It's Raining Birds - Northern Namibian Birding 2008 : Date Posted 15 July 08

The Felix Unite Northern Namibian Birding Trip has become something of an institution. More than 15 years on it has seen its fair share of excitement and incident. It has also reeled in some pretty spectacular birds, including, among a list of seriously rare birds, Namibia’s first ever Gull-billed Tern.

 For the past few years, northern Namibia has had good summer rains and, as a result, the birding tour has been pulling in species scores of 320 or more. This year, however, the rain gods really raised the ante, with parts of Namibia receiving the heaviest summer rains in 50 years and sections of Ovamboland being declared disaster areas. The Skeleton Coast had a decade’s worth of rain in a day, and the rains carried on all the way through March. As the guests gathered at the start of the trip in Windhoek under a thundery sky, trip leader Phil Hockey contemplated what the exceptional rains could mean in terms of where the birds might be found – the amount of standing water in the landscape was unprecedented, and this was bound to have an effect on the birds. Uncertainty aside, perhaps the Peregrine Falcon that flew past us down Independence Avenue as guests exited the Kalahari Sands Hotel to start the tour was a portent of good things to come.

 The trip followed a well-established, successful itinerary, heading through the Namib Desert to the coast, then north through the Erongo Hills, on to the Cunene River at the Angolan border and then back via the vast Etosha Game Reserve.
 The very first morning in the Daan Viljoen Nature Reserve just outside Windhoek suggested that Phil’s prediction that we should expect the unexpected was right on the money –we found Verreaux’s Eagle-Owl, Common Squacco Heron and Black Duck, none of which had ever been seen here on the trip before.

 Heading north from Windhoek to Okahandja, there was plenty of evidence of Chestnut Weaver nests – another indicator of good rain – but these colonies had already finished breeding and were abandoned. Not much further west, however, we found these beautiful weavers aplenty. Near the village of Karibib we started to rack up some of the important Namibian specials, such as Rockrunner, Herero Chat, White-tailed Shrike and Rüppell’s Korhaan. Overcast skies made birding this area a pleasure – at this time of year in a normal year the midday temperatures are enough to make any well-seasoned Bedouin break into a healthy sweat. Even at the birding Mecca of the Spitzkoppe the temperatures were sub-lethal, and Rosy-faced Lovebirds and Monteiro’s Hornbills could be enjoyed at leisure. From Spitzkoppe across the Namib is often a quiet trip, with time to soak up the spectacular desert scenery before arriving in the Henties Bay time warp. Not so this year – Benguela Long-billed Lark, Stark’s Lark, Gray’s Lark and Burchell’s Coursers as well as a spiral of raptors feeding at a termite emergence all had the twitchers twitching and the drivers tap-dancing on the pedals!
 The coastal leg of the trip is always rich in birds and 2008 was no exception. There were many more Damara Terns than usual (although it is difficult to understand why heavy rains should have delayed their departure for west Africa), and guests were also able to enjoy some regional rarities, including Common Redshank and Red-necked Phalarope. – and there were displaying Dune Larks in the Kuiseb River.

 The journey from the coast to the Cunene River, with two overnight stops en route, produced its normal shower of great birds, among them Lüdwig’s Bustard, Rüppell’s Parrot, Violet Wood-Hoopoe, Damara Hornbill, Hartlaub’s Spurfowl, Burchell’s Sandgrouse, Red-footed Falcon, Madagascar Bee-eater, Dusky Lark and Yellow-billed Oxpecker. The Cunene River itself formed the northernmost point of our trip. Here, the target birds are Grey Kestrel, Rufous-tailed Palm-Thrush and Cinderella Waxbill – the latter proving tricky because of the abundance of surface water away from the river. The heavy rains and green woodland also gave a few nervous moments in the search for Bare-cheeked Babbler – normally common along the river banks, the birds had moved out into the Mopane woodland – and there is an awful lot of Mopane woodland! But we found them!

 Regardless of conditions, however, birding the Cunene is always exciting, and 2008 was no exception – the birds just kept coming. Not far from the river and a firm favourite on the birding trips in wetter years is the Ulusuti Dam. The fringing reeds and papyrus beds are exciting habitats – how many places are there in southern Africa where you can see 11 species of herons in a short visit? Well, we managed, and among them were ‘good’ birds such as Rufous-bellied and Black Herons, and Little Bittern. But just to give an idea of the diversity, we also saw Osprey, Lesser Black-backed Gull, African Snipe and Pink-billed Lark.
But rather than continuing with a travelogue, let’s pick out a few highlights. How about Black-winged Pratincole and Pallid Harrier almost in same field of view? In Etosha, half an hour after watching Black-faced Babblers ‘up close and personal’, we were watching a Leopard equally close and personal. On the way across Etosha, we found a Sooty Falcon among mixed flocks of Eurasian Hobbies, Red-footed and Amur Falcons: not long afterwards, after watching a pair of Wattled Cranes (a bird Phil has never before seen in Etosha), we watched thousands of Abdim’s Storks restlessly preparing for their journey to the northern African savannas.
 There were, of course, other highlights of a slightly different nature! Dining on oysters and champagne (oops, sorry – sparkling wine) after an epic day’s birding at the coast. Spotting our first Carp’s Tit of the trip only because one of the vehicles had to stop for an emergency (gastric) evacuation. Having to cook supper twice in one night because the first attempt was literally washed out by a tropical deluge that barely gave five minutes warning of its arrival. Standing disconsolately watching a torrent sweep across the road to the Waterberg, cutting of our route to our night-time stop (but that was fine, because instead of the Waterberg we ended up in very luxurious accommodation in the hills to the south of Windhoek literally surrounded by Orange River Francolins, a bird that had eluded us for the rest of the trip).
 So, to revisit Phil’s original prediction that this was not going to be a ‘normal’ year. It certainly wasn’t, but rain apart we managed to notch up the largest species list ever recorded on this trip – almost 340 species in only two weeks!

This is a very good score, but running a trip under these conditions certainly isn’t easy, and its smooth operation despite the contrary wills of the rain gods was made possible by the experience and dedication of Colin, the team leader and a veteran of the trip, ably supported by Cuan, Terry, Fleur and Samantha. It also helps, of course that the guests understood that not all the vagaries of Africa are tamed by the click of a finger. In the words of a friend of Phil’s – “Africa is not for sissies”! But its birds are worth it!
 But, apart from death and taxes, change is one of the few certainties in life. From 2009, the famed birding trip will be having a facelift. The fear of sodden tents, deflating airbeds and sand-blasted T-bones will have gone. The trip, for the first time ever, will be fully accommodated, taking advantage of the many excellent facilities that Namibia offers, even in the destinations of the beaten track and the tourist map such as Usakos and Ruacana. Goodbye to the old and hello to the new.

For further information and visuals on this spectacular trip please click here

DATE POSTED : 15 JULY 2008