h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

This is a bird that likes to look good. Probably good-natured, and not at all a prima dona. Nevertheless, you can see how much the bird likes to be seen in a flattering way.

Pragmatic about habitat; doesn't mind nesting where another species has nested before. Its ego does not get bruised if others don't notice it.

Hello again! Thanks for commenting. Wrynecks are rather strange to me … very general kinds of birds, feeding on ants, which you get all over the place … and yet, they're rather infrequently seen, and quite easy to miss. Also strange to me, they appear in some places at some times and then disappear again. They were in town not long ago, but now they're suddenly gone. I was quite pleased to find the one on the farm.

Truly a handsome bird, Willem. Here are some interesting bird behaviour pictures from the Audubon Society.

http://www.audubon.org/news/12-fascinating-bird-behaviors-2018-audubon-photography-awards?emci=58d950c2-8a81-e911-abc4-281878391efb&emdi=5ef8ebf3-cad3-e911-bcd0-2818784d4349&ceid=783732&ms=digital-eng-email-ea-x-_20180912_bird-behavior_%5baudience%5d&utm_source=ea&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=_20180912_bird-behavior&utm_content=%5baudience%5d

Hi Elektra, how've you been? Thanks a lot for those! The Spectacled weavers are very familiar to me, they come into my garden a lot!

I'm good. Did you have any more excursions for birds or plants coming up? Always a delight to see.

Yes, there's one I'm planning for the 19th October. It will be at the Northern Sotho Museum, an archaeological site dating to, I think, the seventeenth or eighteenth Century. I'll see if I can find time for some shots at the museum itself, we're going into the surrounding hills to see how many plants we can ID. We're going to work towards compiling a list for the curator.

Birds are always visiting my yard, and they are always welcome. I leave sunflower and coneflower seedheads in place throughout the Winter, so the birds can eat the seeds if they wish. We also have apples, mulberries, raspberries, grapes, and many other kinds of fruits and berries for the birds.

I like to see birds in other parts of the world. I'm fascinated by the connection between earthbound dinosaurs and modern day birds. Many landbased organisms eventually evolve into flying species -- insects, reptiles, even mammals (i.e., bats). I like to think that the trend is upward in you have a long enough time frame. Maybe we can accelerate the trend to flying people.. Not counting Papageno and the harpies, of course.

Just yesterday, I was off to the University of Limpopo to donate some plants for their botanic garden. They have there a special section which is a bird garden! I'll be interested to see what they attract. Most of the things I gave them, have nectar-rich flowers, or edible fruits (for birds), so would do nicely.

Yeah the bird/dino thing is fascinating. I hope to have time still in my life to do some reconstructions of the various kinds of feathered but non-avian dinosaurs …

I think it would be possible to genetically engineer flying humans ...

I wouldn't be surprised. Would they be called Icarus?

Willem, I thought you'd like this handsome raptor from the US:

http://www.audubon.org/news/the-secret-lives-swallow-tailed-kites?emci=4c7f245b-9dd5-e911-bcd0-2818784d4349&emdi=16ffd39d-3ed6-e911-bcd0-2818784d4349&ceid=783732&ms=digital-eng-email-ea-x-engagement_20190913_eng-burst-swallow-tailed-kite_medium&utm_source=ea&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=engagement_20190913_eng-burst-swallow-tailed-kite&utm_content=medium

Willem, here are some funny wildlife pics for you:

http://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-49690173

That swallow-tailed kite is gorgeous .

Thaks for the story about the swallow-tailed kites and also for the funny pics! I especially liked the little chimpanzee.

He was a real cutie!