A male Beautiful Sunbird (Cinnyris pulchellus) balances busily and without misstep on a bare stem of a Aloe, which lead to some, small yellowish flowers with red borders. There, the photographer has a chance to shoot the bird, which is aptly called its English name. The male of the Beautiful Sunbird places the rather long,… Continue reading Beautiful Sunbird on a flower in Ghana
Category: Bird Trips (Pictures & Stories)
What could be seen, what to see, the landscape…
White-vented Violetear in display
Right out of the car, a loud singing bird can be heard with a rhythmic sound. A beautiful morning in early August on the north side of Das Emas National Park in the state of Goiás in Brazil has started. The sound is generated by a hummingbird. It is the White-vented Violetear (Colibri serrirostris). This… Continue reading White-vented Violetear in display
White-browed Fantail flying over a fountain
The White-browed Fantail (Rhipidura aureola) is aiming for its future “bathtub” in low flight. A little later, the drops will splash for several meters. The White-browed Fantail had already bathed extensively in the shallow fountain a few minutes before. The feathers are soaked with water. The White-browed Fantail is obviously not afraid of water. Proper… Continue reading White-browed Fantail flying over a fountain
Forbes’s Plover in Mole National Park
It is incredibly hot. If you would leave the air-conditioned bus, you will be attacked by extremely annoying bees. But: we are looking for the Forbes’s Plover (Charadrius forbesi). The Forbes’s Plover has to be found now. We drive to a flat area in the middle of the dry savannah of northern Ghana, which is… Continue reading Forbes’s Plover in Mole National Park
Oriental Skylark versus Eurasian Skylark
The Oriental Skylark (Alauda gulgula) is basically an “eastern” species. Nonetheless, the species is a local migrant and winter visitor in Israel. The best places to observe them are the are alfalfa and lucerne fields in the valleys. During migration periods, these larks are regularly seen along the Mediterranean coast. The Lesser Skylark is often… Continue reading Oriental Skylark versus Eurasian Skylark
Neotropic Cormorants along the Transpantaneira/ Brazil
A few kilometers the Transpantaneira officially begins, a bridge give views to a very open countryside. There is busy fighting in the low water beside the bridge. It is fascinating to observe the fish-catching Neotropic Cormorants (Phalacrocorax brasilianus). A feast for the eyes are the Cormorants, who playfully fetch the fish out of the water,… Continue reading Neotropic Cormorants along the Transpantaneira/ Brazil
Boat-billed Herons at Rio Pixaim in Pantanal
The boat slowly chugs through the calm waters, so you can watch the numerous herons, kingfishers, cormorants, birds of prey and songbirds, which are in the bushes and in the trees on the banks. Suddenly the strange Boat-billed Heron (Cochlearius cochlearius) can be seen deep in the bushes at the Rio Pixaim gallery forest. At… Continue reading Boat-billed Herons at Rio Pixaim in Pantanal
Blue Bird-of-paradise near Ambua Lodge/ Papua-New Guinea
At 5:00 a.m. the night in the Ambua Lodge, a luxurious mountain hotel, is over. Today a trip around Ambua Lodge in the Southern Highlands is announced. After breakfast we start driving. It is still quite dark, but it does not rain. The target species of our morning observations are the Blue Bird-of-paradise (Paradisornis rudolphi)… Continue reading Blue Bird-of-paradise near Ambua Lodge/ Papua-New Guinea
Common Whitethroat at Brenu Beach Grasslands near Cape Coast
After a long journey from Ankasa, we – a Birdquest-Group – stranded for an afternoon birding at Brenu Beach Grasslands near Cape Coast / Ghana. We had just seen a male Marsh Tchagra (Tchagra minuta) a bird in a spiny bush reminded me of an old friend from Germany. It looked like a Common Whitethroat… Continue reading Common Whitethroat at Brenu Beach Grasslands near Cape Coast
Birds in Kakum NP from Canopy Walkway
A strange bird is looking through the leaves like a dwarf Gnom. The Bristle-nosed Barbet (Gymnobucco peli) is the bird which welcomed us during a visit in the early morning. Fog and mist in the first light of dawn makes the rain forest look like a Chinese drawing. In the humid lowland rainforest of Ghana… Continue reading Birds in Kakum NP from Canopy Walkway
Lawes’s Parotia in Ambua Lodge/ Papua-New Guinea
At 5:00 a.m. the night in the mountain hotel is over. 5:30 a.m. breakfast is announced. Afterwards we are guided straight to a fruiting tree to observe Birds-of-paradise at the bungalow no. 7. The inconspicuous green and black berry tufts lure Birds-of-paradise again and again. Here you might find the Lawes Parotia (Parotia lawesii). We… Continue reading Lawes’s Parotia in Ambua Lodge/ Papua-New Guinea
Willie Wagtail at a nest
Right from the boat in a loop of the Kwatu River (one of the tributaries of the mighty Fly River), we discover an open-topped bowl of the Willie Wagtail (Rhipidura leucophrys) which is also written Willie-wagtail. I have to photograph the nest with the 3 nestlings. We see how an adult Willie Wagtail has brought… Continue reading Willie Wagtail at a nest