Kirstenbosch Gardens, Cape Town, 10 August 2008

One of the great reasons for living in Cape Town is the famous Kirstenbosch Gardens, one of the most beautiful botanical gardens in the world.

Deluged w work (blogging takes a backseat to earning a living!) I nonetheless had to get out over the weekend to screw about with my camera (Nikon D300 with somewhat clunky, rare Tokina ATX 300mm f4). This image won’t win any art awards, but here’s one of the tiny living jewels that inhabits Kirstenbosch – a male Southern Double-collared Sunbird, in full breeding regalia. Sunbirds fill a parallel niche to hummingbirds in the New World (nectar-eating pollinators) but they can’t really hover, hence the curved bill. Note the dusting of yellow pollen on his head. The plant is some type of Pincushion Protea.

Later, after the sun had gone behind the mountain, I found a very confiding Dusky Flycatcher. The camera’s performance at 800 ISO was quite OK.

Best to all out there!

Adam