David in Africa

Tuesday, 13 January 2009

Sound advice

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I hope you enjoy this blog. Let me know if you do. Thanks,
David.
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About me

David Scott. Pharmacy teacher who left Oxford to work in Nairobi University for 2 years, returned to pay for his pension, and then retired in 2015 to work in Malawi.

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Larger pictures

Please click on any main picture to enlarge a bit. The side pictures look better if you right-click and view image.

Looks British

but Barn Owls are one of the most widely-spread species

Crested Barbet

as seen on the cover of bird books

Maeve's Starling

Great sheen

African Hoopoe

With a face like this..

a Saddle-billed Stork

Yellow-bellied

Greenbul eying up lunch

Seriously big

White-headed Vulture (actually red, white and blue) armed and ready

Already mean

A juvenile Bateleur looking like it isn't to be messed-about with.

Peepo

A scarce variety of Black-collared Barbet peeking out of its nest.

Say hello

A Wire-tailed Swallow hitching a boat ride.

Malachite

A tiny but gorgeous Kingfisher, seen here in moulting plumage. Most days, I see one on my walk to work.

Another one

You just can't have enough Malachite Kingfishers

The other extreme...

A Giant Kingfisher at the lake.

And another...

A Brown-hooded Kingfisher at Majete Park

All ruffed up

A magnificent Swallow-tailed Bee-eater migrating through.

Another bad hair do

A White-crested Helmet Shrike, usually flitting in noisy flocks.

Green Pigeon

On a beach, picking up small stones to aid digestion of figs etc. I last saw one in Ethiopia.

UN Peacekeeper

A dodgy nickname because it has a blue helmet and runs around a lot. Helmeted Guineafowl really.

Red-billed

Red-billed Spurfowl in Etosha

Red-eyed

Bulbuls are widespread and identified by eye ring colour. The ones in Blantyre are black. All have a yellow vent. This is in Namibia.

Social and sociable

The Sociable weaver from the family of social weavers. Responsible for massive group nests, as below.

Avian flats

A small example of social weaver nests.

Hope springs...

eternal in the male Brown-throated weaver. Sadly his efforts will be rejected by the fussy female and his work destroyed.

Mrs Sunbird

Look at that bill!

Parrot

A Brown-headed parrot in Liwonde.

So gaudy

What does the colour suggest? Of course, a Green-winged Pytilia.

More colour naming

A Yellow-breasted Apalis, sort of yellow I suppose.

Cardinal Woodpecker

Surveying for drilling sites

Peeved or curious?

An enigmatic Collared Palm Thrush in Liwonde.

Blue-eyed boy

A White-throated Cormorant

Born in UK

maybe. Should return as an adult Barn Swallow later this year.

My first Malawian bird photo

Purple-crested Turaco making a noise

Livingstone's Flycatchers

with nesting material if you look close up.

A wet day

Pouring rain on Zomba plateau but through the window there is a hint of beauty in a Forest Double-collared Sunbird. Now the challenge is to get a better picture.

Blister Beetle

Not a bird, but worth including.

My favourite

A Lilac-breasted Roller. Kenya's national bird but also common in Malawi.

or is it this one?

The magnificent African Fish Eagle

Not bad for a brown bird

Common sandpiper

Not so common

A Bronze-winged Courser that is not often seen, especially in daylight

Variable Sunbird

and another in Ethiopia

Yep, it looks like a canary

but it's an African Citril

Kori Bustard

Looking smug at being the world's largest flying bird.

Black Korhaan

Another smug relative of the Bustard

Black-headed heron

Standing in a tea field

Carmine Bee-eater at Lamu

Mousebirds

A coupleof speckled mousebirds being sociable on the electric fence.

Reichenow's weaver

One of several names for this nice bird

A slaty-backed white eye considers his next move carefully.

Paradise Flycatcher

Bronze Mannikins looking cute

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