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Penguins are, obviously, penguins, which makes them awesome. The Shoebill serves as the symbol of the magnificent wildlife experiences Uganda offers visitors, which may seem a bit odd. Of course, we did, soaking in that slate blue beauty long enough to observe a successful hunt and more of its rangy, awkward flight.
Now and then individual catfish of various species hunt nearer the surface and larger catfish such as the American Channel Cat will take a duck or other water bird. So, the modal catfish is a fish that hunts from below, can take large prey, and occasionally eats a bird. My own experience at catching catfish (big ones!)
This is a good place to see the endangered and beautiful Yellowhead and the endemic Yellow-eyed Penguin. Along with the Northern Royal Albatrosses the peninsula also has a good population of Yellow-eyed Penguin, and you don’t have to get on a boat to see either! Yellow-eyed Penguin at Otago Peninsula.
Scientists were largely limited to studies birds in breeding colonies, at least those we knew about and that were accessible (and, if you think that’s a complete list, you haven’t read the news that came out this week about a new colony of Adélie penguins found in the Danger Islands, Antarctica).
The Gods of Birding, being both capricious and wrathful, decided to punish my insolence by washing up an Emperor Penguin on the coasts of the island upon which I make my home. Which brings us back to the Emperor Penguin. Besides, it’s an Emperor Penguin. This was not initially a problem for me. But the thing was news.
One of Africa’s truly exhilarating experiences is watching and listening to a honking flock of these massive birds as they appear out of the early morning mists over a wetland, to land nearby and start their wing-flapping and jumping displays. An African Penguins strolls along Boulders Beach, Simonstown, South Africa.
Later, Harry Fuller, President of the Klamath Bird Observatory, led us to an open meadow where we saw a pair of Great Gray Owls hunting in a meadow. The experience, the place, and the bird combine to make this my BBOTY. Donna’s BBOTY – an African Penguin. Larry’s BBOTY – Great Gray Owl.
In the Snipe and Woodcock chapter pictured below, for example, we learn about (1) recent research on how the snipe makes sounds with its tail (it’s all about shape and flexibility of the tail feathers); (2) the history of the ‘snipe hunt’ (a prank dating back to the 1840’s that is apparently part of American folklore); and (..)
I’m sure many of you have had similar experiences. I’m wondering as I write if you are shaking your head, uneasy that all these FACTS will interfere with your love of observing owls, an experience that easily borders on the mystical for some of us. They are also hunted. I don’t think so.
This scraggly collection of islands and deep long bays forms the tip of South Island closest to to North Island, but till this point my only experience of the area had been the long passage down Queen Charlotte Sound to reach the ferry terminal of Picton. Lochmara Bay with Queen Charlotte Sound in the background.
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