APRIL 2024 GARDEN BIRDS

Where did April go? This is clearly not a year for prompt action – even though I am very punctual by nature. My monthly bird lists are developing a nasty habit of slipping into the following month! Of course I missed a week by visiting the Western Cape and since then have battled with a damaged knee … neither are good excuses. An enormous problem has come in the form of three neighbouring cats that really made themselves at home in our garden during our absence. They have definitely scared off the smaller ground feeding birds, which are taking an age to come back. This is certainly the case with the Olive Thrushes that had become quite tame and would peck at food quite close to where I sit. Now they make fleeting visits to the feeder, grab food and eat it higher up in the branches.

Nonetheless, apart from the usual suspects, we have enjoyed five new visitors this month. One is the annual return of a Sombre Bulbul – at least it has made its presence known vocally – and is fun to see. Green Woodhoopoes have cackled their way through the garden several times, so quickly that I imagine them giving the old trees in the whole neighbourhood a run through to find grubs and other tasty things to eat. Another is a female Brown-hooded Kingfisher which seems to enjoy our back garden especially.

Enormous flocks of Redwinged Starlings have descended on the garden to feast on the fruit of the Natal fig – hundreds of them at a time. Cape Crows have been making interesting aerial manoeuvres from time to time. I happened to be looking out of my study window when I spotted this Cardinal Woodpecker land on a branch of our neighbour’s Erythrina caffra. It appears to have something long and thin in its beak.

Even though the African Green Pigeons usually hide within the leaves of the fig tree, they occasionally sun themselves in the Erythrina caffra too.

Here is a Laughing Dove sunning itself in a sandy spot of the garden.

There are far fewer Speckled Pigeons around since we closed the holes in the eaves around our house, so it is good to see one visiting the bird bath.

My bird list for this month:

African Green Pigeon
African Hoopoe
Amethyst Sunbird
Barthroated Apalis
Black-collared Barbet
Black-eyed (Dark-capped) Bulbul
Black-headed Oriole
Brownhooded Kingfisher
Bronze Manikin
Cape Crow
Cape Robin-Chat
Cape Turtle Dove
Cape Weaver
Cape White-eye
Cardinal Woodpecker
Cattle Egret
Fork-tailed Drongo
Greater Double-collared Sunbird
Green Woodhoopoe
Grey-headed Sparrow
Hadeda Ibis
Laughing Dove
Olive Thrush
Paradise Flycatcher
Pied Crow
Red-eyed Dove
Red-necked Spurfowl
Redwinged Starling
Sacred Ibis
Sombre Bulbul (Greenbul)
Southern Masked Weaver
Speckled Mousebird
Speckled Pigeon
Village Weaver

PS: Post delayed even further by my laptop going on the blink.

FEBRUARY 2024 GARDEN BIRDS

I have at last unearthed my bird lists from February – it can be problematic when a change of notebook coincides with leaving home! The weather has been too hot to spend much time sitting outside, even in the shade, and so I have rather neglected watching the avian visitors to my garden. It has nonetheless been very pleasing to see Red-necked Spurfowl visiting the garden with chicks in tow. They are shy birds though and make a dash for cover at the slightest sign of what they perceive as danger.

Equally pleasing are the frequent visits by a pair of African Hoopoes that probe the lawn for something to eat. My eldest granddaughter embroidered this for me.

African Green Pigeons chuckle intermittently most days from within the leafy protection of the Natal fig tree.

Of course, the many Laughing Doves cheer the garden daily with their calls. A pair of Black-headed Orioles call from the tree tops and visit the feeders during the early mornings and again late in the evenings.

Very sadly, the Lesser-striped Swallows had no success breeding in our garden: their beautifully shaped mud nest fell down at the stage when the birds were beginning to line it with feathers. They just seemed to give up after that.

Cattle egrets are attracted by the presence of the Urban Herd. They are occasionally actually seen in the garden or perch in the fig tree. Mostly though I enjoy watching them flying overhead at the end of each day.

While most of the cuckoos have either left or fallen silent, I have been hearing the distinctive calls of a black cuckoo – not an easy bird to spot in our forest-like garden. One of the other two new visitors this month is an African Harrier Hawk (still fondly known by its previous name, Gymnogene) that has twice perched in the Erythrina trees in our back garden and once in the Natal fig tree. The very attractive Grey-headed Bush Shrike has made a brief appearance several times – only perching out in the open when I don’t have my camera at hand! In fact, it has not been a good month for taking photographs at all, so I have illustrated this post with pictures from my archives.

My bird list for this month:
African Darter
African Green Pigeon
African Harrier Hawk
African Hoopoe
Barthroated Apalis
Black Cuckoo
Black-collared Barbet
Black-eyed (Dark-capped) Bulbul
Black-headed Oriole
Bronze Manikin
Burchell’s Coucal
Cape Crow
Cape Robin-Chat
Cape Turtle Dove
Cardinal Woodpecker
Cattle Egret
Common Fiscal
Fork-tailed Drongo
Greater Double-collared Sunbird
Green Woodhoopoe
Grey-headed Bush Shrike
Grey-headed Sparrow
Hadeda Ibis
Knysna Turaco
Lanner Falcon
Laughing Dove
Lesser-striped Swallow
Olive Thrush
Paradise Flycatcher
Pied Crow
Red-eyed Dove
Red-necked Spurfowl
Red-winged Starling
Sacred Ibis
Southern Masked Weaver
Speckled Mousebird
Speckled Pigeon
Streaky-headed Seedeater
Village Weaver
White-rumped Swift
Yellow-fronted Canary

MORNING ABLUTIONS

Few of us wake up looking ready to face the day without help. This African Green Pigeon took advantage of the early morning sunshine to smooth its ruffled feathers:

Nearby, a Red-winged Starling found a feather out of place:

A Knysna Turaco would not show its face until it knew that it would look perfect for the day:

This Grey-headed Gull had some important preening to do too:

It was important for this African Penguin to check on its armpits before deciding whether it had to swim to get clean or swim to catch breakfast:

If you think that all this preening and getting ready for the day is for the birds, take a look at this Vervet Monkey giving itself a thorough grooming!

APRIL 2023 GARDEN BIRDS

I have been late before, but never this late with my monthly report on the birds visiting our garden. Blame it on the hours spent sourcing the necessary information and having to travel all the way to Cape Town to lodge visa applications – no, we don’t have our passports back yet. Keep calm, breathe deeply … that is the only way to deal with bureaucracy. April was a month in which I welcomed several new visitors: Sombre Bulbul, Grey-headed Bush Shrike, Common Starling, Amethyst Sunbird, Black Sparrowhawk, Crowned Hornbill, African Hoopoe, Spectacled Weaver and Yellow Weaver.

Strangely enough, the Common Starlings have mainly visited the Natal fig tree and have found something to eat in the Erythrina caffra instead of coming down to ground level – which they have often done in the past.

It is the African Green Pigeons that have provided great delight with their coughing, deep-throated laughing sounds and occasional views of them peeping through the leaves of the fig tree. With the mornings becoming ever colder and the sun taking longer to rise, I have sometimes seen them sunning themselves in the higher branches of the Erythrina caffra.

Once, when a particularly noisy truck passed along the road below our home, over sixty of these beautiful birds took to the air with a collectively loud beating of their wings.

Laughing Doves still take at least twenty minutes of perching in branches before feeling comfortable enough to flutter down to eat the maize seeds on the ground. There are still a number that insist on clinging onto the hanging feeders to get at the fine seed there. Pied Crows fly overhead regularly and occasionally perch in the upper branches of the fig tree or on the top of the cypress in the next door garden.

The Black-headed Orioles have not enjoyed me moving the feeders to the other side of the garden and have taken a while to visit the nectar feeder and the fruit tray. The Cape Robin-chats are also wary, even though there is plenty of cover for them to hide. They tend to come out when few other birds are about and are quick to fly off at the slightest sound. They must be on the constant lookout for the cats next door.

Huge flocks of Red-winged Starlings have been feasting on the figs. The air is filled with their mellifluous calls and their fig-fuelled droppings are all over the garden. They too are sometimes startled by unexpectedly loud sounds from passing vehicles and take to the skies.

I often remark that the Knysna Turacos are more easily heard than seen in our garden. Sometimes I am fortunate enough to see one flying across the garden, but this month I was able to photograph one perched in the back garden.

My bird list for this month:

African Green Pigeon

African Hoopoe

Amethyst Sunbird

Barthroated Apalis

Black-collared Barbet

Black-eyed (Dark-capped) Bulbul

Black-headed Oriole

Black Sparrowhawk

Bokmakierie

Bronze Manikin

Cape Crow

Cape Robin-Chat

Cape Weaver

Cape White-eye

Cattle Egret

Common Fiscal

Common Starling

Crowned Hornbill

Fiery-necked Nightjar

Fork-tailed Drongo

Greater Double-collared Sunbird

Grey-headed Bush Shrike

Grey-headed Sparrow

Hadeda Ibis

Knysna Turaco

Laughing Dove

Olive Thrush

Pied Crow

Red-eyed Dove

Rednecked Spurfowl

Red-winged Starling

Sacred Ibis

Sombre Bulbul

Southern Masked Weaver

Speckled Mousebird

Speckled Pigeon

Spectacled Weaver

Streakyheaded Seedeater

Village Weaver

Yellow Weaver

 

 

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