NOVEMBER 2023 GARDEN BIRDS

It is good to hear the African Green Pigeons chuckling within the foliage of the Natal fig tree. Black-collared Barbets have also been very vocal this month and the Common Fiscal has been kept busy collecting food to take to its nest. Several birds have not made it to the list, yet I am happy to welcome back three familiar visitors. These being the Black Cuckoo-shrike, a pair of Paradise Flycatchers, and a few Red-necked Spurfowl. Cape Weavers provide splashes of bright yellow at the feeders and in the trees during a pleasant and productive month of watching birds in between gearing up for the festive season.

We are fortunate that our garden is a meeting place of several weavers. This Village Weaver looks particularly pleased to have bagged the feeder with no other birds around to chase him off.

It is never easy to find the nests of the Olive Thrushes, even when I follow them keenly whenever they stuff their beaks to carry food away from the feeding tray. I know there is at least one nest in our side garden, but the vegetation is far too thick – and these birds adopt such wily tactics – that I cannot pinpoint its location. I will probably laugh at myself once it is exposed during the barren winter!

This area has enjoyed some good rain – providing plenty of mud – so I have been hopeful that the Lesser-striped Swallows would experience success building their nest this summer. A pair of them have sat close together on the cable stretching across the back garden; huddled on the bathroom windowsill; and flown all around the garden … both traditional building sites have been left untouched.

Cape Robin-chats used to be so tame in the garden until the pesky cats moved in next door. Now I tend to hear their beautiful melodies early in the morning or late in the afternoon. They fly across the swimming pool to grab food and return to the shrubbery in a blur, so it is rare now to see one so clearly in the open.

Black-collared Barbets have also become more reticent about visiting the feeding tray. I have set about pruning back some of the encroaching vegetation to give the birds a more open view of any potentially marauding cats.

My bird list for this month:

African Green Pigeon
Black-collared Barbet
Black Cuckoo-shrike
Black-eyed (Dark-capped) Bulbul
Black-headed Oriole
Bronze Manikin
Cape Crow
Cape Robin-Chat
Cape Turtle Dove
Cape Weaver
Cape White-eye
Cattle Egret
Common Fiscal
Common Starling
Fork-tailed Drongo
Greater Double-collared Sunbird
Green Woodhoopoe
Grey-headed Sparrow
Hadeda Ibis
Klaas’s Cuckoo
Laughing Dove
Lesser-striped Swallow
Olive Thrush
Paradise Flycatcher
Pin-tailed Whydah
Red-eyed Dove
Red-necked Spurfowl
Red-winged Starling
Southern Masked Weaver
Speckled Mousebird
Speckled Pigeon
Streaky-headed Seedeater
Village Weaver
White-rumped Swift

SIX CHEERFUL YELLOW THINGS

The post about the poaching of rhino is rather depressing and so on this first very hot – 37′ C – day, I have cast about for more cheerful images to end the day. First up are some bright yellow marigolds that seldom fail to raise a smile:

Sunflowers are also cheering:

Daisies in their various forms are cheering too:

The bright yellow of the Cape Weavers brighten up the garden:

Look at this bright yellow skirt:What about this fire hydrant to end off with:

AUGUST 2023 GARDEN BIRDS

Having missed posting about the birds visiting our garden during June and July because I was abroad for most of that time, I thought I might compare this year’s August bird list with that of last August.

‘New’ sightings compared with August last year include an African Harrier Hawk. A pair of these birds have been resident in this town probably even before we arrived here thirty-five years ago – a succession of pairs most likely – and are seen regularly. The birds in our garden fall absolutely silent when one of these sharp-eyed birds flies over.

Very pleasing to see are the Amethyst Sunbirds that are particularly active among the scarlet blooms of the Erythrina caffra trees growing in our back garden. This tree has also been hosting a Cardinal Woodpecker working its way through the dead branches. A Cape Batis has been fun to spot as it flits through the trees. I also feel blessed with many sightings of a pair of Knysna Turacos. Disappointingly, I have observed only one Thick-billed Weaver – once.

Looking skyward (over ‘my’ airspace) I have seen a Black-headed Heron as well as a pair of Egyptian Geese flying across the garden fairly regularly during August this year. The Sombre Greenbuls are heard more than seen (this photograph was taken in the Addo Elephant National Park).

The pair of Cape Robin-Chats have been fairly circumspect – always on the lookout for the neighbouring cats – yet sing melodiously from the trees and, when the coast is clear, come to feed on cheese or tiny bits of meat on the feeding table.

Laughing Doves and Red-eyed Doves tend to dominate the front garden while the Cape Turtle Doves prefer the back. This month, however, I often see and hear them calling from the fig tree even though they do not mingle with the other doves to eat the seeds on the ground under the hanging feeders. This one was photographed in the Addo Elephant National Park.

Bronze Manikins delight, whether they are crowding around one of the hanging feeders or flit down to eat the seeds on the ground.

A pair of Black-headed Orioles call to each other early in the mornings and during the late afternoons. Their bright colouring make them a pleasure to see.

Lastly, the male Cape Weavers are coming into their breeding plumage – some are looking almost red, their facial blush is so deep already!

My bird list for this month:

African Green Pigeon
African Harrier Hawk
African Hoopoe
Amethyst Sunbird
Barthroated Apalis
Black-collared Barbet
Black Cuckoo
Black-eyed (Dark-capped) Bulbul
Black-headed Heron
Black-headed Oriole
Bronze Manikin
Burchell’s Coucal
Cape Batis
Cape Crow
Cape Robin-Chat
Cape Turtle Dove
Cape Weaver
Cape White-eye
Cardinal Woodpecker
Cattle Egret
Common Fiscal
Common Starling
Egyptian Goose
Fork-tailed Drongo
Greater Double-collared Sunbird
Green Woodhoopoe
Grey-headed Bush Shrike
Grey-headed Sparrow
Hadeda Ibis
Knysna Turaco
Laughing Dove
Olive Thrush
Pied Crow
Pintailed Whydah
Red-eyed Dove
Red-necked Spurfowl
Red-throated Wryneck
Red-winged Starling
Sombre Greenbul
Southern Boubou
Southern Masked Weaver
Speckled Mousebird
Speckled Pigeon
Spectacled Weaver
Streaky-headed Seedeater
Thick-billed Weaver
Village Weaver

JANUARY 2023 GARDEN BIRDS

January was a month of heat, power outages, appointments, having to deal with issues such as installing a new water tank and pump as a buffer for when the municipal water supply runs out … and my laptop went on the blink and required a new keyboard. I have very few bird photographs to choose from this month, even though the list below shows that we have again enjoyed many visitors.

The year began on a happy note with several sightings of a pair of Paradise Flycatchers flitting around the feeding area as well as in other parts of the garden. The female seemed to have taken a dislike to an Olive Thrush for a day or two and chased it away from the bird bath whenever it saw it there. Sacred Ibises fly over the garden in a V-formation in the late afternoons, catching the last rays of the sun as they head for their favourite perches in the CBD after the day spent in the countryside. Black-eyed (Dark-capped) Bulbuls are cheerful visitors that perch on the aloes or on the branches above my head chirping loudly – especially when they find food they particularly enjoy. They have tucked into the fruit I have put out as well as eating tiny bits of meat.

Laughing Doves visit the garden throughout the year. I was fascinated to see one nesting in the grapevine on a neighbour’s veranda the other day – apparently this is a regular nesting spot; close to where they regularly sit. This one is keeping an eye on what is happening in the garden before it flutters down to enjoy the maize seeds on the ground.

The Cape Weavers come and go and are more evident on some days than on others. The nectar feeder is a big draw-card during this very hot weather.

I hear Black-collared Barbets calling around the neighbourhood every day and am always pleased when they stop by to eat something from the feeding tray. They have become much more wary about doing so since the neighbouring cats moved in.

Village Weavers are regular visitors too, although they might stay away for a day or two. This is the first summer in years that no weavers have even tried to build nests in the any of the many trees we have growing in our garden.

From being heard more often than seen, a pair of Black-headed Orioles have become daily visitors to the feeding area to eat, drink from the bird bath or to perch in nearby branches whilst calling to each other. Theirs is among the first sounds to be heard in the early mornings.

Then there is an Olive Thrush. I have always regarded these as iconic birds of our garden: they were everywhere, until the cats next door arrived. Now they pay fleeting visits and when they do, they remain on the alert and fly off as soon as a movement or sound spooks them.

My bird list for this month:
African Darter
African Green Pigeon
African Harrier Hawk
African Hoopoe
Black-collared Barbet
Black-eyed (Dark-capped) Bulbul
Black-headed Oriole
Bokmakierie
Bronze Manikin
Cape Crow
Cape Robin-Chat
Cape Turtle Dove
Cape Weaver
Cape White-eye
Cattle Egret
Common Fiscal
Diederik Cuckoo
Fork-tailed Drongo
Greater Double-collared Sunbird
Green Woodhoopoe
Grey-headed Sparrow
Hadeda Ibis
Klaas’s Cuckoo
Knysna Turaco
Laughing Dove
Lesser-striped Swallow
Olive Thrush
Paradise Flycatcher
Pied Crow
Red-eyed Dove
Rednecked Spurfowl
Red-winged Starling
Sacred Ibis
Southern Boubou
Southern Masked Weaver
Speckled Mousebird
Speckled Pigeon
Spectacled Weaver
Village Weaver
White-rumped Swift

OCTOBER 2022 GARDEN BIRDS

We are delighted to have received 43mm of very light rain during this month – albeit it in dribs and drabs of a few millimetres at a time. This is well below the annual average of 64mm, so we cannot help hoping that November will bring us a lot more rain. Every drop helps though and we have been blessed with a swathe of spring flowers in the veld and the trees in our garden have greened up almost miraculously. Speaking of green, the first bird to make it on my list this month was none other than a Green Woodhoopoe. Although they have been regular visitors, they are far from easy to photograph as they tend to call from within the foliage where they are looking for insects hiding under loose bark or poking their beaks into the dry leaves of the aloes to find food.

The two Common Fiscals continue to entertain us with their antics – both keep a wary eye out for each other before they collect food. Judging from their rapid back and forth movements, I suspect they are both feeding chicks. Their nests are far apart in different directions so they only meet at the feeding station. Bronze Manikins are also always entertaining the way they huddle together on the feeders. Southern Masked Weavers have been plentiful – I am intrigued by how quickly the females especially tuck into the minced meat I put out occasionally. The Cape Weavers have been more interested in the seeds as well as the nectar feeder.

Cape White-eyes are also regular visitors to the nectar feeders.

The Pin-tailed Whydahs have obviously staked their territory elsewhere: we occasionally see a male or two dancing around, but mostly catch sight of the females taking a respite from all the romance to feed quietly on seeds that have fallen to the ground from the hanging feeders.

I suspect the next door cats have made the Cape robin-chats a lot more wary than they used to be, so I was pleased to photograph this one even though the light was not that good.

‘Newcomers’ this month include a few visits from an African Harrier Hawk – the garden becomes absolutely silent when it comes by; a pair of Cape Wagtails have been bobbing around the edge of our swimming pool; Crowned Hornbills paid us a brief visit as they were perhaps passing through town; it is lovely hearing the Diederik Cuckoo and Knysna Turacos calling; a Spectacled Weaver called round for a few days in a row, as did a pair of Forest Canaries. My greatest delight was the arrival of the Lesser-striped Swallows and the White-rumped Swifts.

I regularly hear the calls of Black-collared Barbets and see them in the trees as well as the feeding tray now and then.

My bird list for this month:
African Darter
African Green Pigeon
African Harrier Hawk
African Hoopoe
Black-collared Barbet
Black Cuckoo-Shrike
Black-eyed (Dark-capped) Bulbul
Black-headed Oriole
Bokmakierie
Bronze Manikin
Cape Crow
Cape Robin-Chat
Cape Wagtail
Cape Weaver
Cape White-eye
Cattle Egret
Common Fiscal
Common Starling
Crowned Hornbill
Diederik Cuckoo
Forest Canary
Fork-tailed Drongo
Greater Double-collared Sunbird
Green Woodhoopoe
Grey-headed Sparrow
Hadeda Ibis
Klaas’s Cuckoo
Knysna Turaco
Laughing Dove
Lesser-striped Swallow
Olive Thrush
Pin-tailed Whydah
Pied Crow
Red-chested Cuckoo
Red-eyed Dove
Red-necked Spurfowl
Red-throated Wryneck
Red-winged Starling
Southern Boubou
Southern Masked Weaver
Speckled Mousebird
Speckled Pigeon
Spectacled Weaver
Streaky-headed Seedeater
Village Weaver
White-rumped Swift