Bird Friendly Lawn

Insect Patrol Through Lawns In Durban South Africa

Thanks @nelinoeva for hosting new photo contest round! Theme - Birds In Grass.

Some visiting, others more residential dwellers, recent photographs of birds enjoying the lawns outside my window, now going into Autumn.

I noticed during lockdown the lawns grew longer, more birds arrived due to not being cut so low, dead leaves built up inviting more insects, perhaps down South warmer winter gardens should be left as is, to attract and feed more birds into the garden.

Sedge warbler (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus)

Group of perhaps up to twenty landed to feed, managed to photograph three together before they moved off to find their next stop. On the floor are fallen berries, attracting insects, possible seed from grasses to give them reason to show.

Brown-hooded Kingfisher (Halcyon albiventris)

Regular visitor around the garden, dropping to the ground to pick up a grub, or worm for brunch break, captured red handed!

https://xeno-canto.org/531700 Source: Chatter of the bird recorded by Tony Archer. Road noise makes it difficult for me to get clear recording.

Indian Myna (Acridotheres tristis)

Common resident introduced to our shores who love urban environment, always strutting their stuff being seen and heard. Only birds I have witnessed little tolerance between the clans are the Starlings who tend to chase them out of trees they use.

Ring-necked Dove (Streptopelia capicola)

Docile smaller bird that sleeps in treetops at night and spends most of the day on the ground looking for food of broken berries, seeds some smaller insects. This species has a black eye and can be found almost everywhere in Southern Africa.

Nests are vulnerable to other birds and animals. We have a nest on a flood light for the garden where the monkeys stole the eggs from.

Cape Wagtail (Motacilla capensis)

Frequent visitor to the garden to enjoy insects whilst bobbing and weaving hither and tither enjoying life. We often have both in the garden at the same time, slightly different call.

Oh these do love the windscreen of cars, do a good job cleaning up insects splattered from your recent outings, an endearing little bird found throughout South Africa with distinct "bib" as I call it under the chin.

African Pied Wagtail (Motacilla aguimp)

Stoops down to the ground to forage insects, hopping along in song and dance enjoying whatever emerges. This wagtail is slightly larger to the Cape wagtail.

Hadeda Ibis (Bostrychia hagedash)

Humans have a love/hate relationship with this larger frequent flyer, who is up at dawn with three to four loud utterances as they rise, rinse and repeat when the sun goes down when returning to roost for the night.

A Hadada in the garden is a sign of good healthy garden, when probing for tidbits underground they aerating the soil and keep insect population down, so don't chase them away...

Additional information sourced from Avibase

All photography is my own. Any queries or requests please drop a comment below or make contact with me, have a wonderful day! Photography without tripod, go with the flow wherever life takes you. NB: Amateur photographer and bird watcher, keep smiling!

Thought for Today: "A restless grasshopper eventually ends up in a birds teeth." - African Proverb

Communities to Enjoy On Hive: #lifestylelounge hive-114105, #qurator hive-102880, #featheredfriends hive-106444, #wednesdaywalk hive-155530, #amazingnature hive-127788, #alwaysaflower hive-154065, #feelgood hive-19093, #theterminal hive-101265, #ladiesofhive hive-124452

by @barbara-orenya