Just Home Today!

Woke up early, in fact, early enough to see the sun rise.  It usually rises behind the houses but this morning it was right there in between them.

 From our bedroom balcony you can see both the sunrise and the sunset 
 these days. Up at 6, down at 6.

 After doing home laundry,  I sat down on the
back patio to see what in the world was
going on with this nest.
 It seems to be suspended by a thread and that just a little wind 
would just knock it down.  

What is holding this on?  I have no idea.

The nest is pretty large and if a bird and some eggs
settle in ... gravity will rule!

The warbler came right up to the edge of the porch to say hi.
Sometimes he sings so loudly I cover my ears.
He is a big bird.. about 7-8" long with a
huge set of lungs! Right now there are several in the yard.

This is the new kid on the block.  He has just shown up in the last few weeks.  
There are at least 2 of them... I believe this bird is a Hunter's Sunbird.  
All the Sunbirds have these wicked looking bills but according to the 
 East African Bird Book.. this guy shouldn't be anywhere near this area. 
His marking are so beautiful.  

 

 In flies the Olive Throated Sundbird
or the Green Throated Sunbird. 
I don't know which one is which. 

She or he... proceeds to fix the nest!
Really it is more like a sling than a nest right now. 

Fast forward....

A few days later they have the nest UP!  Up in the tree branch.

I can't imagine how they "pulled this" up into the tree. 

Then the attack started! 

Birds started flying "at" the

nest while mom and dad 

just sat there squawking 

and watching them.

It lasted a long time....

Check out

the protectors faces

below....
The racket from all of them

       was almost annoying!  

"They went that way"....

"No, they went that way!"

After the ruckus---this beauty showed up!
This is a Yellow-Fronted Canary.
I have been watching these in the yard and I thought they were in the Weaver family.
But this bird has a totally different bill.
AND HE JUST CAME RIGHT UP TO ME NEXT TO MY CHAIR ON THE PORCH
and gave me this look!  I think he was annoyed with the noise, too.

And later in the same day...this pair of sweet little tiny birds
also came up on the porch right next to me.
I cannot for the life of me figure out what species they are.
They must be finches of some kind. 

Let me know if you know what they are.  They are quite friendly
and want to be near you.  Totally sweet. 
By the way, that little black seed is about the size of a pearl...
just to give you an idea of the actual size of these tiny creatures. 


But.... just now as i am ready to hit publish... in come the pair of 
Hunter's Sunbirds... swooping into the nest that i showed you above. 
Apparently they won the fight and they have now claimed the
nest!  Seem like winning the battle is even prevalent in the bird world!


I hope you win all your battles today! 
(without squawking about it)


love,
margie