Home & Away

COVID-19 WREAKED havoc worldwide and no more so than in the travel industry, where I make my living.

- Albie Venter

As winter sets in, some trees lose their foliage and insect numbers drop correspondingly, forcing insectivorous bird species such as trogons out onto the forest edge that borders our garden. My mid-morning coffee was not-so-rudely interrupted one crisp Mayday as this obliging female Narina Trogon perched out in the open for a few minutes.

Travel ceased completely and with that the chance to seek out our continent’s superb variety of birds. Silver linings were (and indeed still are) few and far between, even for a confirmed optimist like me.

This image of a Straw-tailed Whydah singing in the early morning sun brought back fond memories of the north of Kenya – and the perplexed look on clients’ faces as I stopped to photograph this striking bird while we were hot on the trail of some lions. Thankfully, even the most die-hard big cat addict couldn’t help but admire this handsome little fellow.