Twitching

I am not a birdwatcher of note, but I do enjoy watching them as they flit among the branches, feeding on aphids, small spiders, caterpillars, snails and the odd berry. Nature at work is far better than throwing poison on the garden. Even better, the red hibiscus is a magnet for the double-collared sunbirds which bred successfully in the vicinity this year. I try to plant things that attract birdlife, but if you really want to see them at play, the best way is to stand with the hose and spray the water over a tree or shrub. In no time, you will have two or three little birds bathing among the foliage, and if the light is right, you will have a rainbow as well!

Even observing birds in the sky is not as easy as one thinks. Yesterday, my father and sister, twitchers of note who can identify birds just by their call, let alone visual identification, spent an afternoon in the shade of the eaves, looking skyward, and where I saw swallows, they saw martins, swallows, swifts and an Alpine swift. They looked the same to me! Glossy ibis, a fine pair of Steppe Buzzards, mousebirds, a prinia, Cape batis, Cape white eyes and a malachite sunbird also made an appearance specially for them, so all in all, it was a fine afternoon's birding! There was an added bonus as we saw Venus shining brightly in a blue sky - a marvellous sight visible with the naked eye, even with my poor vision - one eye for long distance and the other for close-ups with various sparkles thrown in for good measure.

It seems as though I should spend a little more time with the binoculars, although I doubt whether there is enough time left to catch up with their superior knowledge!