In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in everyone's plans grinding to a halt and, while less restricted, 2021 was still somewhat slow as people recovered from the previous year. Happily, for me 2022 turned into a standout year as I experienced many birding highlights. My passion (or obsession, as some might refer to it) for birding forms an integral part of my life and I was able to enjoy it to the full.
A project that had kept me busy and 'birding sane' during 2020 and 2021 finally came to fruition in 2022 when Veld Birds of Southern Africa: The Complete Photographic Guide was published. Although we (Burger and Niel Cillié, Phil Penlington, Karin Wiesler and I) were all immensely satisfied with the end product, the final days before the book was sent to the printers were a whirlwind as we rushed around trying to find the last photos of a plumage, sex or age group that was still needed for a particular species. You realise just how poor your photo filing system is when there is a last-minute request to find an image of, for instance, a juvenile, an immature, a female or a non-breeding male of a particular species!
We certainly hope that everyone who has already bought a copy is enjoying the new book and feel that it is a worthwhile addition to their library shelves.
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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.
