Autumn has arrived.

This little guy was happily singing away.

It is a Southern Double-collared Sunbird (Cinnyris Chalybeus), and the adult birds know how to handle autumn and which flowers still have nectar.
We saw traces of the fall season some weeks ago, as the trees started shedding their clothes, getting undressed before their winter sleep. I have told you before that the trees can sleep, and they do that during winter so that when they awake in the spring season then they are all fresh and new.

Still some nectar in the flowers for the sunbird to sip.

Just a nice pose for me before it left.

I figured that the guineafowl feather would add some wintry character to this shot below.

A late bloomer, but I think that the berries will not ripen.

Oak leaves all over on the grass below this old tree.

A closer look.

A pair of Egyptian Geese were also strutting their stuff.

The worry is always whether the young birds will survive their first winter, as quite often we find dead little youngsters during the winter period. Nature's law is that the strong will survive, and the weak will perish. Totally different from our human ways of caring and protecting the weak. Another worry is our squirrels, as the roadkill numbers are high here. Speeding vehicles are a real problem for the squirrels when they cross the roads.

Last year's autumn was also very trying for us, as some birds were still nesting, and we had to keep a close eye on them with all the wind and rain around. But this autumn season we have only seen one pair of doves still nesting across the road from our house. Totally different from last season, as we had about three or four nests going. Thankfully a dove is much bigger than the little sunbirds, and they can handle the weather conditions much better.
But as always, such is life.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures and the story.

Photos by Zac Smith. All-Rights-Reserved.

Camera: Canon PowershotSX70HS Bridge camera.

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