We’ve had to open several paths through our little forest to make it quicker to get to our firebreaks when we hear the awful telltale crackling sound of flames.
These paths make for delightful shady walks, especially during the very hot, steamy summers we have here in Mozambique. And as well as that, we often come across some pretty interesting, scary or mysterious things during these walks.
On this particular walk that you’re about to see, O’D comes across Grumpy, our white cat that was kidnapped in 2002 by some locals and Spike, a furry bulk weighing over 20 kgs and who is eyeing a Kingfisher in an extremely predatory way. A Samango monkey, sitting in a most unladylike manner, is in a nearby tree.
Towards the end of his walk, O’D catches sight of an unusual bird high up in a tree above him. It’s making a purring sound and keeping its green back turned towards him. He’s unable to identify it and because of the way it’s sitting, he thinks it’s sick.
It was only very much later that we were able to identify it.
One afternoon, when Douglas, our cook, was busy making shortbread biscuits in the kitchen, he looked up from his rolling pin and saw the mystery bird. It was perched on a branch of the kapok tree right in front of our sitting room window and revealed itself to be none other than a Narina Trogon! (Apaloderma narina)
The Narina Trogon, we discovered, usually perches with its green back towards you in a forest and, as a result, is a very difficult bird to see. So, what a stroke of luck that Douglas just happened to look out of the kitchen window at that particular time!
Trogons make a low, slow ‘hoot hoot … hoot hoot’ sound during the breeding season (October) and also the purring sound you heard while O’D was standing underneath it and filming it.
Apparently, these birds are very delicate. Poor things, they have weak feet, their skin is easily torn and their feathers drop out if they’re handled!
To Watch Video Click The You tube link below-:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddOQYdKBGxE
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