Buffalo weavers… are you kidding me ??

Red-billed buffalo weaver (Bubalornis niger)

Buffalo… the type of 4 legged animals that are considered a dangerous specie, have a bird that looks, well by it’s nest, as though it is just as dangerous… here’s its nest… the golf ball gives you an idea of its size… I didn’t put the ball there… some poor golfer probably searched all over the rough for it….

Yet the bird hardly looks dangerous and is, in fact, not…

Prancing around on the ground in search of grubs and worms its main source of food… it does on occasions take seed and such…

A male will take more than one wife and breed with them all eventually aiding in feeding all his off spring…. a sucker for punishment if you ask me…

The pied piper of Kathu…. Southern-pied Babbler….

The southern pied babbler (Turdoides bicolor)

This a species of bird in the Leiothrichidae family, found in dry savannah of Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.

A behavioural description given by Wikipedia sums these birds up beautifully….

“Aggression toward fledglings is most commonly observed when the dominant pair have begun to incubate another brood. During this period, begging fledglings will be punished by parents using aggressive behaviour such as jumping on the youngster. In all cases, fledglings stop begging immediately following attack. Brood overlap results in a distinctive division of labour, with subordinate adults continuing to care for fledglings while the dominant pair concentrate their effort on the new brood. Owing to the extended period of post-fledging care in this species, this can result in dependent young from multiple broods being raised simultaneously.”

Now is this not a lesson we could learn from them,???? Kids get out of hand … “JUMP ON THEM !!!!” ….

What is it with bee-eaters and me..?

There are bird photographers who’s work I admire in South Africa. Brian Culver, Harvey Grohmann, Robbie Aspeling, Helen Badenhorst and Gnatius de Lange…. but seldom would I say I get jealous of their work (says he tongue in cheek, these photographers are bloody brilliant)… however when it comes to bee-eaters I get jealous of anyone who manages to get a good photo…

I’ve seen photos of the bee-eaters lined up on a wire as though posing for the lucky photographer … peacefully tossing a bee into the air to be consumed…. why, oh why can I never get a photo like that.???

I sat patiently watching various Swallow-tailed Bee-eaters flitting between trees and gathering food in the air… did they ever come and sit closer to me ?? NO… I had to creep around to make these captures, not the best, but enjoy….

“I Taw I taw a Putty Tat”… Red-billed Spurfowl….

I came upon these youngsters scouting around in the grass, they seemed unaware of me as I crept closer…. and then….

“Whoooo what the hell is that ?? Oh it’s only a bulldog…” … “But let me get some height and have another look.”

“Yep a bulldog” …. (What the hell are they? Then I saw the parent and realised they were Juvies)

“Red-billed Spurfowl”… she moved closer to make my ID easier….

“This Bulldog seems more interested in Mom… let me strut my stuff….”

“Lets give him a pose…. a close-up… and now PUSH OFF so we can eat !!….”

“Let me close my eyes and pretend he’s not there….”

The red-billed spurfowl (Pternistis adspersus), also known as the red-billed francolin, is found in Angola, Botswana, Namibia, North West of South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

To B&W or not to B&W…

A comment from a follower had me doing a few experiments… Lauramacky made a remark in reply to a comment I made on her post.. (CLICK HERE TO SEE THAT POST) … now I’m not the biggest fan of B&W and said this on her post, but that the B&W that she is posting I find very good….

Her reply read as such —- “Wow thank you! I love colour as well (as you know) and I think you might surprise yourself with some of those bird images. I can totally see one of the flamingos with the reflections as B&W.” So I decided to convert a few flamingo photos to B&W… it worked in two ways… the flamingo are fine in B&W and it gave me an excuse to add a few more flamingo photos… here they are below with their original colour…

Not much difference .. although the colour has just that little bit more…here’s another…

Now this one works fine… BUT how would other bird photos work ?? ….

Now that did not work well… but then the original didn’t work well either with too much black on black background… But what of a almost B&W bird against a blue sky…..

Now this one has me in two minds… both work well…. so to Laura I say thank you for making me experiment… and Laura… now with the new knee, hope all is well soon that you can be up and about, and out with the camera once more…

To visit Laura’s site (CLICK HERE)>>>>