10,000 Birds

JUNE 20, 2022

The Bearded Woodpecker (Mkuze, South Africa) does not really look any more bearded than many other woodpeckers. T he Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker (Tengchong, China) is a tiny bit bigger and looks much soberer. It is the most widespread woodpecker in Africa, claims the HBW.

Woodpeckers 251

Woodpeckers South Africa China Singapore 251

10,000 Birds

APRIL 1, 2021

African Penguins, asleep (Cape Town, South Africa). A Burnt out Barn Owl (Kruger Park, South Africa). A Somnolent Speckled Mousebird (Cape Town, South Africa). A Snoozing Spotted Eagle Owl (Kirstenbosch, Cape Town, South Africa). A Tired Teal ( Eurasian Teal , Nanhui, Shanghai).

South Africa 173

South Africa Barn Owls Africa Penguins 173

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 17, 2022

T he Blue-throated Barbet (Xishuangbanna and Baihualing, Yunnan, China) is probably the barbet species that is the easiest to see in Southern China. The Crested Barbet (Kruger Park, South Africa) looks a bit like a pointillist painting gone wrong. Lucia, South Africa) will be your favorite.

South Africa 228

South Africa Africa India China 228

10,000 Birds

MARCH 18, 2021

Take the Grey-eyed Bulbul , which eBird describes as a “drab, undistinguished-looking bulbul” Seeing this bird in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China in December last year, I though it was actually quite appealing. Brown-breasted Bulbul , looking dull in various locations in China. Lucia, South Africa).

South Africa 248

South Africa Malaysia Africa China 248

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 23, 2020

Yellow-breasted Bunting (critically endangered due to trapping in Southern China – what a shame!). And if you are willing to travel a bit further within China, you can see the Crested Bunting , which arguably has a bit more star quality …. Yellow-browed Bunting. The photo was taken at Xiaoyangshan, about 30 km away from Nanhui.

South Africa 194

South Africa China Germany Family 194

10,000 Birds

MAY 16, 2022

St Lucia is a small town on the Southeastern coast of South Africa. One of the most interesting aspects of watching birds in Africa is to see different members of bird families that I already know from China. So, if I saw this Brown Scrub-Robin in China, I would probably quite easily mistake it for a Forest Wagtail.

South Africa 222

South Africa Africa Saint Lucia Birds 222

Critter News

AUGUST 16, 2008

The UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) meeting in Geneva voted in favour of China becoming a licensed importer. It will allow China to bid for more than 100 tonnes of ivory stockpiled in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe through culling and natural deaths.

Elephants 100

Elephants China Zimbabwe Namibia 100

10,000 Birds

APRIL 16, 2013

More recently a study of Babblers in South Africa may have demonstrated a similar kind of extortion. We are speaking of the Pied Babbler ( Turdoides bicolor ) of the Kalahari in South Africa. In other bird science news, we should be concerned about waterfowl in China. ” they seemed to be saying.

South Africa 189

South Africa Fowl Africa China 189

10,000 Birds

APRIL 18, 2022

I spent a few hours on Mauritius flying from Shanghai to Cape Town, South Africa, and decided to use this time for a short trip to a nature reserve on Mauritius, the Black River Gorges National Park. Looks a bit like one of the White-Eyes we have here in China, but taken as a black-and-white photo.

Mauritius 246

Mauritius Birds 2000 South Africa 246

10,000 Birds

JULY 19, 2018

401-600 sp: Honduras, Guatemala, Guyana, Suriname and French Guyana, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay; the Sahel countries (Africa), Namibia and Botswana; Central Asian countries and Cambodia. 1201-1400 sp: Venezuela; China. Shown as a list, it looks like this: Less than 200 bird species: Antarctica; oceanic islands. 801-1000 sp. –

Equatorial Guinea 213

Equatorial Guinea Costa Rica Guyana Central African Republic 213

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 2, 2019

Visited this month were; Germany , France , Austria, South Africa, Hong Kong, USA, UK, Serbia, Costa Rica, Australia, China, Indonesia , Switzerland and Singapore). The year list has reached 2403 , a boost of 174 and the life list now stands at 3875 after beats’ efforts in Indonesia, South Africa and China added 39 ticks.

2019 124

2019 China Battery Jamaica 124

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 11, 2021

learning to swim” A baby bird ( Robin Accentor , Dulan, China). Several baby birds ( Little Egret , Shanghai, China). Black-necked Crane , Qinghai Lake, China. White-naped Crane , Nanhui, China. An Oriental Turtle Dove (Wolongshan, China). Lucia, South Africa).

South Africa 247

South Africa China Germany Birds 247

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 25, 2021

Or the Asian Barred Owlet (Hangzhou, China) – though I am happy this allows me to include some owl photos into this post. When birdwatching together, my friend Steve once pointed out that we saw the only two bird species starting with the word Amur on the same day (at Tianmushan, China, by the way). What a sad lot we are.

South Africa 340

South Africa China Nevada Africa 340

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 10, 2022

Notes on bird species and locations shown: Amur Paradise Flycatcher (Nanhui, China). Bar-tailed Godwit (Tiaozini, China). Barn Swallow (Nanhui, China). Daurian Redstart (Nanhui, China). Eastern Buzzard (Nanhui, China). Curlew (Tiaozini, China). Eurasian Oystercatcher (Tiaozini, China). Eurasian (?)

China 238

China India South Africa Homelessness 238

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 2, 2014

With a trip to South Africa on the horizon at the time, I thought I could handle it. Karen studied graphic design in London and has illustrated a number of books on Asian birds, plants, and wildlife, including the mammoth A Field Guide to the Birds of China (co-authored with John MacKinnon, Oxford Univ. Now, I’m not so sure.

Brunei 182

Brunei Birds Asia China 182

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 12, 2024

A paper on the Chestnut-vented Nuthatch titled “Nest-Site Features and Breeding Ecology of Chestnut-Vented Nuthatch Sitta nagaensis in Southwestern China” has 8 authors. While the HBW describes their presence in China as “very local”, they seem to be very common at Tongbiguan. ” Oh my, are we important.

Birds 196

Birds China Woodpeckers Breeding 196

10,000 Birds

MARCH 17, 2022

The falcon breeds in south-eastern Siberia and Northern China but winters in Southern and East Africa. And those we see constantly stop passers-by to ask for the way to either Siberia or South Africa, depending on the season.

Falcons 258

Falcons Japan China South Africa 258

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 14, 2012

Swallow-tailed Bee-eater Swallow-tailed Bee-eater by Adam Riley We must leave Africa’s primeval rainforests to find this dry savanna species. The eastern form breeds as far away as Kazakhstan, through India and the Middle East into Egypt’s Nile Valley, and migrates southwards to East and South Africa.

Africa 266

Africa South Africa Gabon Uganda 266

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 7, 2023

Though trips to Borneo, Argentina and Sri Lanka gave plenty of new ticks, I most enjoyed birding in Africa. In the early 80s I led a trip to South Africa when we saw more than 400 species. I’ve been there over 20 times, and it remains my favourite destination, though India is a close rival.

Sri Lanka 244

Sri Lanka Kenya San Francisco Greece 244

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 8, 2022

A study found that for Plain Prinia , egg characteristics in a mainland China location with many cuckoos make it much easier to spot cuckoo eggs than in a Taiwan location with few cuckoos ( source ). For those who think evolution is a wrong theory, these differences may well have been created by god.

Birds 230

Birds Eggs Bangladesh China 230