We have an abundance of bird species in South Africa.
First up is a Black-headed Heron (Ardea Melanocephala) in flight.
Then I will show you Drongos hunting flying insects in the air, and some other bird shots. I can normally only get one drongo on camera, as they hunt alone, but now in the mating season, I got a male and a female hunting for insects together. They must have a nest somewhere, and now it is feeding time, as both parents feed the young. Birds have different habits across the species, as some have only the females building the nests, and in other species the males build the nest. In the weaver species for instance, the males build the nests and in the sunbird species, the females build the nests. The feeding of the young is also different.
So, let's have a look at the Fork-tailed Drongo (Dicrurus adsimilis) hunting couple.
I had to wait for the action, but it's always worth it to wait.
3 photos below of the one drongo's action.
And here's the other drongo in a dive. Sadly, in the light, I could not get one of it with an insect in its beak.
In the meantime an African Sacred Ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus) also came over.
And here is a story below that I want to share with you. Remember that I posted a baby sunbird on the day that it came out of the nest? Well, we now have another sunbird couple that is using the same nest. The female is already sitting on her eggs, and so, I keep an eye again on the nest.
True to style, the male Southern Double-collared (Cinnyris chalybeus) sits on a tree top watching over his female in the nest, and he dive bombs any other bird that comes near the tree with the nest in it. Singing away so that other birds can hear that it is his territory.
The female came out of the nest to catch a short break, and you can see one of the feathers in the nest stuck to her foot.
One would expect the male sunbird to go and sit on the eggs while the female is taking a break, to eat and to clean herself, but not so as the male tries to fly around with the female until she returns to the nest. In other bird species, both of the parents take turns to sit on the nest. Amazing how different they are, but in saying this it is also amazing how different each of us are, as human beings. There is not one of us who is exactly the same as another, and that is what makes life so interesting. For example, a person has to be careful when you write a word, as there could be a thousand different interpretations by the readers. Our understandings are also different, and when a person writes something with an innocent meaning to the person, someone else can feel very aggrieved at the writ, as they interpret it as an insult.
Such is life.
I hope you have enjoyed the pictures and the story.
Photos by Zac Smith-All Rights Reserved.
Camera: Canon PowershotSX70HS Bride camera.
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