Author Archives: Andrew Dressel

Fall has arrived at last, and temps fell from the high 60s yesterday afternoon to the high 30s this morning. Plus, the skies were crystal clear, and the air was nearly still, so there was even a bit of radiation frost on the grass at sunrise. That warm sun, the blue skies, and still aContinue reading “And that makes six!”

Well, the rain did stop eventually, and the temperatures remain mild, for now, but the skies are still dark this morning, and I had a helper along with short legs who didn’t want to explore farther than the pond this time. We did, however, spot this male belted kingfisher perched over the pond before someContinue reading “One last look back at more creatures from Malawi”

The forecast is for rain all morning tomorrow (today when you are reading this), so I finally have an opportunity to show you the last of my trip pictures. When Anne was searching for flights from Malawai, where we had been for her research, to Delft, where I was going to a conference, they allContinue reading “Birds of Mozambique!”

I got off to a slow start in Estabrook Park this morning. It wasn’t raining very hard, but if I get any drops on my lens, I’m pretty much done for the day, so I waited out the precipitation. When I finally did venture in, I was happy to find plenty of critters still outContinue reading “Plenty of action on a rainy Wednesday.”

It was an odd morning in Estabrook Park. It was warmer than yesterday, but even darker, and breezy in unprotected areas. I did see most of the regulars, but nobody looked particularly photogenic today, I hadn’t seen any surprise guests, and I hadn’t even taken one picture by the time I started my way backContinue reading “Not one, not two, but three surprise guests!”

Anne and I are back from our travels, and I still have some pictures from the trip, but I was anxious to check on our friends in Estabrook Park this morning, so I’ll keep the rest of the trip pictures in my back pocket for one of the rainy days in our forecast. The sunContinue reading “Checking in to see who’s still here…”

On our last morning at the preserve, I got up at sunrise again to go see who I could find. One simple technique I have often used to spot birds is to look for big dark spots in trees, but that had been oddly unfruitful for me on this trip, until the last morning. ThisContinue reading “Dzalanyama Forest Reserve, Day 4”

Here’s another shy little bird I found in the trees and bushes growing along the stream, and it is a southern yellow white-eye (Zosterops anderssoni). Near the white-eye, I got as close to a sunbird, a female double-collared sunbird this time, as I believe I ever managed. Atop the small bluff above the stream, I thoughtContinue reading “Dzalanyama Forest Reserve, Day 3”

I can’t get the wifi here today, so I’m typing this on my phone, and all typographical errors are solely the fault of my thumbs. Anyway, here are a few more birds that Anne and I saw when we ventured deeper into the forest. This first amazing bird is an African paradise flycatcher (Terpsiphone viridis), andContinue reading “Dzalanyama Forest Reserve, Day 2”

After Anne’s work was done in Lilongwe, we traveled to the nearby Dzalanyama Forest Reserve for a little R&R, and nearly as soon as we arrived, we were greeted by this amazing little red-throated twinspot aka Peters’s twinspot (Hypargos niveoguttatus) methodically foraging on the forest floor near our cabin. I was able to spot it inContinue reading “Dzalanyama Forest Reserve, Day 1”