{"id":16885,"date":"2026-07-07T10:32:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T09:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/explorersagainstextinction.co.uk\/blog\/?p=16885"},"modified":"2026-07-07T10:34:56","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T09:34:56","slug":"the-birds-youll-remember-long-after-the-safari-ends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/explorersagainstextinction.co.uk\/blog\/the-birds-youll-remember-long-after-the-safari-ends\/","title":{"rendered":"The Birds You’ll Remember Long After the Safari Ends"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This weekend we’ll be at the Global Birdfair<\/a><\/strong> at Rutland Water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the years, Birdfair has grown into a fantastic event, bringing together people who love wildlife, conservation and responsible travel. And despite the name, it isn\u2019t just for serious birders. You don\u2019t need to know your warblers from your wagtails, or own a camera lens the size of a small telescope, to enjoy it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At home or away, birds have a wonderful way of slowing you down. They make you look up, listen more carefully and notice things you might otherwise miss. For me, birds are also one of the clearest signs of a healthy landscape. Where birds are thriving, the environment around them usually is too: the rivers, forests, wetlands, grasslands and all the quieter connections between them. Perhaps that\u2019s why these moments are so enduring. It\u2019s never just the bird itself that stays with you, but the whole scene around it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It might be the haunting call of an African Fish Eagle drifting across a still river at sunrise. It could be another impossibly colourful Lilac-breasted Roller posing perfectly on an acacia branch – you\u2019ve got to appreciate the reliable sightings as much as the hard-earned ones. Or perhaps it\u2019s finally laying eyes on a Shoebill after hours of searching through Uganda\u2019s papyrus swamps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are five birds from my travels that have left a lasting impression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shoebill \u2013 Uganda<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If there\u2019s one bird that tops almost every birdwatcher\u2019s wish list, it\u2019s the Shoebill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Standing over a metre tall, with its enormous shoe-shaped bill and an expression that suggests it has seen several million years of history unfold, it looks almost prehistoric.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wonderful thing about Shoebills is that they never come easily. You earn them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The papyrus channels of Mabamba Swamp in Uganda are one of the best-known places to lock eyes with a Shoebill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Southern Carmine Bee-eaters \u2013 South Luangwa, Zambia<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes it\u2019s a single bird that leaves an impression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes it\u2019s hundreds: a sea of Red-billed Quelea, flamingos stretching into the distance, or Southern Carmine Bee-eaters filling the sky with colour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every year, Southern Carmine Bee-eaters gather along the sandy banks of the Luangwa River, excavating nesting burrows before filling the air with flashes of crimson and turquoise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One moment they\u2019re perched neatly on a branch, the next they\u2019re wheeling overhead, constantly chattering as the late afternoon light catches their feathers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s one of Africa\u2019s great wildlife spectacles, and proof that some of the best safari moments happen above eye level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Great Hornbill \u2013 India<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

India\u2019s wildlife is deservedly famous for its tigers, but its birdlife deserves just as much attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I saw my first Great Hornbills at Amangarh last year, and I was completely captivated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Long before I spotted them, I could hear them. Their wingbeats were surprisingly loud. Then a pair emerged from the forest canopy, their oversized yellow bills and casques making them impossible to mistake for anything else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These birds are full of expression and personality, and they are a joy to watch. They also need mature forest, choosing nesting sites in large trees with natural cavities, often in emergent trees rising above the canopy. It is that combination of cathedral-like forest and majestic bird that makes the encounter so magical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

African Fish Eagle<\/h2>\n\n\n\n