Something impossible that also held me spellbound.
These two were sleeping in the sun, and the one on the left jerked its head up so suddenly that it awoke the one at the right.
The main actors in this little drama;
The bird at the back is a White-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax lucidus).
The smaller bird at the front is a Cape Cormorant (Phalacrocorax capensis).
The third little bird is a Cape Wagtail (Matacilla capensis).
The cormorants were watching this tiny Wagtail bird eying the fish in the dam and dreaming about catching one.
Hey Gus, the one at the front said over its shoulder, do you think that little bird can catch a fish that is a gazillion times bigger than it?
Gus, at the back twirled his foot around his ear, as a sign that the little wagtail was a mental case.
Bravely, the little wagtail looked back to see if the two birds on the bank were watching him.
Oh yes, Gus and his companion were up and alert, watching him, in case a fish would turn suddenly to swallow the little wagtail.
You can see that these were not small fish.
A lazy crowd of African Sacred Ibis birds (Threkiornis aethiopicus) also gathered to watch the action.
In the meantime, some more fish arrived.
So, our brave little wagtail did the sensible thing by taking off and flying away.
Just another day for these two, as they settled down to rest again.
Now let's be sensible about this, as I was having some fun in my mind and dreamed up the script. In the first case, the little wagtail wouldn't dream of catching a fish, and in the second instance, the fish are Grass Carps, meaning that they only eat algae and not birds. But you have to give it to me that the storyline is a wee bit funny. I think that from this day, we will name that little wagtail Jonah:)) Or maybe not.
I hope you enjoyed the pictures and the story.
Photos by Zac Smith. All-Rights-Reserved.
Camera: Canon PowershotSX70HS Bridge camera.
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