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Our balcony Sunbirds!

Something beautiful is happening at our place, I can hear the little birds sing!
This is no mean feat as we live way up high, above the 30th floor.
I love my new apartment it is just perfect, except that I missed the birds.

Then guess what? Two of the cutest little Thai Sunbirds decided to join us and build a nest.
Talk about the happiest bird watch ever!

Our sunbird on our orchids
Let's go back a bit and remind you about my Bangkok life. I've arrived in this great city from Melbourne Australia. Where I have a garden that I love and although the birds are a little cautious about visiting us, on account of the Crazy Poodle, we enjoyed all manner of what I think of as exotic birds - bright parrots, laughing kookaburras etc

Rainbow lorikeets checking to see what the Crazy Poodle is up to!

Our first Bangkok apartment at Embassy Place was chosen for it's amazing position overlooking one of the US Embassy compounds. The American Ambassador in Bangkok, has a nice pad. Combined with the tranquil Embassy Place gardens, our outlook was green and lush, and all the little birds (including this Wren) sang their hearts out. See Life at Embassy Place

Our view from Embassy Place
Embassy Place has since been bulldosed, to make way for new developments. Sob, sob. 

Before we left, the staff offered me a few of the remaining plants from the garden which of course I jumped at. Me, being me, I decided to take a tree... Well they offered!

Of course there was much hillarity moving a tree to my new apartment and some serious tipping of security guards to get my tree into our next Condo which I refer to as the Shithole ... pardon my French. 

Our second Bangkok apartment was not a success. It had a nice outlook period. You can read more about it here in Bangkok Life

Our rescued tree on our old balcony
Moving the tree to our third Bangkok apartment was easy, thanks to our removalists! Thank goodness as we are 100 m's + up in the sky! The plants took a while to acclimatise to life in the clouds, but now they are thriving and I'm happy with our green balcony outlook.

Our change of address cards were printed they say we've got a new nest! And now we have. This makes me smile so much... 

Someone said to me, you deserve to hear the little birds sing in Bangkok. 


Just put it out there, and the universe will respond!
Thank you world! 

I feel like what goes around, comes around. Rescuing the tree from Embassy Place, missing hearing the birds sing and how the little birds have found us because they like the tree! 

The three stages of nest design.
This cute pair of industrious sunbirds took one look at the tree and decided to set up home here. They first brought this string of cotton and have been flat out ever since.  

It appears as if both the male and the female assist in building the nest. You can see the three stages here of their flask shaped home. I have tried not to get too close, but I do need to nip out when they are off foraging, to water the tree. They have an overhanging porch - this is quite some design with a trail of hanging material at the bottom. 

If you look closely you will see the nest is made up of allsorts. I am just blown away by how high up these sunbirds are, and the days that they were flying in with their beaks full were quite amazing. 

It appeared as if the male was the bird arriving with the nest building materials and the female was the one rearranging and titivating the new nest, but I could not be that sure.


From what I read on the Khaosok website, if we are lucky we might eventually have 1-3 green-blue eggs. We believe these birds are olive-backed sun birds, they certainly have the standard yellow bellies. Sunbirds are not uncommon here in Thailand, although are a protected species. More information can be found here

I will try to get some better pictures of the sunbirds and post some more photos here and on @LWWren (Twitter) and @lwwren (Instagram) although I have a bit of travel ahead. Which will probably suit them just fine. 

One of the birds I think the male, 
has the loudest chirp you've ever heard. 
Bring it on mate. You can sing your little heart out. 
You deserve to tell the whole world what a good home you're building! 

Make yourself at home. 



Linking with thanks to Eileen at Saturday's Critters




Comments

Sami said…
Good luck with the third apartment Wren, hope that one is for keeps.
So sweet that the birds chose your tree and balcony to build a nest. I love watching birds in my garden too, so relaxing :)
Cynthia said…
What a fascinating nest! I’m glad you are enjoying your third home in Bangkok. What a view from your balcony!
My daughter is there this week, working and sending me photos of the city. She is hoping to get away for some travel in the city later this week and I’m looking forward to following her along. Her name is Sarah and she’s quite friendly if you see her out gazing and gawking .... :-) !!
What an amazing thing! Hard to believe the wee birdies would want to nest so high up but what a bonus for you. I think birds are one of God's most amazing creatures.
I love that you've carried a tree around! Those birds are so beautiful to have visiting.
Rosie said…
I am so pleased that you were able to take your tree to your new "nest". It always amazes me where birds will build their home, they obviously know you are a "safe" house.Thanks for your photos.
Crimson Kettle said…
That's just wonderful, what a great post! I look forward to seeing the birds and maybe even the babies too. I love hearing the birds here but found the Australian ones sounded more like cats! x
Gattina said…
What ? you almost live in heaven ! I never could go out on a balcony there ! I am already getting dizzy on the 4th floor ! Inside it's OK but outside never. Even in the Empire State building I looked through the windows ! In our garden we don't have a lot of singing birds probably because of the 3 cats, but we have magpies and crows en masse ! I think they have eaten the little birds. Anyway Mr. G is happy, because he finds bird chirps noisy !
eileeninmd said…
Hello,

Love the cute Sunbirds and the nest. Very cool! It will be awesome to see their babies. Wishing you a happy day!
Jeanie said…
Love birds and so exciting to think you might get eggs and soon! Bangkok finally seems to be working out for you home-wise!
Denise Allan said…
What a perfect outcome for everyone involved Wren... a truly uplifting post. I couldn’t imagine not hearing birds... you know what I’m like. Good luck with the nesting and hopefully we’ll see your Grandtweets soon 🐥❤️
Janice said…
Nothing like greenery and birdsong to improve one's outlook. Love the view!
I can only imagine the sheer joy of having the Sunbirds join your family!
Anu said…
Hello. Fantastic photos.

"Just put it out there, and the universe will respond!"

Yes!
eileeninmd said…
Hello,

I hope you are enjoying your new place and the sunbirds on your balcony. It is neat to see them nesting so close by. Thanks so much for linking up and sharing your post. Happy Saturday, enjoy your weekend. PS, I appreciate your visit and comment on my blog.
What amazing nests! I've learned a lot from your post. Would love to see a sweet Sunbird! Enjoy your weekend!
Adam Jones said…
A lovely post.
Linda said…
Congratulations on your sweet neighbors.
Jenn Jilks said…
This was an interesting post! What a wonderful story. I enjoyed it all!
(ツ) from Cottage Country Ontario , ON, Canada!
Nancy Chan said…
Glad you finally have a place that you like and also able to keep the tree. The birds have chosen the saved tree and you can watch them and hear them sing as much as you can.
Phil Slade said…
I love that story. Getting a tree up to your apartment was no mean feat. And then to so quickly have nesting sunbirds was almost miraculous. I look forward to your pictures of the nest and the young ones.

It's nice to meet a real life wren on the other side of the world.
How wonderful is this! I'm sure that Thai sunbirds, being very discerning birds, only build their nests in the nicest, friendliest homes and have found you well worth the effort of climbing 30 floors.
Amalia
xo
A lovely post.

All the best Jan
bj said…
Well, if that's not the BEST story, ever. I am a firm believer in God and His amazing ways. Your heart wanted birds...these birds were looking for a tree...and friends gave you one...one thing lead to another and now EVERYBODY and BIRDS are happy.
You are amazing, Little Wren...not many people would go thru all that moving lugging a real live tree around.....xoxo
Woow, it is really interesting that they are making a nest in a balcony. Great chance for you...
Tanza Erlambang said…
beautiful bird...
have a great day
Margaret D said…
It was meant to be the tree, how wonderous to watch and see the nest being built and having birds to do so...
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