Birds for Africa

I have always regretted having had a film camera in South Africa and not taking photographs of wildlife.

Living in New England has made me appreciative of the diversity of wildlife that we enjoyed in South Africa and it was quite striking to 
go back and see how many different birds there were.

I was reminded in the resort that we stayed at that I have never seen a Knysna Loerie up close. You would hear them in the forest in Knysna byut never see them. Up in Limpopo there is a Grey Loerie that is a somewhat duller version of the Knysna Loerie. 
Its common name there is the "Go away bird" because its cry sounds like it is telling you to go away.

When we drove down to Cape Town we stayed with friends in Knysna who said that the Loeries were regular visitors to their garden.  It was great wake up and see a pair in their garden on our first morning there. Although the image is not sharp, I prefer this one because it shows the bird's striking red wings as it flies away.