Africa Wild

only that Purple-crested Turaco

Two stunning birds Leachy!!

The ghbs is a bit of a bad number, in a good survival way, but still an awesome bird to photograph!!

What are you doing in bed at that time of a school day!?

Didn't know we had such big earwigs in town...all the bugs are big here!

BTW...did you see that thick-billed crow floating about here a couple of days ago? Never seen them in Nellies!

Flutterby wrote:Wow leachy...so lucky to have these in your garden!!

thanks flutters...

steamtrainfan wrote:Lovely photos - thanks leachy.

thank you steamtrainfan....

nan wrote:only that Purple-crested Turaco

yip nan... only that...

Sprocky wrote:Two stunning birds Leachy!!

The ghbs is a bit of a bad number, in a good survival way, but still an awesome bird to photograph!!

eish sprocky.. "a bit of a bad number" is putting it mildly....

Richprins wrote:What are you doing in bed at that time of a school day!?

Didn't know we had such big earwigs in town...all the bugs are big here!

BTW...did you see that thick-billed crow floating about here a couple of days ago? Never seen them in Nellies!

richprins... what on earth is a thick-billed crow ???

do mean the white-necked raven ??? cause i have seen and heard a few recently......

so it was on monday that i first heard them..

squawking outside my spare room window.

i had observed them here briefly this time last year

but just in passing.....

this is the happy couple
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and my first photos of them foraging (or so i thought)

they had what seems to me to be the paper nest of either a wasp or a cocktail ant

and i thought it might be for nest building...........
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seems not..

as i have since learnt that their nests are built entirely of twigs

so it appears that the pupae in these nests are also on the menu of these shrikes.....
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Awesome shots leachy!!!

Nice pics!

what a chance
nice pictures

thanks sprocky nan and flutters...

now i have no idea which is the male and which is the female.........????????

then after cleaning his bill on the tree
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it was time for a kill.........

here you can clearly see the prey...

a newborn chick
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they then slap it around on the branches

similar to the modus operandi of the kingfishers

and then they find a suitable spot between two branches

where they wedge it securely and start tugging it into more manageable size pieces..
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once they have managed to tear off something

they start devouring it or they fly off to their nest in a nearby tree
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and return later to the "pantry"

while the flies take the opportunity help themselves a bit...
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here we see the little feet of his his next victim.....

a gekko...
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