Hi, Just wanted to share two bird stories from the past week or so. I watched a very beautiful bird busy in my garden doing something I couldn't quite make out. It appeared to be picking out something from the ground and then smashing it with its feet. At first I thought it was perhaps working on a nest and then I determined that it was eating what had been smashed and then finding some more. I got more and more curious about what was so tasty and finally move slightly and it flew away. On closer inspection it appeared to be some Moraea corms. Homeria (in the Moraea group) is supposed to have some toxicity. I'm not sure what species was being consumed but Moraea bellendenii produces hundreds of little corms and there are some in that section of my garden and the bird is welcome to share them if that is the one. A few days ago I watched a hummingbird visiting various flowers in the garden. I grow a hybrid bright orange (my husband calls it red) short Gladiolus in my garden. http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/… It's pictured here flowering with a Clarkia as it generally blooms in June. The bird flew over to it and began to check it out. Liking what it found, it landed on some of the unopened flowers and used it as a perch to lean over and revisit a flower. Of course I didn't have my camera. It may not be an official perch like Babiana ringens has, but the hummingbird was resourceful. It was off in a moment to briefly check out a South African Erica that is currently in bloom. Mary Sue
