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Our generation does not have the exclusive experience of human destitution and horror. Just over a hundred years ago, our women and children lived through the Boer War concentration camps. Many perished, including some of my own forebears. Those women found hope in the midst of their own desperate circumstances in a well known verse of scripture – Matthew 10:29 – 10:31, that concludes “Do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows”. The sparrow became a symbol of hope to the concentration camp survivors, and through their insistance, the Cape Sparrow was featured in the smallest coin...

Years ago my late father was helped to get a special marriage licence by an old magistrate of his acquaintance in the small town of Umzinto. I am one of the fortunate results. That magistrate had an oblique role in an amazing event in Natal history. My dad first told me the story when I was about 5 years old, and it stuck with me and rang a chord ever since. The year was 1931 (depression era). A hippo (known as Huberta) had somehow decided to trek south from Northern Natal. She did 1000 miles over the next two or...

Golf courses are great breeding grounds for lapwings. My buddy Rudy and I were thrilled to watch a lapwing pair raise 4 very young chicks (we think from as young as 2 days old). Every time we played we saw them patrolling the 14th fairway. And every time, the chicks were larger, until they were substantially sized adolescents. Not one had been lost. After 6 or 8 weeks we saw them no more, and assumed they had all moved to new pastures. We would like to think they survived. And then yesterday, a new parent in the same spot (photo...

There are too many egyptian geece (Alopochen aegyptiaca) in South Africa, and especially on our golf courses! Attached a shot taken this week from my cell phone. There were at least 50 of them running around the green (not all visible here) – they seem to love greens. The noise and the mess was amazing. In fact greenkeepers are tearing their hair out, with no solutions in sight. I have even heard a rumour (probably too crazy to be true), that one club is giving caddies a goose each. In any event, in this past week I have twice landed...

Right now, all the garden birding “action” seems to be coming from Knysna/Plettenberg Bay after the disastrous fires. This must be at least partly due to Rozanne Fleet and her birding friends who are helping to feed wild birds in a food-deprived zone (and getting immense pleasure in the process). It made me want to write a blog about Knysna. Contemplating the birds of the area, I believe that the most famous resident must be the Knysna Lourie. But for the sheer presence of the animal, my love is for the African (Black) Oystercatcher. For unknown reasons (has the name...