Spectacular!

The recovery of the Spectacled Petrel population

Field of Dreams

Harriers quartering the Devon grasslands

Strike Force

Gannets are supremely adapted for plunge-diving. They lack external nostrils and have air sacs under their skin to cushion the impact of striking the water.

The Eyes Have It

Iris coloration in birds (particularly passerines) is a topic that has intrigued me ever since I started observing the behaviour of different starling species.

The Young & the Restless Peregrine Falcons

It is 04h30 and I am woken from fitful sleep by a clamour of screeching, seemingly right next to my head. It takes a second for me to orientate myself and process what is happening. I am sleeping on a lumpy fold-out chair on the fifth floor of the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital in Rondebosch, Cape Town, and I realise that about a metre above my head is one of the breeding boxes for the hospital’s well known Peregrine Falcons. The juveniles are up early and in a demanding mood.

With This Ring... The Birding Ties That Bind

Most tales that involve a convoluted plot with unlikely twists and turns and a contrived ending are usually found in a Jane Harper novel or an M. Night Shyamalan movie, but this one is real and involves two Russian Western Ospreys.

Tern Around

"The Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve, established in 1939, forms a key component of the Table Mountain National Park."

Free for All

"In august 2020 the results of the critical vulture nesting survey held annually in Zululand, northern KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), were sobering."

Clear and Present Dangers

"Like many seabirds, Cape Gan-nets breed only on offshore is-lands, where they are safe from terrestrial predators."

Throwing shade

The challenges of photographing in a forest

Twitter FEED

August sees the greatest flurry of birds at our feeders.

Urban Perils - House Sparrows on the decline

Supertramps are species that have spread around the world in association with humans and they include rats, house mice and a host of weedy plant species.

TOXIC OVERLOAD You are what you eat

Many marine organisms ingest plastic litter at sea, either directly through indiscriminate foraging behavior or indirectly through contaminated prey.

Sharp shooting

Canon’s RF 100–500mm zoom lens

SHAPE-SHIFTING Birds responding to heat stress

Museum collections have always been an essential re-source for ornithological research.

Far & wild

Road-tripping in Namibia

Ringing IN THE Changes

Sandwich Terns in South Africa

Kicking off

In October last year we were for­tunate to pay our fifth visit to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park.

Time out

VIEW FROM A HIDE

It's complicated

PROS AND CONS OF FEEDING VULTURES

GET EVEN closer

Celestron NexYZ Smartphone Adapter

THE dark side

Do dark upperwings improve flight performance?

Stay OR go?

Migration as an evolutionary driver

Green & gold

Birds of the oases and desert in Chad

Resetting THE system

The FitzPatrick Institute’s mandate is to conduct cutting-edge research while educating the next generation of ornithological researchers and conservation leaders.

Coastal REFLECTIONS

CLOSE TO where I live on the Cape Peninsula, a broad white beach sweeps south to meet the mouth of a small river. The outlet greets the sea at the base of a mussel-encrusted, rocky point, while the back of the beach sometimes features an expansive tidal lagoon, a combination of elements that creates a haven for coastal wildlife.

By any other name...

Bird names are a perennial hot topic. Why do they keep changing? Who decides, and how? And no, it’s not a ruse by the authors of bird books so that they can keep on producing ‘updated’ editions!

Burning issue

KYALAMI’S GRASS OWLS

Twitter Feed

The aloes flowering in our gar­den have proved to be a popu­lar attraction for the many birds on the wildlife estate in which we live. We planted the aloes spe­cifically to attract birds and the fact that they are water­wise is an added bonus, especially in the dry winter months here in the Lowveld.

Freeze Frame

I derive great pleasure from being able to share the beauty of the natural world as seen through my lens. As long as I can remember I have loved the outdoors, but it was only in 2015 that I became truly passionate about wildlife photography. I enjoy spending as much time as I can in the bush and over the years I have visited many of the great national parks in southern Africa. Animal and bird behaviour fascinates me and I often try to capture an image that tells a story.