Namibia, Okavango & Victoria Falls Overland I 4th to 21st March 2017 (18 days) Trip Report Burchell’s Sandgrouse by Gareth Robbins Trip report by compiled by tour leader: Gareth Robbins Tour photos by Judi Helsby and Gareth Robbins Trip Report – RBL Namibia, Botswana & Zambia - Overland I 2017 2 _______________________________________________________________________________________ Tour Summary Our first day of the tour started in Namibia’s capital city, Windhoek. After breakfast, a few of us headed out and birded along some of the acacia thickets just outside of the hotel we were staying at. After two and a half hours of birding, we managed to get a good species count, considering the time spent. Some of the bird highlights we witnessed included Cardinal Woodpecker, Rosy-faced Lovebird, Barred Wren-Warbler, Diederik Cuckoo and Swallow-tailed Bee-eater. By lunchtime, the entire group had arrived and we went to visit Joe’s Beer House, which was on the way to our first official stop of the tour. During lunch, the rain started to pour down and it continued as we made our way to Avis Dam; thankfully, by the time we had arrived, the rain had stopped. One of the first birds to greet us was the beautiful Crimson-breasted Shrike, and in the distance, we could see one African Fish Eagle. At the edge of the car park, we had a good number of acacia- dwelling species arrive, such as Pririt Batis, Yellow-bellied Eremomela, Long-billed Crombec, Ashy Tit, Acacia Pied Barbet, and a Shaft-tailed Whydah. As we walked along the Pririt Batis by Gareth Robbins dam wall, we saw Greater Striped Swallows, House and Rock Martins, African Palm Swifts and Little and White- rumped Swifts too! The dam itself had filled up nicely with all the late rain and, due to this, we managed to get a look at South African Shelduck, Red-knobbed Coots, Red-billed Teal, Black- necked Grebes, as well as a Wood Sandpiper and a few Cape Wagtails. On the other side of the dam wall, we were presented with some more Acacia Thicket, and here we saw White-browed Sparrow-Weavers, Fork-tailed Drongo, Black-faced and Blue Waxbills, Southern Red Bishops, Red-backed Shrike, Common Scimitarbill, Grey-backed Camaroptera and an African Paradise Flycatcher. We walked towards the rocky cliffs and here we saw Rock Hyrax, Short-toed Rock-Thrush, Mountain Wheatear, Rattling Cisticola, Cape Bunting, Black-chested Prinia, Pale-winged Starling and we also got a lovely view of an Icterine Warbler. We then decided to make our way back to the tour vehicle and we had a brief look at a Bradfield’s Swift as it flew over us. Our first full day of the tour started with a few more Bradfield’s Swifts flying over us as we packed the tour vehicle and met Willem – our local bird expert and driver for the tour. We made our way to Daan Viljoen Game Reserve, which was located a few kilometres just outside of Windhoek. As we started to get near the reserve, we were surrounded by acacia trees and immediately we started to view some new birds, such as Jacobin Cuckoo, Brown Snake Eagle, Verreaux’s Shaft-tailed Whydah by Judi Helsby Eagle and Monteiro’s Hornbills. Before entering, we Trip Report – RBL Namibia, Botswana & Zambia - Overland I 2017 3 _______________________________________________________________________________________ drove parallel to the reserve and we saw the subspecies of Southern Giraffe called the Angolan Giraffe. At the same time, we succeeded in getting a decent look at a pair of African Hawk Eagles and had one quick look at a Black Cuckoo flying over the road. As soon as we entered the main road leading to the reserve, we saw two Great Spotted Cuckoos. We entered the reserve and along the way to the new restaurant area, we saw Gemsbok (Oryx) and Giraffe in the distance. We made a stop at the reception area to really appreciate a Purple Roller through the spotting scope and had a very nice close look at a Familiar Chat and before commencing with the walking to the dam. En route to the dam, we came across Long-billed Pipits, Red-billed Spurfowl and the beautiful Violet-eared Waxbill by Gareth Robbins Violet-eared Waxbills. We then caught up with Willem and continued to walk to the old restaurant area. From this section, we could see the dam within the rocky habitat and it did not take us long to locate a few Mountain Wheatears, Golden- tailed Woodpeckers, more Chestnut-vented Warblers, as well as a Black-Chested Snake Eagle. All of a sudden, a rather special bird jumped into the tree ahead of us and this was one of our target birds for the day: the Rockrunner! At first, we did not get to view this bird well so we walked around to the top of the dam wall and from here we saw it pretty clearly. From this vantage point, we were also successful in spotting Pale-winged Starling, Rock Kestrels, as well as two Klipspringers. As we were about to leave the reserve, we noticed a few Eland down in a valley, and just outside the reserve, we saw Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill and a Booted Eagle. By this point, it was midday, and we still had to cover another 200km along the C26 dirt road, which would ultimately lead us to our guest farm on the top of the Spreetshoogte Pass. It did not take us long at all to start finding a whole new variety of birds, such as Rufous-eared Warblers, Burchell’s and Wattled Starlings, Lappet-faced Vultures, Green-winged Pytilias, the charismatic White-tailed Shrike, Sabota and Monotonous Larks, Long-tailed Paradise Whydahs, Chat and Spotted Flycatchers, Namaqua Dove, Cinnamon-breasted and Larklike Buntings, Northern Black Korhaan, the huge Kori Bustard, Pale Chanting Goshawk, Mountain Wheatear, Bokmakierie, Namaqua Sandgrouse, Grey-backed Sparrowlarks, Red-backed and Lesser Grey Shrikes, Southern Fiscal, Scaly-feathered Weavers and two Tawny Eagles. There was so much water around, that we were also able to see a Black-winged Stilt and a Three-banded Plover. One of the main highlights of the day was coming across a colony of Chestnut Weavers which are not commonly seen so far South in Namibia. We passed a few private farms where we saw Common Ostrich, Gemsbok, Blesbok, Springbok, Impala and Mountain Zebras. We finally Chestnut Weaver by Gareth Robbins Trip Report – RBL Namibia, Botswana & Zambia - Overland I 2017 4 _______________________________________________________________________________________ arrived at the lodge and were greeted by a few more Lark-like Buntings, as well as Blacksmith and Crowned Lapwings. We quickly dropped off our luggage in our luxurious rooms on the mountain and headed back to the main farmhouse for dinner, where we had a fantastic traditional Bobotie and Malva Pudding. On our drive back, we looked at a few constellations and we were very fortunate to see a Caracal sitting on the rocks near our rooms. At sunrise, we packed our bags and made our way to the main farmhouse for breakfast. Just before we went into the house, we took a very short walk in the front garden and came across a Karoo Scrub Robin, a Groundscraper Thrush and an African Hoopoe. At the same time, the Crowned Lapwings were sounding very distressed and, suddenly, we spotted a large bird of prey in the tree above us, which turned out to be a Eurasian Honey Buzzard. After a delicious breakfast, we made our way down the 1000m high Spreetshoogte Pass. Unfortunately, the wind was blowing and this made the birding rather difficult, but fortunately, around halfway down the pass, we heard Black-chested Snake Eagle by Gareth an Orange River Francolin calling, and after a long Robbins period of searching, the bird stood out in the open for all of us to have a look at. We then proceeded down the pass and came across another large Chestnut Weaver colony at the bottom. We then drove into the Namib-Naukluft National Park and here we managed to see Rock Kestrel, Pale Chanting Goshawk, as well as plenty of Lark-like Buntings and Grey-backed Sparrowlarks. We then took a short detour to the smallest town in Namibia, Solitaire, and here we refuelled and got ready for our long drive to Walvis Bay. Along the way, we saw Black-chested Snake Eagle, Secretarybirds, Double-banded and Namaqua Sandgrouse, Booted Eagle, Greater Kestrel, Karoo Chat and many Stark’s Larks. Towards the latter part of the day, we had a fantastic sighting of a Karoo Long-billed Lark, and we even managed to experience a small amount of precipitation in the desert. On the last stretch to Walvis Bay, we were very fortunate to see Tractrac Chats, Grey’s Larks and one Rüppell's Korhaan. We finally arrived in Walvis Bay, and just before checking into our hotel, we spotted a few Hartlaub’s and Kelp Gulls, and a Great White Pelican on the shore. We left our hotel in the dark and made our way to Rooibank, as this is the best-known area to find Namibia’s one endemic: the Dune Lark. We arrived at our destination early and waited for first light. During this waiting time period, we had a thorough look at Jupiter and the Scorpius constellation. We also heard a Spotted Eagle Owl call and successfully Double-banded Sandgrouse by Gareth Robbins Trip Report – RBL Namibia, Botswana & Zambia - Overland I 2017 5 _______________________________________________________________________________________ managed to locate it. As the light was coming up, we made our way into the dunes, and as we neared the back dunes, we heard a few Dune Larks calling.