Dr. Livingstone, I Presume

Dr. David Livingstone monument at Victoria Falls National Park, Zimbabwe, 22 Jan 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

Reflections on Road Scholar’s Southern Africa Birding Safari, 19 Jan – 2 Feb 2024

18 February 2024

This statue of Scottish explorer Dr. David Livingstone stands in Zimbabwe at the western end of Victoria Falls. After African independence, European monuments were removed and European towns renamed but Livingstone’s statue still stands, the falls still bear the name he gave them(2), and the nearest town across the river is Livingstone, Zambia.

Twenty years ago, two attempts were made to remove Livingstone’s statue but “resistance to the removals from the local community has ensured that Livingstone’s statue remains where it was first erected, gazing sternly out towards Devil’s Cataract.(1)

Our Zimbabwean guide pointed to a word carved on the monument that is key to Livingstone’s legacy in Africa.

Liberator.

Dr. David Livingstone, 1864 (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

In America we think of Livingstone as a great explorer but in Africa it is his never-ending fight to end the slave trade that holds him in African hearts. Livingstone went to Africa as a Christian missionary doctor and fell in love with exploring, ultimately mapping three long journeys in southern and eastern Africa covering 40,000 miles(2).

Journeys of Dr. David Livingstone, final journey in red (map from Wikimedia Commons)

During his second expedition to the Zambezi River (1858-1864) he witnessed the horrors of the East African Arab-Swahili slave trade and vowed to end it. Men, women and children were captured in the interior and marched to trading posts on the Indian Ocean coast, one of which was Zanzibar a British colony ruled by Arabs.

East African slave trade (image from Wikimedia Commons)

Livingstone reasoned that if he became famous for finding the source of the Nile he could influence the British government to end the slave trade so he returned to Africa in 1866 to accomplish both goals.

Five years later, in the absence of news, Livingstone was presumed dead or lost. Instead he was still exploring, very weak and sick with malaria and without quinine to treat it because someone stole his medical kit. Meanwhile he wrote letters to Britain describing the slave trade but the slavers were the only ones available to carry his letters to the coast. Knowing that Livingstone was against slavery, they delivered only one of his 44 letters.

Livingstone’s disappearance was such a great mystery that the New York Herald sent journalist Henry Morton Stanley to Africa where he caught up with Livingstone at Ujiji in October 1871 and said, “Dr. Livingstone, I presume.”

Henry Morton Stanley greets Dr. David Livingstone at Ujiji (image from Wikimedia Commons)

Livingstone did not want to leave Africa so Stanley took Livingstone’s dispatches to Britain where they exposed the appalling massacres and cruelty of the slave trade.

British reaction was swift but Livingstone did not live to see it. “One month after his death, Great Britain signed a treaty with Sultan Barghash of Zanzibar, halting the slave trade in that realm. The infamous slave market of Zanzibar was closed forever.(2)

More than any of his contemporaries, Livingstone succeeded in seeing Africa through African eyes.

Princeton University Library: David Livingstone, 1813-1873

p.s. In the U.S. most of us don’t realize that the West African slave trade that our country participated in was not the only source of slaves. Britain outlawed the trans-Atlantic slave trade in 1807 but it continued elsewhere. For instance, Mauritania in West Africa did not impose penalties on its local slave trade until 2007. Today slavery persists in some parts of Africa. Read about Slavery in Contemporary Africa here.

(credits are in the captions) Footnotes on sources.

  1. Information on Dr. David Livingstone’s Statue, Siyabona Africa website.
  2. Summary of Livingstone’s life, Princeton University Library.
    • “Victoria Falls was the only site in Africa that Livingstone named with English words.”

In Which a Magpie Stalks a Cat

Eurasian magpie (by Diego Delso, delso.photo, License CC-BY-SA via Wikimedia Commons)

16 February 2024

Why is this magpie annoying the cat?

When they aren’t viewing cats as threats to their young, Eurasian magpies (Pica pica) will follow them to sources of food.

Four Eurasian magpies and a cat (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

As soon as this cat found a snack …

Eurasian magpie watches a cat eating bratwurst (photos from Wikimedia Commons)

… the magpie showed up to wait.

(photos from Wikimedia Commons, tweet embedded)

Pollution Prevents Night Pollination

White-lined sphinx moth (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

15 February 2024

Plant pollination has been declining for many reasons including the absence of insects due to pesticides and habitat loss. Now a new reason has surfaced that has nothing to do with the number of flowers and bugs. Research has found that air pollution prevents nighttime pollination by turning off the scent of flowers.

The white-lined sphinx moth (Hyles lineata) is an important nighttime pollinator of purslane, primrose and rose. The research team led by J.K.Chan in eastern Washington, teased out the chemical emitted from pale evening primrose (Oenothera pallida) that attracts the hawkmoths.

Pale evening primrose, Oenothera pallida (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

The moths were particularly tuned to two different flavors of monoterpenes, a class of chemicals found in plant oils [that] evaporate quickly in the air. Moths, whose antennae are roughly as sensitive as a dog’s nose, can pick up the scent several kilometers away from a flower.

But there is an Achilles heel. When the researchers exposed the monoterpenes to NO3, it reacted with the oils, causing them to degrade by between 67% and 84%.

Anthropocene Magazine: Nighttime pollination is plummeting. Some clever sleuthing pinpointed a surprising culprit.

Air pollution doesn’t just change the scent of flowers. It erases the scent. The moths can’t find them.

Anthropocene Magazine continues, “While NO3 [a component of NOx] is less of a problem during the day because it breaks down in sunlight, it accumulates at night, when many pollinators, including the hawkmoths, are active.”

NOx causes trouble for humans, too, because it combines easily with VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) to create ground-level ozone (the bad ozone) and fine particulate which is inhaled so deeply into our lungs (PM2.5).

How pollution forms ground-level ozone (diagram from Wikimedia Commons)

If we reduce NOx pollution we help ourselves and plants at the same time.

(photos and diagram from Wikimedia Commons; click on the captions to see the originals)

New Peregrine Pair in East Liberty

Peregrines’ favorite location, probable nest site, East Liberty Presbyterian Church (photo by Adam Knoerzer)

14 February 2024

Last week when I wrote that Charles Bier had seen two peregrines at Pittsburgh’s East Liberty Presbyterian Church in January, Adam Knoerzer responded that he has too.

Last week, out of my office window (which looks at the church from Friendship), I could definitely see a raptor high up and stooping to dive bomb some small birds and wondered if it might be a peregrine. I’ll keep an eye out and see if anything else is brewing.

— message from Adam KnoerZER, 7 Feb 2024

Later that day Adam checked onsite and immediately found both peregrines.

Confirmed peregrines at the church just now walking past. One darted off the ledge and flew over me and rejoined the other that was presumably eating (small feathers started to fall down).

— message from Adam KnoerZER, 7 Feb 2024

He sent photos of the church steeple with circles indicating the peregrines’ locations. Their favorite spot is behind the “railing” on the west-northwest side, a likely choice for a nest location.

Peregrines’ favorite location, East Liberty Presbyterian Church (photo by Adam Knoerzer)

On Monday 12 February Adam saw peregrines circling the steeple and perching on nearby buildings.

Peregrine circling East Liberty Presbyterian steeple, 12 Feb 2024 (photo by Adam Knoerzer)

Today I was able to spot what appeared to be the female (larger of the two, so…) perched atop the Walnut on Highland apartment across from the church. The bird has a very distinct and prominent peach-y color at the top of the breast, and the other bird (presumably the male) flew off the tower, circled around, and found another perch high atop the cross.

— Pittsburgh Falconuts Facebook post by Adam KnoerZER, 12 Feb 2024
Peregrine perched at Walnut on Highland building, 12 Feb 2024 (photo by Adam Knoerzer)

Thanks to Adam’s efforts we know there’s a new peregrine pair in East Liberty.

In case you would like to check on them, take a look at the steeple on the west-northwest side that faces S. Whitfield Street.

Google satellite view of East Liberty Presbyterian Church with steeple marked for peregrines
Google Street View of East Liberty Presbyterian Church from 199 S Whitfield St

And in case you’re wondering if the Pitt peregrines can see them, the answer is “Yes but not directly.”

The Cathedral of Learning nest faces south-southeast. The East Liberty peregrines face north-northwest. They are 1.82 miles apart but their view from nest to nest is oblique.

Distance between Cathedral of Learning and East Liberty Presbyterian Church via gmap-pedometer

Thank you, Adam, for keeping us up to date!

Check out the latest news in the private Pittsburgh Falconuts Facebook group.

(photos by Adam Knoerzer; maps from Google Maps)

Favorite Birds in Southern Africa

13 February 2024

Road Scholar’s Southern Africa Birding Safari was wonderful on so many levels.

Before the trip began, I expected to see many Life Birds. The southern region from the Zambezi River to the Cape has more breeding species than the US and Canada combined. Add to that the winter migrants from Europe and Asia and there were so many birds to see every day. In 13 days of birding I saw or heard 233 species, 207 of which were Life Birds. See the details in my eBird Trip Report here.

My favorite birds were hard to whittle down, chosen for a variety of reasons. Some because I had a pent up desire to see them. Some for their beauty. Some for their behavior. 14 are in the slideshow (thanks to Wikimedia photos) and described below.

No. 1! The secretarybird (Sagittarius serpentarius) is declining and endangered so it was a real treat to see one. These elegant raptors walk slowly scanning the ground for food while their long scaly legs protect them from the venomous snakes they eat for a living. [If the video below spins without playing, click on the YouTube logo at bottom right to watch it on YouTube.]

(video from WildlifeVideoChannel on YouTube)

No. 2: I’ve been wanting to see a Kori bustard ever since I wrote about them in 2009.

No. 3 & 4: Flamingos! We saw greater (Phoenicopterus roseus) and lesser (Phoeniconaias minor) flamingos at Marievale. Greater flamingos have pink beaks, lessers have dark beaks.

No. 5: The black heron (Egretta ardesiaca) looks like a snowy egret in charcoal black. He throws shade to catch his prey.

video embedded from Earth Touch on YouTube

No. 6: I wanted to see an Amur falcon (Falco amurensis) after I learned about their amazing migration last October.

No. 7: I’ve always liked the French name of the bateleur (Terathopius ecaudatus), an endangered serpent eagle that “tumbles” in aerial acrobatics. In flight bateleurs are easy to identify because their toes stick out beyond their short tails.

No 8: We found a dark chanting goshawk (Melierax metabates) holding a lizard above us that he had caught for lunch. Here’s how he chants.

No. 9: Southern carmine bee eater (Merops nubicoides): Beautiful and acrobatic.

No. 10: Crimson-breasted shrike (Laniarius atrococcineus): Gorgeous in red. (eBird calls it a gonolek. Such confusion!)

No. 11: African paradise flycatcher (Terpsiphone viridis): Colorful and extravagant.

No. 12: The wire-tailed swallows (Hirundo smithii) were an unexpected joy. As we boated up and down the Chobe River the swallows flew around the boat. Sometimes they flew with us, just under the tarp roof, or landed on the edge.

No. 13: Red-billed oxpeckers (Buphagus erythrorhynchus) were easily found on mammals, especially impalas. We saw quite a few perched upside down on a giraffe, plus a pair nesting at Hwange National Park.

No. 14: Male pin-tailed whydahs (Vidua macroura) are boring brown in the non-breeding season but during southern Africa’s summer they are snazzy with long thin tail feathers. At Marievale a male called just outside the bird hide window, then displayed in front of us when a female showed up. Such a show off!

Video embedded from Leovim Agustim on YouTube

I’ll be telling you more about our trip in the weeks ahead: birds, animals, landscape, people, culture, history, and weather.

Though we did not see a leopard we saw the “leopard of birds.” Stay tuned.

(photos from Wikimedia Commons)

Count Birds Next Weekend, 16-19 Feb

White-breasted nuthatch at the feeder (photo by Cris Hamilton)

12 February 2024

Winter is back again so we need a good excuse to get outdoors. That excuse has arrived just in time. Join the annual Great Backyard Bird Count this coming weekend, Friday to Monday, 16-19 February.

Count birds at your feeders. Count birds at a park or hotspot. Count alone or with friends. You don’t even have to sign up.

Enter your sightings in eBird or use Merlin Bird ID. All the birds you record next weekend will automatically be included in the Great Backyard Bird Count.

Warm up with an online Merlin Bird ID Trivia Event this coming Thursday, 15 February 8-9pm Eastern time. Learn more and register at the Great Backyard Bird Count page.

Merlin Bird ID Trivia advert from the Great Backyard Bird Count 2024

Don’t despair that it’s still winter. Your bird feeders will be busy this weekend. It’s time to count birds!

(credits are in the captions)

The Smoke That Thunders

11 February 2024

Last month I wrote about Victoria Falls or Mosi-oa-Tunya, before I’d ever seen it. Our Road Scholar Birding Tour visited the area twice: the Zimbabwe side on 22 January, the Zambian side eight days later. While there I learned that the falls really are “the smoke that thunders.”

This marked-up aerial view shows the viewpoints where my photos and videos were taken.

Victoria Falls from the air, border of Zambia & Zimbabwe (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

The Devil’s Cataract, on the far left side of the falls, is where the crack begins that will some day become the new fall line.

Devil’s Cataract, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, 22 Jan 2024 (video by Kate St. John)

The Danger Point at the far end of the Zimbabwe side is closer to the falling water. It was very misty, almost otherworldly. We wore raincoats.

Misty sunlight near Danger Point at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, Jan 2024

As we left on 22 January we stopped at the overlook for the old Victoria Falls Bridge that spans the outflow of the Zambezi River. People pay to bungee jump 364 feet from the bridge into the canyon. I did not want to watch.

View of Victoria Falls pedestrian bridge, site of bungy jumping (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

We went there to find Schalow’s turaco (Tauraco schalowi), a fruit-eating African bird that frequents riparian habitats … and we were in luck! One flew by and landed near us. These eBird photos show its beautiful colors.

On 30 January we returned to Victoria Falls on the Zambia side where the water was even closer and more dramatic. Those who want to walk to Livingstone Island or the Devil’s Pool during low water start their journey on this side, walking 1 km (more than 2/3 mile).

No way! Look how fast the water rushes toward the cliff …

This is the edge where the water falls off the cliff in Zambia (video by Kate St. John)

… and falls down the other side.

Water falling off the edge on the Zambian side (video by Kate St. John)

We crossed the Knife’s Edge Bridge …

Knife’s Edge Bridge at Victoria Falls, Zambia (photo by Hans Hillewaert via Wikimedia Commons)

… to complete our tour of The Smoke That Thunders.

(credits are in the captions)

Seen This Week

Sunrise in Pittsburgh, 7 Feb 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

10 February 2024

Beautiful sunrises, calm reflections and high water at Duck Hollow were on tap this week in Pittsburgh.

Wind-less clear skies along the Monongahela River at Duck Hollow, 4 Feb 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Pastel sunrise on 8 Feb 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

The week began as Winter but ended even warmer than early Spring. The tulips in my neighborhood are well above ground, fortunately without flower buds. One week from today, on 17 Feb, the weather forecast calls for temperatures as low as 19°F.

These tulips think it’s already spring, Pittsburgh, 7 Feb 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

The tulips survive in my too-many-deer neighborhood because they’re surrounded by buildings and tall fences with no obvious exit other than a narrow driveway.

I thought that the maze of buildings and driveways would protect these Japanese yews in front of Newell-Simon Hall at Carnegie Mellon, but deer found their way in and munched the bushes down to sticks. There’s a lot more to eat here. The deer will be back.

Deer damaged yews at Newell-Simon Hall, CMU, 7 Feb 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

Checking Out a New Apartment

Blue tit flies from a nest box in Europe (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

9 February 2024

Like our chickadees, Eurasian blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) are cavity nesters who may nest in backyard boxes.

The nest box shown below was lovingly decorated by the landlord and equipped with a camera to view the comings and goings of prospective renters. This bird seems satisfied and will soon take up residence.

(photo from Wikimedia Commons, tweet embedded from WildlifeKate, @katemacrae, located in South Wales)