Birders' Nest

[owlice]

We're now becoming so used to having coal tits in the window bird-feeder that we've come to expect to see them there when we're making a pot of tea, but it raises a question. The coal tits are by far the most frequent visitors to it; blue tits are second most frequent. Apart from an occasional great tit, that's it.

Now my question is: why? What does it tell us about coal tits? Are they the bravest? The most foolhardly? The hungriest? Why don't the goldfinches try it? Or the robins?

There's some weird birdosaur psychology going on here, and I don't understand it.

A lot of birds will defend their feeding areas; other birds might be intimidated by the Coal Tits, so may not visit the window feeder, especially since food is readily available elsewhere in your yard. Or it could also be the inverse: the other birds use the other feeders and defend them, so the tits come to the window feeder instead (and apparently share nicely with other tits!).

I've noticed that my local chickadees tend to be brave in getting food, though don't seem to act to defend the source from others, so I suspect the second of the scenarios above may be what is happening in your garden.

[Elgarian Redux]

I am now home, have spent at least 12 hours in my own bed, and am now finishing my morning coffee... in bed, where I plan to spend most of my day.

This is wisdom in action.

As I have in the past, I offered use of my spare camera to my safari guide. He accepted the offer on the condition that I teach him how to use it, as, other than his cell phone camera, he'd never used a camera before. Just as previous guides have done, he learned quickly and well, and after a few days' use of the camera, started posting some of his pics to WhatsApp; the feedback he got was very positive, with his friends asking how such pictures were possible. ("Did you get a new phone?? Which one???" and so on.)

He continued to improve throughout our travels and now has a nice portfolio of animal photos to show for his efforts. I've set up a website for him to use if he chooses to share any of his photos online, and if he does and allows it, I will share some of his efforts here (appropriately credited, of course).

Looking forward to that! Twice the value!

Most of the birds we saw were familiar to me from previous trips to Kenya/Africa, but there were some new birds, too, including these:


Grasshopper Buzzard

Magnificent.

Silvery-cheeked Hornbill

That structure on the top part of the bill is extraordinary. Does it have a purpose, do you know?

Black-necked Weaver

Beautiful and cheeky all at once. I suppose the character we seem to perceive in birds is a product of our own minds, rather than their actual nature, but sometimes ... well, it's hard to imagine a black-necked weaver doing anything really nasty, don't you think?

[Elgarian Redux]

A lot of birds will defend their feeding areas; other birds might be intimidated by the Coal Tits, so may not visit the window feeder, especially since food is readily available elsewhere in your yard. Or it could also be the inverse: the other birds use the other feeders and defend them, so the tits come to the window feeder instead (and apparently share nicely with other tits!).

I've noticed that my local chickadees tend to be brave in getting food, though don't seem to act to defend the source from others, so I suspect the second of the scenarios above may be what is happening in your garden.

Yes, there must be something like that going on (there is something for everybody in the various feeders - eg nyjer and sunflower for the goldfinches), and the result is that we see very few squabbles on the ordinary feeders, and none at all on the window feeder. They behave really nicely with each other, except when a starling drops in looking for trouble.

On the window feeder they actually queue up! There's a flowering currant bush about a foot from the feeder, and we often see a coal tit in the feeder while a blue tit (say) waits patiently just a few inches away on a branch, for its turn. It's all so civilised!

[owlice]

This is wisdom in action.

More necessity than wisdom!

That structure on the top part of the bill is extraordinary. Does it have a purpose, do you know?

That top part of the bill is called a casque; not all hornbills have them. According to this site, "This casque may be used in courtship rituals, as a resonating chamber for their calls, for dominance displays or fights, or simply to reinforce the heavy bill."

Beautiful and cheeky all at once. I suppose the character we seem to perceive in birds is a product of our own minds, rather than their actual nature, but sometimes ... well, it's hard to imagine a black-necked weaver doing anything really nasty, don't you think?

This weaver is new to me. He posed nicely, so I have to say he's a fabulous bird!


Fork-tailed Drongo
A very common bird in the part of Kenya I was in, we saw one nearly every day. (Other common birds were White-browed Sparrow-Weavers, Common Bulbuls, Yellow-billed Kites, and House Sparrows.)


Winding Cisticola


Eastern Clouded Mother-of-Pearl
Worth embiggening; check out its eye!

As one might expect, there were also lions.

[Elgarian Redux]

Fork-tailed Drongo
A very common bird in the part of Kenya I was in, we saw one nearly every day. (Other common birds were White-browed Sparrow-Weavers, Common Bulbuls, Yellow-billed Kites, and House Sparrows.)

Such rich, velvety black. Lovely.
He has the air of a bird who disapproves of the idea of you taking his photograph: 'Do you mind!'

Winding Cisticola

Beautifully lit. Such a delicate bird.

Eastern Clouded Mother-of-Pearl
Worth embiggening; check out its eye!

The eye is so strange it doesn't actually look like an eye at all!

As one might expect, there were also lions.

Was this taken before or after you patted her?

Wonderful images, all. Thank you.

[owlice]

I did not get to pet any of the kitties, alas!! Well, maybe not alas, exactly, since I do like having arms and, ya know, living...

Today, please have a few African Paradise-Flycatchers; I didn't know until this trip that they come not only in cinnamon (or rufous, if you prefer), but also in a white morph. I'd seen only the cinnamon morph in the past, so I was both surprised and thrilled (and initially a little confused) to see the white morph. The males have the long tails only when in breeding plumage.









You can see better photos (taken by others) of this species here.

[Elgarian Redux]

I did not get to pet any of the kitties, alas!! Well, maybe not alas, exactly, since I do like having arms and, ya know, living...

Well, the lioness's lost lunch is a win for us.

Today, please have a few African Paradise-Flycatchers; I didn't know until this trip that they come not only in cinnamon (or rufous, if you prefer), but also in a white morph. I'd seen only the cinnamon morph in the past, so I was both surprised and thrilled (and initially a little confused) to see the white morph. The males have the long tails only when in breeding plumage.









You can see better photos (taken by others) of this species here.

Yikes! Those tails! What fantastic birds.

So ... one of those long tails is just a season's growth, is it? Does it shed the whole tail - that huge tail - and grow another the following year? Seems an awful waste of tail.

[owlice]

Yikes! Those tails! What fantastic birds.

So ... one of those long tails is just a season's growth, is it? Does it shed the whole tail - that huge tail - and grow another the following year? Seems an awful waste of tail.

Aren't they lovely? Such beautiful birds!!

Yes, they shed their tails after breeding season as part of molting. So do peacocks, which then spend six or seven months to regrow them.

A friend of mine lives on a cul-de-sac, which had a resident peacock. (The peacock had wandered away from wherever its home was, as peafowl sometimes do, and no one claimed it; it apparently liked my friend's little neighborhood and spent the rest of his life there.) During the bird's molt, my friend and his neighbors would find the peacock's (fabulous) tail feathers in their yards. Imagine walking in your back garden and finding peacock feathers lying on the ground, yours for the taking!

[Elgarian Redux]

Aren't they lovely? Such beautiful birds.

Yes, they shed their tails after breeding season as part of molting. So do peacocks, which then spend six or seven months to regrow them.

A friend of mine lives on a cul-de-sac, which had a resident peacock. (The peacock had wandered away from wherever its home was, as peafowl sometimes do, and no one claimed it; it apparently liked my friend's little neighborhood and spent the rest of his life there.) During the bird's molt, my friend and his neighbors would find the peacock's (fabulous) tail feathers in their yards. Imagine walking in your back garden and finding peacock feathers lying on the ground, yours for the taking!

I am trying to imagine it. Treasure in your garden!

Today we were up on the hills - lovely sunny day but cold - when a whole bunch of starlings began a series of mini-murmurations. There's a lot of rough sheep pasture up there, and the display began with a strange black area on the ground (as it seemed from a distance). Then they took off, swirling up and around, staying in flight for  about 15 seconds before landing in another area. Hard to estimate numbers - about 500 I'd say. And they just kept doing this over and over - up in the air, swirling around in a majestic pattern for up to a minute, then down again to a different spot. It seemed they would keep on performing for as long as we had the patience to watch. Very beautiful - awesome, even, despite not being one of those huge murmurations involving thousands of birds.

But guess who didn't have his camera?

[Iota]

Eastern Clouded Mother-of-Pearl
Worth embiggening; check out its eye!

A memorably lovely name! The eye's beautiful in a way, it could almost be a patterned mother-of-pearl cufflink.

Wonderful images, all. Thank you.

Ditto! Colourful and enlightening as ever, owlice, thanks!

[owlice]

But guess who didn't have his camera?

Elgarian!!! How could you not?!?! 
::shakes head::

Whatever will we do with you?!!

But you got to watch the mini-murmurations, and really, the glory and beauty of them can be hard to capture, so maybe it's just as well that you didn't slip your Panasonic into your pocket (again). You have the memory of them all the same.

[owlice]

A memorably lovely name! The eye's beautiful in a way, it could almost be a patterned mother-of-pearl cufflink.

Yes! Butterfly eyes are sometimes (maybe often? I don't really know.) patterned like their wings are, and I find that so cool!

Colourful and enlightening as ever, owlice, thanks!

Wonderful images, all. Thank you.

So kind of both of you; thank you!

Going to rummage around in the photo box for a bird or two...

[owlice]

... hmm.... tiny shineys? big and weird? raptors? waders? bunch o' ducks? what to post... what to post...

[owlice]

Collared Sunbird (female)


Collared Sunbird (male)


Malachite Kingfister

[owlice]

Bunches o' birds


African Silverbills


Wattled Starlings
Non-breeding plumage, so no wattles


White-faced Whistling-Ducks


Sittin' around birds (way on the other side of the lake)
Black-headed Herons, Gray Heron, African Woolly-necked Stork, couple o' Painted Snipes


Big birds


Fan-tailed Widowbirds

[Elgarian Redux]

Elgarian!!! How could you not?!?! 
::shakes head::

Whatever will we do with you?!!

I knew you'd say that. I've been hiding in the cellar ever since.

But you got to watch the mini-murmurations, and really, the glory and beauty of them can be hard to capture, so maybe it's just as well that you didn't slip your Panasonic into your pocket (again). You have the memory of them all the same.

Well yes indeed. That is what I tell myself: it was more important to be there, than to photograph the event. Even so, there is some sans-camera grieving going on.

[Elgarian Redux]

Collared Sunbird (female)


Collared Sunbird (male)

Birds of the 'enamel paint' variety. And what delicate postures.

Malachite Kingfisher

That blue! And that orange! Or rather: that blue-and-orange! What a striking and exquisite colour combination. And with matching beak and feet, too. Fabulous photo.

[Elgarian Redux]

Bunches o' birds


African Silverbills

Enough of this applause for gaudily-dressed birdosaurs. Here is real quiet, understated beauty, with such combinations of browns and greys as Paulo Veronese himself would have admired.

Wattled Starlings
Non-breeding plumage, so no wattles

I'm glad they are wattle-free. As it is, they are gorgeous silvery-grey fluffosaurs. (And, being starlings, probably not as cuddly as they look.)

White-faced Whistling-Ducks

Do they, in fact, whistle?

Sittin' around birds (way on the other side of the lake)
Black-headed Herons, Gray Heron, African Woolly-necked Stork, couple o' Painted Snipes

Given what you said about the distance, I 'embiggened' the picture, and it remains pretty darn good. Hopelessly beyond the capabilities of my little Panasonic of course.

Big birds

Ohh, pachydermosaurs! Did you actually get to see them in flight?

Fan-tailed Widowbirds

They are lovely - but why aren't they black? And if not black, why are they called widowbirds, I wonder? Oh but wait:

STOP PRESS: I looked 'em up, and discovered that they are only black during the breeding season. Shoulda known.

[Iota]

African Silverbills

Haha, this is almost exactly how I imagine one of the orderly queues for the bird feeder in Elgarian's garden ...

I knew you'd say that. I've been hiding in the cellar ever since.

.

Such characterful shots, brimming with life as ever, owlice, every one a head turner in one way or another. Greatly appreciated here! 

[Elgarian Redux]

Haha, this is almost exactly how I imagine one of the orderly queues for the bird feeder in Elgarian's garden ...
.

Orderly queues! Orderly queues?!

They usually don't squabble, but they are definitely not orderly!
Except maybe for the window feeder, where they often do queue up on the flowering currant, waiting for their turn at the window.