One of the trees that we acquired when we bought our place here in Auckland three years ago was a fig. Frankly, I have had many chances to sample (candied) figs in my younger days, and I must admit that I cannot remember ever having been impressed. However, I try to be always open to (most) new opportunities, and I had never sampled a fresh fig right off the tree until we moved here. I can’t say that it matches other fruits in our little orchard, but it’s a little better than I expected. On the other hand, there are birds that are very fond of them, among which are the wonderful silvereyes (Zosterops lateralis). 
They are very small, with a maximum length of about 12 cm (4.7 inches), and very active and difficult to catch with a camera. As our figs mature, however, they are increasingly attracted to them, and they provided me with a few minutes of opportunity yesterday. 
Aren’t they lovely? (See also my last post from two years ago featuring them, here.)
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krikitarts 
You did a great job of capturing images of them! What a beautiful little bird.
Thanks, Suzanne, they’re so flitty, it’s fun to have a chance to catch them with the camera.
Let’s say you fig-ured out how to photograph these birds.
I’m learning, and enjoying the learning process.
Beauties & wonderful captures!
Thanks, Cindy!
Here, it’s the mockingbirds that compete for the figs. It looks like you have a different species of fig as well as different birds; our Texas ‘sugar figs’ are like candy, and they’re delicious. There’s a picking farm near me that has about two dozen trees, and fig season’s a highlight of the summer. The mockingbirds are nice, but it would be fun to see these silvereyes among them.
Here, it’s usually the sparrows, the mynahs, and the blackbirds that compete. But when these little guys are on a roll, their bravado kicks in and they are able to hold their own.
Well the figs seem to be to the birds’ taste. Nice photos!
When they’re actively feeding, they seem to be able to ignore me, standing close by. What fun!
In my very early years at Waiuku we had a big fig tree that had delicious fruit! As far as I recall you must wait until the fruit are really ripe for them to have that good taste (in which case I imagine you’d have to net your tree from your thieving friends the silvereyes).
We’ve had to net a few other fruit trees in our little orchard, but not the fig. There are still plenty of untouched ones, for those who might care to be interested (we’re not, really).
Wish I lived around the corner, I’d happily raid the figs once they’re riper :)
You’d be most welcome to help yourself to as many as you could eat.
Great shots of the Silvereyes (and I know myself how hard it is to catch a Silvereye long enough to make an image). I had a problem getting the shutter speed fast enough as they were usually in the deep shady foliage of large trees here.
They’re near as swift-moving as the Superb Fairy-wrens on my balcony.
Figs are expensive to buy here in Melbourne so you’re lucky to have a tree. Perhaps you’d better develop a taste for them since they’re free.
Thanks, Vicki, I know that you know how hard they are to catch. These two were the result of 80 tries, shooting at 8 frames per second. My old 100-300 lens seems to be still up to the challenge, and I don’t know what I’d do without it in a scene like this.
Delightful, Gary!
They certainly are, and we love to see them in our garden.
Any tree that attracts those little guys is a good tree. :-)
Not being fond of figs, we have considered replacing it with something else, but we sure like to see the birds it attracts.
I guess you could say that you give a fig for your silvereyes.
They are welcome to as many as they wish.
Ah yes, Zosterops, old friends from Kenya, we had three species there, and called them White Eyes – wonderful! :)
I remember your saying that, and how pleased I was (and am, of course) to rekindle an old friendship of yours!