Malachite sunbird babies

I had the whole day in the garden today and with the joy of seeing the new Malachite sunbird babies in my fuchsia bush, well it made my garden work a whole lot more fun. I literally ‘played’ with them all afternoon. They were not at all fussed to see me in the garden. The mother bird made lots of noise to warn the young ones, but they watched me nonchalantly.

The male malachite sunbird is a bit of a psycho bird – I believe they get aggressive and restless during the breeding season. He makes so much noise for his size and continuously chases the female and attacks the babies. It was my duty to keep the young ones safe. He got so aggressive that he knocked the smaller one out of the fuchsia and he fell between the wooden slats of the front deck! It took me a good half an hour to help him (her) out from under there. He got all tangled up in webs and old leaves that I had to softly roll it off his delicate feet. By this time he was so exhausted and now so tame that he allowed me to hold him. It was such a delight!! We are now buddies!!

[one_half]Spotted the first baby sunbird in the fuchsia[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Can’t tell them apart yet[/one_half_last]

[one_half]This is the smaller one[/one_half]

[one_half_last]and this is the other one[/one_half_last]

Then as the evening came, the mommy sunbird called the children back to the nest and we took more photos of them, all cuddled up and ready for bed! They let us near and we have now been accepted as “cool” by the young ones! Yeay! I love having my feathered friends around me. I guess they all know that I’m the chicken lady and come and make their homes in my trees! What a delight!!

[one_half]And so to bed[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Nighty night little ones[/one_half_last]

Happy Gardening xxxxx