My 2025 Gauteng Birding Big Year
A Birding Big Year is something that all birders know! Whether you’re new to birding or you’re a seasoned veteran, a “Big Year” is a well-known concept.
Now, in all my years of birding, I’ve realised that there is a mixed bag of opinions when it comes to a Big Year. In the one camp you’ve got the “purists”. These are the birders that believe the competitive nature, and fast-paced “twitching” (as they say) spoil the reason for being a birder in the first place, experiencing the great outdoors in all its serenity. Then in another camp you’ve got the “I could care less” birders. They neither chase down birds, nor do they care whether or not they add any new species for the year. Many of them don’t even keep lists. Another camp hosts the “Photography Birders”. These birders often don’t even carry a pair of binoculars around. They only tick birds if they have identifiable photos of them. Then you can go all the way over the the “extremists camp” (if I may be so bold to call it that). These are the birders that approach a Big Year as seriously, if not more, as the Pope the approaches the pulpit. These are the kind of birders that will miss important events, spend all their money and hop on a plane to the opposite side of the country at the drop of a hat!
I’ve met birders in all these “camps”, and every other camp you can think of in between. Which begs the question, which camp am I in? I take my birding very seriously, but at the same time I don’t “chase” birds like crazy! I love going to my local patch just as much as I enjoy traveling to some exotic destination for some or other “White-throat Freckled Long-billed Fly-Sparrow”! So taking on a Big Year is something very new to me! In 18-years of birding, I’ve only now had the urge to take on a challenge like this.
Scaly-feathered Weaver
I’ve met birders in all these “camps” and every other camp you can think of in between. Which begs the question, which camp am I in? I take my birding very seriously, but at the same time, I don’t “chase” birds like crazy! I love going to my local patch just as much as I enjoy travelling to some exotic destination for some or other “White-throat Freckled Long-billed Fly-Sparrow”! So, taking on a Big Year is something very new to me! In 18 years of birding, I’ve only now had the urge to take on a challenge like this.
I think it’s important to mention that my Big Year won’t cover the entire country. First of all, I don’t have the time for that, not to even mention the finances. Secondly, my baby boy is due early in January, so there’s no way I can spend days at a time away from home. My Big Year will cover the Gauteng Province! My plan is to kick the year off with as much birding as I can before my little “pink foot” arrives, after which I’ll be “landlocked” at home until we find our feet with the little guy and I can start venturing out again.
Bronze-winged Courser
Gauteng Province has a list of over 500 bird species. But getting over 400 is quite a challenge. There are a handful of birders that do it on a semi-regular basis, but it entails a lot of hours in the field and targeting very specific species. This is where my Big Year comes into play. Until now, the most species I’ve seen in Gauteng in a year is 274 (without a concerted effort). This year, my goal is to reach 430 species by the time the clock strikes midnight on 31 December 2025. To the best of my knowledge, the most species recorded in a single year in Gauteng is 417. But breaking the record isn’t the primary purpose behind this personal challenge!
Last year, I kicked off a new business, “One Day Safaris”. With the business, I specialise in birding & photographic safari day tours. Taking people from anywhere in the Pretoria/Johannesburg area and going birding or doing photo safaris for the day. The purpose behind the business is for me to still live out my passion for guiding and working with people but be home a lot more so that I can help raise our son! One Day Safaris offers me the best of both Worlds if you will.
So why am I then taking on this Big Year? Well, the idea behind the Big Year is to go birding in various different locations across Gauteng and try and reach that goal of 430 species. However, the entire process needs to be documented! So, I will be creating regular YouTube video episodes, sharing my escapades and taking people along for the ride. That hopefully, in turn, will showcase the vastness and beauty of the birding in this relatively small geographical area, which then will help promote the day tours my company provide.
So go follow me on all my Social Media channels. I’ll be posting frequent updates on Instagram, writing weekly articles on my website and posting YouTube videos as much as possible!
In the meantime, get out and go birding!