And here they ARE!!!!!! Finally I see the teeny little Malachite Sunbird Babies. To actually capture the memory on my camera is beyond exhilarating. After the weeks of waiting with the Mama Malachite Sunbird, then to know they are hatched. And today to finally see the little creatures. WOW!
Mama Sunbird is still very wary of me. At least she isn't scared and continues to come and go even when she spots me and my camera. I don't get closer than 2 metres. And then I view the nest from the safety (to her) of the bathroom. The cacti; where the little Sunbird family chose to raise their fledglings, is on one corner of our farmhouse. Daddy Malachite Sunbird is a bit more cautious and I only saw him flittingly today.
There are definitely two but I suspect there could be a third. If you look closely to the left, inside of the entrance and behind the brown chicken feather; is what appears to be a third open beak! Which would be amazing. If you have been following this incredible journey - The Birth - with me you'll know that there are only between one and three eggs laid, and even then the survival rate is 20%.
Is it not an extraordinary sight? Their little beaks open frequently in an insistent yellow gape. That's how I saw them. Gazing at the empty nest for the umpteenth time today I suddenly noticed the gaping beaks. I didn't expect to see them so soon. It is suprising how strong the tiny babies are. They are still blind and naked.
See that little unseeing head turned toward the camera? Their bodies are an unusual dark grey and striped which makes me curious if they are all male or all female?
Towards the end of the day I had climbed out of the bathroom window (don't tell the kids!) and I was trying to get a better angle with the camera. I could hear the soft whirring beat of the Malachite parents nearby. When suddenly Mama Sunbird starting chattering angrily at me.
On climbing obediently back into the bathroom I realized one of my cats was lazily grooming himself in the bath. There is no way any of my cats can get into that cacti all the way up there but I wonder what Animal insults were being hurled by that fiesty little Mama Sunbird at cheeky kitty.....
How awesome is a bathroom for a hide - ours is the same. I was only telling Jamie this morning that I'm glad that we made the window clear so that we could see out of it no problem.
They are so gorgeous - what a delight!
Oh I never thought of that! Here in the country the bathroom windows are always clear. And there's usually a lot! We have two big windows in ours. We built my parents-in-laws house with big clear windows. I was horrified when they painted them. I mean, do they think the baboon will stare at them from the mountains? Mind you they also put their massive tv unit in front of the biggest window in the house.....and a cupboard in front of another. Never mind that we built their house with the best view on the homestead! Some people are just never country minded
Congratulations @buckaroobaby! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
Your next target is to reach 1250 replies.
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPThanks @hivebuzz
You're welcome @buckaroobaby 😊👍
We appreciate your work and your post has been manually curated by zoology team (oscurity,nelinoeva) on behalf of Amazing Nature Community. Keep up the good work!
Thank you so much!
nice shootssss and information!
We appreciate your work and your post was manually curated by @none! from the DNA team!
Reach us on Discord to learn more about the project!
Thank you @dna and @none
Great post, I have been able to capture twice robin's nests. The first time I photographed three little blue eggs, then check everyday until they hatched. Nature really is something. I love the sunbirds nest in the cacti, awesome.
Those little blue robin eggs are beautiful! It truly is an incredible thing to behold
Lovely shots here and the next few weeks are going to be very interesting I am sure.
Especially when they get bigger as then the mom and the dad arrives with bigger insects to feed.
Should make for great shots.
It already amazes me the size of the insects the parents are feeding them. I have a photo, not too clear of the buttefly, but it was a not small monarch butterfly!
Yeah, they feed whaterver they can catch and babies are a tough job as they have to be fed every 20 minutes.
I wonder if they will do the same as other birds, as when 3 get's to be too much, then they invariably kick one out.
How wonderful to get to see the young hatchlings and get such great photos! The nest looks quite cozy and those sharp spikes on the cactus give it some pretty good protection!
The sunbird is quite interesting - is the male more brightly colored?
Thanks for sharing - love to see the young birds!
Oh you must see the other post of that male feeding the hatchlings! He is beautiful! A vivid blue green with a long tail. It was such a special experience