Birds of Botswana

Birds of Botswana: What Everyone Else Was Missing

For years, I practiced photographing birds in Colorado and Arizona. I learned to watch for flashes of color, tiny movements in the brush, and changes at the edge of my vision.

So, when I traveled to Botswana, something funny happened.

Everyone was looking for the large animals. So was I.

But I kept spotting birds.

Again and again, someone would ask, “How did you see that?”

The answer was simple: practice. Bird photography had trained me to notice movement without looking directly at it. Peripheral vision became almost as important as the camera itself. A flicker of red in a tree. A bright wing crossing the corner of my eye. A shape that didn’t quite belong among the branches.

All those years of watching birds at home suddenly paid off halfway around the world.

And Botswana’s birds deserved the attention. Some were brilliant, strange, elegant, or so colorful they almost looked unreal.

Below are just a few of the most colorful birds I was lucky enough to photograph.

When you travel, are you watching mostly for the big sights, or do you notice the smaller things too?

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