From nowhere – a heronry
About 150 km west of Windhoek in Namibia, the Black Nossob River runs through the farm “Vendetta” on its way to join up with the White Nossob before winding its way into the Kalahari...
Author: Rob
Bird of the week – Week 67 – Yellow-breasted apalis
An attractive little bird that is found in the wetter parts of southern Africa, and further north as far as Ethiopia, is the Yellow-breasted apalis. Although fairly common within the southern part of its...
Bird of the week – Week 66 : Black-headed heron
Large grey-coloured herons are a common sight at many dams, river estuaries, lagoons and other bodies of water within southern Africa and throughout most of Africa south of the Sahara. Unmistakable with their long...
Cape cobra raiding a Sociable weavers nest
The huge nests of the Sociable weaver (Philetairus socius) are quite common throughout the drier woodland and savanna of Namibia, clinging to trees and pylons like so many haystacks. Any literature on these colonially...
Bird of the week – Week 65: Cape turtle dove
One of the most common of the collared (or ring-necked) doves found in the southern African region is the Cape turtle-dove and its distinctive call can be heard almost throughout the region. It is...
Bird of the week – Week 64 : Lark-like bunting
The Lark-like bunting is the least colourful of the buntings, being a rather nondescript buff colour with darker brown wings and tail and with a faint cinnamon tint to its under parts. As implied...
Lichen fields on the Skeleton Coast
The north-western coastal area of Namibia is an intimidating region to say the least; a region where very little rain falls and very little conventional plant life can be sustained. There are few bushes...
Bird of the week – Week 63: Great sparrow
At first glance the Great sparrow looks like a slightly overgrown House sparrow (Passer domesticus), being approximately sixteen cm in length, but a closer look will show a few differences that distinguish the two...
Bird of the week – Week 62: Yellow-billed stork
Yellow-billed storks are not normally regarded as gregarious birds, and usually tend to solitude, being found singly or in pairs at the edges of dams, rivers and other areas of shallow marshy water. However,...
The salt sellers of Cape Cross
Head northwards from Swakopmund on the west coast of Namibia, travelling along the well known “Skeleton Coast”, and after 100 km or so, as you approach Cape Cross, (home to a wonderful seal colony),...
Bird of the week – Week 60: Grey-backed camaroptera
The Grey-backed camaroptera was previously known as the Grey-backed bleating warbler, a descriptive name for the bleating alarm call of this little bird, which is not unlike the bleating of a lamb. Very vocal,...
Bird of the week – Week 59: Greater kestrel
The Greater kestrel is, as one would expect from its name, the largest of the kestrels found in the southern African region, being some 37 cm in length. The sexes are alike in plumage,...
Bird of the week – Week 58: Ashy tit
The Ashy tit is a small bird, the adults just 15 cm in length, and is not very common within its chosen range. To come across one as it hops through the dense foliage...
Bird of the week – Week 57: Grey heron
Large grey herons are a common sight at many dams, rivers estuaries, lagoons and other bodies of water within southern Africa. Unmistakable with their long necks, long legs and dagger-like beaks, the Grey heron...
Bird of the week – Week 56: Common whimbrel
The Common whimbrel is one of the many migrants who wing their way over vast distances to visit the shores of the southern African region during the summer. They arrive from the northern hemisphere...
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