Namibia & Botswana 2017 A Tropical Birding Custom Trip 3-18 September 2017 Guides: Ken Behrens & Charley Hesse September 3-18, 2017 Guided by: Ken Behrens Charley Hesse Photos and Report by Ken Behrens www.tropicalbirding.com The Crimson-breasted Gonolek is Namibia’s national bird. WINDHOEK After arrival in Namibia’s capital, we had a day to relax and enjoy the excellent birding on offer around this small and charming city. Windhoek has a population of about 300,000, out of Namibia’s tiny population of only 2.1 million, remarkable for a country that is twice the size of California. Monteiro’s Hornbill (left), one of many Namibian near-endemic birds that we were seeking. On our morning walk at Avis Dam, we enjoyed Barred Wren-Warbler (top left) and Black-fronted or African Red-eyed Bulbul (bottom left), while there were a bounty of waterbirds at the Gammons Water Care (Sewage!) Works, including Red-knobbed Coot (middle left) and African Darter (right). From Windhoek, in the central mountains, we descended into the Namib Desert, where species like the Common Ostrich survive despite incredibly harsh conditions. Creatures of the Namib: South African Ground Squirrel (bottom right); Tractrac Chat (top right); and Rueppell’s Bustard (left). WALVIS BAY AND SWAKOPMUND The Namib dune fields hold Namibia’s sole political endemic bird, the Dune Lark. Walvis Bay itself is a mecca for waterbirds, including thousands of Lesser Flamingos (right-hand page). Spitzkoppe is Namibia’s most distinctive and iconic mountain. Our avian target at Spitzkoppe was the charismatic and scarce Herero Chat. OMARURU AND THE ERONGO MOUNTAINS Erongo boasts beautiful landscapes and one of Africa’s best bird-feeding stations (right). Around the lodge, we saw Green-winged Pytilia (top left), Rockrunner (bottom left), and Damara Dik-dik (middle left). Visitors to the Erongo feeders included dozens of Rosy-faced Lovebirds. Some of our best sightings around Omaruru: Rueppell’s Parrot (top left), Great Sparrow (bottom left), and Marico Sunbird (bottom right). During dinner at Erongo, we had the rock-loving Freckled Nightjar (top right). Prize sightings in central Namibia included Acacia Pied Barbet (above right) and male Hartlaub’s Francolin (above left), alternately known as the “Hearthrob”! ETOSHA NATIONAL PARK The middle portion of our safari was spent in Etosha, one of the world’s great parks. Our timing was perfect, as huge numbers of mammals and birds were concentrated around the park’s waterholes due to the parched conditions prevailing late in the dry season. Giraffe (right) against a typical dry season landscape of tawny grass, flowering Acacia nebroni, and a yellowing Mopane tree. Dry season Etosha is all about the waterholes, whose visitors shown here include Red Hartebeest, Springbok, and Blue Wildebeest, just a taste of the bounty of wildlife that we saw by visiting waterholes. Southern Pale Chanting-Goshawk (top left), Black-backed Jackal (bottom left), and Black Rhino (right). On the left-hand page are shown Kori Bustard (left), Namaqua Sandgrouse (top right), African Elephant at the Okakuejo waterhole (middle right), and Double-banded Sandgrouse (bottom right). This page: Giraffe (top), Burchell’s Courser (bottom left), and Spotted Hyaena (bottom right). Left page: Groundscraper Thrush (top left), Greater Kudu and Black-faced Impala (top right), African Elephant (bottom left), and Lilac-breasted Roller (bottom right). Although mammals take center stage in Etosha, there are plenty of birds like Brown-crowned Tchagra (top left), Chat Flycatcher (top right), Swainson’s Francolin (bottom left), and Cinnamon-breasted Bunting (bottom right). To the left is a Black Rhino of which we enjoyed point-blank views at a waterhole in central Etosha. This page: Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill (bottom left); Crowned Lapwing (bottom right); Burchell’s Common Zebra (top left); and White Helmetshrike (top right). Right page: Lion is at the top of the food chain in Etosha. HAKUSEMBE LODGE, NORTHERN NAMIBIA We struck north for the Okavango ecosystem, where a bounty of creatures like this Allen’s Gallinule awaited. With species like Nile Crocodile (top), Pied Kingfisher (bottom left), and White-backed Night Heron (bottom right) around, life isn’t safe for the fish of the Kavango! Daytime looks at a Marsh Owl (left) were a highlight at Hakusembe Lodge. In the Okavango, Giant Kingfisher and White-fronted Bee-eater are common birds (right). SHAKAWE & THAMLAKANE LODGES, BOTSWANA These two lodges are in the heart of the Okavango system, a matrix of open water, marsh, and riparian woodland. By walking around the lodge grounds and taking boat trips out into the vast adjacent wetlands, we turned up a huge array of birds and other wildlife. The Okavango is a remarkable inland delta formed by several rivers which run out of the mountains of Angola, then pour into and evaporate upon the sands of the Kalahari semi-desert. We watched African Fish-Eagles (right) plummeting out of the sky and snatching fish from the river. We had wonderful views of the incredible Pel’s Fishing-Owl (right) in Botswana. The Malachite Kingfisher (left) is a common denizen of the reeds along the Kavango River. Hippos are the resident lawnmowers at Shakawe River Lodge. Other garden residents there include Violet- backed Starling (bottom left) and Hartlaub’s Babbler (bottom right). In the woodlands are species like White-bellied Sunbird (left); in the papyrus is Coppery-tailed Coucal (top right); and on mudflats and fields the Blacksmith Plover (bottom right). Left page: the widespread Pied Kingfisher (left) and scarce African Skimmer (right). Peters’s Epauletted Fruit Bat (left) was hanging around the rooms at Thamlakane. Southern Carmine Bee-eaters (top right) were just arriving to breed. Holub’s Golden Weaver (bottom right) was nesting just in front of Shagawe River Lodge. The Okavango holds an abundance of colorful and conspicuous birds, like White-fronted Bee-eater (left), Long-toed Lapwing (top right), and African Marsh Harrier (bottom right). BIRDS Struthionidae (Ostrich) Common Ostrich Struthio camelus C-28, Etosha, Mahango Anatidae (Ducks, Geese, and Waterfowl) White-faced (Whistling-) Duck Dendrocygna viduata Northern Namibia / Botswana Fulvous (Whistling-) Duck Dendrocygna bicolor Maun White-backed Duck Thalassornis leuconotus Maun Comb (Knob-billed) Duck Sarkidiornis melanotos Okavango flood plain Egyptian Goose Alopochen aegyptiaca Windhoek, etc. South African Shelduck Tadorna cana Windhoek, Etosha Spur-winged Goose Plectropterus gambensis Mahango, Okavango flood plain, Maun African Pygmy-goose Nettapus auritus Maun Yellow-billed Duck Anas undulata Okavango flood plain Cape Shoveler Anas smithii Gammams, Etosha Red-billed Duck (Teal) Anas erythrorhyncha Gammams Water Treatment Plant, etc Hottentot Teal Anas hottentota Gammams Water Treatment Plant Cape Teal Anas capensis Gammams Water Treatment Plant, etc Southern Pochard Netta erythrophthalma Gammams Water Treatment Plant Numididae (Guineafowl) Helmeted Guineafowl Numida meleagris Common and widespread Phasianidae (Pheasants, Grouse, and Allies) Hartlaub's Francolin Francolinus hartlaubi Erongo - last-minute sighting! Red-billed Francolin Francolinus adspersus First at Gammams Water Treatment Plant Swainson's Francolin Francolinus swainsonii Etosha Phoenicopteridae (Flamingos) Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus Walvis Bay Lesser Flamingo Phoenicopterus minor Walvis Bay Podicipedidae (Grebes) Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis Gammams Water Treatment Plant, etc Eared (Black-necked) Grebe Podiceps nigricollis Walvis Bay Ciconiidae (Storks) African Openbill Anastomus lamelligerus Okavango flood plain, Maun Marabou Stork Leptoptilos crumeniferus Mahango, Okavango Yellow-billed Stork Mycteria ibis Mahango Sulidae (Boobies and Gannets) Cape Gannet Morus capensis Walvis Bay Phalacrocoracidae (Cormorants and Shags) Great (White-breasted) Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo Gammams Water Treatment Plant Cape Cormorant Phalacrocora. capensis Walvis Bay Long-tailed (Reed) Cormorant Phalacrocora africanus Gammams Water Treatment Plant, etc Crowned Cormorant Phalacrocora. coronatus Walvis Bay Anhingidae (Anhingas) African Darter Anhinga rufa Gammams Water Treatment Plant, etc Pelecanidae (Pelicans) Great White Pelican Pelecanus onocrotalus Walvis Bay Scopidae (Hamerkop) Hamerkop Scopus umbretta Mostly northern Namibia / Botswana Ardeidae (Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns) Little Bittern Ixobrychus minutus Okavango Grey Heron Ardea cinerea Widespread Black-headed Heron Ardea melanocephala Avis Dam, etc. Purple Heron Ardea purpurea Okavango, Maun Great (White) Egret Ardea alba Widespread Intermediate Egret Mesophoyx intermedia Mahango Little Egret Egretta garzetta Widespread Black Heron Egretta ardesiaca Okavango Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis Widespread Squacco Heron Ardeola ralloides Gammams Water Treatment Plant, Kavango, Okavango Rufous-bellied Heron Ardeola rufiventris Kavango Striated Heron Butorides striata Widespread Black-crowned Night-Heron Nycticorax nycticorax Kavango White-backed Night-Heron Gorsachius leuconotus Kavango - great views of an immature Threskiornithidae (Ibises and Spoonbills) Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus Avis Dam (African) Sacred Ibis Threskiornis aethiopicus Avis Dam, Gammams Water Treatment Plant, etc Hadeda Ibis Bostrychia hagedash Okavango African Spoonbill Platalea alba Mahango, Okavango flood plain Accipitridae (Hawks, Eagles, and Kites) Black-shouldered Kite Elanus caeruleus Etosha, Okavango Black (Yellow-billed) Kite Milvus