Crested Barbet's - Take Two

The Crested Barbet's I blogged about have been much quieter now that the initial throws of passion have warn off. I have not seen them at the nesting hole I can see across the road - so I guess that means they have found another location :(

I do still see them frequently and managed a much better photo than my previous efforts. Although this pic is slightly obscured by a branch, the birds striking features do come through. I really love having barbets in the garden!

Crested Barbet

I'm very lucky to have a pair of Crested Barbet's nesting in a large pine tree accross the road. Unfortunately they are just out of effective range for my 300mm lens (420mm with a 1.4 extender), as you can see the resolution on this large crop is not great, but you can still make out the nest hole in the photo below:



I love the afrikaans name for the Crested Barbet birds, Kuifkophoutkapper, which is fantastically descriptive. These birds are extreemly noisy and their shrill trrrrrrrrr call can be heard throughout the day. They are also extreemly frustrating to photograph, never sitting still for more than a few seconds and rarely comming into range. So far this is about the best snap i have got:



I think i may have to build a bird feeder to lure them closer, watch this space!