"birding" fun

[Kevin WS]

Great pictures Glen - I especially like the third one.

And I didn't know that butterflies hybernated!

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Here are three pics of one of my favorite birds - the Crested Barbet.

This is a bird I have in my garden - they can become quite friendly and they come up to say "hello" first thing in the morning.

They have a distinctive trill that I find nice - its similar to the noise an alarm clock would make with the bell removed!

They are omnivorous but prefer fruits. The latter includes aloes, and as I have a good stock of these growing in the garden they are always happy. They are also good in the garden as they tuck into termites, snails, grasshoppers, locusts, and moths.

I do not use chemicals at all in the garden, but let nature take its course. Amazing how plants get decimated by insects - and the next time I look they have fully recovered! All comes rights. logical actually as insects are not going to kill their food sources.

These two pictures show a feeding Barbet.





While the one below shows a curious Barbet with his crest erected.

[Don Boose]

What a fascinating-looking bird!

I was glad to have been able to see this.

Don

[SCEtoAUX]

Those Crested Barbets are some colorful birds. Must be nice to have one come up to you for a visit and a chat.

[whulsey]

Beautiful looking birds.
Having had much time myself to wander around with the camera lately, or edit the few I have taken.

[Kevin WS]

It always seems to be a problem to find the time!

I am lucky in having lots of birds around the garden, so I leave the camera permanently on the tripod. Just have to turn it on and start snapping through the window, or cart it outside. Even so I only get maybe 2 or 3 decent shots a week.

Must find time to go out for a couple of birding hours. And train hours!!! And plane hours!!!!

[Kevin WS]

This afternoon I managed to get some decent shots of a couple of Common (or Indian) Myna's.

These are cute birds, good at mimicking, but they are very hyperactive and rarely sit still to be photographed properly - even with a high shutter speed. This afternoon they were squabbling a bit so they kept stopping and eyeing each other. Opportunity!

The Myna is native to Indian and parts of Asia and was introduced into South Africa (as it was in New Zealand and Australia). Here it has slowly spread across the country but does not threaten or displace any other birds in the various habitats.

They are quite liberal in their eating habits and eat insects, plant foods, and nectar. They also feed on ticks on animals (like the "Tickbirds" or Oxpeckers - which they closely resemble).

They mate for life and are very disturbed if a mate dies or is killed. The male hunts down the best nesting material and presents it to the female in the nesting season. He also brings her titbits the year around. They display a lot affection towards one another, which is quite obvious if you watch them closely.

They often mimic other birds in their calls.







They have very interesting and beautiful eyes - with light speckles of light (see the photo below) around the eye.

[Don Boose]

Wonderful images, Kevin. I like the grumpy myna in image 3.

I used to see some kind of myna birds when I lived in Hawai'i. Needless to say, none here in the Mid-Atlantic USA.

Don

[elliott]

Fascinating information Kevin. I did not know the myna originated in India. They live in the Florida peninsula and in the Hawaiian islands in the United States. Interesting birds. Love the light specks around their eyes that you pointed out.

[SCEtoAUX]

Those light specks in the eye look electronic.
They have some very subtle and pleasing coloring.

[Kevin WS]

Don, Elliot, Doug - thanks for the interst. Glad you enjoyed the pics.

I shared the pics just now with a friend and she described the eyes really well - “just like LED lights"!

I think that is spot on!