I remember when I went on my first safaris over 15 years ago (ouch!), I was fascinated by everything I saw. Well… nearly everything.
Of course, initially I was more interested in the more spectacular wildlife – lions, leopards, elephants and rhino in particular, and especially if they were hunting or had young with them. Over time I became more interested in the smaller things, and came to appreciate how the breeding cycle of the impala, or behavior of baboons could be just as fascinating as anything that the Big 5 might have to offer.
But I have always remained fairly ambivalent to the charms of Africa’s birds…until recently.
Now obviously vultures and eagles are exceptions to this rule, and it was a few years back that I first I found myself keen see, photograph and understand them a little. But the pretty little kingfishers, bee-eaters and other feathered wildlife have slowly come to win me over to such an extent that I recently found myself photographing carmine bee-eaters and lilac-breasted rollers just as enthusiastically and I have always photographed lions, leopards and elephants.
Below are a selection of my pictures from our last few trips to South Africa, Botswana and Zambia…as you can see the variety and colour of the bird life in southern Africa is spectacular, and I really have no idea why it took me so long to take an interest in these spectacular creatures.
Hover over the images to identify the species if that sort of thing interests you…
