By always being on the lookout for birds, we had a wonderful experience a few days ago! Through a window we noticed a black bird with a prominently curved bill hunting for food in a pepper tree right in front of the house. What a delight! We received a surprise visit by a common scimitarbill, a species that is only supposed to occur in regions several hundred kilometres north of the Klein Karoo!
The bird discovered a hairy caterpillar underneath a piece of loose bark,
extracted it,
and proceeded dashing it against branches, presumably to get rid of the irritating hair…
After a few minutes, one satisfied little bird!
My apologies for the inferior quality of the photographs; they were taken against the light, through window glass. However, even imperfect photos can tell a good story!