WHAT'S IN YOUR BAG?
By HILARY POTKEWITZ
A small bird called the European redstart once prompted South African bird-watcher James Currie to hurry 900 miles by car from Cape Town to the Kalahari Desert. That his wife Rebecca was nearly eight months pregnant with their first child didn’t rule out a road trip to see the unusual visitor.
“It was a big deal. This bird is seldom seen in the region,” he says.
On his second night in the bush camp, his cellphone erupted: Rebecca had gone into early labor. Mr. Currie, now 42, admits he wavered longer than he should have.
“In my mind, I was actually thinking, ‘I can always have another child…but when am I ever going to find another European redstart in South Africa?'"
