About the Author

James Tyrrell

Alumni

James had hardly touched a camera when he came to Londolozi, but his writing skills that complemented his Honours degree in Zoology meant that he was quickly snapped up by the Londolozi blog team. An environment rich in photographers helped him develop the ...

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16 Comments

on Crazy About a Bird

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Wonderful sighting James. I love birds and are always on the lookout for something different and special.

Vickie
Guest

It always amazes me that such creatures with such delicate eggs and such defenseless young can make it in some tough environments.

Ricardo
Guest

Your blog posts are just awesome James – you’re living the dream 😉
One of my biggest surprises when I first visited southern Africa was the endless variety of birds. My wife and I -both bird lovers, we have 2 african greys and 2 dusky headed conures- could not believe our eyes the first time we saw a lilac-breasted roller. It was the most pleasant surprise for our trip, just like the cherry on top to an amazing safari week. Every time we go back now we’re definitely prepared and eager to encounter more species of birds. Africa is not just about the big 5. Sometimes the little ones are just as, if not even more, amazing. Our next target is definitely the Narina Trogon. Would love to photograph that guy. Thanks again for your post!

Absolutely breathtaking. But I still love Bateulars!

Thanks James, so nice to hear of someone with a passion for birds. I am not sure whether you have heard of Birdlife SA monitoring project being conducted on European Rollers and they are asking for data to be collected and returned to them. If you haven’t received this, let me know and I will forward the detail to you.
Thanks David Attenborough

Hi David,
Thanks very much. We haven’t received anything, so if you could forward the details to us, that’d be great!

Brian C
Guest

I love my leopards and big cats but I would be so happy to see the birds of S Africa on safari. Its always great to see photos of the rollers, sunbirds, bee-eaters, owls, storks, etc. Sounds like October/November might be good months to visit if one has an interest in the birds.

Master Tracker

Super photos, it is about ten times harder to get good bird photographs than Big 5 photos.

One of the reasons I went to Londolozi was because it offered me the chance to hire a Land Rover for the day, and I at last got some decent King Fisher photos.

It is very difficult to take decent bird photographs when the guests you are sharing a vehicle with have their own agenda

Lizeka Masilela
Guest

I am always fascinated by the beauty of different birds, though I don’t know their different names.

Jill Grady
Guest

Great blog James and wonderful pictures. I really loved seeing all the different species of birds while I was there visiting Londolozi and my particular favourite was the beautiful Lilac Breasted Roller. Also, I have never heard a bird call like the Hadeda Ibis and woke up to it every morning while in the beautiful wine region of Franschhoek.

Great blog James, the broad billed roller is beautiful, what an amazing sighting to have.

Senior Digital Ranger

Many years ago we were also “converted” by another amazing Guide in Zimbabwe and thanks for sharing your brilliant photos of the Rollers. A Narina Trogon – lucky guests!

Awesome blog James and as you know i just love the birds – the Broad Billed Roller is just fantastic and so cool to see a Narina Trogon there.

James T
Guest

Hi Tony,
One of the guys saw the broad-billeds again the other day, at the same tree, so hopefully it means they beat out the lilac-breateds to claim that nest spot.
If we’re lucky they may still be here when you come for your next visit!
All the best

Courtney M
Guest

This post makes me smile as I was definitely not so interested in birds when I arrived at Londolozi. I seem to recall rolling my eyes every single time James whipped out “the book.” However, given James’ enthusiasm and having met birders in Botswana post Londolozi, I came home and started learning about them. (PBS.org/nature has some pretty interesting bird documentaries.) Anyway, my dear James, you will be happy to hear that I now get excited when I drive to farm country and encounter vultures, and just yesterday I spotted on the side of the road some sort of hawk just standing in the grass looking at something on the ground (odd behavior, no?). I couldn’t stop to get a picture without causing an accident, but I thought to myself “where is that damn book when you need it?!” ? Glad you had an exciting sighting!!

James T
Guest

I always knew you were a twitcher in the making! 😉

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