Our home is in a built up area on the West Coast of Cape Town. It is very close to a protected wetland that is full of Flamingos, Pelicans, Herons and hundreds of different waterfowl including a pair of Fish Eagles, so, as a result, we have many visitors arriving in our garden every week.

Today we were awoken by our dogs barking like crazy and on going out to investigate what all this noise was about,discovered that a wild Peahen had landed on our roof. This is her second visit, that I have seen. She is so lovely even though she does not have the long tail like the male, she does have the iridescent colours on her neck and of course the regal tiara of feathers crowning the top of her head.

She has a loud and raucous call, at times sounding like a mournful cry for help (reminder to self to try and get a podcast of the call). I don't know where she originally came from, whether she was somebody's pet that escaped or if in fact she is a wild species indemic to the Cape, I can't find any information about wild peacocks on the internet.

I wonder where her nest is and hope that she is able to survive without being caught by dogs. It would be absolutely wonderful to see her back with her young in the future.

How lucky are we to be able to observe the birdlife even though we are in a built up area!