Standing at the entrance of the forest, about to merge with the shadows, I feel the breath of an ancient whispered warning, ‘Don’t go in there...’ At least not before changing camera settings. As I step in, the sound of the forest welcomes me back: a muted backdrop of insects, the creak of aged branches, and the occasional punctuation of a bird vocalizing. ‘Willie!’ I smile, thinking of how one of our guides would pronounce the bird’s name. ‘Samba Greenbul’, I say out loud, just to let them know I’m back.
I have been coming to this forest for many years. My family too have steadily crunched their way through its detritus, crawled under fallen branches, and slid down the muddy banks. We were patiently guided by David Letsoalo and Paul Nkhumane, who showed us what it took to find and enjoy these elusive birds. Initially, we came in the hope of seeing a White-starred Robin. When I phoned to book our first visit, Lisa, the manager, told me they were as plentiful as impala in the Kruger National Park. It took another three trips before I finally found one.
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EXPLORING NEW HORIZONS
Keith Barnes, co-author of the new Field Guide to Birds of Greater Southern Africa, chats about the long-neglected birding regions just north of the Kunene and Zambezi, getting back to watching birds and the vulture that changed his life.
footloose IN FYNBOS
The Walker Bay Diversity Trail is a leisurely hike with a multitude of flowers, feathers and flavours along the way.
Living forwards
How photographing birds helps me face adversity
CAPE crusade
The Cape Bird Club/City of Cape Town Birding Big Year Challenge
water & WINGS
WATER IS LIFE. As wildlife photographer Greg du Toit knows better than most.
winter wanderer
as summer becomes a memory in the south, the skies are a little quieter as the migrants have returned to the warming north. But one bird endemic to the southern African region takes its own little winter journey.
when perfect isn't enough
Egg signatures and forgeries in the cuckoo-drongo arms race
Southern SIGHTINGS
The late summer period naturally started quietening down after the midsummer excitement, but there were still some classy rarities on offer for birders all over the subregion. As always, none of the records included here have been adjudicated by any of the subregion's Rarities Committees.
flood impact on wetland birds
One of the features of a warming planet is increasingly erratic rainfall; years of drought followed by devastating floods. Fortunately, many waterbirds are pre-adapted to cope with such extremes, especially in southern Africa where they have evolved to exploit episodic rainfall events in semi-arid and arid regions. But how do waterbirds respond to floods in areas where rainfall - and access to water - is more predictable? Peter Ryan explores the consequences of recent floods on the birds of the Western Cape's Olifants River valley.
a star is born
It’s every producer’s dream to plan a wildlife television series and pick the right characters before filming.
