The quieter one

If you look for the bird in this picture and take a moment to find it, that is the point. Female sunbirds are olive above and yellow below, and against a wall of leaves in flat light they simply disappear. The male of this species is all iridescent purple and green. She does not need any of that.

Sunbirds are the Old World's answer to hummingbirds. They hover, briefly and badly, but mostly they cling to a stem and lean into the flower with a bill that curves exactly to fit it. This one was working through a hedge at about head height, flower by flower.

I shot it wide open, which is why the leaves in front of her have gone soft. She is sharp. Good enough.