Aerial activity

It's been an exciting day so far, birdwise. I spotted the flamingos early this morning through the gap in the houses between me and the Kom. Having not had much success photographically with the tablet, I took the real camera with me and sat on the wall at the Kom, snapping away at what were obviously slightly nervous flamingos. They couldn't decide whether to feed or not and kept advancing to the water's edge, then retreating, heads up, then heads down, very like the corps de ballet. Suddenly, a decision was made and they took flight, with me fumbling to track them (rather difficult when you're on zoom!). But the results were enough to make the heart beat faster and made my day!

Yesterday I found a pigeon that had flown into the window and broken its neck, so I put it out on open ground for the ravens to find and dispose of. Today they arrived and made short work of it.

While the crows were having lunch,  I noticed the remaining flock of pigeons circling in a panic, signalling the arrival of a raptor. This one was a juvenile black sparrowhawk and was determinedly chasing after one particular bird, but never quite made the kill. It settled in the gumtree to recover its stamina for another attempt later.