Back in June, if I was writing this I would have said that two species of leaf warblers were known from South Africa. However, this changed in July when a single wood warbler (Phylloscopus sibilatrix) was found at the lovely Sefapane Lodge…
Birds’ nests are so diverse. The tiniest birds can build the most intricately woven nests that are well concealed and camouflaged and yet the large raptors can just pile together a lot of twigs out in the open in a tree or rock ledge for…
This post was initially written as an article for theHoedspruit Explorer Magazine. There is a loud, high-pitched, monotonous warbling sound that is heard throughout the bushveld in the Hoedspruit area in summer, particularly in areas with…
On Saturday morning (Dec 4), I crawled out of bed at 3:30 to be early to Orpen Gate into the Kruger National Park to spend the night at Satara Camp. One of my goals was to get photos of birds that nest in tree cavities (hole nesting)…
Here in Southern Africa, the start of 2021 has been a special twitching season. Over this period a host of good rarities have showed up in many parts of the country, most notably the Cape, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu- Natal. This was the case…
RHODES, NAUDE’S NECK PASS, TENAHEAD MOUNTAIN LODGE AREA, MACLEAR AND TIFFINDELL SKI RESORT This is a very scenic part of the southern Drakensberg which you can bird from a high clearance vehicle. The roads are generally well maintained in…
A world-wide count of Waders / ShorebirdsDates: Saturday 31st October 00h00(SAT) to Sunday 1st November 23h59 (SAT) 2020 Let us get out into the field over the weekend to Express our thanks to those people involved in the conservation of…
Ever since my first birding trip, I have always considered it important to learn the bird calls. In the beginning, I birded with experienced birders that knew their calls and it was an integral part of their birding skills. Birding by…
The unmistakeable, loud deed-deed-deed-deed-er-ick call of the diederik cuckoo, Chrysococcyx caprius, is a characteristic of the spring and summer landscape of southern Africa. The species is an intra-African migrant, tending to follow the…
On the weekend of Aug 22, 2020, when we were finally allowed to travel between provinces, I was lucky enough to spend two mornings observing Long-billed Pipits on the top of Kranskop, the central mountain of Marakele National Park in…