Our Birding Big Year 2021

We are ‘The Widdows’, an Ecologist and Occupational Therapist established in 2005, married in 2013 and expanded in 2016 and 2018. Our daughter, Wren, and son, Finn, are avid nature lovers who find the most joy when barefoot in the bush. As bird-lovers and budding twitchers, our children have been moved from safari tents to bird hides since they were a few weeks old. 

A ‘Birding Big Year’ has always been somewhat of a bucket list item for us - one calendar year dedicated to searching for as many bird species as possible. Yes, you read correctly, we are going to attempt to track down some of our country’s more secretive species, with a four and two-year-old on board - what could possibly go wrong? Given the impressive diversity of birds and incredible biomes within our country we have decided to make this a proudly South African adventure. We are packing it all in, taking sabbaticals, packing up our home, putting our eggs in one basket (some bird related humour) and trading it in for one incredible year in 2021. 

Given the significant impact that the global pandemic has had on our tourism sector, we are using our journey to raise funds and support for the Community Bird Guide Training Project run by BirdLife South Africa.