Bird/Snake walk

  As most of you know, Cynthia has become an avid birder (or as I prefer to say “bird nerd”).  She is a member of the Zambian Ornithological Society and they have monthly bird walks, which we try to join when possible.  For me, it is an excuse to get out and take pictures.

  This past week we visited a nearby farm with the group.  While I enjoy birds, I don’t care to stand in one place and stare through binoculars at distant birds trying to determine if it has a brown streak or a grey streak above the eye.  In birding there is a term called LBJ (little brown jobbies) which refers to all of the birds that look very similar and that require extraordinary effort to determine exactly which one they are.  (Cynthia in fact bought a book called LBJ which is supposed to help in the identification.)  I, on the other hand, say that I prefer BCB’s.  This is the term I made up for big, colorful birds.  Those are the kind that interest me.  I especially like birds that sit still and let me take their photos at close range but there are few of those.

  At this farm there was a reservoir and someone mentioned that there was a monitor lizard there so I went to see the lizard.  We brought a young woman with MCC along who is only in Zambia for a short time and she wasn’t sure if she had seen one, so she went with me.  As we were walking along the edge of the water, I saw a black shape about 10 feet away.  I quickly thought, “That looks just like a cobra” and asked Emily to walk backwards, just in case.  When we were at a safer distance, I confirmed it was a cobra and pointed it out to Emily.  She and I were both excited to see one and it was the highlight of the bird walk for us(and I got a pretty good photo).