I posted another photo of this female koel trying to eat a rather large fruit from a bush in our garden and thought this one would be ideal for my pairs theme.
The plant appeared in our garden and David decided to leave it to see what it grew into and this was the result. I am still not entirely sure what the plant is, but the fruits look like miniature pomegranates but are quite soft.
The birds certainly like them though.
I might add here that the koel didn't swallow this fruit in one go, although it did have a good try. we were a bit scared that it would and then choke on it.
Thanks everyone who commented on my koala in yesterday's pairs photo. We are so lucky to have quite a lot of koalas in the wild here and this little chap was quite young.
Posting early today because I will be out of action most of tomorrow as I am in hospital for day surgery. Will catch up again when I can.
It reminds me of when my hen tried to eat a grape whole. She really tried hard, and I was thinking I might have to resort to CPR, when she finally coughed it out. Great shot!
Lovely pairing both beautifully shot Babs , I think it looks like a Strawberry Guava to me (Psidium cattleianum) look it up and see what you think; Babs
@pcoulson Well done Peter, I think you are right. We didn't plant this bush, it just appeared in our garden probably through bird droppings and seeds but we left it to see what it turned into. We weren't game enough to taste it, but apparently you can make strawberry guava jam from it. Maybe next year, if the koel's don't get to it first.
@gigiflower Yes Sam it did eventually manage to eat it, but did it bit by bit once it got the hang of what it was supposed to do. While I was taking the photos there was an awful lot of "Oh God, it is going to choke". ha ha.
Sorry for the group reply again, but it has been a long couple of days and I am on catch up at the moment. This female koel did eventually spit out the fruit and decided to eat it bit by bit, but it was a close shave and we were thinking we would have to resuscitate it at some point.