Birding

During my morning swim I was serenaded by a great number of sparrows. Sweeping the balcony less than an hour later, I found that their numbers had been reduced by one. Cat has caught her first bird. In the afternoon, I went for a walk to commune with my avian neighbours. My camera really isn't up to the task of bird photography, but it captured some of the 'exotic' ones that swooped about, such as the European bee-eater (above) that was heading North.

As I composed this post, a White Stork flew right over the balcony . . . but, alas, the camera is not at hand. The same thing happens when a Lesser Kestrel (whose name belies its ferocious look) comes to our living room window. I fear he/she is looking for Cat.


As I started out on my walk, I met my messenger of good luck, a hoopoe. So I knew I would have a good trip.


And I needed good luck because I found myself sinking in very marshy ground without wellies. Another "How-did-you-get-yourself-into-this?" situation. The cattle egret had no problem standing amongst the water hyacinth.


They are beautiful, but deadly. They cause a host of problems: clogging irrigation canals; encouraging the breeding of mosquitoes and bilharzia, and choking oxygen levels needed for fish survival while making the act of fishing very difficult. I'm told that the weed appeared in Egypt in the late 1800s, after someone introduced it to Lake Victoria because it was pretty. A 12,000 ha mat of this weed now covers the lake. Canada is helping to eradicate the weed in Africa and the Middle East.

And I didn't just meet birds on my journey.

I'm not sure why 15 camels were camped out in the banana grove. I was certainly an 'exotic' to them, as they all turned to look.


I also enjoyed the colourful houses along our road. (Just a few more meters and it would have been indoor plumbing.)


You might be able to see the two sets of horns that grace the top of the door of our neighbour's house.


And on my return, I met the lady of the house and her brother, who speaks very good English. I have promised to visit for tea on Wednesday . . . I needed to get home to rinse out the bottoms of my muddy pants. ;-)