I’ve always had the utmost admiration for Long-tailed widowbirds – when they’re in their full plumage, that is. Watching them fly laboriously over the grasslands displaying their magnificent tail feathers is a wondrous sight...
Apparently you cannot call yourself a serious birder in South Africa until you’ve been to Wakkerstroom in Mpumalanga. It’s an IBA (Important Bird Area) and with its diverse habitats, the opportunity exists to see...
I always feel so sorry for the birds and animals that are driven away from their habitats by urbanisation. We take over their areas and then complain when they come into our homes and...
When we lived in Namibia we were fortunate enough to come across a number of different kinds of waxbills and were always delighted when the colourful Blue and Violet-eared waxbills came to feed in...
Last week I posted some photographs of the Orange-breasted sunbirds that we saw at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens in Cape Town. This week their cousins take centre stage; the beautiful Southern double-collared sunbirds, which flit...
One of the fun things about being a bird lover is that it gives you an opportunity to seek out places where you know certain birds are found. This happened to us this Christmas...
So let’s assume you’re a young man who’d like to attract a partner. What would you have to do to make yourself appealing? I guess you’d probably opt for personal grooming and fancy clothes...
What would life be like if we were unable to get out into nature to rejuvenate and restore our minds and spirits? I can’t imagine actually. For me, getting out into the garden or...
Hello, hello!! What have we got here? Looks like it could be interesting ……. I think I’ll check it out. So someone ran over a snake. Well, that’s surely good news for me. ...
There are at least twenty-two birds in the southern African region that have the adjective “Common” in their name, and some of them are not common (in the sense of plentiful) at all. The...
The bee-eaters are a delightful family of birds and the White-fronted bee-eater is one of the few members of the family that can be found fairly commonly within its territory throughout the year. Its...
The Crested barbet is fairly common in the north-eastern parts of the southern African region, where it favours drier woodland especially areas with plenty of acacias. They also seem to be quite comfortable in...
This time last year Rob and I were anticipating spending Christmas alone in Windhoek because he had to work over the festive period. We decided to liven things up by starting what we called...
The Montiero’s hornbill is a near-endemic to Namibia and its range is limited to central and north-west Namibia, spilling outside the southern African region only into the southern part of Angola. It is the...
Quite often when we are camping we toss a few bits of bread into the grass around the campsite to see what local residents we can attract. Usually we get a few sparrows, weavers,...
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