Love Birds

The waxeyes living in my garden appear as a flock of individuals with a pecking order.  Dominant birds assert their authority by shivering their wings.  If that doesn't work a quick peck will.  They feed in small groups, with the dominant ones eating first.  Then as each group finishes its members perch on surrounding branches to preen themselves.

This little couple is different.  They go to the feeder together.  Each fends off competitors while the other eats.  Then they sit very close together to preen.  They don't seem to differentiate between themselves.  A preening movement on one can run seamlessly onto the other.  A wing extended on one may close down over the other's back and remain there for a few seconds.  They vigorously clean each other's heads.  When done they continue sitting, puffed up and very close, looking about.  In large you can see that one has its foot over the other's.

For the last week I've been trying to photograph them, but the light has been too poor, or a branch was in the way, or they were facing in another direction.  So with this shot I'll be able to relax and enjoy watching them through binoculars.

The clouds lifted a little further today.  I saw the lower slopes of the mountains.  We even had brief thin sunshine.