Bird of the week – Week 41 : African Jacana
In Afrikaans it has the delightful name of “Grootlangtoon” which can be translated as “Big long toe”. This is wonderfully descriptive of a bird that has toes so long that they trail behind the...
Author: Rob
Bird of the week – Week 40 : African pied wagtail
A familiar sound along many of the waterways of southern Africa is the sustained “tsip weet-weet” of the African pied wagtail, a song that is easily recognized once initially identified. As is the bird...
Bird of the week – Week 39 : Bateleur
When the ruins of Great Zimbabwe were discovered by the first European adventurers in the early 16th century, and more fully investigated in the 19th century, one of the intriguing discoveries made amongst the...
The Bizarre Welwitschia
In June 2009 the Daily Telegraph in the UK ran a competition in their gardening section to find the “World’s Ugliest Plant”. The competition was won by the Corpse flower (Amorphophallus titanum) (no surprise...
Bird of the week – Week 38 : Madagascar bee-eater
There is a population of Madagascar bee-eaters that arrives in the north-western corner of Namibia and neighbouring southern Angola around September each year to breed. These birds stay for just four or five months...
Bird of the week – Week 37 : Dusky sunbird
One of the fairly common avian residents of the arid western parts of Southern Africa is a small sunbird, just about 11 cm in length, which is busily active even in the midday heat,...
Bird of the week – Week 36 : Black-shouldered kite
Drive down almost any country road in Southern Africa and you are bound to see a small grey and white raptor sitting in a slightly hunched position and looking somewhat gull-like, on a roadside...
Namibia’s Largest Endemic Carnivore
On several visits to the Erongo Mountains of Western Namibia we have been fortunate enough to catch a few glimpses of black mongooses, usually as they streak across the road in front of the...
The Ghost Town of Kolmanskop
The history of the village of Kolmaskop in Southern Namibia is typical of the boom-and-bust history of many mining towns around the world; towns founded on the presence of exotic minerals that are collected...
Bird of the week – Week 35 : Abdim’s stork
Let’s be honest. The Abdim’s stork is not a beautiful bird. Not as immediately repulsive as the Marabou stork, perhaps, but still not a beautiful bird. It is quite graceful in flight, but on...
Bird of the week – Week 34 : Rosy-faced lovebird
I think that many people will agree that the Rosy-faced lovebird is one of the most beautiful birds to be found in Namibia. Unfortunately, as with many small birds, their beauty has resulted in...
Bird of the week – Week 33 : Laughing dove
The first bird that I photographed when I got a new camera was a Laughing dove. This is not unusual as the Laughing dove is extremely common and this particular specimen was visiting a...
Bird of the week – Week 32: Blue-cheeked bee-eater
It was a rather strange sight to see. A group of Blue-cheeked bee-eaters sitting on a very sandy stretch of road in northern Namibia, and scratching in the sand so like puppies. They didn’t...
Bird of the week – Week 31 : Marico sunbird
The first indication that you are in the presence of a Marico sunbird is often the fairly harsh “chip-chip” or “tjik-tjik,-tjik” as the pair of birds maintain contact with each other. They also have...
Bird of the week – Week 30 : African hawk-eagle
We returned to our townhouse in Windhoek one Sunday morning and noticed two African hawk-eagles perched on a cliff that overlooks the dry riverbed nearby. We were quite lucky to see them, for in...
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