Olive Thrush

One of the things i've really enjoyed about being back in Jozi is the numbers and diversity of bird species around, i must start a garden birds list to keep track of the visitors. Most people here probably take it for granted, but I have been getting pretty excited - probably because in Dublin I rarely got to see more than seagulls and magpies.

One of the first I noticed was this olive thrush nesting right outside my window. She is quite bold and did not seem to mind my presence, coming and going frequently during the day.
Sadly the nest was destroyed in the violent storms we've been having over the last few weeks. However, the thrush's still frequent the same tree and can often be spotted in the mornings on my balcony where she comes to crack snail shells and birds eggs she has managed to steal.

In the picture above she had just dropped a snail and is trying to spot where it fell.I'm keeping an eye on them to see if they try to nest again before winter, although there has been no activity at the nest for a few days now.