OP HARTVERLOOR SE VLAKTES … Die Hardeveld is hard, ou maat. Maar bliksem, wanneer jy begin soek, hou die mooi net nie op nie.| So good to be exploring the backroads of my favourite Namaqua West Coast again, but this time into the gritty interior beyond #Vanrhynsdorp. Ticked off #Nuwerus

I’ve been sticking my #macro probe lens into a few rotting #Harkerville forest logs, and the #microlife popping up is absolutely incredible! The #arthropod in the top image is most likely one of the symphylans, or garden centipedes. The local #gogga group was very excited by the undescribed spider species

And that’s a wrap for the Bitou Birding Festival, with the final “Parliament of Owls’ gathering at the Raptor Rescue Plett Bird Rehabilitation Centre. I’ve learnt so much during the past week, spending time with outstanding guides and the welcoming birders of Birdlife Plettenberg Bay. First up: Plett and the

So, some context I was shooting the final day of the Bitou Birding Festival at a wonderful organisation called Raptor Rescue Plett. They’re the go-to people if you need an injured bird treated or rehabilitated here on the Garden Route, and therefore the perfect place for the festival’s closing ceremony

Swapped the river for the ocean today at Bitou Birding Festival, heading out on a #pelagicbirding cruise with the inimitable Mark Brown. Felt a bit like being the tail-gunner in a Camel Sopwith, with hundreds of terns, petrels, gannets, gulls and albatrosses dive-bombing me at warp speed. I survived, but

Today was the Bitou Birding Festival activity I was arguably most looking forward to … the Canoe Birding Paddle with Jonathan Tucker‘s #WildCompass. The #BitouRiver is an absolute paradise for #NatureImmersion; some superb species spotted, and exceptional guiding by Ian from Birdlife Plettenberg Bay and Paul Wigley   First proper

Another day of #birding adventures with Bitou Birding Festival and Birdlife Plettenberg Bay, this time in #Fynbos Private Reserve along the Eden Coastal Corridor. Add in dolphin sightings, sub-sonic lanner falcon fly-overs, and meeting members of the #Kranshoek Griekwa community for a heady mix of nature and culture. Finally, a

A few quickies from Day 1 of the Bitou Birding Festival at the gorgeous Kwendalo, a perfect venue for #twitchers (and wannabes like me) to learn more about everything birding. Ringing, netting, bird calls, recording, photography, identification … this is accessible #birding at its very best. Great to meet Stephan