Bird's eye view of South Africa

Common Moorhen

(I know she's hard to see, but this photo is all about the landscape)

Perhaps the best way to avoid jet-lag is to wake-up at 5:15a the first morning that you have reached your destination and wait in the cold for an hour for a bus (which never came) to eventually join a day-long birding excursion that will last from before sunrise to after sunset. It worked for me!

For me and the others in my van, the first bird we saw that day was a dead Spotted Eagle Owl on the side of the road (which I thought was not a good omen); but the evening toast following our birding excursion was attended by a very live Spotted Eagle Owl, who helped usher us back onto the road as we left. As one of my fellow birders pointed out to me, that was a very good omen.

There were so many highlights on this trip, too many to list, but here are a few:

- Me spotting and identifying a Turaco in the distance (which admittedly is one of the most visible and identifiable bird species; the one I saw turned out to be the Knysna Turaco - which in South Africa they call a "Loerie")
- Watching a Redknobbed Coot catch a fish;
- Seeing a Pied Kingfisher hover over the water before diving in for the kill (it reminded me so much of the Harrier Hawks back home that Mom loves so much)
- A fellow birder spotting a Peregrine Falcon on a far-away bridge (if I had his lens, you'd be able to see what I was talking about)
- Watching Greater Flamingos bathe in the sunlight on a distant island.

I can't imagine a better way to start-off my African experience. I hope you enjoy the photos half as much as I enjoyed taking them. Love, Rob

Redknobbed Coot (the name says it all)

Dusky Flycatcher (sometimes I liked the small, simple birds best)

African Spoonbill (but it's hard not to love the exotic ones, too)

Malachite Sunbird (side view - check out that beak!)

Malachite Sunbird (back)

Great (White) Egret about to take flight

(Tom Mangelsen, eat your heart out!)

Blacksmith Lapwing in flight

African Sacred Ibis with Yellowbilled ducks

Unidentified bird 1 (likely the Sombre Greenbul, or Bulbul)

Unidentified bird 2 (likely the Southern Black Flycatcher)

Silhouette of Another unidentified bird
(I kept spotting and photographing them faster than I could get an expert to ID them!)

Brownhooded Kingfisher
(this was a real test for my 300mm VR lens - and it worked)

Peregrine Falcon resting on a bridge

Cape Batis (he's really not as mean as he looks)

Cape Batis warming up his engines

Yellowbreasted Apalis (who stole my heart)