Namibia & Botswana The Audubon Shop Custom tour 16th September – 1st October, 2011 Tour leader: Charley Hesse. Report by Charley Hesse. Photos by Charley Hesse & Jerry Connolly. Our group in front of the Giant Baobab Tree in Mahango Game Reserve (Jerry Connolly) This trip was a repeat of last year‟s very successful Audubon Shop Namibia custom tour. It was another immensely enjoyable trip and marked by the changes due to the record rainfall this year. Even though arriving 6 weeks later, it should have been even drier, the landscape was a good deal greener and some of the rivers even had water left in them. Amazing to see in this normally bone-dry landscape. We again picked up the vast majority of escarpment, desert and Kalahari specialties. With some highlights being the charismatic Rockrunner singing right above our heads, dozens of delightful Rosy-faced Lovebirds coming into feed on grain at Erongo and watching Hartmann‟s Mountain Zebras feeding on the lush grass of the plains having descended from the escarpment. Etosha was again dazzling, and although we didn‟t have such huge concentrations of game at waterholes like last year, we had fantastic views of lions and elephants as well as the wonderful bonus of a Leopard in a tree at close range. In Botswana we tracked down the huge Pel‟s Fishing-Owl along with many memorable water birds. One of the reasons for running the trip later this year was to catch the Southern Carmine Bee-eaters which we had been too early for last year. In Botswana we visited a wonderful nesting colony which turned out to be the trip highlight for many. As well as the outstanding birding and game-viewing, both Namibia and Botswana charmed us with their beautiful and diverse landscapes, people and cultures. Tropical Birding www.tropicalbirding.com 1 16th September – Windhoek area Having arrived the previous day and seen a few common birds in the lodge grounds, we started our first scheduled birding at the wonderful Avis dam just out of town. We walked a trail with an excellent view over the water where we spotted a distant African Fish-Eagle along with many other common water birds such as White-breasted & Reed Cormorants, Great, Little & Cattle Egrets and Egyptian Geese, while Bradfield's, African Palm- & Little Swifts flew over head. We turned to the land birds and a little bit of „psshing‟ brought in many small birds such as Green-winged Pytilia, Blue, Violet-eared & Black-faced Waxbills, and Marico & Dusky Sunbirds. The fairest of them all though, was the stunning Crimson- breasted Shrike, but not all were quite so pretty. We had a fair few LBJs too in the form of Sabota Lark, Yellow-bellied Eremomela, Rattling Cisticola and Black-chested Prinia. We also had the interesting Brown-crowned Tchagra and a Barred Wren Warbler. Avis Dam being one of the best sites for the latter. We reached the other end of the lake where some ladies asked us to hold up for a few minutes while they finished their dog trials. Grassland by the lake edge here produced African Pipit, Kittlitz's & Three- banded Plovers, Blacksmith Lapwing (named for its call that sounds like a blacksmith hitting his anvil) along with more waterbirds in the form of Wood Sandpiper, Ruff and a surprise African Spoonbill. On the way back to the car park we added the pretty Swallow-tailed Bee-eater, Acacia Pied Barbet and the some White-backed Mousebirds. Before leaving I came upon the uncommon Cape Penduline-Tit and I made sure that everybody was in no doubt what a find this drab little bird was. We also had a distant raptor that when it came closer turned out to be a Black-chested Snake-Eagle. The ravishingly beautiful Crimson-breasted Shrike (Charley Hesse) Construction at Daan Viljoen Game reserve meant that there was no access to the dam but on a short game drive we kick started our mammal lists with Greater Kudu, Red Hartebeest and Blue Wildebeest. On our way out we also came across a family of Chacma Baboons that eyed us with interest. We headed back to the comfortable Arebbush Lodge where we watched Southern & Lesser Masked Weavers and Red-headed Finches weaving their nests as we ate. We also had our first hornbill in the shape of Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill. In the afternoon we headed to the excellent Windhoek sewage works in search of water birds. As we entered we were treated to the sight of thousands of Wattled Starlings in the trees. We drove through the back of the complex which had a less pungent smell and has some nice reed- fringed lakes. At the first pond we saw our first water birds in the form of South African Shelduck, Red- billed & Hottentot Teals, Common Moorhen, Red-knobbed Coot and even a Hamerkop. At further ponds we saw African Darter, Grey, Squacco & Striated Herons, African Sacred Ibis with our first Black-shouldered Kite and White-throated Swallows in flight. African Reed- & Lesser Swamp- Warblers gave us the run-around but finally showed themselves in the reed beds while a gorgeous male Scarlet-chested Sunbird flitted in the trees. At our last stop we added our first African Jacana and the diminutive Little Stint. It had been a tremendously productive first day. Tropical Birding www.tropicalbirding.com 2 17th September – Windhoek to Swakopmund Today we left the capital heading for the coast along the very scenic but rather bumpy C28 road. We were to make many stops along here sampling the birdlife in each distinct habitat type. At our first stop, still on the escarpment, we found a key bird for the trip, the endemic White-tailed Shrike. This taxonomic enigma was once lumped with the shrikes but is now considered by many to be closer to the batises. We also saw some other very attractive birds in the form of Swallow-tailed Bee-eater, a beautiful male Short-toed Rock-Thrush and a pair of Pririt Batises. Further along we stopped for a magnificent Tawny Eagle perched by the roadside and the first of many Southern Pale Chanting-Goshawks we would see. At a spot that always seems to be productive, we saw a Rock Kestrel fighting with a Gabar Goshawk, both Lilac-breasted & Purple Rollers, the interesting Anteating Chat and Red-billed Buffalo-Weaver whose messy stick nests had actually been built into a windmill‟s structure. We stopped at a bridge over a normally dry river but unusually it still had water. A reminder of the record-breaking rainfall this year. Here we had great views of Pearl-spotted Owlet and even saw it chasing a Cape Bunting. Rock Hyrax, the strange distant relative of the elephant, looked more like guinea pigs as they scurried over the rocks while an African Hawk-Eagle soared just over our heads. We found more water lower down in the form of a lake where we saw Little Grebe, nesting Grey Herons, African Sacred Ibis & African Spoonbill. At another stop further on Jerry spotted our next important endemic, the charismatic Rockrunner. Previously considered a warbler it has now been placed with the rockjumpers. An endemic family to Southern Africa. We heard the distinctive call of the Orange River Francolin across the valley but scanning the rocky hillside, we could only find a covey of Red-billed Spurfowl. Before leaving the highlands we added Kalahari Scrub-Robin, Scaly-feathered Finch and Common Scimitar-bill along with another troop of Chacma Baboons. We had our packed lunch at the Boshua Pass where we enjoyed the scenery but found little birdwise except for the endless stream of Lark-like Buntings. White-tailed Shrike and Short-toed Rock-Thrush trying to out-compete each other in looks (Charley Hesse) We now began losing altitude quickly and as the habitat opened out we found Greater Kudu and our first Gemsbok (also known as Southern Oryx). We were disappointed not to have seen the rare Hartmann's Mountain Zebra as we descended onto the grassy plains. Here the habitat and birdlife changed dramatically. In an isolated tree we saw a huge Sociable Weaver nest and were lucky enough to soon find the endemic Ruppell's Korhaan with its head sticking out of the grass. We saw Common Fiscal, Chat Flycatcher & Tractrac Chats along the roadside fence posts and we soon spotted our first Springbok and a surprise pair of Kori Bustards. In the heat haze we saw what looked like zebras although the Burchell’s Zebra was out of range here. When we got closer we got out to scope them and found that they were actually Hartmann's Mountain Zebras that we thought we had missed. It was a real shock to find them down here but they must have descended to take advantage of the bumper grazing. We spotted a flock of Tropical Birding www.tropicalbirding.com 3 what looked like pigeons but on closer inspection turned out to be Namaqua Sandgrouse. They landed behind us and we went back along the road where we saw them flush up again. The further towards the coast we got, the drier it was. Here we kept an eye out for Meercats but only found the more common South African Ground Squirrel. A Lappet-faced Vulture soared over the road and we finally found our first wild Common Ostriches. One of the only original wild populations in Southern Africa, most being from reintroductions. Our last bird of the day was a juvenile Martial Eagle which looked a bit lost in its stark surroundings.