I spent a very enjoyable hour at a fruiting Bird Plum tree yesterday. There was soft light, created by a haze of low cloud over the morning sunshine, and an array of fruit-eating birds were feating on the ripe green plums. Initially, I was focused on a Grey Go-away Bird which was making faces as it tried to swallow the large fruits…but then I saw that the African Green Pigeons, which are usually so shy, were starting to move through to the front of the tree where I was sitting.
There were 2 or 3 pairs of pigeons and, initially, there was plenty to go around. But as the fruit hotspot became more widely known, more pigeons began to arrive and they started to compete with each other, and with the go-away birds, for the best sites. This worked to my advantage as the birds were more focused on getting food and less on keeping away from me!
