Hello! Do I know you?

In case I don't, and you want to eat me, beware, as I have bodyguards.

So, don't you come any nearer, as I will keep my eye on you.

The delightful bird is an African Hoopoe (Upupa africana), and it seemed not to like human beings very much. I don't blame him, as poaching is rife in our country and many critters and scarce plants are stolen daily. So,I tried with a friendly wave, a smile, and I even made some bird sounds to try and pacify him. But not this guy, as he was upset about me disturbing his lunch.

He even made that dippy sign, rotating his foot around his head to show that he thought I was a bit of a mental case :))

And, flaring the comb on his head, he called his bodyguards to come and scare me off.

I think that the hoopoe was a bird of means, maybe a politician, or a bird government minister, as 13 body guards stepped up.

Or maybe he was a governor of the guinea fowls, as plenty others arrived.

Alright, I saw all of the bodyguards arriving, and sanity prevailed, as I rather went to look for some other birds.

Here below was a Southern Double-collared sunbird on a new Ice-white Protea flower.

And here was another one sipping nectar from the base of a Strelitzia (Paradise) flower.

But before he sipped, he was also watching to see if I came any nearer.

Finally, he took the sip and look at that cute little bum :)

We are very fortunate to have so many new blooming proteas and sugar bushes in this area and they are all starting to bloom now, as our winter season is approaching. We look forward to each season's blooms and birds, as normally all of the migrant birds have departed before our winter, and so it is only the local birds that remain and there are many of them. To me, humor is the nectar of life and I often try to insert some humor into my posts. To smile is better than to cry, and when one smiles then the world smiles with one. But when one cries, one cries alone. We see the birds as our role models from nature, and people look at me strangely when I walk around and make bird sounds. Maybe they also twirl their fingers around their heads thinking I am dippy, especially when I make the bird sounds inside a supermarket:))

I hope you have enjoyed the picture story.

Photos by Zac Smith-All Rights Reserved.

Camera: Canon PowershotSX70HS Bridge camera.

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