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.

MARCH 2024 GARDEN BIRDS

I have not spent a great deal of time at home this month nor have I used my camera much. While it has been a particularly busy month, I have enjoyed watching a pair of Knysna turacos fly across the garden now and then and hearing their rasping calls during the day. Cattle egrets abound, thanks to the presence of the Urban Herd, and my favourite view of them is when they fly across the garden en masse at the end of each day as they make their way to their perches in the CBD. Of course we always have Laughing doves that brighten each day with their cheerful burbling sounds. A Black-collared barbet or two have made occasional forays to the feeder – I am hoping to see more of them during the cooler winter months. We are still woken half an hour before sunrise every morning by the loud choruses of the Hadeda ibises that roost in the Natal fig tree in our garden and it has been fun watching Greater double-collared sunbirds feeding on the nectar of the Cape Honeysuckle flowers.

The weather has been very hot – some days have reached 38°C – making the various bird baths busy places for birds, such as this Olive Thrush.

The Cape Robin-Chat has also been a frequent visitor to this bird bath.

A different bird bath was favoured by a Speckled Pigeon.

Bronze Manikins also enjoyed visiting this one.

New visitors this month include a Southern Boubou which has become a regular visitor.

Others are a Red-fronted Tinkerbird, Cape Weavers, Amethyst Sunbirds, and a pair of Thick-billed Weavers. The latter have only appeared a few times – they never seem to spend much time here. Cape White-eyes, on the other hand, flit in and out of the shrubbery on a regular basis and enjoy visiting the nectar feeder we call the pub. Note that the photograph below is an old one: we no longer colour the sugar water as I have learned that the food colouring is not healthy for the birds.

My bird list for this month:

African Darter
African Green Pigeon
African Harrier Hawk
African Hoopoe
Amethyst Sunbird
Barthroated Apalis
Black-collared Barbet
Black-eyed (Dark-capped) Bulbul
Black-headed Oriole
Bronze Manikin
Cape Robin-Chat
Cape Turtle Dove
Cape Weaver
Cape White-eye
Cardinal Woodpecker
Cattle Egret
Common Fiscal
Fork-tailed Drongo
Greater Double-collared Sunbird
Grey-headed Bush Shrike
Grey-headed Sparrow
Hadeda Ibis
Knysna Turaco
Laughing Dove
Lesser-striped Swallow
Olive Thrush
Paradise Flycatcher
Pied Crow
Red-eyed Dove
Red-fronted Tinkerbird
Red-necked Spurfowl
Sacred Ibis
Southern Boubou
Southern Masked Weaver
Speckled Mousebird
Speckled Pigeon
Thick-billed Weaver
Village Weaver
White-rumped Swift
Yellow-fronted Canary

JANUARY 2024 GARDEN BIRDS

This year has got off to a flying start with me noting 46 different species either visiting my garden or flying over it. Although I have been unable to locate the secreted nest of the Olive Thrushes, I am pleased to have noted at least one youngster hopping about in the undergrowth and later on being brave enough to actually visiting the feeding tray on its own. We regard these thrushes as iconic birds of our garden and love having them about.

Southern Masked Weavers arrived in large numbers at the beginning of the month before their visits tapered off. Strangely enough, I have seen no evidence of weaver nests in our garden so far this summer.

The Red-winged Starlings have been feasting on the fig tree next door and occasionally take a break from that to see what my feeding table has to offer. Their mellifluous sounds are a joy to listen to – as are those of the pair of Red-Eyed Doves that must be nesting somewhere in our garden. I see and hear them daily. African Darters have begun flying across the garden fairly regularly, especially during the late afternoons – possibly heading for wherever they have decided to spend the night. Mrs Amethyst Sunbird has been collecting fine feathers to line her well-hidden nest, and the distinctive calls of a Bar-throated Apalis can be heard daily, although it seldom emerges from the thick bush. Naturally, when it does, I don’t have my camera at hand!

I did though when a Burchell’s Coucal appeared in the branches of a tree outside my study window. We have been blessed with several sightings of this shy bird, dubbed the Rain Bird in many parts of the country.

A Lanner Falcon flew low over me late one afternoon, giving me a wonderful view of it – against the backdrop of absolute silence in the garden until it had disappeared! Delightful newcomers this month have been the regular visits of a pair of Yellow-fronted Canaries.

I have frequently featured photographs of Spotty, the ringed Common Fiscal, who seems to be in a permanent state of collecting food to take back to the nest. I have watched Spotty feed its youngster, bringing it ever closer to the feeding tray. As the offspring has matured, it ventures out on its own – the father being far too busy feeding the next generation. The down side of this is that Spotty Junior is feeling quite comfortable here and so there have been clashes between these two birds for some time as Spotty tries to maintain what he regards as his territory. I don’t know his age, but have been photographing him since at least 2015. I hope he wins the battle. You might like seeing what this rather cheeky youngster looks like. Note the brownish patch on its head as well as the flecks on its wings.

The last bird to ‘greet’ you this month is a Black-eyed Bulbul paying a fleeting visit to see what is available in the pantry.

My bird list for this month:
African Darter
African Green Pigeon
African Hoopoe
Amethyst Sunbird
Barthroated Apalis
Black-collared Barbet
Black-eyed (Dark-capped) Bulbul
Black-headed Oriole
Bronze Manikin
Burchell’s Coucal
Cape Crow
Cape Robin-Chat
Cape Turtle Dove
Cape Weaver
Cape White-eye
Cardinal Woodpecker
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
Lanner Falcon
Laughing Dove
Lesser-striped Swallow
Olive Thrush
Paradise Flycatcher
Pied Crow
Red-eyed Dove
Red-necked Spurfowl
Red-throated Wryneck
Red-winged Starling
Sacred Ibis
Southern Masked Weaver
Speckled Mousebird
Speckled Pigeon
Spectacled Weaver
Streaky-headed Seedeater
Village Weaver
White-rumped Swift
Yellow-fronted Canary
Yellow Weaver

BITING OFF MORE THAN IT CAN CHEW

An Olive Thrush with a slice of ham roll.

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