What's in a name?

There was much activity overhead yesterday evening, as the heat of the day had coaxed every insect from its hiding place and the birds were feasting on them as if there were no tomorrow. Flocks of swallows and swifts swooped and swirled just above the rooftops, while terns and gulls soared less frenetically higher up on the thermals. It brought to mind the busy airways over Europe, where you would be hard pushed to find a clear patch of blue without jet trails criss-crossing your line of sight.

The speed at which the feeding birds fly prevents me from getting a good look for identification purposes, and although I have a rough idea of all the names, coming from a family of avid avian aficionados, my eyesight is not good enough to distinguish colour variations in small birds. I have better luck with raptors, with their generally striking markings and leisurely soaring flight when not diving in for the kill, but I have come to realise that it is not important what the bird is called. It is the pleasure of watching the different shapes and flight patterns among the species that really counts. A line of graceful gannets flying in tandem parallel to the waves, or a straggling V of sacred ibis on their way back to their roosts at sunset allow one to marvel at the orderliness of nature and how each species flies at an altitude and formation that suits their body weight and wingspan, and how they know just how much slipstream is required for efficient flight.

Garden birds provide plenty of entertainment as they hop and chatter in the branches. They love to bathe in the fountain and, if I prop up a hose so that the spray falls over low shrubs, within minutes the Cape white eyes and double-collared sunbirds will be there to play under the rainbow. The bush telegraph works overtime when there is water to play in! I have no idea what the other birds are, but they fall under the generic term of LBJ - little brown job!

Not knowing the name of something in no way diminishes the pleasure of observation - after all, bird watching is just that - watching birds.