Now don't get me wrong, there is very little wrong with Atlanta, (apart from the traffic!!) It is deliciously green there, it has beautiful sunshine most of the time, very much like zimbabwe. It has wonderful shops, great restaurants, beautiful lakes and rivers, it also has electricity all the time, no potholes, delicious sparkling clean water and riveting politics!!
But...there are no bird sounds!!!
Living in Bulawayo in our lush green garden, we have become inured to nonstop, mellifluous birdsong almost twenty four hours a day.
Don't get me wrong, they do have glorious birds in Atlanta, its just that because of the air conditioning, and the doors and windows constantly closed, one never hears the birds!!
Because of our delightful climate in Bulawayo, our windows and doors are seldom closed and the bird song is exquisite, if sometimes even deafening.
Summer is particularly noisy, as I sit here on our deck, I can see and hear the gentle Paradise Fly Catchers, with their incredibly long mahogany tail feathers, constantly winging their way to and fro catching little creatures and building their tiny cup shaped nests.
The Brown Hooded Kingfisher lords it over the garden with his strident, dominant call; the discreet Coucal hops around in the hedge calling throatily.
The Heuglins Robyns (now called the White Browed Robyn Chat) are always ultra melodic, and several pairs of them frequent our garden. Their call is undoubtedly the most majestic and well remembered, evocative of Peter Rollasons magical program on ZBC - Wildlife Forum.
There is a Bar Throated Apalis calling constantly, the Arrow Marked Babblers are moving shrilly through the ficus looking for white ants, the doves are chasing one another around the garden with furious intent.
The Bulbulls are everywhere, and on the periphery of the bird table are the Bronze Mannikins, Fire Finches, Cut Throat Finches, Blue Waxbills and LBJ's.
IT'S A DIN !! and we love it.....
