This tiny beauty is a Southern Double-collared Sunbird baby. But how do I know what it is?
My first to get shots of a sunbird baby out of its nest and I will show you in here how I know what it is.
You can imagine how excited I was to get this rare occasion, as normally the sunbird babies are hidden beyond sight until they can feed and fly by themselves. Like I said, it was a rare occasion, as I have never seen this before. And so, I forgot all about the world and time, to focus on what I love and that is to take photos of Mother Nature's wild residents.
So, come and be amazed with me.
It was at first sitting here and a strange peep alerted me, so I searched and found it.
Two birds sat in a tree close by and they were looking at the tree that the baby was in. The first bird below is a male Soutern Double-collared Sunbird (Cinnyris chalybeus)
And the second bird was a Malachite Sunbird (Nectarinia famosa).
So whose baby was it?
We will soon see whose baby it was, as the baby hopped a bit higher up in the tree, preening itself.
At first the mother arrived to feed the little one, but the sun was too sharp to identify, as the females of the two male sunbirds look very similar.
But here was the clincher, as the male double-collared dad arrived to feed.
And I waited to see if the dad would return. Yes, he did twice more in the two photos below.
This was the third time that the dad returned, and he took about 10 to 15 minutes to go and catch an insect between the meals.
By now, Marian came to look for me as you know how females like to wait:)
She thought maybe I had been kidnapped for ransom, but not so as one has to have patience to get some decent shots.
Unbelievable! The mom came in and landed on top of the baby but look how strong the grip of the baby was, carrying both of their weights with only one foot.
I think that she wanted to take him away, but I cannot see her carrying his weight in flight.
And finally, the baby was back to preening again.
What a wonderful adventure, and I am so grateful to have seen and to have been able to capture this. Nature can work in strange ways some days, as at times, due to the inclement weather, I can only get 12 or 15 shots on a day. But then again, on another day I can come away with about 300 shots.
Of course, I took many photos of this occasion, and I will place some more photos about this baby in the future.
After the baby started preening, we had to leave and I could unfortunately not see what happened afterwards, but I am sure that the baby was okay.
I hope that you have enjoyed the story and the pictures.
And That's All Friends.
Photos by Zac Smith-All Rights Reserved.
Camera: Canon Powershot SX70HS Bridge camera.
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