A relaxing Sunday read to marvel at the beauty of nature.
The Protea Pincushion flowers are now starting to bloom.
I have shown in some recent posts how the Malachite Sunbirds (Nectarinia famosa) were busy feeding themselves on nectar and now I will start to search for the spots where they build their nests.
Nature's timing is perfect, as though the flowers are starting to bloom a bit earlier, the birds on instinct follow the same nesting procedure that they did last year. They time their mating and nesting duration to coincide with the timing of the pincushion flowers, waiting for the blooms to mature, as then there will be plenty of food for their babies.
Let's see what Wikipedia has to say about the malachite nests.
This species is monogamous. The oval nest is usually suspended, as with most sunbirds, or constructed inside a bush. The female incubates one to three dark-blotched, greenish eggs for two weeks. The chicks are fed by both parents until fledging time, and the chicks will for a time return to the nest to roost. The malachite sunbird is often double-brooded, and may be parasitised by Klaas's cuckoo or red-chested cuckoo. It is territorial and aggressive when nesting, but highly gregarious when not breeding, forming flocks of over 1,000 birds.
Another week or two, and then the pincushion blooms will be fully open.
Oh yes, this little female Malachite Sunbird, was inspecting a new pincushion flower to see if it had any nectar yet.
Now for something else below.
A female Banded Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa caffra), was also pollinating some flowers in the same area.
The two yellow bands identify it as a female
A second shot of the photo above, and sadly I waited to get a male on camera, but it was nowhere to be found.
Finally, I end the post with a malachite sunbird on a Strelitzia (Paradise) flower.
We are now in early August and officially Spring will only arrive on the first day of September. So yes, on the warm days in Winter the flowers think it is Spring, and they open up earlier than usual. This is due to the strange weather patterns we have lately, but amazingly nature's residents simply adapt to the conditions. Even the wildflower carpets have also now started to bloom, and they are a most beautiful sight on the lower reaches of the mountains. Just imagine a couple of hectares covered by blooming wildflowers, to get an idea of how beautiful it is. We have regular tours for visitors to go and view the colored landscapes, and of course the birds and insects are also starting to appear in abundance.
A slight concern is that our dam levels have not yet reached the same levels as last year. We are in a Winter rainy season, and it will soon draw to a close, but thankfully the weatherman reckons that we will have a few more rainy days. Let's just hope and pray that the dams will be filled, as South Africa is a water-scarce country. In the meantime, we just enjoy the sights of nature's timing.
Such is life.
I hope you enjoyed the pictures and the story.
Photos by Zac Smith. All-Rights-Reserved.
Camera: Canon PowershotSX70HS Bridge camera.
Thank you kindly for supporting this post.
