The Sunbird

Once installed, I decided that a birdbath could be added to the water feature. Friend Brian Gulll bent some aluminium which I then covered with loose sand and acrylic to ‘half way’ blend in. I then drilled a vertical hole and perpendicular hole and at the rear, attached a feed from the water pump. Since then, the visitors have brought us hours of joy, but the White Bellied Sunbird stole the show. Being a smallish chap, he rarely ‘takes the plunge’ like the Bul Buls, Thrushes etc but his morning ritual involves a few sips first, followed by a little ‘wallowing’ in the rim flow pool on top of the pedestal itself for his daily bath. Of interest is his timing. Mostly he visits around the 08h15 mark, give or take a few minutes. Much like many other creatures, (Vervet Monkeys) he has a ‘foraging’ pattern in the ”hood” and hence his rather punctual arrivals daily. Technically, given that the water feature is largely in shadow, shutter speeds and apertures are/were quite low in the low light conditions and the lack of depth-of-field is quite apparent. Missing too is the magnificent iridescent colours and hues so common with the species when in bright sunshine. A big thanks to Honorary ranger Nic Theunissen for trusting me with his Canon EOS 30D and Tamron 100-400, along with the Manfrotto tripod and cable release- hand-held would have been impossible! Some White Eyes and Robins are also frequent visitors

Recent Comments

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recent Post