The color ball shot along the watercourse, disappearing in the reeds. It was small, maybe baseball-sized. Our boatman slowed the wooden canoe to a crawl, and we drifted along the ten-foot-high papyrus reeds. The narrow channel was our avenue into the interior of Mabamba Swamp, a spectacular wetland along the edge of Lake Victoria. We’d … Read more
In 1980, we organized a Birds of the World course while I was in graduate school. The goal was to survey birds’ taxonomic orders and families and learn about their ecology, behaviors, and distribution. Glen Woolfenden, our major professor, had a moderately good skin collection at the University of South Florida, and to see more … Read more
Last week, I received an email from Washington State University Press telling me that Marvelous Wings had arrived from the printer. They were mailing my author copies the next day. I sat at my desk, staring at the wall, trying to take it all in. I drafted the opening essay in this book more than … Read more
I had just turned off State Route 129 onto the small road running beside the river when I saw what I had come to find: a large, strange-looking basalt structure projecting from the canyon wall. I had read about lava dikes for years, and suddenly one was standing in front of me. There were three large … Read more
The water tumbled over the cliff and crashed into the plunge pool two hundred feet below, sending a wave of mist up through the canyon toward where I stood. The sound was loud and filling, giving this place a sense of wonder. I had come to Palouse Falls to see what it looked like, and … Read more
The Nile crocodile had sprawled on the bank of the Rufiji River, enjoying the sun. Our guide turned off the boat’s motor, and we began to drift toward the monster. This crocodilian might have topped 12 feet, maybe 13, and had an enormous girth. Its slick hide seemed brand-new, with not a scratch or scar. … Read more
A blue, red, and black flash shot by the front of our vehicle, heading left into the shade of a large acacia. There, sitting about eight feet off the ground, was a pair of woodland kingfishers. Each had a black shoulder patch, a bright, almost neon-blue back, wing tips, and tail—a large red bill projected … Read more
The trail climbed gently through a second-growth rainforest. Everything smelled damp even though it hadn’t rained for a while. The tree leaves were a light shade of green, with a hard texture that made them last. Lichens and mosses clung to branches. We’d come to Maromizaha Protected Area near Andasibe to see what might be … Read more
Our boat guide said “Purple,” but I couldn’t understand his pronunciation. I asked three times, and it always sounded like he was saying something that started with a “C” and had a bunch of letters. I thought I knew all the wading bird species we might see at Mabamba Swamp, but I couldn’t pull something … Read more
Our open cruiser bumped and tossed on the dirt track in Nyerere National Park. It was my last afternoon in Tanzania, and early the next day, I’d be flying a puddle jumper back to the capital. No one else had wanted to go out, so I had the excellent young guide to myself. He eased … Read more