Every second day or so, I work in the compost. I completely empty the one pen or cube into the other, and then vice versa. I have three 1 meter by 1 meter pens, so I aerate the compost by moving it between these pens. But as soon as I do this, the bugs, especially the pill bugs, try to escape the vicious moment of movement I am causing.
The effect: A mass migration of bugs on the wall toward some kind of safety.
This moment acts as a tremendous opportunity for the bug-eating birds to snatch some tasty treats without searching for these bugs underneath the leaves and debris in the garden.
The Cape robin-chat, my favourite compost buddy, have become used to my working in the compost by now. When I uncover almost half of the compost, it jumps onto the wall, waiting for me to step away only to quickly fly down and eat some of the bugs trying to escape on the wall or even in the compost itself.
As is evident from the photographs above and below, you can see it jump down into the very hot compost itself! Because these bugs are truly worth the risk I am sure.
The photograph below was a bit under-exposed, but I think the silhouette is a testament to its beauty and demeanour. He/she looks very aware of its own capacity as a hunter! The fearsome Cape robin-chat!
The photograph above, and one of the many below as well, shows just how beautiful the bird is and how cute it is when it lifts its tail.
I did not get a shot where there was a bug in its mouth, but you can see the determination in its eyes; it has locked its eyes on its prey. The sheer determination in its eyes always gets me. It is beautiful yet scary at the same time, imagine these birds bigger; they would certainly be apex predators.
The happy dance it makes after eating a bug! The sheer joy it showed in its eyes. It is almost like he/she wanted to tell me, Thank you, did you see me catch that on?
And then soon after that, it locks its eyes on the next bugs. Again, you can see the look in its eyes; it really wants these free snacks!
And so, the free snacks end as well, as I put the compost back into the pen, the bugs return to the compost deep in the middle; where the birds cannot get to them. You can see the disappointment on its face (below). It wants more bugs, they were free! But now, there is nothing left.
This is the second time that I managed to photograph them in the compost. As soon as the one landed, it went away for a while and brought its friend back. I did not manage to get both in the shot, but the two friends loved the moment in which they feasted on the bugs.
For now, happy birding and keep well.
All of the writing and musings are my own, inspired by the little bird friend. The photographs are also my own, taken with my Nikon D300.
