Rain hampered walks, but contrary to popular belief it does sometimes stop. That’s the moment to get out birding for the obvious reason that the birds have also been waiting for this moment. Something of a mystery is how small birds are able to emerge perfectly dry. About the best place to stand and wait […]
Dear Friends Summer is in full force in February. Fabulous sunshine, burning bright skies and the occasional thunderstorm to cool us down. February is not only a hot month it is also the month of loving and appreciating and caring. We come from a line of very practical hoteliers and it is only in digging
Mid-summer is a minor lull in the bird world, and not just in Africa. The most obvious feature is the slackening of bird-song. Territorial boundaries have been settled, and the most important thing is collecting lots of food for chicks. So it is at the Cavern. In an admittedly very wet weekend there was neither
There is no question about the fact that we are Hill Billies. We do try to put on our town attire when we head out. We keep our shoulders back and walk tall as we head into the bustling streets but sometimes the fancifulness of the big smoke outsmarts us all. A while back, we
This week I have had to do a lot of reading. I find this to be a hugely difficult task and my brain and body feel completely drained by the end of the day. The trickiest part is comparing documents and making sure there are no contradictions and that all the sentences are concise, clear
The weather was unusually hot, not ideal for birding. But why do birds respond so quickly to a very early hot morning, and more or less slacken off even after a couple of hours? Temperature is indeed the main factor. All small birds wake up hungry, but insect food isn’t always obvious first thing. Being
