"Yellow Fever" hits main camp again!!

After a period of relative calm at Hwange's main camp, Yellow fever has once again gripped the bino-toting, camera wielding populace as yet another rare yellow individual of the Crimson-breasted shrike appeared. The man who has to take credit for this new sighting was the same jammy little bugger who was credited for the first sighting.....Jean Blake! (his picture above).

What is very exciting about this one is that it is a young bird (this year's chick) and that it was seen with two Crimson parents! If you will remember the last yellow jobbies they were one yellow parent and one yellow chick! I cannot remember my high school genetics lessons so perhaps someone can explain what is going on here with the genes,

Just to recap: last year we saw one red adult and one yellow adult produce one yellow chick and this year two red adults produce one yellow chick!! 
Help!!!

Anyway this is like the lottery roll-over......you have a second chance so get to Main camp and see it for yourself. Be careful though......yellow fever is highly contagious!!

                                                                 The Hwange Birder

Goodbye cruel world!

                               Paparazzi catch young star's desperate attempt to end it all!

 Stardom soon loses its appeal, especially when your every move is met with the sound of camera shutters and you cannot even drink at your local birdbath without several pairs of binoculars bearing down on you!

A photographer managed to catch this young star's desperate attempt to end the pain yesturday in Hwange's Main camp. Fortunately for his fans ...this is Hwange and the highest place to leap from was "a pavement".

The Hwange Birder

New images of the Yellow Crimson-breasted Shrike

Still in Main Camp!!

After a week or so without any further sightings we saw the two yellow Crimson-breasted shrikes again and i managed a slightly better shot.

Enjoy!

The Hwange Birder

Yellow form of the Crimson-Breasted Shrike!!!

HOT OFF THE PRESS!!!!!!!

Yesterday i heard a rumour that the very rare (like hen's teeth) yellow form of the Crimson-breasted Shrike was seen at Hwange Main camp. Now this is a bird we have all seen illustrated in the field guides but about the same number of people have seen it as saw the "third gunman on the grassy knoll!"

What makes it so special is it is a bright yellow version of a bright red bird!!
As a safari guide in Hwange years ago i imagined one day seeing one with clients and being asked "what bird is that?"...the clients would have thought i was colour blind when i would have said "why that is a Crimson-breasted shrike".

Well today my dream came true....i was sitting here in the office when my phone rang and a fellow birder, Jean Blake, said ...Brent! guess what i have here.......

They call it twitching because of the uncontrollable shakes one gets when he sees a bird of this calibre......

Interestingly there are actually two yellow individuals, one an adult and one a juvenile being fed by parents of two different colours!

Get yourselves to Hwange and see them for yourself

The Hwange Birder