Beatriz de la Pava talks to birdwatchers from Zimbabwe and Uruguay about their passion for birdlife.

Zimbabwean ornithologist Merlyn Nomsa Nkomo was on her way to secure a work placement to study wild dogs as part of her degree when she went birdwatching for the first time. It changed her life and she went to work in a vulture rehabilitation centre instead. She's now studying for a PhD in conservation biology in the Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology at the University of Cape Town. She writes and blogs about her passion for raptors and is keen to bring more black women into the world of birdwatching.

Florencia Ocampo started bird watching in Uruguay as a teenager after coming across baby falcons in a street market. While teaching herself falconry from books she became fascinated by the birdlife around her. Motivated by conservation issues she started birding and became a biologist. As well as doing ornithological research she now runs her own tour guide company, Birding With Me.

(IMAGE: (L) Florencia Ocampo, courtesy of Florencia Ocampo. (R) Merlyn Nomsa Nkomo, credit Linda Nordling.)