About DaleForbes

I have always felt at home in nature. She has always been there for me. I started birdwatching as a young kid. Then got in to ornithology. Then more conservation biology. I grew as a birder, loving it more with every day.

I now work for Swarovski Optik making awesome toys for birders (product/marketing manager) and am an obsessed digiscoper. My inability to look at birds as a collection of specific ID features, seems to be a downfall which means I will never be a great birder. But I really do love it.

Dale also writes a regular post at 10,000 Birds every second Tuesday.

African Christmas Colours

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Africa’s is not all zebras and lions, and steamy hot Christmases, but it also has some stunning colours to show off. Richard’s stunning Christmas Quetzal post got my (and probably […]

The Capercaille

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The Western Capercaille (Tetrao urogallus) is one of the most emblematic birds of the Alps, amongst the people of the Alps, it is probably just behind the Golden Eagle. This […]

Finding Gurney’s Pittas

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Crouched in the undergrowth of a mosquito and leech-filled tropical forest I waited quietly, and patiently, for yet another view of the Gurney’s Pitta. I knew his ritual: every 35-55 […]

Snow Buntings in a suit

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Tirol is a pretty much a winter wonderland – great big pointy Alps, covered in fluffy white snow. Picture book, really. And you would think that with all these great […]

wild Scarlet Macaw personalities

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Scarlet Macaws are really impressive – big, beautiful and raucous. And for three years my life revolved around them. Tough luck, hey? And there was not a moment in which […]

Wallcreepers!!!

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The Wallcreeper has got to be one of the most spectacular and enigmatic of mountain birds. Their appearance, behaviour, feeding, breeding, migration, call… all lend to create an unforgettable and intriguing bird. Rarely seen and very difficult to photograph, there are still massive gaps in our scientific understanding of the Wallcreeper (Tichodroma muraria, Mauerläufer, El treparriscos, Le Tichodrome échelette, Il picchio muraiolo). I have now taken tens of thousands of photos of the Wallcreepers here in this region, and they continue to stun me every time I see them.

Steve Martin on filming The Big Year

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Steve Martin interviewed by Letterman Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson will star in the 2011 feature film “The Big Year”, based on the book of the same title […]

Digiscoping Vultures in Extremadura, Spain

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On my recent trip to Extremadura, Spain (Europe’s raptor heaven), the Griffon Vultures and Eurasian Black Vultures absolutely enthralled us with their antics, their fly-bys and just how they are in the air. We spent hours admiring them, and we must have taken many thousands of digiscoped photos of them between the two of us.

A bit of Extremaduran birding

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So I came to Extremedura (western Spain) hoping to get some quality time with some of Europe´s most spectacular raptors. Well, the eagles have been playing very scarce (only got […]