...one must just to know where to find them, and by grace I do.
By now I think that you know the male Malachite Sunbird (Nectarinia famosa), and his iridescent colors was on show (5 shots). Then I have a cute little lady sipping some nectar from a Salvia plant's flowers (5 shots).
Some of the birds know me, especially the sunbirds, oh, and also the Pied Crows, as they all have good memories. And so, they don't get nervous when I come close as they know that I will not harm them. Birds are very intelligent, and when I go out to get them on camera, I always wear my black beret (cap). In fact, the little Laughing Doves and the Cape Robin-chats know our car, and as soon as we come back from anywhere then they rush in to grab some nuts that the wife leaves especially for them on the floor behind the car before I can shut the door.
What we normally do, is we let them eat while we sit in the car and wait for them to eat their fill, as then they pop over to the water bowls for drinks then we can alight from the car and enter the house. Other times, when we pull the car out of the garage, the auto door has to remain open when they fly in to eat, as we then sit and wait for them to finish before we can close the door and be on our way. Just some birdy fun. Lol.
This dainty lady below is a Southern Double-collared Sunbird (Cinnyris chalybeus).
Those Salvia flower stems are very thin and flexible, and the bigger sunbirds cannot sit on them. Even the male of these Southern Double-collared sunbirds cannot sit on the stems, and he hovers when he takes nectar from the tubular flowers.
I said up top, that I do know where to find the birds, and after eight years down here one would expect me to know, as every time that we enter into nature, and that's quite often, I pay much attention to the surroundings. It has become a habit over the years, and we even know what kind of birds will appear in what season. There used to be a large flock of Peafowls also at this spot, but they have all disappeared. My wife used to feed them by hand, and sadly they are no more.
There is another sad thing that I need to tell you. Many of our birds have become endangered, and the number of threatened bird species now stands at 33 in the Western Cape province alone. I read an article that contains all the numbers, and it wasn't pleasant to read how nature is being destroyed.
The article appeared in the Daily Maverick newspaper, 09-15 October 2026, titled "Cape Nature's 2026 report card". The author of the article is Don Pinnock. So, you are welcome to google it to see what's going on for yourself.
Such is life.
I hope you enjoyed the pictures and the story.
Photos by Zac Smith. No AI and no Photoshop. All-Rights-Reserved.
Camera: Canon PowershotSX70HS Bridge camera.
Until next time. Shalom!