Bird of the week – Week 29 : Cattle egret
In a world in which the range of so many birds, animals, reptiles and other species is continually shrinking due to the pressure exerted by mankind’s need for more and more land, it is...
Author: Rob
Bird of the week – Week 27 : Water thick-knee
Previously known as a “dikkop” from the Afrikaans for “thick-head”, I suppose the recent change to “thick-knee” could be seen as a small improvement! Its relatives in some parts of the world, though, are...
Bird of the week – Week 28 : African darter
The African darter differs from most other waterbirds in that its feathers do not contain any oil and do not, therefore, repel water. This means that the darter is less buoyant and it is...
Bird of the week – Week 26 : White-backed mousebird
The mousebirds are quite appropriately named, as they are distinctly mouse-like as they move about through the branches of the trees that they inhabit, feeding on a variety of fruit, flowers, and leaves. They...
Bird of the week – Week 25 : Violet-eared waxbill
A grenadier may be an infantryman equipped with grenades, as in the familiar Grenadier Guards in the British Army. Or a grenadier may be a fish with a large head and body and long...
Bird of the week – Week 24 : Red-billed quelea
We were sitting at Hippo Pools, on the banks of the Kunene River in the late afternoon when we were witness to huge flocks of Red-billed quelea moving overhead to settle for the night...
Climbing to Konigstein in the Brandberg
At the beginning of May 2010 we took a walk to the highest point in Namibia, the Konigstein in the Brandberg (Fire Mountain), which lies in Damaraland. This is a three day trek that...
Bird of the week – Week 23 : Scarlet-chested sunbird
The male Scarlet-chested sunbird is a magnificent bird. Fairly large for a sunbird, with a length of about 15 cm and a weight of up to 16 g, they are a sooty black overall,...
Bird of the week – Week 22 : Common greenshank
The Common greenshank is not a particularly big bird, with a length of about 36 cm and a weight around 250 gm, yet those birds that we see in Southern Africa are mainly visitors...
The deadly Peregrinatio cimex
Everyone is familiar with measles, mumps, rubella and the like. These are minor, mostly childhood infections that are well under medical control and no longer a real threat to anyone with reasonable access to...
Bird of the week – Week 21 : Cape wagtail
The Cape wagtail is a fairly common and familiar bird in the gardens and urban areas of most of southern Namibia and South Africa. It is less common through the rest of its range,...
Bird of the week – Week 20 : African hoopoe
The mainly rufous-coloured African hoopoe with its fluttering flight, somewhat reminiscent of a giant butterfly, presents a distinctive sight in the woodland, savanna, and gardens of Southern Africa. Its far-carrying, rather mellow call of...
Bird of the Week – Week 19 : Lanner falcon
There are a large number of Cape turtle doves at Nossob in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and they visit the waterhole in their droves, literally scrambling over each other for a position at the...
Bird of the week – Week 18 : Secretarybird
We were driving slowly along the road from Polentswa to Nossob in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park when we saw a Secretarybird in the distance. Although we had seen many Secretarybirds over the previous few...
Botswana 2010: Union’s End
I find that one of the special joys of travel is to visit places that I heard about or read about as a relative youngster. I got a great kick, while visiting the UK,...
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