10,000 Birds

JULY 15, 2015

The history of Tembe Elephant Park in South Africa is a slightly unusual one. It was founded as a safe place for refugees from the Mozambique Civil War , which ran from 1977 to 1992. But it wasn’t founded to serve as a refuge for human refugees, but animal ones, specifically elephants.

South Africa 145

South Africa Elephants Africa Lions 145

10,000 Birds

MARCH 13, 2012

Even in the tropics there are few birds that excel some of our own in elegance and beauty of plumage and we have an unusually large number of species considering the smallness of the area they inhabit. ” (Woodward brothers, “Natal Birds”, 1899) The mighty Drakensberg Mountains run along the western boundary of KwaZulu-Natal province.

Mozambique 182

Mozambique South Africa Africa Collecting 182

10,000 Birds

MARCH 25, 2015

I have to admit, I didn’t think it could when I left for Africa last year. I had a copy of Sasol’s eBirds of Southern Africa on my iPhone (and iPad), but I had bought it to brush up on my African birds in my spare time, like on bus trips or particularly long meetings. How many copies of Sasol does one human need?

Africa 152

Africa South Africa Zimbabwe Penguins 152

10,000 Birds

MAY 27, 2015

Once upon a time, when I started birding, this great family included a wide range of species collectively known as the robins and chats. They are a single genus, Cichladusa , with three species, found mostly in Central and Eastern Africa. It all comes back to a split in one of the great bird families, the Turdidae, or thrushes.

Mozambique 161

Mozambique Zambia Zimbabwe Namibia 161

10,000 Birds

APRIL 10, 2012

They occur in three biogeographic regions; the Neotropic, Afrotropic and Indo-Malaya ecozones, basically tropical South and Central America, Africa south of the Sahara and tropical Asia. The diminutive Tinkerbirds are Africa’s smallest barbets, depicted here is Red-fronted Tinkerbird photographed at Lalibela, Ethiopia.

Ethiopia 223

Ethiopia Tanzania Africa Uganda 223

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 27, 2013

Hunters go to Africa to shoot lions, and this is without question a good thing; for birds, for ecosystems, and for lions in general! If you don’t accept that we sometimes have to do harm to individuals to do good for the species, well, nothing I’m going to say is going to convince you. I’m not even trolling (much).

Lions 181

Lions Killing Hunting Hunters 181