Its Autumn in Johannesburg

Walking this morning in the crisp autumn air made me appreciate that the season has changed. I am now waking up in the dark and pottering around the house in the half light as the sun seems to slowly rise.

Well the wood is ordered, delivered and Fred cleaned out the chimney, so we are ready for the winter here in Johannesburg.

The colours are beautiful at Delta Park at the moment with the leaves that have turned.

Its hard to believe that I have lived here since I was 17, coming to Wits from my home town of Vanderbijlpark. And in all this time I have never seen the 'alien' but so beautiful Ring-necked Parakeets which are well known in most of our friends' gardens.
In fact both Neil and Martie have invited us to come and see the parakeets at their homes but we never got round to it.
We were out very early today and within 15 minutes we found a pair at Delta Park and reveled in their raucous calling and beauty of their ring and the shades of green and torquoise.

And Hartlaub's completes the Babblers.

Completing certain bird groups have presented no challenge during this Big Birding year, like the 3 Mousebirds, the 5 Cormorants, and the 4 Crows. Others have required some travel such as finding the Bald Ibis on the Wakkerstroom grasslands to complete all the Ibises, or stopping at Sua Pan in Botswana for a Lesser Flamingo.

The Pretoria Birdnet emails this week alerted me to the arrival of a Pink-backed Pelican at the Rooival Sewage Works, so we drove there early this morning to see it, so another group completed for the Big Birding Year.

The 5 Babblers have not been challenging to see but have required real dedication to get to them all. Our first days out in the Waterberg at the start of our year made for easy sightings of the Arrow-marked Babblers, and we continued to see many during our travels through Mpumalanga in February.

One of the objectives of the road trip to Namibia was to find the remaining four babblers. Ghanzi, our western Botswana stopover was good for the endemic Southern Pied Babblers. Endemic meaning they breed almost entirely within Southern Africa.

Our next target was the Bare-cheeked Babblers which are a near-endemic to Namibia as their range extends into southwest Angola. We had spectacular views from the breakfast table at Hobatere Lodge, on the western periphery of Etosha, along with their loud chattering. We also were able to get really close to the Red-billed Spurfowl and the Damara Hornbill, another Namibian near-endemic, while having bacon and eggs! At this stage 3 babblers down and 2 to go.

...Bare-cheeked Babblers and Red-billed Spurfowl at the Hobatere feeder...

Marge from Birding Africa had booked us in to Roy's Camp, 100 kilometers north of Grootfontein on our way up to Rundu. The camp is a well known spot for reliably finding Black-faced Babblers which are a Southern African near-endemic, which means they are largely restricted to our region with about 10 to 15% found outside of the region. We arrived at Roy's Camp at sunset and chatted to our young host, Niki, who pointed us to the waterhole and we watched a herd of Eland arrive to drink while we were having dinner. The next morning we were up early in search of the babblers with not much luck. So we made our way back to the lapa for coffee and when Fred asked Niki about the babblers she walked just around the corner and found them for us snuffling around in the leaves of the undergrowth- an unobtrusive and rather easy lifer, babbler number 4. She had been preparing for our visit and watching their behaviour for a couple of weeks - smart young lady and she is starting to train as a guide.

...the Black-faced Babbler at Roy's Camp...

Our last babbler to see was the Hartlaub's, whose habitat is the woodland adjacent to papyrus swamps, reedbeds and rivers, so the Caprivi and Okavango Swamps is a sure bet for them. We found them along the Kavango during our morning walk with Mark Paxton and they were a noisy feature of our stay at Xaro Lodge.

An otter, a goat and Souza's Shrike!

Every now and again you meet people who make a lasting impression, Mark and Charlie Paxton are such people.

We spent a night with them at their Camp along the Caprivi, about 100 kilometers east of Rundu. Mark has been in the bush his whole life, one of the early ringers in Namibia and is passionate about his patch of land which comes with many specials.

Our morning of birding with Mark took us into his patch - here he is wading into the Kavango floodplain to check on a Cisticola. We didn't get that one but later in the morning we had a good look at Tinkling Cisticola's.

The target bird was Souza's Shrike. We spent a good couple of hours in the morning heat trampling across the sandy, dry savanna looking for a pair that Mark knows breeds where we were walking. Souza's Shrike is an uncommon and difficult to see bird, occurring from the Congo through southern DRC to much of Angola and Zambia, extending marginally into southern Africa. In Southern Africa it is recorded in the Caprivi Strip, hence our stopover at Shamvura.

It is a very shy and retiring bird, usually seen in the mid canopy, but it sits still and once we were onto them they are 'confiding' as Mark says - we spent a good while watching the pair and had wonderful photo opportunities.

...a special lifer, Souza's Shrike takes me up to 650 birds on my life list...

So, birding was good, but the storytelling about Mark and Charlie is more about their unusual choice of pets - an otter and a goat among the 3 rather regular dogs.

Ottie is a much loved Cape Clawless Otter, spends his time in the pool, or under the huge fish tank in his lair sleeping on his back, and here he is with Mark having his morning milk....

Then Goat, here he is watching an IPL Twenty20 game with Charlie. When Fred, starved of TV and cricket, sat on the coffee table to chat to Charlie and to catch up on all the cricket news, he blocked Goat's view so had his clothes nibbled and a quick head-butting attempt. The goat lost however as Fred is an Aries and 'knows' goats....

Oh my, I quietly sat at the pub, had my tea and shortbread, took it all in and nursed my ever worsening hayfever.

Owls make an impact.

There is something about Owls and their forward-facing eyes that make them look intently at me as I watch them. Both Fred and I feel this being noticed which makes being around an owl intriguing.










....watching the intruder in the canopy of a huge jackelberry tree...




Of all the birds on my life list, I initially thought that reseeing all the owls would be one of the biggest challenges, not least of which is to find the Pel's Fishing Owl. The Southern African list has 12 owls, of which we had seen 10, having yet to find Cape Eagle Owl and African Grass Owl.














Well 5 months into the Big Birding Year the task of reseeing the list is done, 10 owls found and appreciated.


My only ever brief glimpse of the Pel's was in April 2003, on a trip to the Okavango Swamps with Bri and Di. I had booked a trip to Nxabega for Fred and I and had mentioned it to Di. Unbeknown to us, she then organised the flights at the last minute, booked into the lodge and we all met up on the bus transferring us to the flight to Maun out of Johannesburg! Legend, and we still keep meeting up all around the world -Scotland, Italy, London, Caprivi, Cape Town and next year is Spain.

Six years ago we landed in Maun, took a quick flight into the swamps, transferred to a land-rover, dropped the luggage, hopped into a mokoro, floated down a channel to an island, walked along the bank under the huge Jackelberry trees and glimpsed the Pel's. And all the years since its been my wish to really see this bird and until this week have not done so.

After leaving the Limosa tour in Windhoek we drove up to the Caprivi and into the Kavango Panhandle to spend time on the river. The flood plain is the highest its been since the early sixties. Salvation, the bird guide for Drotsky's Cabins and Xaro Lodge, took us out for a morning on the river and we eventually had our special time with a pair of Fishing Owls. It's a huge owl, with large mesmerising black eyes that definitely watch your every move and a glorious cinnamon colouring.

...mythical Pel's Fishing Owl...




As appealing are the small owls. One of the highlights for me of birding with Callan was listening to him mimic the 'Pearly' and watch the birds come in. During one of our stops his calling attracted over 20 different species (his record is over 30!). So 'Pearly' and its false eyes is always a favourite and they tend to show up to see what all the fuss is about.



The Halali camp in Etosha was a treat for Scops Owls, both the diminuitive African Scops, which is perfectly camouflaged against the tree-bark and the White-faced. Later we also found the African Barred Owlet on a walk with Donovan from Xaro Lodge before our G&T one evening, so all the small owls seen.


...the tiny African Scops Owl
completely camouflaged against the tree-bark...






...a sleepy White-faced Scops Owl...





....and another keeping an eye on us...




Another impressive owl has to be the Verreaux's Eagle Owl and we have had wonderful sightings so far, silhouetted on a night drive at Selati and up close on our night drive from Pafuri Camp.




Spotted Eagle Owl was our first owl for the year in Kirstenbosch Gardens.









Pafuri Camp was also the spot for African Wood Owl, calling from the trees around our tent. All along the Caprivi we heard and saw Wood Owls. Barn Owls too, with a particularly good view one evening at a waterhole in the Etosha and of course seeing one fly over our boma fire in Greyton.

Closer to home I have watched Marsh Owls flying low over Elandsvlei, so owls have made their mark on our Big Birding Year and I hope will continue to do so.
Next challenge is to seek out the 2 owls that we have not yet seen....

Big Birding Year gets to 500!

The Shrika sighting at Halali Camp during our morning walk brought my Big Birding Year total to 500 birds seen since starting out in the Waterberg in December. Champagne breakfast was in order!

Our stats for the two week Limosa trip with Callan was over 250 birds seen, 26 lifers and 87 birds added to the Big Birding Year list. Wonderful mammal viewing and some other intriguing finds along the way, like Fred almost stepping on this Horned Adder while we were targeting the Herero Chat.
We are now leaving Windhoek and making our way up to the Caprivi via Roy's Camp near Grootfontein - to find yet another babbler.... it starts again, a new list and more birds to be seen.

The Startling Beauty of Etosha

Etosha surprises with its stark vast flat expanses, the plains seem endless and the Etosha Pan is so full after the good rainy season, that it feels like a coastline. Trees are scarse and create exquisite backdrops for scenic photos and wonderful sunsets. The waterholes are a joy to watch for zebra coming down to drink, sandgrouse arriving in squadrons at sunset.

This is a place of fine grey dust and for long slow breathing.

I had many firsts - a Black Rhino at the famous Okaukuejo waterhole, the diminuitive Damara Dik-dik, the rare Black-faced Impala, Hartman's Mountain Zebra, African Wild Cat as well as Springhare on the night drive from Hobatere Lodge and Congo Rope Squirrels.

We saw huge herds of plains Zebra, Springbok, the Hartmans Mountain Zebra which is only found in the rocky far west of Etosha, giraffe, blue wildebeest and the impressive Gemsbok.

Love the 'bum' shot, Burchells on the left and Hartman's on the right clearly show the differences between the two zebra species here in Namibia.

Birding was a treat too, Kori and White-quilled Bustards were common sightings on the plains. Larks, coursers, sandgrouse all flourish on the plains.The morning drive from our first camp was also my first views of the challenging Pink-billed Lark. Another exciting lifer at our final camp, Namutoni, was the Red-necked Falcon a spectucular small raptor that obligingly sat for us at the ubiquitous waterhole.

There is a mud track that extends into the Pan where we were able to get out the vehicle and watch the selection of birds that are adapted to the salinity of the water, like the Chestnut-banded Plovers and rafts of Avocets. As you can see in the photo it is surreal to be surrounded by this amount of water in such an arid setting as Etosha.

Appreciating Detail in the Life of Birds

I am learning to see and appreciate detail as I go through this Big Birding Year.

So much of my birding over the years has been about identification and less about noticing what birds are doing. Callan has made bird behaviour come alive for me.
An example has to be that I have always known that certain birds are parasitic and get another species to raise their chicks, like the Firefinches which are parasitised by Indigobirds, but I have never seen it happen. Our early morning call at Erongo was Callan with news that he had firstly heard, then seen a female Dusky Sunbird feeding a Klaas's Cuckoo chick.

The chick mimics the call of the Dusky's chicks, apparently it sounds like a nest full of chicks and the Sunbird dashes about frantically fetching and feeding her monsterous 'chick'. The chick gets all excited as the sunbird approaches, it opens is beak, quivers and lifts a wing. Fred was thrilled with this photo, the chick looks like it is swallowing its surrogate mother.

A couple of days later at the Hobatere waterhole we had another treat, a Meves's Long-tailed Starling feeding her two Great Spotted Cuckoo chicks, once again it was startling to see the starling responding to the desperate calling of the cuckoos. On some level I can relate, feel the same about my 'fledgling' at times, still feeding him!



Handling birds is something I avoid. But I was thrilled to be the ringers 'helper' on our night drive with Steve, who's Hobatere Lodge is a gem on the western edge of Etosha, a remote and beautiful area of rocky outcrops, mopane and acacia woodland.

The helper records the data from the bird that is being ringed; tarsus, ulna, wing, skull lengths and the weight of the birds. Steve catches the birds at night using the vehicle lights, a powerful torch and a large net. We had amazing views of a Spotted Thick-knee, Square-tailed and Rufous-cheeked Nightjars as well as the beautifully delicate Bronze-winged Courser. It all happens very quickly and the bird is then released. Fred and Anita both had a go at the trapping, its a real buzz and certainly not as easy as Steve makes it seem.

....getting ready...

....Rufous-cheeked Nightjar and the beautiful Bronze-winged Courser being ringed and then released...

Last night we really got into the detail, we saw a Small Buttonquail after dinner in the Waterberg. It was immobilised by the vehicles lights and kept perfectly still while the cameras flashed. Callan then found a dead Buttonquail which he took back to the room to take DNA samples. Anita and I quietly watched as he poked and prodded the dead bird, I took in the detail of its feathers and little skeleton, its 3 toes, an unusual perspective.

Another real pleasure of the trip has been watching raptors, understanding how to identify them in flight and recognising the juveniles too. We have had Booted Eagles, Shikras, Bateleurs, African Harrier-hawk, who we saw raiding the nest of Red-billed Buffalo Weavers, Red-necked Falcons and a rare sighting of Amur Falcons which are mostly birds of the eastern part of Southern Africa.

At the Halali waterhole in Etosha we spent ages watching these Gabar Goshawks circle the waterhole, swooping on the doves drinking. The white above the tail is the identification indicator!

Target Birding

The Christine Marais drawing from her book "Birding in Namibia" captures the essence of the place we are in now and the Hartlaub's Francolin we saw this morning.

So I have learnt that there are two ways to bird.

One is to choose an environment that will produce good birding opportunities, arrive, set-up scopes as required, mimic the Pearl-spotted Owlet if you are in the bush, and wait and see what birds are around.

The second approach, ‘target birding’, is far more strategic and has a specific destination in mind with the objective of finding a (mostly) challenging bird or two that are known to be breeding in a known locality. All the possible equipment is taken into the field, scopes, recording and playback equipment. This is stressful birding as once a stated bird is being chased it makes for the risk of failure. But success is exciting, here is the Tractrac Chat found only on the Namib gravel plains which we found on our second attempt.

I experienced both of these approaches to birding with Callan over the last two days.

Yesterday our target bird was a Herero Chat, notoriously difficult to find. We were in the bush at the bottom of the spectacular Spitskoppe (below) for a two hour stint in the heat of the day, slowing doing the playback call, scanning each and every bush and walked away without a sighting. Karoo long-billed Lark on the road from Spitskoppe to Erongo Mountains

This morning, in the rocky outcrops around our lodge here in the Erongo Mountains, we had three target birds – Hartlaub’s Francolin, Carp’s Tit, and the Rockrunner, as challenging, and we had superb sightings of all three in the fresh cool dawn air, quite a blissful experience. As Callan hears the birds call he records them and uses their own calls for the playback. Certainly created much curiosity from the birds and in some cases it spooks them to hear another ‘bird’ with their personal calls.

The gang birding this morning for our target birds:

It’s a treat to be at the lodge, tented accommodation with awesome views, great food and lovely service from Timo. Also good to chill and recharge after many days crossing this vast country.

This is the view from our breakfast table this morning watching Rosy-faced Lovebirds and Chestnut Weavers.

The charming Rock Hyrax that keeps us awake at night here at Erongo with it range of strident calls.

Am loving the diversity and space of Namibia and its contrasts from gentle to fierce depending on where you find yourself.

"When the well's dry, one knows the worth of water" Benjamin Franklin