The Birding Blog — The Birding Blog

Spring brings a new dynamic to your garden, and naturally also to your garden birds. Insects start arriving (often in little spurts as a particular species emerges from a characteristic phase of metamorphosis). And then also the fruit ripens. A standard question is how this affects feeding. In fact, the fun is multiplied in your garden, as you observe the birds, and notice their little habits and idiosyncrasies. An observant birder will definitely notice a dropoff in the volume of your offered food being consumed at the feeder over short periods, and increases again at other times – and will...

What a happy morning! We were alerted to some unusual bickering on the feeder. Very close inspection led us to realise that a new pair of “substantially larger” yellow weavers were aggressively dominating the suet area. Initially one mistakes the newcomer for the traditional Southern Masked Weaver (of which we have plenty). But this turned out to be Village Weavers. They are so similar, and one needs a good set of binoculars to differentiate. But when they pose together, (as here – not a great shot for which I apologise), one can immediately make out the size difference. We rarely...

Do you have a favourite bird (apart from a pet naturally)? It is not really a purist thing – after all the birds are all wonderful. And so I sheepishly admit to keeping my own list of “favourites”. It amounts to perhaps slightly more than a dozen birds, some having already featured in my blogs. They are all South African terrestrial dwellers. They are (generally) not scarce. They are mostly not special in their habits, although obviously all are defined by the nature of their species. But they are all beautiful, and they are all photogenic. But I go one...

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...