I love those Birds of Paradise!
Any one who has read my blog knows that I absolutely love the Birds of Paradise of New Guinea (who doesn't?). National Geographic's July issue has a great article on these unique birds which can be read online at their web site. There were some really cool pictures in the magazine which can be seen on their web site too. The article also features researcher Edwin Scholes of the NY Museum of Natural History who has a web site about his research. The site includes videos of the mating displays of a few species and audio.
4 comments:
Hi Patrick,
I wanted to drop you a quick note to tell you how much I like reading your blog. I have a blog of my own and sometimes I wonder whether anyone is reading it. I know that in most cases you blog for your own enjoyment, but I thought I would drop you a line and tell you to keep up the great work. I am an avid birder with two young kids so at the moment I bird vicariously through your birding experiences. Most of my current birding is done in my backyard but I am hoping to make some trips later in the year.
By the way, have you ever thought about taking a birding trip to Africa? I am originally from South Africa (now based in New Jersey) and the birding is absolutely FANTASTIC out there. The trip out there is long and expensive (flight ticket) but the birding will literally blow your sox off! To access a list of the birds of Southern Africa click on the link http://www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za/pdf/roberts7.pdf The first thing you’ll notice is the massive amount of raptors including Vultures, Eagles, Hawks and Owls. I have been fortunate to see many of these during my time growing up in SA.
Here are a couple of websites on birding in SA http://www.bsc-eoc.org/links/links.jsp?page=l_afr_za The most obvious place to start looking would be Kruger National Park. Kruger Park is the size of Belgium with some of the best birding in the world. I know the trip is long and far, but I would definitely recommend it to any serious birder. Obviously there is the extra bonus of all the wildlife out there including the big five: lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino.
Keep up the good work,
Quintus.
Quintus, thanks for the great comments and the info on SA. I would LOVE to visit there someday. I have what I call the "three A's" of places I want to go: Australia, Antarctica, and Africa. SA is obviously one of the top places to go there and I've heard good things about Tanzania and Kenya too. I would love to see the Cape Sugarbird which I believe is a SA species. Since you're in NJ, I'm sure we'll run into each other birding sometime and I'm always willing to go out birding with a new fellow birder. Take care, thanks for the links, and thanks for reading.
Those are nice websites to visit-I added them to my favorites-thanks!
Yes! More birds of paradise...it's about time...
Post a Comment