The news took South African birders by storm! On Thursday 22 March, Trevor Hardaker, a prominent South African birder and rarity tracker, announced that a Little Crake had been found the previous day by Gillian Barnes in Clovelly Wetland near Fishhoek, a southern suburb of Cape Town. This is not far from Cape Point, Africa’s […]
The last week has been exceptionally mild with early morning temperatures around +5 degrees Celsius and warming up to the mid teens in the afternoons. Combined with brilliant sunshine and birdsong all around, the consensus is that spring has well and truly arrived on the Rhine Delta. My first encounter this morning was with a […]
Last weekend I went to a two days birding in Dourado and Itirapina, located in Sao Paulo state, about 100 miles away from my city. Itirapina still has a savannah area, and that is the only area where a few species can be found inside the state. March 17, Day 1 Hideko and Arthur were […]
During the past few weeks I have been leading my annual Vancouver Island Photo Workshops. Both groups of 4 participants were blessed with some very cooperative weather, plentiful avian subjects and great shooting companions. We had a great time! Some of the most memorable encounters and best photo opportunities included: American Dipper: These guys are […]
A late-feeding cardinal leaps into spring, leaving an after-image behind, along with his shadow. Northern Cardinal | Cardinalis cardinalis
In Part 1 of “Birds of the Prairie“, I highlighted the Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus), a wonderful bird of our midwestern prairies and marshes. Today’s Part 2 focuses on an equally impressive bird, the Short-Eared Owl (Asio flammeus), a new “life bird” for me. The Short-Eared Owl is no longerĀ a year-round resident of the Missouri […]
Dawn begins to break as the sun rises slowly on the horizon and a female Snail Kite shakes her feathers briskly as she prepares to begin her day. Her two-toned feathers have the luster of youth and her pose is proud. Her keen eyes scan the horizon and she bobs her head as she gets […]
Part 04/8 of Glenn Bartley’s month-long trip around Ecuador. After a drive across the central valley and up and over the Papallacta Pass (where on one of the trips we had spectacular views of the Antisana Volcano) we arrived at our third lodge of the trip. From Sword-billed Hummingbirds to Torrent Ducks and from Rufous-bellied […]