A very Happy New Year to you! I hope 2025 is a year of open doors, which are meant for you to walk through and wonderful moments in nature!

I am both excited and expectant for the year ahead and so far it has been for good reason. We have such opportunity and freedom in our country and continent, we have beautiful, friendly and inspiring people and we have some of the most exquisite wilderness areas in the world.

In late November last year I spent a week at Hwange Safari Lodge in Zimbabwe. It was awesome to be in the bush again and visiting an area that I had not yet explored.

Interestingly, my primary reason for going was not bird photography but rather to run a leadership workshop with the executive team at African Sun. It was such a blessing to combine two of my passions; my love for wildlife photography and for encouraging leaders and unifying teams.

A huge thank you to Laurie and the African Sun team for their wonderful hospitality and for the incredible opportunity to run our “authentic leadership” programme with them. And a big thank you to Lazarus Manyuwa for guiding me for the four days we had together.

The time available was definitely too short to do the area justice from a photography perspective, but I thought I would share some of the insights and highlights from the trip nonetheless. I also arrived before the heavy December rains, so the lodge grounds and park were still very dry and consequently, there were less summer migrants and raptors than one would encounter a few weeks later.

All that being said, the birding was absolutely brilliant and the photographic opportunities were far more than I had initially anticipated. I hope you enjoy the newsletter that follows and please get in touch, as it is always great to hear from you.

HWANGE NATIONAL PARK & SURROUNDS

GETTING THERE AND A GOOD START

Living in rural South Africa means any cross border trip is an all-day event for me. I left my home in Balgowan before sunrise and arrived at Hwange Safari Lodge at 4h30pm in the afternoon. The trip, thanks to Airlink, was fortunately seamless and I was welcomed by a wonderful man; Jabulani, who would take me from Vic Falls to where I was staying; a 2.5 hour trip. It was great to hear his thoughts about Zimbabwe and his optimism for the future.

Although there are still challenges, he has seen positive growth in the economy and has recently bought land with the hope of starting to build out his lifelong dream. I love hearing the hopes of others and encouraging them in whatever small way I can. We parted ways by praying for his future and trusting for a good plan ahead.

I was welcomed to camp by a very obliging African Barred Owlet and got a few record shots of an African Golden Oriole before heading for dinner and bed. Not a bad start!

The Owlet became a photographic favourite of mine and could be located on most late afternoons.

In the few hours I had to spare between game drives and workshops, the camp offered up a number of other good photography opportunities; including Retz Helmet-shrike, Marabou Storks (who visited the lodge garden in the early mornings and lingered around the two waterholes), Grey-crowned Cranes, Broad-billed Rollers, Admin’s Storks and Ground Hornbills. What was pretty awesome about these sightings is that the area in front of the camp is accessible by vehicle and hence, if there were good birds there in the afternoon we could go and track them down on our afternoon game drive.

Indeed, the lodge lies adjacent what is known as “dead vlei”; a dry riverbed for most of the year with numerous waterholes dotted along it for game to drink from. Two of the waterholes are directly in front of the rooms and main lodge area, which (besides some of the birds already mentioned) made for great game viewing. Sable, Elephant and Kudu were just some of the highlights with a pride of lion keeping everyone on their toes.

On my first evening at camp, I met my bird photography partner and guide; Lazarus Manyuwa, and we made plans for the four days ahead. Lazarus is an incredibly experienced guide; having spent many years guiding around Lake Kariba and now in Hwange National Park. We instantly hit it off and agreed to meet at 4h30am the next morning to explore what we called the “western” side of the park.

Our first outing was more exploratory than anything and gave me a good taste of the park and the options available. My first impressions, given some of the terrain, birds and dry surrounds, was that it reminded me a bit of Etosha in Namibia (but I can see how this would quickly change with heavy rains). The day also revealed how quickly the sun took its toll, with the heat rising rapidly and good light all but gone before 8am. Notable sightings were Ground Hornbill, Grey-crowned Crane, Red-breasted Swallow, and Black-eared Seed-eater; with the Hornbills being a regular sighting over the four days. We found family groups on every outing and were fortunate to find a breeding pair feeding their young.

After lunch I was given a surprise invite to spend a day with David Bennet. The afternoon game drive, along with and his daughter Taylor, was undoubtedly one of the highlights of my time in Zimbabwe. David amongst many things is a qualified guide and a former CEO of Wilderness Safaris. He very kindly offered to spend an afternoon with me. He and his wife; Linda, live near Hwange Safari Lodge and are dedicating much of their time to conservation, research and community development work. Besides some awesome elephant sightings, I just enjoyed spending time with a person who is passionate about sustainable conservation and protecting what we have for future generations. It was inspiring to hear what they are doing to protect important wildlife corridors, research the threats to our invaluable giraffes and plant 1000s of trees for the area. I left incredibly encouraged that there is still so much good being done by passionate people and thus, hope for the future of our wildlife. Thank you for your time and kindness David!

BIRDING THE PARK AND SURROUNDS

As already noted, I only had four days to spend in the park and surrounding concessions. Not much time, but I hoped to put together a portfolio that could be used by Hwange Safari Lodge to market the area from a birding and bird photography perspective. We focused our game drives in the area circled by black below. (Hence, I definitely cannot say I had the full park experience; not even close)

In short, without Lazarus and his keen eyes, knowledge of the park and its key bird species, I would have been up a creek without a paddle. The reserve is large and there are numerous roads and spots to visit. Letting Lazarus direct operations was undoubtedly the best strategy. We shared the same faith and would start most mornings in prayer and then set off in whatever direction Lazarus felt led. Besides his guiding skills, I found Lazarus to be a humble man with a wonderful sense of humour and a very kind heart. It was a real privilege to learn from him in the field.

I knew favour was on our side when on our second morning we felt to go to an area near the lodge where Racket-tailed Rollers had been sighted a few days earlier. We found them calling before we had even gone a 100 metres. The light was still good and the birds were accommodating! We spotted another Racket-tailed Roller a few days later and were able to point it out to a man I had met earlier at a picnic site. It was a lifer for him and a bird he had been struggling to find elsewhere in Africa. Such a magnificent Roller!

It was on our third day, however, when everything came together. Although what we called “the western” side of the park had produced some good birds and sightings, this was our first expedition along the roads leading east and towards Kennedy Picnic Spot 1 (Kennedy 1 on the map). It also coincided with our first of two overcast days, which made a huge difference in terms of extending the time to take decent photographs, as the light soon became perfect for photography and stayed that way.

Besides the favourable weather, I preferred the beauty of this area with stunning avenues of broad-leaved woodland. The kaleidoscope of colours at this time of year was breath-taking and would be replaced by rain-induced greenery in the weeks to come.

Within the first hour of setting out, we discovered a Broad-billed Roller nest next to the road. After waiting for a few minutes, we soon learnt it was active and were able to get our first decent images of this spectacular species. Little did I know that this was just the beginning of today’s adventure.

As Lazarus would say often “We are always adding, never subtracting”. This could not have been more true for this game drive in particular.

Rollers started to pose for us in beautiful light, Red-billed Spurfowls were calling from their chosen perches, Hornbills, including my target; Bradfield’s, were hawking insects along the red-soiled roads and cuckoos, swallows, bee-eaters and shrikes were all playing their part near the waterholes and open plains that were dotted along our path. Before midday we had witnessed some incredible moments and captured some wonderful images.

If this was not good enough, Lazarus had another suprize up his sleeve and thought we should have a snack at Kennedy Picnic Spot 1. He had mentioned that Meyer’s Parrots were often feeding in the trees, which provided the needed shade for the picnic spot. The Parrots were there, but what we found was so much more.

By midday, even with the wonderful cloud cover, the temperature had climbed substantially. This meant that every bird and his dog were looking for refreshments at the same time we were. The picnic spot provided this aplenty with at least 3 bird baths enclosed by its perimeter fence. While we had coffee and a bite to eat, they joined us.

I could not believe it. First a Shaft-tailed Whydah floated down to drink. Then a Fork-tailed Drongo and a White-browed Sparrow-weaver. Then a Grey-headed Sparrow followed by a Cape Glossy Starling. Even a Willow Warbler popped in for a drink. Then I heard high pitched squawking and three Meyer’s Parrots bombed down to have their share. If I ever needed high speed continuous and animal eye autofocus, it was now.

Feeling very satisfied with how the day had gone and incredibly thankful for Lazarus’s planning, I was ready to call it a day. That was until a Broad-billed Roller flew down and landed on a dead tree right in front of us! I had to take a deep breath before letting my camera do its thing. I have always wanted a good portrait of a Broad-billed Roller; as they are such exquisite birds, but had always found them high up in the canopy or too far away. Today was definitely my day, as we came away with images that I will cherish for many years to come.

Given the success of the previous day, Lazarus and I needed little convincing to push “rinse and repeat” for our fourth and final day together. Although it wasn’t as productive as the first venture east, it was another great outing. In fact, I cannot recall having a better “bird photography” game drive in Africa as we did on our first day heading east or achieving such a diversity of bird images over a two day period. It was truly awesome and will be hard to beat going forward.

Our second day on the eastern side was filled with more hornbills, weavers, shrikes, swallows, robins, spurfowls and rollers. The highlights included a number of good sightings of Carp’s Tit, a displaying Red-crested Korhaan, a stunning male Violet-eared Waxbill and a pair of Bennet’s Woodpeckers.

Besides these super moments, day two also added to what I had heard so much about but wanted to experience for myself; excellent encounters with a variety of birds of prey. We had already had brilliant sightings of Shikra, Little Sparrowhawk, Brown Snake Eagle, Black-chested Snake Eagle, Lizard Buzzard and Tawny Eagle with this day adding Lesser Spotted Eagle, Eurasian Hobby, Lesser Kestrel and melanistic Gabar Goshawk to the ever increasing list.

Hwange National Park is indeed, excellent for seeing and photographing raptors (and I was not even there at the right time of year). In fact, I was messaged to say that one of the team members had visited again a few weeks later and was blessed with the arrival of thousands of kestrels, eagles and hawks to the park. Just another great reason to go back!

After the sunset on my final day in Zimbabwe, I was sad to say goodbye, as the time with Lazarus and the African team had been special in so many ways. I hope to return but next time with Eileen and Joshua and hopefully when all the raptors and summer migrants are there in even greater numbers!

FULL BIRD LIST RECORDED FOR THE 4 DAYS

Although I was not focusing on birding but rather photography, I still recorded a list of 118 species, which should give you a good feel for things:

Broad-billed Roller, Purple Roller, Lilac-breasted Roller, Bradfield Hornbill, Yellow-billed Hornbill, Grey Hornbill, Ground Hornbill, Admin’s Stork, Marabou Stork, Yellow-billed Kite, Brown Snake-eagle, Black-chested Snake Eagle, Wahlberg’s Eagle, White-backed Vulture, Bateleur, Shikra, Grey-crowned Cranes, Southern Pied Babbler, Burchell’s Starling, Wattled Starling, Glossy Starling, Violet-backed Starling, Red-billed Buffalo-weaver, Southern White-crowned Shrike, Lesser Grey Shrike, Red-backed Shrike, Spotted Flycatcher, Green Wood-hoopoe, African Hoopoe, Black-headed Oriole, African Golden Oriole, Red-breasted Swallow, Greater Striped Swallow, African Paradise Flycatcher, Fork-tailed Drongo, Grey Go-away-bird, Egyptian Goose, Blacksmith Lapwing, Black-winged Stilt, Dusky Sunbird, Marico Sunbird, Lizard Buzzard, Red-billed Spurfowl, Puff-back Shrike. Kurrichane Thrush, Pearl Spotted Owlet, Golden-breasted Bunting, Racket-tailed Roller, Dark-chanting Goshawk, Black-eared Seedeater, Chinspot Batis, Red-headed Weaver, Shaft-tailed Whydah, Eurasian Hobby, Red-crested Korhaan, White-browed Scrub Robin, Familiar Chat, Great White Pelican, Burchell’s Coucal, Rufous-naped Lark, Helmeted Guineafowl, Arrow-marked Babbler, Dark-capped Bulbul, Amethyst Sunbird, African Hawk Eagle, Red-chested Cuckoo, Black-headed Heron, Grey Heron, Jacobin’s Cuckoo, White-faced Scops Owl, Wahlberg’s Eagle, Southern Black Tit, Carp’s Tit, Long-billed Crombec, Red-billed Teal, Barn Swallow, Verreaux’s Eagle Owl, Marico Flycatcher, Brown-crowned Tchagra, Namaqua Dove, Crowned Lapwing, Red-billed Quelea, Steppe Buzzard, White-bellied Sunbird, Yellow-throated Petronia, Cabana’s Bunting, Secretarybird, Retz Helmet-shrike, Green-winged Pytilia, Crimson-breasted Shrike, Levaillant’s Cuckoo, White-rumped Swift, Laughing Dove, Cape Turtle Dove, Spur-winged Goose, Rattling Cisticola, Black Cuckoo (heard), Green-spotted Wood-dove, Namaqua Dove, Black-throated Canary, Black-chested Prinia, Lesser-spotted Eagle, Plain-backed Pipit, Southern Boubou, Violet-eared Waxbill, Swainson’s Spurfowl, Willow Warbler, Scaly-feathered Finch, Kalahari Scrub Robin, Lesser Kestrel, Orange-breasted Bush-shrike (heard), Brown-backed Honeybird, Bennet’s woodpecker, Southern Grey Headed Sparrow, Little Sparrow-hawk, Woodlands Kingfisher (heard), Yellow-billed Oxpecker and Red-billed Oxpecker.