Where are the birds?

The variety of birds feeding on the deck has reduced with the onset of spring and greater abundance of food in its natural form. The Cape White-eyes have all but disappeared and must have found a greener pasture. The coprosma that has supplied them with juicy orange berries for some 30 years didn't quite make it through the drought, and only one branch remains with a handful of berries waiting to ripen. Despite having five other coprosmas in the garden, this is the only one that has ever had berries, so presumably the others are male (?). It's sad that the White-eyes' favourite food source is almost at an end and I'm hoping that self-seeded saplings will grow into the right kind of tree for them.
The only two birds that remain consistently, rather as if coming to see me every day, are the Southern Boubou and the Cape Robin - they are possibly young ones that were bred nearby and will disappear when suitable mates turn up, but nevertheless they are early morning and evening regulars and are a source of great entertainment. They barely take any notice of Mango and Biggles any more and a comfortable coexistence is in place. Maybe it's the heat.
The sunbirds are the ones I miss most, with their irrepressible twittering in the hour before dawn - it used to be just outside my window and was the best thing to wake up to, apart from the crashing of the waves down in the bay. I suspect that their absence is due to the proliferation of the pesky sugar bottle feeders that are luring the sunbirds from the honeysuckle, jasmine and hibiscus planted specially for them. Perhaps the only way to attract them now is to give them something they enjoy even more - an upturned spray of water sprinkling the bougainvillea, where they can preen and bath and twitter at the end of a long, hot day. I'll just go and check...