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An African Finfoot and a Twenty-One-Year-Old Promise — A bird that appears and disappears on its own terms — and, on this day, brought three people back to the same stretch of river. © Hasan Al-Fahan

An African Finfoot and a Twenty-One-Year-Old Promise

A search for African Finfoot on the Gambia River reconnects with a missed pitta in Thailand — and a promise made quietly twenty-one years earlier.

Gyorgy Szimuly

Gyorgy Szimuly

February 20, 2026 – 4 min read

What's Next?

The Slender-billed Curlew I Knew Might Vanish — And Did — <i><em class="italic" style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The European Turtle Dove still present in parts of Europe — but far less secure than its song suggests. © Rudi Petitjean</em></i>

The Slender-billed Curlew I Knew Might Vanish — And Did

I understood extinction in theory. I did not believe the Slender-billed Curlew would finish within my lifetime. Now another familiar bird stands on that slope.

A New Continent at Thirty: Notes from a Moroccan Birding Trip — <span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Orange light folding over the dunes of Merzouga – distance felt tangible, and silence stretched beyond the horizon.</span>

A New Continent at Thirty: Notes from a Moroccan Birding Trip

A father–son journey through Morocco at thirty – landscapes, method, missed species, and a long-awaited Cream-coloured Courser.

A New Continent at Thirty: Notes from a Moroccan Birding Trip — Orange light folding over the dunes of Merzouga – distance felt tangible, and silence stretched beyond the horizon.

A New Continent at Thirty: Notes from a Moroccan Birding Trip

A father–son journey through Morocco at thirty – landscapes, method, missed species, and a long-awaited Cream-coloured Courser.

The Shorebirds That Keep Me Going Back — Some birds are seen before they are met. This one remains a reason to return — perfectly understood, simply not yet in season. © Tamba Jefang

The Shorebirds That Keep Me Going Back

A personal reflection on lifer shorebirds, local knowledge, and unfinished encounters from a spring birding trip to The Gambia.