In preparation for my trip to South Africa, I purchased a few bird books of the region and attempted to familiarize myself with families of birds of which I had no previous knowledge. The exception: Red-billed Oxpeckers. I can't recall the first nature documentary that introduced me to one of these birds pecking away on... Continue Reading →

After some final early morning birding in Wakkerstroom, we made our way south to Mkuze, an area in northern KwaZulu-Natal. Mkuze is another birding hotspot, with its variety of savanna, forest, and wetland habitats. The Mkuze Game Reserve is 40,000 ha in extent and forms part of the tremendous iSimangaliso Wetland Park. We left the... Continue Reading →

I have covered quite a bit of ground across eastern South Africa in the past few days. I had the silly notion that I would update this blog every evening as a way to document my South Africa travels. Ha! The combination of spotty reception and lack of sleep (we start our days at 4:30... Continue Reading →

Wakkerstroom is a quaint village surrounded by pristine upland grasslands, wetlands, and forests. For some, its a vacation retreat from Johannesburg but for those in-the-know it is a birding paradise! It's the best place to find certain high altitude grassland biome specialists, such as Rudd's Lark and Botha's Lark, and some beautiful wetlands birds, including... Continue Reading →