I realise this is not normally how one plans a birding trip. Normally there are spreadsheets involved. Target lists. Google Maps pins. Six months of WhatsApp messages. Someone books accommodation. Someone books flights. Someone discovers, three days before departure, that the trailer’s licence disk expired in 2022. But some of the best birding trips [...]
Botha's Lark is South Africa's most threatened bird. With only 340 left, this Highveld grassland endemic is in very real danger to become Africa's first modern-day extinction. Here's the whole story. Plus a way that you can help by joining the exclusive 340 club!
X X If you ever need to polish your CV for a birding-related job (lucky you), I’ve got some good news. There is one more special skill that you can list, whether you’re aware of it or not. Because if you’re a birder, you’re automatically also an ecologist. Birders spend a lot of [...]
It’s hard to believe it’s been 16 years since the first edition of ‘Birding Gauteng’ was published. Much has changed in the last two decades, and we hope that birders will agree that this modern new edition was worth the wait (after many years of the book being out of print). One major change [...]
The nest of the Cape Penduline Tit is nothing short of miraculous. Michael Mason spent a few days photographing a family of these incredible little birds and made some fascinating discoveries!
Yay! The second edition of Faansie's Bird Book is here! Now with four new countries, 842 birds, QR codes to unlock bird sounds and a whole lot more. Check out the video preview and content boxes for some sneak peeks. Let's go birding!
Every few days there is a brand new birding article on FIREFINCH. It's a real treat when you unlock your phone and see the notification! Today on FIREFINCH we travel through the beautiful vast nothingness of Namibia. In the blazing heat of December nogal! But thanks to Hamman Prinsloo's writing and stunning photos, we can experience it all in comfort. Normally this content is only available to subscribers, but I thought I'd share Hamman's great report here. It is packed with useful tips and stakeouts, and I also added some maps to the birding sites. For more such high quality material, check out FIREFINCH app!
To celebrate our 50th FIREFINCH post, you can read the full Dawn Chorus article here. It's about a very talented friend I met during Lockdown. This post is all about the audio, so check out the Podcast version or follow along on the individual play bars. Enjoy!
Since our app FIREFINCH launched in Sep 2022, we've posted 50 Dawn Chorus articles. By myself and lots of other expert birders. Check out some of my favourites here!
How many new species have been added to our Southern African list in the last few decades? The first time I counted up my lifelist as a young kid, it was 73 species...out of a possible 919 on the list. Today our Southern African list is on 978 species. In the 36 years I've been crawling/walking/running around in search of birds (and the publication of Roberts V) 100 species have been added. Here they are!
