THE Biking Birder - Green and Carbon Birding Adventures Over the Years
Gary Prescott, The Biking Birder, is going to visit friends in October. Then the plan is to cycle for the whole of November, the south-west region of Rwanda. Fundraising for Acorns Children's Hospice and the Planet Birdsong charity. For Planet Birdsong, there is a link to the side on my blog page for you to take a look at the work they do in Rwanda and how you can help. Biking Birder IX - An African Adventure, Part 2. The Return to Rwanda.
Thursday, 3 September 2026
One month from today I will be sleeping in Kigali, Rwanda.
Before I get there I have so much to do, including posting 15 videos detailing so much about my adventure.
Here are the first two . . .
Wonderful to think I will soon be with the fantastic bird recorder and inspiration Rwandan birder, Mgonibanga (Remy) and his secondary student birding group; The Kivu Hills Birders.
An emotional video, BBX No. 1, concept of the video . . .
Family.
"Derby!"
My sadly long gone, little brother, Chris.
Second video . . . BBX No. 2 concept, well too many themes discussed so just watch it!
BBX No. 3 will be about Aston Villa and its links with Rwanda.
I adore the film Up and maybe because my own wife, Karen died and I miss her still, I have changed what happened to Ellie in the film to this . . .
Ellie did NOT die. Ellie divorced Carl because he didn't take her to Paradise (Angel) Falls, despite his promise.
Ellie is alive and well and living in the Amazonian areas I love so much, Manu and Tambopata, in my beloved Peru! The clue as to her whereabouts is the Blue-headed Parrot on her shoulders when she is working in a zoo.
Blue-headed Parrots are one of the commonest Parrot species in the Manu and Tambopata, two amazing National Parks in Amazonian Peru.
I want to go and search both areas again (and again) and find Ellie. What am I saying? I have been a number of times to both wonderful places, spending months at a time searching but not finding the elusive Ellie.
Ellie, like Olaf, is a pure soul. She is an incredible nature-loving, adventure-loving individual, who faced sadness, after making nursery preparations, had a miscarriage and both were told Ellie would never be able to have children, with fortitude, dignity and love for Carl.
Their adventure was in being with each other.
I want to bring her from the jungle, bring her back to Carl and show her how their love other, after her disappearance, changed a cantankerous, old man and seemingly Ellie-obsessed man, into a man capable of giving love to a child, and a dog!
Love conquers all, especially evil.
😍🥰😍🥰😍🥰😍🥰😍🥰😍🥰😍🥰
Of course mine is a silly scenario.
Ellie sadly and oh so poignantly died, as did Karen, my Spanish, Irish Gypsy from Bolton and so incredibly beautiful wife. As did my little brother Christopher (Derby!) and two of the BEST friends one could ever wish for in life; Gordon Barnes and Alex Barter!
So at this ridiculously early morning hour of 1:45am, (1:45am! I should be sleeping!!!) I am awake, writing this and writing notes about my next Biking Birder adventure to Rwanda, my TENTH Biking Birder adventure.
BBX
I like that.
BBX
The adventure will feature a most beautiful real life Ellie, another pure soul. It will be a privilege so precious to talk about a real life Ellie, who, as with Ellie in the most beautiful of Pixar films, Up, is sadly no longer with us.
Adventure is Out There!
Get ready for your Ellie badge.
Love to you all and please be prepared to follow maybe the most important Biking Birder adventure ever!
Give Love Each Day by Yes
😍🥰😍🥰😍🥰😍🥰😍🥰😍🥰😍🥰😍🥰😍🥰
One last comment. For those who know me and say that I was punching about my weight with having such a beautiful, stunning looking wife, well I may have changed over the years, I was 37 when I met Karen and this June I was 70.
Seventy!
This is a photo of both of us, very much in love, on the occasion of our marriage, July 26th, 1997.
I wasn't a Brad Pitt but I wasn't too Quasimodo.
Karen saw Quasimodo's heart, the man, in me. I married my Esmeralda.
In November last year, 2025, I went to Rwanda in order to cycle and bird and meet amazing people, who are involved in Nature and Bird Conservation.
In the north of Rwanda, near the Gorilla National Park, is the city of Musanze and there I met with three wonderful young birders who work for an organisation called the Rugezi Ornithology Center.
Three incredible young people whose love for birds and with a passion for involving young people in birding and habitat restoration projects, it was a privilege to not only to meet these intrepid, wonderful three but also interview them.
The first person interviewed was Niyonkuru Josiane, pictured above; a fabulous sunshine woman who tells her story, tells of the work carried out by the Rugezi ornithology Centre and of birding in Rwanda. I hope you enjoy the video.
Please like, comment and subscribe.
More interview videos will follow so please watch out for those.
On the right is Joseph Lionceau, a Rwandan Green Birding Megastar and in the middle can be seen Ian Gad Philipe Fidel. Their interviews will be posted asap.
Of course the over an hour long video of the interview was about Ponc & I's long rivalry over the European Big Green Big Year (BIGBY) competition, which has been so much fun, providing inspiration behind many of my Green Birding - Biking Birder adventures.
A full year BIGBY is a year when a birder tries to see as many bird species as possible without using any fossil fuel transport.
In the world maybe the best example of this was in 2014 when Dorian Anderson cycled around the USA, seeing 618 bird species.
Dorian's book is a truly inspirational read!
Ponc Feliu Latorre did a European BIGBY in 2024, an immense BIGBY; he saw 457 birds that year!
Take a look at Ponc's blog from that year, so phenomenally inspiration stuff.
2015 - a repeat of the 2010 whole year cycling tour of all the RSPB and W&WT nature reserves and centres.
2016 - an attempt at beating Ponc Feliu Latorre's European BIGBY record of 304 bird species seen.
2022 - another attempt at beating Ponc with, this time, a whole year of cycling and NO FERRIES! In fact not one bit of fossil fuel transport did I use that year. So becoming, to my knowledge only the second person in the world to do a PURE GREEN, no fossil fuel transport BIGBY; the other person being of course, Dorian Anderson.
Maybe you know of other Biking Birders. If you do, or if you do your birding by bike, then please comment below or message me on Facebook.
It would be fabulous to hear from you and to hear of your own biking birding adventures.
So Tickle My Feathers or, if you prefer David Lindo's motto . . .
Happy New Year to all you wonderful Sunshine People.
Now every week I hope to be able to show you a Green Birder from somewhere in this beautiful if troubled world.
First in this series is a remarkable young man, Joseph Lionceau of Rwanda.
Seeing a photograph of Joseph with his fellow African Green Birders, sitting on their bikes a few years ago, inspired me to want to go to Rwanda.
This I did last year, spending the whole of November there. More details about that Biking Birder adventure will be forthcoming but first let's meet Joseph.
Here is what he says about himself on eBird . . .
I'm Joseph Desire DUFITUMUKIZA(Lionceau), a keen Youth birder in Rwanda, interested in ornithology and passionate to participate development of conservation of wildlife, I started birding since 2013 in high School, late I get chance to attend various birding trainings for Local Advanced Bird Guide in Rwanda and Site Bird Guide in Kivu Belt Region along The Congo Nile Trail. I have inspired a lot for conservation and wildlife photography. I am Representative of Rwanda Youth Birders and facilitator of local clubs, Rugezi Birdwatching Club and MIPC Birding Club. Feel free to reach out me via WA: +250783772300, WeChat ID: JosephLionceau or djosephdesire@hotmail.com. and also you can follow me here https://www.facebook.com/JosephLionceaux?mibextid=ZbWKwL and https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephlionceau
It is so inspirational to see how other birders make a difference in different countries and how birding unifies us all.
Take a look at this fabulous website that details more of what is happening with birding in Rwanda . . .
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