The Southern double-collared sunbird is a familiar face in the spring and summer in my garden. In a post just before spring, this little sunbird enjoyed the bugs and insects that the honey euryops bush (Euryops virgineus) attracted. Now the honey euryops bush is not yellow anymore and it is preparing to go to seed. But the new growth is already showing and the aphids are there to enjoy the new growth. I am not sure if the sunbird really eats the aphids, but according to some information I found on this website, it is not uncommon for some sunbird species to eat aphids. This is good news for me, because I do not always know how to deal with aphids. I know there are some ways of dealing with it (like the soapy water in a spray bottle trick) but want to keep the garden natural and pesticide-free.
I always admire the color of these birds' feathers. What is interesting is that when you look at them from the opposite side, that is, with the sun not shining directly onto their feathers, they look almost black. See the images below for this interesting "color change" that happens when you take images of them from the opposite side.
It almost looks like a different bird. In these photographs, you can see how they eat some of the seeds of this bush. Or maybe they are eating the aphids that cling to the new growth. I really hope it is the latter.
Here we are back to the signature golden color. They look so homely in this bush that helps bring out their golden color. As you can see, the yellow flowers are all gone! So this sunbird had to be eating either the seeds or the aphids.
Before I went in, I saw his wife also visit the garden! She does not have the same striking colors. I could only snap this one photograph, they are so quick and camera shy.
Whilst taking photographs of the sunbird, various other birds simultaneously visited the garden. The first visitor was the all-familiar Cape white-eye (Zosterops virens). This little bird sat almost next to the sunbird and it was such a beautiful sight. I could not snap a photograph with them next to each other, but here he is hiding in the same bush.
Not knowing whether to keep on photographing the sunbird, I after the Cape white-eye and caught a very charming moment! The little bird skidded down the palm tree leaf. I do not know if it was planned or unplanned, but from my human-perspective I want to believe that he had fun whilst doing these moves:
Another visitor came by when I was busy taking photographs of the sunbird. I have never seen this bird in my garden, but hearing the call, I could almost with certainty identify this bird as the fork-tailed drongo (Dicrurus adsimilis). It flew out of range for me to take photographs of it, but it looked like it got an insect that it ate. Trying to get a bit closer, it heard me and flew away. I managed to get a photograph showing the signature V tail.
As I walked deeper into the garden to take photographs of the drongo, I stumbled upon an intimate moment between two Laughing doves, or I think they are laughing doves. There are so many doves in my garden, and I never really photographed them before. Here the two are enjoying an intimate moment.
They are also very inquisitive birds. Whilst sitting outside reading a bit, I saw two of them wandering in my "food buckets". As I ran out of actual garden space, I have since been using old buckets and basins to grow herbs in. I sowed some seeds two or three days ago, and here you can see the doves stealing my basil seeds! Luckily I planted plenty for exactly this sort of case.
I hope that you are enjoying the summer (if you are in a place where it is summer) and also spotting some beautiful birds. All of these images are taken with my old and trusty Nikon D300 and a Tamron 300mm zoom lens. (I know that this last image is not a bird but it is a winged friend! I snapped this one whilst running behind all the birds in this post, and I just love the detail of the hairs on this carpenter bee. Maybe we can get some love for this winged friend as well! Maybe they are food for some feathered friends.) In any case, I hope you are doing well. Be safe.
