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Sharpe’s Longclaw Macronyx sharpei
Magumu (north of Nairobi), Kenya. June 2008
 
Occasionally I get a ’sharp’ reminder that while I’m flying around the world having a great time and building up a reasonable year-list, some of the very birds that I’m fortunate enough to go looking for are declining rapidly and are seemingly heading unstoppably towards […]

Mountain Wagtail Motacilla clara
Nairobi, April 2008

Locally common throughout a large range that takes in substantial areas of sub-Saharan Africa, the Mountain (or Long-tailed) Wagtail is usually described as a species of fast-flowing forest streams, though I’ve personally seen the species in a virtually dry stream-bed in Kenya, and on a fast-flowing stream with virtually no […]

There were at least five American Buff-bellied Pipits Anthus rubescens rubescens recorded in Western Europe this autumn (three of them in the UK), and birding magazines and fora have been going into the ID criteria in some detail. On geographical proximity alone the assumption has to be that most (if not all) of the Buff-bellieds […]

Faansie Peacock (Self-published, 2006)

Writing a review of a book which is entirely dedicated to the pipits of southern Africa might at first glance seem obscure, like an act of one-upmanship that says to the majority of mainly residential birders, “I travel a lot, so I need a book like this even if you don’t” […]

Bushveld Pipit Anthus caffer
South Africa, December 2006

The small and unobtrusive Bushveld Pipit is an African endemic found from south-central Ethiopia down through the savanna biomes to Zimbabwe and south-west South Africa. Usually found in pairs, the species responds enthusiastically to the call of the Pearl-spotted Owl when the distinctive, soft, and unpipit-like “tzeet” call the […]

Grassland/African Pipit Anthus cinnamomeus Nairobi, Kenya, June 2006
 
Described as “the ’standard pipit’ throughout much of the region, against which others must be compared” by Ian Sinclair and Peter Ryan (Birds of Africa south of the Sahara Struik 2003), the Grassland, Grassveld, or African Pipit seems to be one of the most variable ’species’ anywhere in […]

Nairobi, Kenya
10 June 2006

Kenya covers an area of 582,646 square kilometres. The land stretches from the sea level (Indian Ocean) in the east, to 5,199 meters at the peak of the snow-capped Mount Kenya. From the coast, the altitude changes gradually through the coastal belt and plains (below 152 metres above sea level), the […]

Orange-throated (Cape) Longclaw Macronyx capensis
Marievale, Gauteng, South Africa (October).
 
The beautiful Orange-throated (or Cape) Longclaw is a southern African endemic, occurring in Zimbabwe and southern and eastern South Africa. The species is common in coastal and mountain grassland. Usually found in pairs throughout the year, stalking the ground for insects and some seeds. Unobtrusive rather than […]

Hong Kong, Shing Mun Nature Park: 22 January 2005.
 
From the entrance to Shing Mun Nature Park a country trail leads through mixed secondary forest along the edge of the Shing Mun Reservoir and into the beautiful Shing Mun Valley. The park covers a total of 1400 hectares. It extends from Lead Mine Pass in the […]