| This nest of the malachite
sunbird Nectarinia famosa can be right in your
face and it will still be invisible. We have two sunbirds on a regular basis
in our garden in the Western Cape. The
malachite sunbird with the
male a glittering green all over and the smaller
sunbird
Nectarinia violacea (also refered to as Anthobaphes violacea) where
the male has a glittering red/orange breast. The
females of both are little brown jobs. They love the nectar of the Aloe sp. and
also the Cotyledon sp. I am not an expert
in birds feel free to correct me if I am wrong.
The nest was exactly the height of my face right above the path. I do not know if the they hatched any chicks but the sunbirds must have spent a lot of time building the nest without us noticing them.
It is a pity that I do not have a camera with a zoom. The birds will think nothing of sitting right next to us when we are in the garden, but we must not have anything in our hands. I tried walking with the camera. Fine, they got used to it, but the moment I lift it in their direction, they dash away. There are more nests in the garden. The juveniles resemble the females I guess we might have seen some without realizing they are "our" birds. All birds are welcome in the garden and we see to it that they get some treats and water, but we are not into birding as such. --------------- I had to add this September 2009. I found this little female sunbird nesting on the other corner of the house.
The height of the nest above the ground is obvious by the window in the background - the white is the window pane, not the sky, with the redish window sill at the bottom. The nest is slghtly larger than a man's fist. Now that I know about the nest I make a small detour around the tree, where I would normally pass directly against that branch. It obviously did not bother the birds in building the nest, but I will do my share.
All birds are welcome in the garden and we see to it that they get some treats and water, but we are not into birding as such.
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