The hard working guy, himself!

One of my earlier posts showed weaver nests and described the hard work put in by the lovelorn male birds. I spotted this guy hard at work the other day. Hopefully the little lady found the nest acceptable!

Weaver nests at sunset

Admittedly, this photo isn't from Johannesburg, but was taken in the Cederberg Mountains, which we recently drove through on the way back to Joburg. The bird nests you see in silhouette belong to some species of Weaver - a common family of birds in South Africa. In the spring, male weavers put their all into building these nests, with the hope of attracting a mate willing to move in. The females - apparently sticklers for perfection - inspect the precariously dangling nests, and if they find them unsatisfactory, will rip them to shreds. Better luck next time!

My future mother in law is an avid birdwatcher and may be able to weigh in on the particular species. All I know is the ones I've been seeing around Johannesburg are a beautiful shade of yellow...