each other or biff one out of the way in order to get to the food:

Most gratifying this month has been the fairly regular sightings of a young Cape Robin-chat. It was very shy at first, but has become bolder in its search for food. Here it is perched on the edge of the bird bath:

A significant problem we have to deal with during these long periods sans power is that perishables, such as cheese, do not last as long as they ought to – even in the fridge. Here Spotty, the Common Fiscal, looks as though he is biting off more than he can chew:

Even though I featured a Blackheaded Oriole last month too, I cannot resist including this view of one perched on the trunk of a Cussonia (cabbage tree) next to the swimming pool:

My bird list for this month:
African Green Pigeon
Barthroated Apalis
Black-collared Barbet
Black-eyed (Dark-capped) Bulbul
Black-headed Oriole
Bokmakierie
Bronze Manikin
Cape Crow
Cape Robin-Chat
Cape Weaver
Cape White-eye
Cattle Egret
Common Fiscal
Fiery-necked Nightjar
Fork-tailed Drongo
Greater Double-collared Sunbird
Green Woodhoopoe
Grey-headed Sparrow
Hadeda Ibis
Knysna Turaco
Laughing Dove
Lesser-striped Swallow
Olive Thrush
Paradise Flycatcher
Pied Crow
Red-eyed Dove
Rednecked Spurfowl
Red-winged Starling
Sacred Ibis
Southern Masked Weaver
Speckled Mousebird
Speckled Pigeon
Village Weaver
White-rumped Swift
Yellow-fronted Canary

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SOME RANDOM BIRDS

I tend to publish photographs of birds seen in my garden during a particular month, always meaning to return to some of the others I have photographed over time. The first four in this post are from ‘my patch’ and we will travel to the Addo Elephant National Park for the final two. Regular readers will be familiar with the Common Fiscals that vie with each other for food at the feeding station. I have mentioned that Spotty has brought youngsters closer to the food source yet have seldom featured what a young Common Fiscal looks like.

The Speckled Pigeons became a real nuisance once they multiplied and moved holus-bolus into our roof. Happily, they moved off once we had the eaves fixed and now appear in more reasonable numbers – although at least two couples have taken to roosting on ledges overnight: one outside the upstairs bathroom and the other outside my study window.

African Green Pigeons are heard more often than they can be seen amidst the dense foliage of the Natal fig tree.

A rare sighting around here is that of the Dikkop – now known as the Spotted Thick-knee. This one is on the pavement.

Why travel all the way to the Addo Elephant National Park for the next two birds? Well, although I have spotted a Secretary Bird on the edge of town it has always been too far away to photograph. These are really interesting looking birds I want to share with readers from abroad. This one is standing near its nest.

Lastly, recent comments in another post relating to birds highlighted how we tend to take the familiar for granted. I mentioned that Ostriches are no real cause for excitement here because we see them so often – yet overseas tourists are excited to see such an enormous bird for the first time. It is in honour of those of you for whom the Ostrich is an exotic creature that I present to you … an Ostrich.

PORTRAIT OF AN AFRICAN GREEN PIGEON

I think I first became aware of African Green Pigeons in the Kruger National Park. It was only in 2004 that I became aware of them clambering about in the Natal fig tree in our garden. Since then I have observed large flocks of them congregating there at various times of the year. Despite their beautiful colouring, they are not easy birds to see. Even if you happen to spot them – especially in the late afternoon, when the lowering sun highlights them in the top branches – they tend to be rather too high up to photograph, or they disappear into the foliage within seconds of you training your lens on them!

I have published pictures of these very attractive birds now and then, such as this one, which shows off its yellow thighs and gives one an idea of its unique green and grey plumage as well as its distinctively bright eye.

I seldom get to photograph the whole bird, yet I rather like this one of an African Green Pigeon catching the sun in a different tree and fluffed up against the cold.

I rather enjoy the benign look in its eye and the clear view of its pink and white bill. The mauve shoulder patch is partly hidden by a branch – of course – and blends into the olive green wing. The reddish feet are clearly visible too.

The large flocks have moved on, making me wonder what trees are fruiting now that the bounty of figs are over. A few of them still sun themselves in the Erythrina caffra and so I remain entertained by their array of croaks and soft chuckling sounds

WHEN A FIG IS NOT A FIG

Mention the word ‘fig’ and this image springs to mind:

Our neighbours have such a fig tree in their garden that sometimes bends with the weight of delicious edible fruit. A succession of families living there over the years have ignored their plump ripeness, leaving them for the Speckled Mousebirds, Cape White-eyes, Redwinged Starlings and Blackeyed Bulbuls to devour!

The enormous Natal fig tree in our garden produces an abundance of tiny fruits that are inedible for humans, yet are a magnet for an enormous variety of birds. This African Green Pigeon among them:

So, when is a fig not a fig? When it belongs to the ice plant or Mesembryanthemacae family. There is such a variety of these plants indigenous to South Africa that they probably deserve a fat guide book all to themselves. Whatever their actual scientific designation, they are commonly known here as mesembs or vygies (little figs). Let me show you why:

Once these beautifully silky flowers have fruited, the fruiting capsules bear a strong resemblance to a little fig (vygie):

JUNE 2022 GARDEN BIRDS

Even though the colder winter weather has settled in, there is plenty of fruit on the Natal fig tree in the bottom corner of our garden. A flock of African Green Pigeons seem to have taken up residence there for the time being – only flying out to seek the sun elsewhere during the late afternoons or if startled by loud noises on the street below. In the first photograph of the two below you see how well these fairly large birds blend into the foliage:

Here one of these birds is feasting on a fig:

Enormous flocks of Redwinged Starlings visit this tree daily too, as do doves, Olive Thrushes, Black-collared Barbets, Speckled Mousebirds and weavers. Black-headed Orioles enjoy the figs too and visit the nectar feeder regularly. Although this isn’t a good picture at all – taken with my cell phone from some distance – it illustrates how these birds also enjoy the nectar from aloe flowers:

Laughing Doves congregate in high branches in order to catch the early morning sun. This is one of several perched in the almost bare branches of a pompon tree:

Welcome sounds and sightings this month mark the return of a pair of Cape Wagtails that prance around the edge of our swimming pool and the beautiful bubbling call of a Burchell’s Coucal from deep within the foliage. I have also heard a pair of Bar-throated Apalises nearby. They too are not easy to spot between the leaves, although I caught a glimpse of one in the kitchen hedge whilst I was hanging up the laundry the other day. I see Cape Weavers around more often now, still looking a little tatty in their winter garb:

The other weaver I simply cannot resist showing you more of is the Spectacled Weaver. This one is becoming very bold and visits the bird feeders daily, eating fruit, cheese, fish and seeds during the course of the week:

With aloes, Cape honeysuckle and other winter flowers blooming, there is probably enough nectar to go around – the mixture I put out goes down fairly slowly at the moment – and so it was fun seeing a Cape White-eye sampling my fare:

Fork-tailed Drongos, Pied Crows and a flock of about six Cape Crows have been regular visitors this month too. The Speckled Pigeons appear to have decreased in number – one still roosts on a ledge near our front door and makes an awful mess below. This one is peering down at me from the gutter – which is in desperate need of cleaning!

My bird list for this month:

African Green Pigeon
Amethyst Sunbird
Bar-throated Apalis
Black-collared Barbet
Black-eyed (Dark-capped) Bulbul
Black-headed Oriole
Bronze Manikin
Burchell’s Coucal
Cape Crow
Cape Glossy Starling
Cape Robin-Chat
Cape Turtle Dove
Cape Wagtail
Cape Weaver
Cape White-eye
Cattle Egret
Common Fiscal
Fork-tailed Drongo
Greater Double-collared Sunbird
Green Woodhoopoe
Grey-headed Sparrow
Hadeda Ibis
Knysna Turaco
Laughing Dove
Olive Thrush
Pied Crow
Red-eyed Dove
Red-winged Starling
Southern Boubou
Southern Masked Weaver
Speckled Mousebird
Speckled Pigeon
Spectacled Weaver
Streaky-headed Seedeater
Village Weaver