Diaries Of An African Ornithologist By Merlyn Nomsa Nkomo
The first time you sharpen the focus on a pair of binoculars to look at a bird, a whole new world is revealed to you. It is like finding a secret door into a wing of a mansion you have lived in for years and realising just how much there is to discover.
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he first bird I ever identified was an Emerald Spotted Dove in Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe. I stood in awe describing its vivid colours to the lecturer who was teaching me how to use his binoculars. In that moment I was shocked to note that doves weren’t white after all. This experience changed my life, forever setting me on a course of immense discovery, and this discovery was not only my talents and limits but also my insatiable love for travel, history, culture and sharing the wonder of nature. At present, I am a Conservation Biology master’s student at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, pursuing my long-time passion travelessencemag.com
