An early spring in Geneva.

Normally the end of March in Geneva, Switzerland, can still be cool / cold but in 2011 the weather was very nice. Cool in the morning but by midday it was warm and pleasant, with nice blue skies most days. Although there for a few days work, I had my time cut out trying to get to out of meetings and the hotel to see a little of Geneva. Spring had sprung and the birds were in great form already - a number of the coot already had nests and were defending them aggressively against any breeding bird that ventured too close.

Male Goosander

 Great crested grebe

 Male mallard

 Female Goosander

 Common moorhen

 Common coot

 Mute swan

 Black-headed gull

 Male red-crested pochard

 Female red-crested pochard

 Carrion crow

 Female mallard

Black-headed gull

 Avian pornography ...

 Rock dove

A birding meander.

While in South Africa over Christmas, my brother-in-law casually mentioned that it is reasonably easy to see 3 species of crane and a few other species that are no longer easy to see on his brothers farm near Nottingham Road - I have no idea why he did not tell me years ago!! So off birding we went with the expectation that I would be seeing grey crowned crane, blue crane, wattled crane and a secretarybirds - did I mention I do not have good images of any of these species?? I also forget to mention that the blue and wattled cranes breed on the farm ......

This region is also known as the "Midlands Meander"  for it wide range of activities and tourist stops. A great area to unwind and enjoy the environment, while completely over-eating and having a good holiday.

The weather was good and the promise of birds was realized - although I did dip on the wattled crane and secretarybird. Nottingham Road is a great part of the world (if the mist has not settled in) and it was good to see it lush green after all the recent rain.

To give you an idea of the birds we saw, some images:

African marsh harrier

 Red-knobbed coot

Orange-throated longclaw

Red-collared widowbird

 

 Fan-tailed widowbird

 Crested crane

 Common waxbill

 Southern ant-eating chat

 Long-tailed widowbird

 Banded martin

 Grey crane

 Egyptian goose

 Spur-winged goose

Not bad for only a few hours and I will be back!

A beautiful part of the world that is not only full of birding opportunities but also great places to visit and great scenery in a relatively small region.

Who said tigers do not occur in South Africa?

While in South Africa, I took a trip to Cape Town via Bloemfontein late in December 2010. To make this more comfortable I decided to break the trip and it was suggested that I visit Tiger Canyons near Philipolis - I was not really that interested until I realized that tigers are actually the focus of this conservation project, albiet on the wrong continent and not their natural range.

This project in lead by none other than John Varty himself, and it was intriguing to hear his story and justification for trying to conserve tigers in South Africa as Asia is failing at this task. It was a very enjoyable morning spent with JV and I learnt a huge amount. It is certainly a very controversial project that has resulted in heated discussions in conservation circles and wider. I certainly have mixed feeling about it but I can see why they are doing it. Regardless of this discussion, JV is doing a great job from a simple start and not without some very large challenges, both predictable and the unexpected. However, to get the details read the website above and then JV's new book called "9 Lives" - I have not read it yet but it does sound interesting!

I thought I would share a few images from this trip:

These 3 cubs are only 13 months old ..........

Father .......

Play time ......

Time to doze ......

"Pity" there is an electric fence between us .... she obviously likes the look of the menu!!

It was really an awesome experience and for a not unreasonable fee, you can experience it too. The next objective is to see them in Asia but given their increasingly rapid decline / demise, that simply may not be possible.

Savannah was a lion that was adopted by the tigers as a cub. She grew up with them and more recently has been assisting with the rearing of the new tiger cubs. This included teaching them hunting skills and generally looking after them. However, early in 2011 she was very unfortunately killed by one of the tigers (full story here). Some pictures of Savannah for you:

Back again .....

After not having been to South Africa for almost 2 years, I have now visited twice in the last 6 months. And I am happy as South Africa in spring and early summer, is a great place for birds. Although it was a family Christmas holiday, I did manage to get out a little.

The first 10 days were spent in Pietermaritzburg and while there I did manage to get to Nottingham Road area for a day. Basides the hadeda ibis and Egyptian geese tha woke me every morning, there are some great birds in the gardens in the city.

Forked-tailed drongo sunning feathers after some cool, wet weather ......

 

White-bellied sunbird: female building a nest in a macadamia nut tree.

A pair of southern grey-headed sparrows.

Diedrick's cuckoo

A bathing dark-capped bulbul .....

A jackal buzzard looking for food .......

 I probably could have got a list of at least 50 species by just sitting in the garden for a day or two .... provided I got up early to see who belonged to the dawn chorus.