'This painting is one of a series of bird paintings that I made based on material I had obtained by using one of the ubiquitous mopane pole bridges of the Okavango in Botswana. I would park my ancient 3 speed Land Cruiser midway over some beautiful crystal clear stream and use it as a (very comfortable) hide. Birds were accustomed to vehicles crossing these bridges and so parking on a bridge and watching for interesting possibilities from the cab seemed like a sensible thing to do. It really worked for me and I had some useful bird sightings very close up. At one bridge two giant kingfishers were active right next to the bridge, nailing small fingerling as they strayed from the shade beneath us. I went back to the bridge repeatedly in the following days but I never saw them again. Which gives weight to the old adage - when an opportunity presents itself be prepared take advantage immediately. It almost certainly will not happen again!'

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