Let’s try and describe our Uganda birding tour in a few words for you.
~ An incredible 1,020 bird species,
~ Over 20 Albertine Rift endemics,
~ Top of the list when it comes to diverse habitats,
~ Incredible primate species,
~ World-famous UNESCO World Heritage Site at Bwindi; home to about 400 Eastern Gorillas,
~ Pleasant climate and fantastic food,
~ Once in a lifetime photograph opportunities
~ Night birding along the Bwindi forest boundaries…
…just to name a few of the reasons why you should tick off this bucket list birding tour.
The next group tour to this amazing destination will be departing on 19 July 2024.
We embarked on a Pelagic birding trip from Simon’s town in South Africa and what a day it’s been!! Abundant birding is the word…and at the end of this day you are left in absolute awe of the beauty and reward of this birding experience.
BirdLife South Africa recently announced that the Cape Rockjumper Chaetops frenatus is the Bird of the Year for 2021. We here at Nature Travel Birding can’t think of a more fitting candidate!
Totally restricted to the fragile fynbos biome of southwestern South Africa, the strikingly beautiful Cape Rockjumper is not only a South African endemic, but its genera and family (it has a sister species, the Drakensberg Rockjumper) are also endemic to the country.
The thrush-like or babbler-like, ground-dwelling Cape Rockjumper gets its name from its habit of hopping from boulder to boulder with incredible agility in its natural rock-strewn mountain fynbos habitat. The Latin frenatus refers to the “bridled” or black-and-white head pattern.
It forages on the ground, probing with its bill, eating mainly invertebrates (caterpillars, beetles, flies and worms), but also small lizards and amphibians. Usually there is pair in an area, but they can also occur in small family groups. Although fairly easy to spot when it sits on an exposed boulder, they can sometimes be rather secretive. The easiest way to locate it is by its piercing , piping pee-peepee-pee-pee-pee song.
The Cape Rockjumper breeds as a monogamous pair in a co-operative manner, sometimes with helpers. The nest is built by both sexes and consists of an untidy bowl of grasses, twigs, lichen, animal fur and seeds. It is usually placed on the ground at the base of a rock. Usually 2 eggs are laid and after 3 weeks the chicks hatch. They stay on the nest for a further 3 weeks and are helped along by adults for up to a month afterwards.
Currently the Cape Rockjumper is considered as Near Threatened on the IUCN RedList 2017, with the species’ main threats being habitat destruction, climate change, invasive vegetation species and diseases. Some authorities actually believe the species will soon be upgraded to the even more serious Vulnerable category.
In a media release, BirdLife said the following, “During 2021, BirdLife South Africa will create awareness about the Cape Rockjumper through the production of an informative poster, the development of learning resources for schools that are free to download from the BirdLife South Africa website (www.birdlife.org.za), articles in African Birdlife magazine, social media posts, presentations to interested groups, and the sale of merchandise.”
For your chance to see this unique and iconic South African species, join us on one of our expert-guided, small-group South African birding tours. For more information, hop on over to https://naturetravelbirding.com/birding-tours-south-africa/
Birding photographs are certainly some of the most satisfying to browse through. The colours and small detail on every species can mesmerize you for hours. There is only thing that beats this and that is seeing these birds in there natural habitat in real life.
To go birding anywhere in the world is an exhilarating experience, always awaiting the chance to see that one that you have been waiting to see for so long or to see your favourite bird again. And just as you think you have seen the most beautiful or most extraordinary bird, you see one that’s even better…
Sharing some of our favourite birding photographs with you from all over the globe.
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Join us on your next birding trip for unforgettable personalized birding experience. Get in touch with our team to start planning the perfect trip on info@naturetravelbirding.com
When you embark on birding tours all over the world you see all kinds of birds and being avid birders, all the sightings are wonderful and exciting.
But there are a few that stands out for not only being wonderful, it’s also exhilarating, no matter how many times you see it. For us, one such bird is the legendary Shoebill.
The Shoebill will mesmerize you, it is just so differently beautiful and unique…
Did you know that Tanzania has one of the largest species lists of any African country?
Of the almost 1,100, over 800 species are resident and nearly 200 are regular migrants. 21 Species are endemic to Tanzania and a further 43 species are near-endemic. Tanzania’s 80 Important Bird Areas (IBAs) cover a total of more than 167,000 km2 or about 18% of the land area, and the country also boasts 16 national parks and wildlife reserves. In fact, an incredible 38% of Tanzania’s land is protected in parks and reserves!
Just look at the amazing birds…
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Except for the extraordinary birding opportunities Tanzania offers that classic “Out of Africa” landscapes, fantastic wildlife (including Big Five), geological wonders, cultural richness and amazing Afro-Arab-Indian cuisine.
Our Namibia, Botswana and Zambia Birding Tour is one of our personal favourites! It’s a birders’ paradise with birding opportunities that take your breath away. We’ve put together a gallery of only but a few of the wonderful birds you can find here.
There are very few birds that bring more excitement when spotted by a birder for the first time than the Pel’s Fishing Owl.
Anticipation fills the air as we quietly approach a possible roosting spot. Slowly….we are trying our best not to step on any dry leaves or twigs that might alarm the birds.
They are a beautiful ginger-colour with a streaked or spotted breast. These owls are large, between 60 and 64cm tall, weighing around 2.4kg. And their striking, huge black eyes stare down at you with a look of annoyance when you have found them at their day-time roost.
The Pel’s Fishing Owl is always a highlight and big attraction on our Nature Travel Birding tours in the Caprivi and Botswana. Read more about our Namibia, Botswana & Zambia Birding Tour, we’d love for you to join us on the next one.
South Africa offers some of the best birding in all of Africa with the approximate 850 recorded bird species in the country, giving birders a wonderful opportunity to spot something very special.
Here is a glimpse of only a few of these beautiful birds.
This unmistakable, unique, long-legged, mostly ground-dwelling raptor with possibly the coolest scientific name (Sagittarius serpentarius, meaning “of snakes) was announced recently as Birdlife South Africa’s Bird of the Year for 2019.
It is quite a special sight to see one of these uncommon birds purposefully striding in the open grassland savannas of Africa, overpowering and eating anything from insects, lizards, small mammals, birds and of course snakes. Interestingly, despite its fearsome snake-killing reputation, snakes actually don’t make up a large proportion of the Secretarybird’s diet.
Check out this pair of stunning Secretarybirds recently seen by one of our guides and his clients while on a South African birding tour.
To experience once-in-a-lifetime sightings like these, join us on our expert-guided birding tours. One of our best trips on which to see the Secretarybird is the Best of the East birding tour in South Africa. For more information on this or any of our birding trips get in touch at info@naturetravelbirding.com.
