One of the delights of the lowveld winters, apart from the sunshine, the dry air and the warm (but not hot) temperatures, is that the aloes come into flower. This in turn attracts sunbirds to the Lodge gardens. Most frequent are the white-bellied sunbirds (Cynnyris talatala). As the name suggests, both sexes have a white or off-white belly: the remainder of the female’s plumage is white below and brownish on top. The male, however, has dark wings above and a brilliant metallic green head, throat and mantle with iridescent stripes in purple and blue on the breast. The male sings loudly (incredibly so for such a small bird) throughout the day – a monotonous and often-repeated ‘chuee-chuee-chuee’. They feed on nectar from the aloe flowers and their long bills are ideally shaped to reach it.
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| White-bellied sunbird (male) |
Many other birds are drawn to the gardens as well at this time, frequently visiting the birdbath and the bigger birdpool. Blue waxbills, various fire-finches, green-winged ptylias and many others. Our resident African barred owlet is still about and often roosts in the gardens during the day.
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| Green-winged ptylia |
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| African barred owlet |
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| Blue waxbill |
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| Jameson's firefinch |
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