The Old Diocesan Issue 12 - Magazine - Page 74
The Buckhams on bird patrol in
Karoo National Park, December
2025. Dad Mike takes the selfie, with
Adam, Thomas and Jack alongside.
(The brothers seem to be thriving;
in 2025, Jack matriculated with
nine distinctions – see page 13.)
Adam’s lightning round
Favourite birding patch:
“St Francis. Such good birding,
and over the years we’ve got to
know all the calls. It has Eastern
Cape thicket, but there are also
amazing waders on the Kromme
River estuary.”
Bucket-list southern African
birds: “I’ve been lucky to visit
a number of great southern
African destinations with my
dad, like Zimbabwe, Namibia
and southern Mozambique, but
I’d say the Barred Long-tailed
Cuckoo in Mozambique and
Angola Cave Chat in Namibia.”
Biggest bogey: “Actually, it’s
not the Golden Pipit; it’s the
Harlequin Quail. I was recently
on a trip to Kruger with my
girlfriend; it had just rained,
so conditions were perfect.
I probably heard about 20
birds calling close to the road
– but didn’t see a single one!”
My dream destinations: “Papua
New Guinea appeals to me,
though the birding is superhard. Top of the list would be
Australia. There are so many
endemic birds there, and the
conditions are quite similar to
South Africa. You’ve got many
different habitats; not just
forests but also open plains –
and lots of super-special birds.”
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When Adam and older brother
Thomas (2021M) were young, Mike
started taking them on outings
with him. “That was when I was
about five or six. I’ve been birding
ever since.” The family, which later
included youngest brother Jack
(2025M), went on many road trips
in pursuit of their common hobby.
Adam looks back on them fondly
as “a great way to bond”, though
there was definitely sibling rivalry
too. Thomas became the youngest
person in South Africa to reach the
500 mark, and received an Owlet
award from BirdLife South Africa
for his efforts.
“One of my bleakest birding
moments was in St Francis on
a family holiday,” Adam recalls.
“I was about eight years old, and
news of a Golden Pipit – a lifer –
came in. Thomas got to go with
my dad and my grandpa, but I was
told I was too young to join them.”
“Is that still one of your bogeys?”
I ask.
“I’ve still not seen a Golden Pipit
– and Thomas reminds me of that
way too often.”
While Thomas’s interest waned
a little in high school, Adam’s
endured – though his enthusiasm
went unnoticed at Bishops for some
time. “I joined one of the outdoor
clubs, and I really enjoyed it, but
it wasn’t focused on birding,” he
says. The Ornithological Society
that many ODs will remember
from days past was no longer in
existence; Adam would eventually
play a role in remedying that. “In
Grade 10, I was on the Bishops
Epic and one of the teachers,
Mr Robertson, noticed I was very
keen, and asked me if I wanted
to start a birding society. We did
a few outings to Rondevlei and
Strandfontein, and it was great
to see the amount of interest
