A little twitter

We are having an unusually temperate February this year. At least that is from my point of view, possibly because I live right next to the sea in a little village that is cooled by onshore breezes off the icy Atlantic Ocean. The prevailing summer wind, the dreaded southeaster, which warms up as it crosses the Peninsula before it reaches us has been remarkably absent, providing Cape Town with some of the best summer days imaginable to show herself off to the visitors from wintry Europe. We always like to put our best face forward, don't we?
The absence of the dessicating wind and odd days with rain have meant I can skip a day or two of watering without the garden going into a decline. There has been a slight improvement in bird sightings, but the continual presence of the red-breasted sparrowhawk seems to be making the little ones nervous, although the pigeons treat it with disdain, being of a similar size. The sunbirds and Cape white eyes are still absent and do not even come to play in the spray from the hose as they have always done without fail. Mango and Biggles must really have instilled fear into these cheerful little birds who were feasting themselves on the coprosma berries only a few short weeks ago.
And as I write this, the tiny double-collared sunbird (I suspect it is the one I have rescued a few times) appears on the branch! What a treat!