10,000 Birds

JULY 15, 2015

The history of Tembe Elephant Park in South Africa is a slightly unusual one. Elephants used to cross the border here before the war, but the fighting increased incidents of poaching as law and order broke down, leading to highly traumatised elephants crossing the border.

South Africa 145

South Africa Elephants Africa Lions 145

10,000 Birds

JUNE 20, 2022

Or would be, had I encountered more of them – so far, I have seen only a very small share of the approximately 233 woodpecker species, and got decent photos of an even smaller number – not much more than 10% of all of them. Also, the cap of the females is not even red but black.

Woodpeckers 224

Woodpeckers South Africa China Singapore 224

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 3, 2024

Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa are heavily eBirded because Americans regularly visit. This is where you find a birding phenomenon that makes the annoyances of regular road checkpoints with either military officers or local law enforcement, whizzing scooters, and bumpy roads worth the effort. eBird is a huge help with that.

Senegal 187

Senegal South Dakota Gambia Birds 187

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2018

After leaving Africa, I was fearing a real let down in my birding. New Zealand had been good, Australia was incredible, and South Africa was almost life altering. In the end, I ended up with 9 species, 4 of which were new to the list, the Black-crowned Sparrow Lark, White-checked Bulbo, House Crow , and the Indian Silverbill.

Qatar 113

Qatar Sparrows South Africa Africa 113

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 12, 2024

The scientific species name of the Golden-throated Barbet is franklinii , commemorating Capt. The HBW section on this species’ behavior mostly repeats the phrase “more information needed” Though of course scientists, hungry for grants and topics, say that all the time. Ok, I made that up. Then, on to nuthatches.

Birds 169

Birds China Woodpeckers Breeding 169

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 17, 2022

A study has shown that they make false alarm calls when seeing other species such as meerkats with attractive food. For the German flag, the “Grundgesetz” (the German basic law) states that the color of the national flag is black-red-gold. They are being parasitized by indigobirds which also use other host species.

South Africa 180

South Africa Africa Birds Cape Verde 180