Cycling in the South of France – Part One
On Friday, 9th September, 2011 I left England with my brother Ken and a friend, John, for a cycling trip in the south of France. Basing ourselves at the little village of Bagneres de...
Author: Rob
The Bird of the Week – Week 92 – Red-billed firefinch
Rather sadly, the beauty of the Red-billed firefinch, and particularly the beauty of the males, has made it a very popular cage bird in large parts of the world. Sad, because I think that...
Cycling the Coast-to-Coast
On the 5th and 6th September, 2011 my brother Ken, my son Andrew and I cycled the Coast-to-Coast across northern England, starting at Whitehaven on the west coast and ending at Tynemouth on the...
Bird of the Week – Week 91 – Hartlaub’s babbler
The Hartlaub’s babbler, previously, and quite appropriately, called the Southern white-rumped babbler, is noisy in the manner of the babbler family and is most often heard well before it is seen. Within the southern...
Cycling the Coast-to-Coast
On the 5th and 6th September, 2011 my brother Ken, my son Andrew and I cycled the Coast-to-Coast across northern England, starting at Whitehaven on the west coast and ending at Tynemouth on the east coast....
Bird of the Week – Week 90 – Double-banded courser
In the drier areas of southern Africa, particularly in the semi-desert of the Kalahari spreading from Namibia into Botswana and central South Africa, the Double-banded courser is not an uncommon sight. Preferring open plains...
Bird of the Week – Week 89 – Black-collared Barbet
Whenever we leave Windhoek and travel north to the wetter part of Namibia, one of the sounds that is guaranteed to bring a smile to our faces, and a flood of memories to mind,...
Bird of the Week – Week 88 – Chinspot batis
The beautiful little Chinspot batis is a fairly common bird, found throughout large parts of Africa south of the Sahara Desert. In the southern Africa region it is found in the wetter west and...
Bird of the Week – Week 87 – African openbill
The side view of the African openbill presents an unusual picture as its large bill appears badly constructed and doesn’t close in the fashion of other birds. There is a clear gap of approximately...
The Bird of the Week – Week 86 – Brubru
The Brubru is a fairly unobtrusive shrike that is quite difficult to see clearly as it hops about in the thickly leaved tree canopies that it favours. It is found through most of sub-Saharan...
Bird of the Week – Week 85 – Helmeted guineafowl
One of the most common of the larger, easily recognized birds often seen along the quieter roads in southern Africa is the Helmeted guineafowl. They gather in fairly large flocks and are somewhat reluctant...
Bird of the Week – Week 84 – Familiar chat
The Afrikaans name for the Familiar chat is “Gewone spekvreter” which means “Common fat-eater“, a strange name that it apparently earned during the 1800’s when the Voortrekkers were migrating northwards from the Cape of...
Bird of the Week – Week 83 – Rock kestrel
Rock kestrel used to be considered a sub-species of the Common kestrel (Falco tinnunculus), but on the basis of recent genetic findings it is now considered to be a separate species. As the classification...
Bird of the Week – Week 82 – Ruppell’s korhaan
The Ruppell’s korhaan, previously known as the Ruppell’s bustard, is near endemic to the southern African region where it is limited in distribution to the dry, sandy and gravel plains of the Namib Desert...
Bird of the Week – Week 81 – Burchell’s coucal
The Burchell’s coucal is also commonly referred to as “The Rainbird” and has a well developed reputation in southern African for being able to predict impending rain. This association with rain probably arises because...
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