Weavers weaving; rain raining and FGM

Yesterday morning I watched from my balcony four weaver birds stripping narrow pieces of leaf, about 15 inches long, from the palm trees outside my window.   They seem to cut a quarter way through the leaf with their beaks, and then holding the bit they have cut, fly away, and the cut in the leaf tears, and off they go, trailing a long thread of palm.   They fly over the house, and although I rushed out of my room to see where they went, I missed them every time !   I suspect the rain shower we had has prompted them to start nest making, for weavers usually time their nest making and egg laying so that there is maximum food available  for the chicks when they hatch.

Black headed weaver male

 

 

As my blog readers know, I'm fascinated by ants, and spend ages watching them on the balcony.   So I just noticed when it rains, even if its literally just a few spots, the ants have disappeared, even in daylight.  I suspect that a rain drop hitting an ant would be something like the shock of a fatal car crash ....  or something similar to us !   

 

And I also noticed that the ants which seem to be going into a small hole where two of the metal balcony rails join, frantically rush into the hole if I tap the metal rail with something like my scissors .... my tapping probably sounds like an express train in an underground tunnel !

 

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I saw a poster in town which says 'Don't snip the clit' ... WOW !   That's blunt, and also brave to put on a poster in Africa, where FGM is so common, and for many tribal groups or religious reasons, a necessity for girls.   I checked on Google to see what the law is here; it has been illegal since 2011in Kenya .... but ....