Botanca's Bird Enthusiast's Collection

For the Bird-Lover, the Bush-Goer, and the Nature-Enthusiast. For the person with a heart after my own 

The Fauna Collection is one that was born out of my passion for the bush and all the wonderful bird sightings I’ve been lucky enough to have. 

I still vividly remember the very first time I saw a Hoopoe. I was just five years old on a family Holiday in the Kruger National Park. We were self-driving through the park and I recall starting to feel a little bit bored and cooped up in the car when suddenly (I’m sure to my parents’ horror) I yelled “STOP!”. The car screeched to a halt as everybody looked around to see the animal that I’d just spotted, I’m still convinced everybody thought I must have seen a leopard or something that would incite such excitement from a five year old. In absolute awe I pointed to the bird I had seen with its crown feathers fully open, in all their glory. I imagine everybody was a little disappointed when they realised that what I was so enamoured by, was the little African Hoopoe. Despite everyone else’s apparent disappointment, I couldn’t believe how lucky I’d been to see such a beautiful creature.

I don’t know whether that memory stands out to me so intensely because I wish I still took the time to view the world through five-year-old Claire’s eyes or if it is because it was the last family holiday we could all take together. But I like to think I held the idea of creating this collection with the same awe that I felt when I first saw that little Hoopoe. 

There’s a lesson in there that I still carry with me to this day, to not feel put down about the things that bring me joy because others don’t find the same joy in them. This is how the Fauna Collection came to be; I started by playing around with the idea of creating realistic bird pendants not thinking anyone would really be as enthusiastic about them as I am, but I couldn’t have been more wrong! I put together the collection of these six iconic Southern African birds: the Southern Double-Collared Sunbird, the Pied Kingfisher, the Lilac-Breasted Roller, the African Hoopoe, the Barn Owl, and the African Fish Eagle. I have been blown away by how this collection was received and how many people shared the same joy in these little pendants as I do.

Each and every piece that leaves the Botanica studio holds a part of me, but when you wear a piece from our Fauna Collection, you’re wearing a part of my most treasured memories and I hope that they get to hold pieces of your favourite memories too.

Thank you for treasuring this collection as much as I do.