Eastern Cape

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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

 

 

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MARCH 2023 GARDEN BIRDS

“I’m late, I’m late, for a very important date!” So said the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland. Well, watching the birds in our garden has been an activity snatched between others during what has proved to be a very busy month indeed. Whiterumped Swifts and Lesserstriped Swallows have bid us farewell to wing their way northwards. Here are two of hundreds of the latter gathered on the ground nearby prior to their departure.

Laughing Doves tend to dominate the feeding area, especially if I put the seeds out early, so I have successfully experimented with changing the feeding times slightly and have been more irregular about it. Cape White-eyes are finding lots of berries and insects to eat in our autumn garden at the moment, while a number of Cape Crows have made raucous fly-pasts throughout the month – sometimes landing briefly in the Natal fig tree.

This is a changeable month with some birds leaving and others arriving. A newcomer is the African Harrier Hawk, which has flown low over the garden several times and occasionally lands in the Erythrina caffra. Even watching it flying above me, I can hear no sound – of course the birds hide immediately and they too make no sound!

Speaking of sounds: I love the sound of Cape Turtle Doves early in the morning and during the late afternoons so I am delighted they have made their presence felt once more. Their sound reminds me of growing up in the Transvaal Lowveld and the many adventures I had there.

Another delightful bird call is that of the Bokmakierie.

Forktailed Drongos flit about the back garden and deftly catch insects on the wing.

I am very pleased to see that the Streakyheaded Seedeaters are back this month.

My bird list for this month:
African Green Pigeon
African Harrier Hawk
Barthroated Apalis
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
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
Red-eyed Dove
Rednecked Spurfowl
Red-winged Starling
Southern Masked Weaver
Speckled Mousebird
Speckled Pigeon
Streakyheaded Seedeater
Village Weaver
White-rumped Swift

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SOME EASTERN CAPE VEGETATION

We need some cheering up after yesterday’s book review and what better than to look at the delightful pink flowers of the Dais cotinifolia or Pompon tree – of which you will be seeing a lot more of come November.

In bloom right now are the attractive pale blue flowers of the plumbago.

Many readers have expressed surprise at the sight of flowering aloes – you will get more of them as autumn segues into winter – but here is an aloe in bud.

The veld is already being brightened up by the small daisy-like flowers of the bitou.

I have several clivias growing in my garden – these were photographed after a shower of rain.

The large Natal fig tree often features in my blog for it dominates part of the garden. Below is a Cape fig (Ficus sur), beloved by many birds and insects – as well as fruit bats.

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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