Capespring

#balconybirds no.3. The Red-Winged Starling. This is a magic bird. From this angle you can’t see its dashing brick-red flight feathers that give it its name. This is one smart bird. Outside our old house I’d hear them give their special growling alarm call when our cats went out - to warn their foraging spouse and child that they’d spotted a predator. They hang about in these family groups. Males, like this. Females with their grey head. And the youngster who may look just like the parents but just hangs about waiting for handouts. It’s a cliff bird. Like many cliff birds including the European Rock Pigeon that’s ubiquitous worldwide, it’s adapted easily to the edifices of human cities. And being a great deal cleverer than pigeons, they’re not constantly being run over by cars. It’s a big and thoroughly charming starling.

#balconybirds No.2 An unloved introduced species, the European Starling. It’s the same one that forms those giant, pulsating flocks of viral video fame in its native Eurasia. Held in contempt though they be for their crime of having their ancestors brought here against their will, like all starlings they’re full of intelligence and virtuosity of voice. And like many starlings, they’re a blaze of iridescence when the sun hits them just so.

#balconybirds No.1: A Laughing Dove kook-ka-kooring atop the telephone pole. I got a Nikon lens adapter from #kandfconcept. Took about 8 days to get from Senzhen China, direct from the company, to Cape Town. Shipping was free. And way cheaper than the extortionate local markups. So now to try some #telephotography with the little old Fujifilm XE1. Usina a 300mm f4 Nikkor with a 1.4x converter. And I’m going to try get pics of all the birds that we get to see across from our #balconyofprivilege here in Observatory - be they ever so humble.

In an extraordinary move, we went out and hung distantly out with our dear friends @goflow42 and @jason66c in de Waal Park. Apart from the now novel joy of human contact, there were their wonderful kids, J & T, and loads of doggos tearing about having the best time. Spring is here. The epidemic still rages. It’s not over. But it’s nice to take a break.

To my astonishment we’ve kept almost all the plants alive that @withoutaleaf’s ma gave us in the years since they moved back to India.

A rare moment of sibling harmony from the gremmies.

@sophdex knows how to wedding, and doesn’t care if you know it.

Spring wedding for @johnthevudio and Aleks.

A grand time was had @johnthevudio’s wedding. Bread, and salt, and vodka. The three Polish food groups. And then a damn good knees-up. John knows a lot of photographers, so I limited myself to a bare handful.

On the way back from the shop, I stopped to talk to this handsome cat who was watching the world go by.