The Destroyer of Figs Hits Again: Catching the Cape White-eye in Action
you come to destroy
the life-giving orb
floating in its green
against the bright blue background
you come to destroy
the fig that grew
for a year or two
in mere seconds before i could
have a taste myself
Every year around February, we hear the loud chatter of many hundreds of birds. Then we know, the big bird feeder is active again. But at the same time, we know that there are figs in that big bird feeder, or the fig tree! These magical trees always give so much fruit that we never try to get to each and every one. We leave the top ones for the birds, and we take the bottom ones for ourselves. The birds tend to leave these bottom fruits alone, but some of the creeping ivy plants also cover the fruits, so we always find some juicy and big fruits “buried” here, almost just waiting for us to pick them.
I always love the little snack waiting for me on the tree when I garden. I am sure few people in this world will experience the joys of fresh and ripe fig, still warm from the sun baking on its delicate skin. The juicy fruit is superior to so many others! And I think the birds know this, because it is always this particular fruit, and this particular tree that they will target with their ferocious appetites and quick moving bodies.
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It is really a sight to behold! These quick little moving bodies darting from one fig to another. I think they wait for the bigger birds to crack open some of the fruits, like the starlings that always decimate these fruits. When there is the smallest of openings, the Cape White-eye attacks these fruits like a wounded lamb would be attacked by a pack of wolves: there will remain nothing after they are finished with it.
This experience is beautiful in itself. It is sad to witness the fruits you want to eat and make jam with get destroyed in front of your eyes. But the moment is poetic in its simplicity: the fruits offer their own life to get eaten by these birds, so that its seeds can be spread far and wide.
All over my garden, there are small fig trees coming up. One of the strangest is the one growing inside of a wall. But I know these plants are tough, as they grow in very arid areas in my country. Older people used to love fig jams, and still we younger folk love it, but it has become really expensive. The fruits themselves are also very expensive. How lucky are we to have such a big tree in the garden, offering us all of these figs each year…
I hope that these birds will transplant the seeds of the fig tree, and I hope to have them back next year. I hope that you are also blessed with these types of events.
For now, happy birding, and keep well.
All of the musings and writings are my own, albeit inspired by these little destroyers of figs. The photographs are also my own, taken with my Nikon D300 and Tamron 300mm zoom lens.
You're so lucky ! Birds bring all kinds of benefits, they might eat some figs, but they also eat lots of bugs and other pests, and they help fertilise the ground and spread seeds around.
When I was growing up, my grandparents had a huge ancient fig tree in a courtyard. Going in to pick figs meant doing battle with swarms of ferocious wasps that came at you like attack helicopters. But if you could get a few figs, they were soooo juicy and delicious !
Nothing like a fresh fig from the tree, really. I think that these moments are shared with a select few in the world. So rare these days!
For sure, the birds are lovely, and as you say they help so much. I even have a fig tree trying to grow inside and through a wall. Only a bird that could plant the seed there!
Those wasps are the worst. I swear they have memory, as when they see me they really want to attack me, even though I only chased them away a long while ago. Generational memory in them!
Thank you for the lovely comment, and I am so sorry for only responding now. What a crazy week.
Thank you so much!
It is sad to watch your crop get eaten, yet it is crucial to the survival of both the tree and the birds. Perhaps you could net a few of the branches to give you some fruit for jam. I have to do that with some of my crops due to the deer and rabbits. We each have our little creatures to share with, don't we? ♥
For sure. We cannot take everything. It is essential to share! That is why I leave the top fruits for the birds, and the bottom ones for myself. I did indeed make some yummy jam with the leftover fruits we did not eat, or some of them that got damaged by the birds.