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
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
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
I like to make a calendar for my family and friends. It is a chance to showcase my photographs around a particular theme and share the wonders of the natural world. It is a chance to look hard at what I’d captured, trying to pull out the very best. A calendar limits me to thirteen … Read more
Pigeon guillemots, Cepphus columba, nest in burrows dug into cliffs around Puget Sound, or they lay their eggs on beams under piers. In the breeding season, they are black with large white wing patches and have bright red feet. In winter, they molt into black and white plumage. First winter birds have a few more … Read more
Raptors are one of the most engaging of our avian groups. Today, we consider them carnivorous birds with hooked beaks, keen eyesight, and talons, but that definition has changed in the last fifty years. And not all birds we call raptors fit that description. Falcons, hawks, eagles, harriers, vultures, owls, and kites are among those … Read more
Madagascar is often called the eighth continent, underscoring its unique ecology and geography. Located approximately 250 miles off the east coast of Africa, the island is the fourth largest in the world. It boasts a landmass only somewhat less than the combined area of California and Oregon. The landscape is diverse, with high mountains rising … Read more