Sunlight returns at Leganga forests after days of heavy rain. Delicate flowers blossom and sound of birds fill the humid air some shy others curious their colours as vivid as their names.
Nearby, I spot a cute Variable Sunbird sit on a branch dive bombs anything that approaches. A few minutes later some serious drama started between two Sunbirds fighting aggressively for a territory. In few seconds the fight was over and the winner chattered in its song and was flitting among flowers catching insects mid air and feed on nectar which he extracted by sucking with his tubular tongue.
Sunbirds stay in one area from birth to death and are often seen in pairs and mating for life. In the world of sunbirds females are more subdued in coloration- males get all the pretty color that seem to shimmer when sunlight hit their feathers especially during breeding season leading to most sunbirds having colorful names.
From the forest I pass at the lodge for a cup of coffee and meet this fascinating and impressive huge tree called Fig (Ficus caria). Birds were all times existing in the tree and the presence of migrant species made the fig busy calling and singing their sweet melodies. I decide to make one stop birding and watch it from the smallest details to the grandest moments.
The Fig tree always reminds me of its inseparably link with creation stories in religious status implying Adam and Eve covering themselves with the leaves of the Fig when they realized they were naked and became ashamed.
Barbets, Kingfishers and Bulbuls offered quick views as they flew through the fig branches. I picked the perfect colour palette spotting the Black headed oriole, a top rarity I long for, bringing more bright energy to the greenery tree.
A moment later a quiet bird that often stays in trees the African Paradise Flycatcher was swallowing a Praying Mantis- one of very few insects with neck mobility perfect for spotting prey while staying sneaky, its head can rotate up to 180 degrees letting it look almost straight behind without moving its body- in nature predators act not out of cruelty but necessity.
Fig fruits now ripe inviting more feathered fruit-eaters like mousebirds, turacos and hornbills moving in for feast to be joined by the mammalian counterparts’ blue monkeys, squirrels and black and white colobus monkeys. As night approaches nocturnal animals such as bats and bushbabies came out to feed.
This Fig at Leganga lodge in Usa River is not just iconic but has grown the strongest providing food and shelters to various creatures. It is a living model for sustainability in action and a complete universe unto itself.
