© 2020 Forgotten Fields
After a three-year absence, the Cape Batis (Batis capensis) returns to the garden! I saw two. This one is a female. I glimpsed the other, but I hope it is a male. How thrilled I would be were they to nest here in August!
Inspiration
Here, a copse of pine fumes with mist atop a ridge of the Little River Mountains whilst there, a final puff lingers upon a rugged peak. Below, the Little River itself is all but a mirror in the stillness. Modest are the joys of the Overberg in the arms of the South African autumn.
My first ever sighting of a Secretarybird (Sagittarius serpentarius), yesterday. It stood in a field on the left side of the road, but upon seeing me, flew gracefully to a field on the right. There, it alighted, then slowly paced up the hillside. At 1.5 metres (approximately 40 inches) tall, it is an impressive creature both at rest and in flight!
Illustration: Sasol eBirds of Southern Africa Universal App., Copyright 1993, 1997, 2002, 2011: Variously Random House Struik (Pty) Ltd, Norman Arlott, F H Chamberlain Trading (Pty) Ltd
Forgotten Fields 