What a happy morning! We were alerted to some unusual bickering on the feeder. Very close inspection led us to realise that a new pair of “substantially larger” yellow weavers were aggressively dominating the suet area. Initially one mistakes the newcomer for the traditional Southern Masked Weaver (of which we have plenty). But this turned out to be Village Weavers. They are so similar, and one needs a good set of binoculars to differentiate. But when they pose together, (as here – not a great shot for which I apologise), one can immediately make out the size difference. We rarely seem to get them in suburban Pretoria, but we have fed vast swarms of them in the Drakensberg.
We were still adjusting to the pleasure of the newcomers, when a familiar call rang out. The African Grey Hornbills are back!! It is going to be a great summer!
