The Yellow-billed kite Milvus aegyptius parasitus takes a holiday up in north Africa between breeding sessions, and returns from about August onwards to get back to business. At first, groups of them are common, but as summer gets into gear one sees singles and doubles jealously guarding their territories. It’s Not This Time of Year Without…them signalling the accelerating approach of summer and holidays and the Festive Season and all. The first to see their return says gleefully, ‘The YBKs are back!’ Later comes the announcement, ‘The YBKs are pairing off!’
By the same token the statement, ‘The YBKs have left,’ is given in a doleful voice.
Now, as promised in an earlier post, some more pictures from the tiny private garden down the road from us from which I took the shot of the kite.
Slim een! EN mooi!
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Dankie! Daardie geelbek het ‘n goeie tuin vir sy woonplek gekies, nie waar nie?
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….and of course-nothing heralds the start of summer more than the call ‘Piet-my-vrou” from the Red-Chested Cuckoo-I heard my first of the season yesterday, which is rather late!
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Or maybe you haven’t been tuned in before! 🙂
I miss that sound. We used to hear them regularly when living in the Midlands, but they don’t seem to DO Durban.
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And we in the UK say the same about the swallows and the house martins that arrive in April and May from out of Africa to nest in outhouses and under the eaves; and we’re equally bereft in September when they gather before flying back south.
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We notice the swallows less where we are because they congregate in great swarms a bit north of us near the airport.
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That’s amazing. Great shots. I love the boardwalk photo best of all.
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The boardwalk takes one down the steep hillside through the dune forest and all the way to the beach. An amazing thing to have as part of one’s front garden, indeed.
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That sounds amazing. Where is this again?
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It is in a suburb south of Durban where we live. Sadly, we were no longer able to afford one we owned close by with similar access to our own part of the beach, but in our downsized home still have the sea views and another private access in partnership with a group of residents..
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Oh, I thought the garden was a public space.
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It is large enough to be one, but this is privately owned.
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Those are some lucky owners 🙂
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Luck, augmented by some generations of hard work!
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we say the same thing when the Red-Tailed Black Cockatoos arrive – just before Christmas 😀
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Interesting! I don’t suppose your refer to them as Arty Bee Sees, though? I would be tempted to. 🙂
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Very nice.
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Thanks!
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