I never thought that I would get a real Hammer Head on camera.
But nature had other ideas and a pleasant surprise for me in stock.
Look what came in to sit on our neighbor's roof. These are water birds, and now you can see why I was so excited.
The hamerkop (Scopus umbretta) is a medium-sized wading bird. It is the only living species in the genus Scopus and the family Scopidae. The species and family was long thought to sit with the Ciconiiformes but is now placed with the Pelecaniformes, and its closest relatives are thought to be the pelicans and the shoebill. The shape of its head with a long bill and crest at the back is reminiscent of a hammer, which has given this species its name after the Afrikaans word for hammerhead.
It is a medium-sized waterbird with brown plumage. It is found in Africa, Madagascar and Arabia, living in a wide variety of wetlands, including estuaries, lakesides, fish ponds, riverbanks, and rocky coasts. The hamerkop is a sedentary bird that often shows local movements.
I heard a strange call, stood up to walk into the front garden, and saw this strange bird circling high up overhead.
As it flew off I went back to sit on my chair, as I was busy focusing on a dragonfly and I thought that the bird was gone.
Imagine my surprise, when I heard that "kip-kip-kip" sound, loudly, from close by. So, I jumped up, the dragonfly disappeared and look what sat on the neighbors roof. It's all that I could get of it, as it jumped up and disappeared behind the roof.
Earlier I got some Swee Waxbills (Coccopygia melanotis), and they seem to grow in number.
If you count carefully, you will see there are now 5 of them eating grass seeds in our back garden. We think it is the dad, the mom, and the three babies. I will show you one of the babies below.
There you see the dad and one of the babies sitting on the edge of a flowerpot. The baby is a female, as only the males have the black collar under their beaks.
And now, let me show you some swallows.
Again, we have a family issue, as we think that it is the parents with their youngster. These are White-throated Swallows (Hirundo albigularis).
The swallow at the back disappeared, and I focussed on the two at the front.
They were sitting on a dried protea bush.
The way the one at the back watched the one at the front, I presume it was the female at the back, as my wife often also keeps an eye on me like that.
Never mind just keeping an eye on me, but when I sneak out and climb up on the roof, she wants to have a psychedelic fit. You can see that I am in a happy mood, as at first a bird that is not supposed to sit on house roofs, as they are only found in streams and dams, sat down to pose for me. I still regard it as unbelievable.
Then the little swees always make one's mornings, and we deliberately leave the grasses there for them to eat the seeds. They will not be around for much longer, as soon as the babies are grown, they will disappear again till the next season. In the meantime, while they are gone, we will clear all the weeds from the back garden and then let them grow again next season for the swees.
I hope you enjoyed the pictures and the story.
Photos by Zac Smith-All-Rights-Reserved.
Camera: Canon PowershotSX70HS Bridge camera.
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