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The first time I encountered birders was on my very first safari in Namibia. I was focused on seeing and photographing the “big” things: the elephant and the oryx, and the towering sand dunes of Sossusvlei. In the lush Okonjima Nature Reserve, I found myself paired in a Land Rover with an elderly British couple who, when asked by our guide what their interests were, quickly and simultaneously said “birds.”
“Oh my!” the man exclaimed. “Stop, stop, stop!” I scanned the horizon for a cheetah, a jackal, or, most ambitiously, for an elephant shrew, only to find them pointing at a vague shape on a faraway branch. Our guide lifted his binoculars and cocked his head to the side, listening to the symphony of the bush and picking out a call to verify his initial assessment. “Ah!” he said, tapping his ear in confirmation. “Purple-backed starling. Good sighting!” The Brits looked delighted. The little bird fluttered to a closer branch where I could appreciate him fully, his fluffed up white breast feathers contrasting with the deep violet of his back, and I photographed him against a backdrop of the misty morning.
As the tour went on, I reaped the benefits of the couple’s hobby, photographing all kinds of birds that my untrained eyes would never have noticed. The breadth of colors and shapes present in Namibia’s bird life was astonishing, and with every stop we saw behaviors unique to that species and sometimes, even more narrowly, to their sex and age. “Would you like to borrow our bird book?” the woman asked. I flipped casually through the pages, not knowing where to start, and handed it back to her after only two minutes, overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of birds it contained.
The remainder of my trip was spent driving through Namibia without a guide—and without that charming couple to alert me to the call of a red-eyed bulbul or the breeding plumage of a shaft-tailed whydah. But something within me had changed. I found myself noticing more of the little details of my surroundings and, when I paid attention, I saw the most glorious things. No longer was I solely focused on the grass looking for the telltale spots of big cats or scouring the brush for my personal favorite, warthogs. I allowed my eyes to search up, down, and in between. Awestruck, I found life everywhere, ready to be photographed and appreciated.
When I arrived back home to the U.S., it was as though a switch I didn’t know existed had been turned on. Had there always been so many birds of prey perched atop the telephone poles? Had there always been little sparrows hopping around in the bushes? I quickly ordered myself Robert’s Bird Guide, the premier name in guide books for birds of Southern Africa, and began identifying birds from my photographs. It was incredible to discover not just how many I had seen, but also how many more were left to see. I was already selecting birds I desperately wanted to photograph on my next safari: the vibrant Purple-Crested Turaco, a Verreux’s Eagle Owl, an African Swamphen. I wanted to travel to Uganda to photograph the dinosauric Shoebill Stork, and I wanted to find out for myself if a sunbird is prettier than a hummingbird.
Soon after, I ordered myself a guide to the birds of North America, and quickly found that my photographic outings in Colorado became more and more focused around birds. Bison are nice and all, but have you ever stopped to watch a meadowlark sing or a bald eagle swoop down to catch a fish? The next time a bird flies overhead, take a moment to watch. Whether it’s a humble pigeon at the foot of the Sacré-Cœur in Paris or a brilliant quetzal in the rainforests of Costa Rica, you’ll find that there are living, breathing sights to be excited about—even in the slow moments.
A Beginner’s Guide to Birding
Buy a bird guide and a bird feeder and start to pay attention to the visitors you receive. Have you seen that species before? What makes it different? Is it a male or a female? If you’re having trouble, post a photo to the Facebook group “What’s This Bird?” and you’ll have an identification from an avid birder within minutes. You’ll see that the more you notice, the more fascinated you will become.
The Book: 'National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America'
User friendly and incredibly detailed with vibrant illustrations, this guide is the perfect companion for any birding enthusiast in North America.
The App: Roberts Bird Guide 2
Roberts is the most comprehensive guide to the birds of southern Africa, making it an essential buy for any safari. While the print version is a great coffee table book, it’s a bit heavy for toting along on your trip, which is why the Roberts Bird Guide 2 mobile app is an invaluable tool. Equipped with playable bird calls, checklists to document what you've seen, and an identification search feature that helps you break down your sighting by location, shape, plumage, habitat, and more, this paid app is worth every penny.
The Binoculars: Nikon 8x42 Prostaff 3
These great-value binoculars are lightweight, offer excellent magnification and brightness, and, equipped with a shock-resistant rubber-armored body, are rugged enough to take with you on any outdoor adventure.
The Trip: Makuleke Concession, Kruger National Park, South Africa
The far north of Kruger, at the border of South Africa, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe, is perfect for birding, since it sits at the juncture of different ecosystems and migration routes. Far less crowded with visitors than the southern reaches of the park, this area contains 75 percent of Kruger's biodiversity and more than 250 species of birds have been seen here. Be on the lookout for a Pel's Fishing Owl!
When to go: January and February
Birding is excellent any time you choose to visit the Pafuri region, an area rich with wildlife and vegetation around six hours from Johannesburg, but January and February are optimal since the migratory birds have settled and raptors are especially active.
