Paradise flycatcher chick emergency

The wildlife of Maweni is not like Serengeti's. The top predators here are not lions but moderately dangerous eagle owl, monitor lizard, honeybadger (but you should see their teeth!). And then we have the ugly monster: the neigbouring priests' cat. A lazy, chameleon-eating, fish-stealing, bird-terrorising, rat-ignoring, anti-social creature, who does not even like children.

Today a paradise flycatcher chick fell down to the ground from a nest in one of the avocado trees around the front yard. I am not saying the cat caused it, but it happened to be nearby, licking it's mouth. Fortunately, guests and staff rushed to the scene and rescued the little chick in front of the drewling monster's jaws.

But then what? The nest was too high up on a thin branch way out of reach for humans, and cats.

After being closely examined and admired by the three-year old, and after a quick telephone consultation with the birdman in arusha, the best we could do was to put it on a branch as high up as we could reach in the tree.

It could stay there, and after a while, the father came immediately and feed it juicy spiders and insects. But for how long could it just sit there on a branch without falling off? The priests' cat in the background licked its mouth.

We put it on a presumably cat-proof basket contraption hung from the tree instead. Baba flycatcher watched and came back promptly to feed it. After a while he could land at the bottom of the hanging basket where the chick was safe.