It was an overcast day, after a night of rain. The next morning, many birds were already out and about, drinking water from the grass blades and seeking little bugs that might come to the surface. I saw many familiar faces, mostly sparrows and weavers. But I also something dark in the distance...
Something that I have not yet seen...
My girlfriend said to me look, there is a bald ibis!
I have never seen this friend...
At first, it hid behind some tall grasses and weeds, hiding its baldness from my view. I ran to get my camera (like I always do in similar situations!) and I zoomed in as much as possible. Unfortunately, there was a fence between me and this dark-feathered friend, so I had to deal with some distance between us.
But then it revealed itself from behind the tall grasses...
I have never seen this friend, nor did I know of its existence. I Googled a bit and I saw that it was the southern bald ibis (Geronticus calvus), a local ibis species. Sadly, according to the Wikipedia page, these friends' breeding grounds are mostly on private properties, making it really hard to control and regulate breeding grounds. Their numbers are relatively safe, but they are still considered vulnerable. Another factor, also linked in the Wikipedia article, is that they and their eggs are still used in local indigenous medicine. Linked with the loss of breeding ground, this can quickly become a dangerous situation fro their numbers.
I always feel so sad when I read these articles, especially when the answer is in front of us: stop taking their land and stop using them! But humans are complicated and people rarely think beyond their own subjective perspectives.
Alas, such is life, as they say. I enjoyed his visit, especially because I had never seen one before. I hope that their numbers grow and that our children and their children might still appreciate their beauty.
On a side note, they almost look like the plague doctor masks. In broad daylight, they are not that scary looking, but I am sure at night these birds will give you a fright!
After the visit from these majestic dark-feathered friends, some familiar faces showed up. These yellow weavers come in their droves and in such big flocks. But interestingly, this weaver was very interested in the residue on the BBQ. I think something sweet, like a sweet sauce, must have remained on the grill. Or the little pieces of meat attracted it!
It did not really like my presence, as it constantly looked at me (and eventually flew away - see the last image in this post). I can only imagine the monologue in its head: This damn animal again! I am better off elsewhere.
But there was another weaver friend (I think) below the grill, drinking either water from the blades of grass (zoom in to see the little bit of water on its beak), or looking for yummy insects.
But when it turned its back on me, I almost lost it! See how beautifully its feathers blend into the grass. Or maybe it was just from the perspective of my camera lens, but if you look quickly, you might miss it!
As I sat down, getting ready to download the photographs, a little sparrow friend hopped almost to my feet. It looked like it wanted to ask for a snack. Do you perhaps have a snack for me, kind sir? As I slowly turned, wanting to pick up a little morsel of something, it hopped away.
It was not interested in anything I had to offer it! Such a shame, as I would liked to see how close I could get it to me. My Disney princess dreams blew away!
In any case, I hope you enjoyed these photographs of the feathered friends who paid a visit! Some old faces, but some new ones as well.
The year is almost finished, and as this little weaver friend (below) demonstrates, the year has flown past us! I hope that you had a good festive weekend, and that the new year will yield loads of birding opportunities, perfectly focused photographs, and many opportunities to marvel at the beauty of our feathered friends.
Keep well.
All of the photographs are my own, taken with my Nikon D300 and Tamron 300mm zoom lens. The musings and writings are also my own, unless stated otherwise or hyperlinked.
