10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 24, 2020

Helpfully, the people administering this place have highlighted the naturish aspect of this place in several ways, the most obvious being a number of life-size plastic elephants complete with movement and loud sounds every few seconds. While waiting for the barn owls, an Asian Barred Owlet made a brief appearance. Birds, maybe?

China 264

China Barn Owls Birds Laos 264

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 22, 2022

Pel’s Fishing Owl, where were you? On the other hand, their preferred food is blood, and they also feed on it directly, pecking at a mammal’s wounds to keep them open ( source ). On this trip, this forced me to participate in a side trip to the nearby Tembe Elephant Park. T his is an African Sacred Ibis at Ndumo.

South Africa 147

South Africa Africa Birds Fish 147

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 4, 2014

Initially, I wasn’t that excited about seeing mammals. But, the anticipation of everyone else in the group was contagious, and when California birder Lori Conrad looked out the window of the plane as we started our descent and screamed, “Elephants! There are elephants down there!” I am a birder, after all.

South Africa 255

South Africa Africa Leopards Penguins 255

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 19, 2023

Photos courtesy of Mosetlha Bush Camp A dusty-red road leads me through Marico bushveld deeper into the 750 square kilometers large wilderness of the Madikwe Game Reserve – the 4th largest reserve in South Africa, home to 350 bird and 66 mammal species, some 4 hours’ drive from Johannesburg. Barn Owl on a dry tree trunk and a… traffic jam!

South Africa 240

South Africa Africa Game Elephants 240

10,000 Birds

JULY 11, 2013

A dusty-red road leads me through Marico bushveld deeper into the 750 square kilometers large wilderness of the Madikwe Game Reserve – the 4th largest reserve in South Africa, home to 350 bird and 66 mammal species, some 4 hours’ drive from Johannesburg. Barn Owl on a dry tree trunk and a… traffic jam! Sniffing us.

Africa 206

Africa South Africa Elephants Rhinos 206

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 20, 2014

The extinction event that wiped out the pterosaurs, the non-avian dinosaurs, and so much other life created enormous opportunity for new organisms to diversify and thrive (lucky for us placental mammals!), Sister to this group is the Strisores : the “night birds” (excluding owls), swifts, and hummingbirds. Jarvis et al.

Family 279

Family Birds Parrots 2014 279

10,000 Birds

JULY 28, 2022

Logging roads have opened up vast areas to commercial hunting, leading to industrial-scale poaching and a more than 60 per cent drop in the region’s Forest Elephant population in less than a decade. Mammals include Western Lowland Gorilla, Forest Elephant and Forest Buffalo, and eleven diurnal primates.

Central African Republic 307

Central African Republic Congo Gabon Gorillas 307