Pete's in Zambia! Check out his birds!

My son Pete joined the Peace Corps, and he'll be in Africa for the next two and a half years.  He has been posted to Zambia, the country I highlighted in red on the above map.  Despite my sadness at having my son so far away and virtually out of touch, I am very proud of him for being a Peace Corps volunteer.

For the first 6 weeks Pete was in Lusaka, Zambia (blue circle).  Lusaka is the capital and biggest city in Zambia. Right now he is in Serenje (red circle)

Pete's degree is in Forestry, and that is what he will be doing in the Peace Corps.  According to the map above,  the country is made up of a number of different woodland habitats.  When he started, he was in the Southern Miombo Woodlands (purple circle).  Now he is is the Central Zambezian Miombo Woodlands region (green circle). (I have no idea what either place is like, by the way.)  What I'm really curious about is Pete's birding experiences in Africa!

All the bird photos in this post are from the List of birds of Zambia Wikipedia page.  It is pretty hard not to get jealous at the thought of Pete seeing birds like these.  The bird above is a Grey Crowned Crane (Balearica regulorum).  I don't know if Pete's seen one yet, but if they are present in his part of the country, I guarantee that Pete will find a way to see one!

This one is a Lilac-breasted Roller (Coracias caudata.)  How could I compete with anyone who has this bird on his on his life-list?

This photo of a Secretary-bird (Sagittarius serpentarius) was taken at the San Diego Zoo, but Pete has a good chance of seeing one in the wild!

This one is a Woodland Kingfisher (Halcyon senegalensis).  You'd have to be a far better person than I am not to feel a little jealous when your competition is seeing birds like these!  (Actually, I am the only one who is competitive about birding.  Pete is even more passionate about birding than I am, but he always praises my efforts, cheers me on, and is excited for me whenever I add a new species to my life list. I try to be as supportive towards him as he is towards me, but I'm ashamed to say that it doesn't come naturally.)

This year we are doing Bird-a-thon in honor of Pete.  He's spending two years of his life volunteering in Africa to make the world a better place.  The very least his dad and mom can do is is spend 24 hours chasing down birds, right? Especially since the money we raise will help make our little corner of the world a better place for generations to come.