Spotted: West African Splendid Sunbird

Just when I was getting a little bored with my photo cataloging of colourful birds spotted in Cameroon, I stumbled upon this Sunbird. What a perfect name for this beguiling bird which glimmers in the sunlight with an iridescent melange of black, green, purple and blue. It was a nice partially sunny day on the hills of Fontem during my most recent countryside retreat. I was sitting in the shade of a raised veranda on one of Beluoh's hilltops, looking out to the rolling hills of Lebialem, that seemed to stretch on as far as the eyes could see. I was reading The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne at the time, when I looked up to give my eyes a rest, and to ponder over the particularly tedious poetic style of the author and how he manages to keep the reader mesmerised and fascinated with his description of colours. There it was, a glimmering male Splendid Sunbird, hopping all over a flowering bush, sucking nectar with it's down-turned bill. I had to move quickly to catch this bird on jpg. They are not super tiny birds, but they move quickly, hovering occasionally, in order to gather as much nectar as they can get in a day. You can see some superb close-ups of this bird here. Happy to share with you. Enjoy...