Sunbirds and goats

June 3 2007

27 degrees C (80 F) , but didn't feel so warm because about 9 knots west wind ~25 % humidity - some high altitude and stratus cloud. about 5.30 -6.30 p.m.

Sunbird active in garden today.. he was third bird I heard this morning shortly after 5 a.m. (behind house sparrows and the earliest, a hooded crow that again cawed at about 4.45 am) Pleasant few minutes watching a fearless female sunbird work over some globe thistles by the field with the saplings, probling into each thistle flower in turn, very charming. Our local male came by my window just after 7 p.m. ..I got a shot of him but was not clear.. the digital camera gets confused trying to focus through mosquito netting and bars, and he moves very quickly. I got a very nice sapphire coloured blob. The pic on the globe thistles was much more satisfactory even without the iridescence of the adult male.

Old Arab shepherd and (prob) his grown son had brought their handsome herd of goats, long haired, droopy eared brown and white, to graze along the creek. We see shepherds here from time to time, sometimes with sheep and goats, sometimes just goats. Always pleasant to hear goat bells in the valley. In the past we've bought milk from them and sterilized it ourselves - excellent! Goat's milk has bad rap partly because it's simply culturally unfamiliar in the west and because occasionally a strong goat odour from their glands accidentally gets into the milk but I've found this is rare and pretty much all goat milk, cheese and yoghurt I've had has been quite pleasant, often better than commercial cow's milk. Ask Heidi.

Cooing heard today from Feral pigeons, turtle doves and some collared doves. Not senegals curiously till nearly sunset, though plenty around foraging.

Went to bunker ruins for 'cistern watch' - at least two agamas in the ruins and a 'tok tok tok!' that was probably a gecko. Great tits of various ages foraging around ruins, a few round the cistern, seen pop down and in for a drink. A beautiful turtle dove on the ground out in the sun.. pink feet and the light on its back reflected on its scalloped back and wing feathers like burnished bronze, very nice effect.

More Agamas also seen other locations along creek trail .. usually on boulders, keeping perfectly still or nodding heads rhythmically.

Flying insects have stepped up harassment.. noticeably getting more pesky though not biting. Cicadas in orchard as usual. (I asked my 9 year old if he'd been having more problems from the insects. "Oh yes", he said, "because it's drier they want the moisture on our faces. They want to drink from our eyes." Charming. )

Many greenfinches eating from thistles today in small groups of half a dozen or so at a time in a number of different locations around the woods, often accompanied by house sparrows and great tits.

Single greater -spotted cuckoo flew from grove of trees to the east of gazelle field, calling a grating 'chuh chuh chuh' repeatedly from a pomegranate tree.. after some minutes moved on to another P tree centre field, soon after back east. .

Lots and lots of 'chokking' sounds up creek path we wanted to check out. Chukar partridges on creek path to north of loop.. one adult with at least a dozen chicks crossed the path to the west, followed by a couple more adults, then yet another adult accompanied by at least five more chicks.. this one stopped in the path and nestled in the dust, sat there quite still a while with all the chicks close all around her. After a few minutes got up and headed back east up the slope. At least two other adults. Big extended family group, nice, and quite amusing watching them all emerge from the undergrowth, like a party of holiday makers piling out of a bus.

Hooded crows active all over...Jays also busy foraging in woods and some calls. Not a sign of a jackdaw anywhere, no calls, no sightings at all in about a week. I wonder where they went? Not the first time I've noticed their absence. Wonder if they got a tip off on some food source at a distance? How do they know.. memories of previous years? Scouts?