Mystery Bird Call Challenge

By |2020-05-16T15:19:55+02:00April 19th, 2017|Birds, Identification, Quiz / Game|

So you think you know your Southern African bird calls? Then prove it by taking this tough test. Be warned: although these clips are all from fairly common local birds, they are unusual calls that are seldom heard and poorly known. I'll also give you some clues if you get stuck. If you get none right, don't worry...I won't publish the results :) But this just goes to show how wide the repertoires of birds are. They have a whole language, that we are only beginning to document. Good luck!

Seabird Identification on Flock

By |2020-05-16T15:19:56+02:00April 18th, 2017|Birds, Creative|

BLSA's Flock at Sea (again) departs in a few days! Will you be onboard? My wife asked me to help her prepare for the pelagic birding...and I ended up drawing a whole bunch of cartoony seabirds. If you're a little rusty on telling your prions from your petrels, I think you'll find my guide to South African shorebirds useful. Print a copy and take it with, or save it on your phone. A quick and easy, 3 page guide to the basics (in pdf or jpeg). Feel free to share.

Birding Big Day in the Negev Desert

By |2020-05-16T15:19:56+02:00April 4th, 2017|Birds|

Just back from Champions of the Flyway 2017: an exhilarating week's birding in the Negev Desert of southern Israel, culminating in a crazy, nonstop, 24 hour bird race to see which team can record the most species in a day. I competed along with the "Birding Africa Black Harriers:" Callan Cohen, Dominic Rollinson, Ethan Kistler and myself. Read more to find out how we did, and how we did it. More importantly, we managed to raise $4,500 to help Doga Denegi fight the battle against the illegal slaughter of migratory birds in Turkey. 3, 2, 1...let's go birding!

Title

Go to Top