In September 2019 the NGO African Parks sent an expedition into the Sahel–Sahara region of north-eastern Chad to conduct the first ornithological census of the Ennedi Natural and Cultural Reserve. A 10-day, 1150-kilometer adventure into the heart of a long-forgotten sandstone citadel in the middle of the desert, the survey would result in the first bird list for this Eden: 189 species. With a mere 13 per cent of the area studied, the exploration of the Ennedi Massif is only just beginning…
From the sandy vastness of the Sahara Desert in Chad rises the Ennedi Massif, a mineral masterpiece that covers 40 000 square kilometers and is a natural open-air museum with hundreds of rock paintings as exhibits. Classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the massif is critical for groups of semi-nomads in search of water and pasture. To others, though, it has revealed only a tiny part of its magic. Barely a handful of scholars have ventured there in recent decades, but that seems likely to change – in 2018 the Ennedi Natural and Cultural Reserve was created and is now managed jointly by African Parks and the government of the Republic of Chad.
Bu hikaye African Birdlife dergisinin November/December 2021 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye African Birdlife dergisinin November/December 2021 sayısından alınmıştır.
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EXPLORING NEW HORIZONS
Keith Barnes, co-author of the new Field Guide to Birds of Greater Southern Africa, chats about the long-neglected birding regions just north of the Kunene and Zambezi, getting back to watching birds and the vulture that changed his life.
footloose IN FYNBOS
The Walker Bay Diversity Trail is a leisurely hike with a multitude of flowers, feathers and flavours along the way.
Living forwards
How photographing birds helps me face adversity
CAPE crusade
The Cape Bird Club/City of Cape Town Birding Big Year Challenge
water & WINGS
WATER IS LIFE. As wildlife photographer Greg du Toit knows better than most.
winter wanderer
as summer becomes a memory in the south, the skies are a little quieter as the migrants have returned to the warming north. But one bird endemic to the southern African region takes its own little winter journey.
when perfect isn't enough
Egg signatures and forgeries in the cuckoo-drongo arms race
Southern SIGHTINGS
The late summer period naturally started quietening down after the midsummer excitement, but there were still some classy rarities on offer for birders all over the subregion. As always, none of the records included here have been adjudicated by any of the subregion's Rarities Committees.
flood impact on wetland birds
One of the features of a warming planet is increasingly erratic rainfall; years of drought followed by devastating floods. Fortunately, many waterbirds are pre-adapted to cope with such extremes, especially in southern Africa where they have evolved to exploit episodic rainfall events in semi-arid and arid regions. But how do waterbirds respond to floods in areas where rainfall - and access to water - is more predictable? Peter Ryan explores the consequences of recent floods on the birds of the Western Cape's Olifants River valley.
a star is born
It’s every producer’s dream to plan a wildlife television series and pick the right characters before filming.
