It is all my fault. I did not take the warnings seriously.
The birding company brochure promised an “epic expedition into the heart of the forest, where every rustle could be a rare sighting, and every bird call might be your last.” So I came well-prepared, with gallons of insect repellent, an array of knives, and assorted survival gear.
At first, the trail was quiet, the forest serene… I thought I had overpacked. How wrong I was.
Nobody had warned me of the blood-sucking swallows.
Nor of the kamikaze sunbirds.
Nor of the carnivorous shoebills.
Nor of the rogue parakeets, armed with beaks of doom.
Indeed, the guide did not make it.
Still, I survived. And leg prosthetics are pretty good these days.
Photo: Ornate Sunbird, Bangkok, July 2025
Kai has lived in Shanghai for more than 21 years. He only started birding after moving to China, so he is far more familiar with Chinese birds than the ones back in his native Germany. As a birder, he considers himself strictly average and tries to make up for it with photography, which he shares on a separate website. Alas, most of the photos are pretty average as well.He hopes that few clients of his consulting firm—focused on China’s chemical industry—ever find this blog, as it might raise questions about his professional priorities. Much of his time is spent either editing posts for 10,000 Birds or cleaning the litter boxes of his numerous indoor cats. He occasionally considers writing a piece comparing the two activities.
This may be your strangest post yet. And that’s saying a lot.
I will take that as a compliment, though I am not at all sure it is meant as one …