Barred Owl

On May 12, 2024 I was in the Croatan National Forest in Carteret County, North Caroline with my sons Sam and Andrew. We drove down a road deep into a heavily forested swamp and Sam and Andrew were busy looking for plants, probably carnivorous ones. I ventured away from them, following a stream which was difficult to follow because it was in an area with lots of water, lots of fallen and decaying trees and an overwhelming humidity that soaked me despite it feeling relatively cool. It seemed like a spot that would be easy to get lost in. An unfamiliar place for me, a place of some discomfort, with snakes, spiders and other creatures I don't know. A place closer to hell than heaven, sticky, noisy, foreboding. Then I heard the deep and powerful booming call of an owl and that sound propelled me deeper in to find it. I wanted to see and photograph that owl. I finally heard the whirring of wings and this big beautiful barred owl flew at some distance from me back toward the road, but at a different angle than I'd come in. I followed the direction of the flight, but I did not find it - did not hear it again. Wow. That is my most real experience in a serious swamp. It was not particularly comfortable, but seeing that owl was magic. I would go back again just to find and photograph that beautiful bird. 

Illustration from Birds of the World. 

Range from Birds of the World. 

Rattling Cisticola

On July 19, 2025 I was near Nkima Forest Lodge above the Mabamba Swamp and Lake Victoria in Uganda with my guide Wilson. I saw a number of cisticolas and I can't identify them whatsoever, perhaps my least favorite birds because of that. Whether they are croaking, winding, zitting, rattling or otherwise, and I'm just scratching the surface, the cisticolas are a pain. I've got one horrible photo, I've submitted it to iNaturalist and no identifier has ventured out to substantiate or refute it. 

My sole, horrible photo. 

Illustration from Birds of the World. 

Range from Birds of the World. 

Perhaps the sketchiest of my lifers and I've debated whether or not to include it and finally decided to go for it. 

White-Browed Robin-Chat

On July 24, 2025 I was with Judy and my granddaughter, Ella, at Savannah Lodge in Kidepo Valley NP in Uganda. I was out with our guide, William, walking the grounds and he pointed out to me a white-browed robin-chat. I got a very poor photo of it and accidentally deleted it after getting home. 

Illustration from Birds of the World. 

Range from Birds of the World. 

Red-Breasted Flycatcher

On November 25, 2025 I was in Keoladeo NP in India when our guide identified a red-breasted flycatcher. I was not able to get a photo of it before it flew. I don't recall whether it was a male or female. 

Illustration of a female from Birds of the World. 

Illustration of a male from Birds of the World. 

Range from Birds of the World. 

European Robin

The beautiful European robin has an orange face and breast, a pale bluish-gray neck band that outlines the orange, a white belly and it is olive-brown above. Males and females look alike. I saw my first one at Kilkenny Castle in Kilkenny County, Ireland on July 5, 2024 while Judy and I walked the grounds. My photos are pretty atrocious because all I had was a cell phone. My best photo was taken down near the River Nore. The second one was taken out on the grounds just outside the castle. 

The next day, July 6, 2024, we were driving around the Dingle Peninsula and stopped at the Blasket Centre  in Dun Chaoin, the most westerly parish on the Dingle Peninsula. This European robin was in a tree as we were walking toward the entrance. These photos are pretty horrible. 

I saw the ssp. found in the British Isles and much of western Europe, melophilus. 

Illustration from Birds of the World. 

Range from Birds of the World. 

Common Swift

On July 25, 2022 we did a birding trip around the Tagus Estuary near Lisbon, Portugal. Before leaving Lisbon, we stopped to watch some common swifts flying around the buildings and I got several photos. 

The red line traces our route around the Tagus Estuary from our start in Lisbon. The first common swifts we saw were in Lisbon south of the Vasco da Gama Bridge which crosses the estuary (our route went counter-clockwise). We saw a number of them and I got one photo. The next ones we saw, of which I got several photos, were up on the northern part of the route, east of the northern point of our route, about where the dashed line crosses our route. 

The first ones photographed in Lisbon. 

One of two that I photographed in our second area. 

The second of two that I photographed in the second area. 

The next photographs were taken on May 20, 2025 while we were staying in Neubulach, Germany. 

An illustration of the common swift and a range map, both from Birds of the World. 

Black Swift

There are three subspecies of black swift. I saw the nominate ssp. C. n. niger, found in the West Indies and Trinidad. On February 18, 2023 I visited Hotel Mockingbird Hill in Drapers, Jamaica and had a guide, Lyndon Johnson of Arrowhead Birding. We spent time birding there and also at San San Police Station Road nearby. At one of the sites, I don't remember which, we spotted a black swift and I was unable to get a photo of it. However, I do count it as one of the birds on my life list. 

Illustration of a black swift from Birds of the World.

Range of the black swift from Wikipedia. Unlike the range map on Birds of the World, it shows them present in the Caribbean. The purple indicates they are present year round and not migratory there.