One of the fun things about being a bird lover is that it gives you an opportunity to seek out places where you know certain birds are found. This happened to us this Christmas when we visited Cape Town for a couple of days. We knew that Kirstenbosch (our national botanical garden), with its beds of colourful Proteas and Ericas attracted a variety of birds, so a plan was made to brave the crowds to photograph the local feathered residents. We were mainly on the hunt for Sugarbirds (which alas proved elusive on the day) and Sunbirds that are endemic to fynbos, and what a delightful few hours we spent there. I will focus on the Orange-breasted sunbird this week, as this beautiful bird is extremely photogenic and fortunately not too camera shy.
I photographed their detailed information board which saves me from writing about them myself – how clever was that! Just click on the photo to enlarge it for reading.
The flowers at this time of the year are quite beautiful and are obviously full of nectar for the birds.
The females are rather drab compared to their gorgeous male counterparts.
Next week I’ll put up pictures of the Lesser double-collared sunbirds – also very sweet and quite active in the fynbos.
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