At Aberfoyle Lodge, in the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe, we learned how to attract owls from Morgan. He had his smartphone and a boom speaker with him when we went birdwatching. When I told him I wanted to see a AfricanWood Owl, he entered the bird he was looking for into the Marlin app. Shortly afterwards the call rang out through the forest and five minutes later the owl we were looking for landed on a branch!

Of course, Brigitta remembered that in no time. And since then, after dusk, when night falls, she’s been out and about with her smartphone and loudspeaker. She chooses the one on the app that gives the desired call. And lo and behold: now a Scopes owl flies silently to us on a branch, where it can be photographed and filmed by Brigitta. This is what happened at El-Fari Farm a few days ago. What an experience!

She did the same thing last night at the Xain Quaz Lodge near Gobabis, Namibia, when she heard the call of the Southern White-Faced Owl. A short time later an owl flew noiselessly over to us. We only saw her shadow as she sat down in the tree. But Brigitta had a flashlight – actually a diving flashlight – at hand and illuminated it. And there the owl sat and watched us with its orange eyes. She eyed the surroundings and searched for her colleague. But there was only one loudspeaker in the tree!

PS: If you want to know more about this owl, read here.