Tuesday, 30 October 2012

New "lifer" for the Hwange Birder

The other day I was looking for the carcass of a young elephant that lions had killed when I drove down a game trail. Three birds flushed from virtually under my cruiser and landed on a pile of elephant dung nearby. I quickly got my bins on them and realised immediately that they were new to me. The camera came out and after many, many "safety shots" I was happy to put it down and search through the bird book. They were not in breeding plumage but one showed hints of feather changes. I settled on the Caspian plover, a palearctic migrant. I was amazed by how relaxed they were, allowing me to get out of the truck and photograph them from their eye level just 6 or 7 meters away.


That puts my life list at 663 species now.

                                                          The Hwange Birder

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