As someone once said; with whom I do have a tenuous connection, ‘Small is beautiful’
This is a small bird called the Orange River White-Eye and although the original comment about small being beautiful, was not aimed at birds, I am sure everyone would agree that this little bird is quite beautiful. It has peachy buff flanks.
There are three White-Eyes in Southern Africa. Not surprisingly the Orange River one is found along the Orange River. There is also a Cape White-Eye, which I saw in Kirstenbosh gardens in Cape Town. It has a grey belly.
The third one is the African Yellow White-Eye and this is found on the east coast and up through Mozambique, I saw this one on Inhaca island which is off Maputo. It has a yellow belly.
These birds are quite active searching through the leaves for insects. It makes them quite difficult to photograph….that’s my excuse.
I first saw White-Eyes in Cornwall…. yes in Cornwall at the Eden project where they were purposely introduced to one of the domes in order to control and insect pests that might occur. The one there though is a pale-bellied white-eye and is from Indonesia.
Alan Waterman photos 