BIRDSCONTOUR REPORT (22.09.’13 – 05.10.’13)
Text from Stefan Rust
2013
(In terms of the Geneva Convention the copyright of these
texts belong to Stefan Rust)
Dear birding friends,
as birdwatching is a relatively new and one of the fastest
growing and a most popular pursuit, it attracts people of all ages around the
world. There can hardly be a better place than southern Africa (Namibia,
Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swaziland, Lesotho, South Africa) to nurture an
interest in birds as it supports almost 1000 bird species, which is about 10
per cent of the world's entire bird. Taking birding to new heights,
Hobby-Ornithologist Stefan Rust together with BirdsConTour represents some of
the ontour bird sightings and several other interesting birding aspects to
showcase the fun of birding, promote citizen science, highlight conservation,
indicate where to view what birds and raise awareness of southern Africa's
(sometimes international) birds and their habitats.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS WORK GETS DISTRIBUTED INTERNATIONALLY
Have a quick look if you, your site or neighborhood is
included in this scientific informational work (alphabetically arranged):
A-little-Sossus Lodge
Canyon Roadhouse (Gondwana Collection)
Chamäleon Reisen
Diaz Point
Damara Mopane Lodge (Gondwana Collection)
Etosha Safari Camp (Gondwana Collection)
Etosha NP. (Gemsbokvlakte and Okondeka Waterhole)
Farm Omandumba (Deike & Harald Rust)
Farm Voigtland (Stephan & Gabi Voigts)
Fish River
Fish River Canyon
Frans Indongo Lodge
Garub Wild Horses
Gemsbokvlakte Waterhole (Etosha NP)
Gondwana Collection (Etosha Safari Camp)
Hohenstein Lodge
Kalahari Farmhouse (Gondwana Collection)
Klein Aus Vista
Lüderitz
Mesosaurus Fossils
Okondeka Waterhole (Etosha NP.)
Onjala Lodge
Pack Safari
Penduka
Petrified Forest
Rust Deike & Harald (Farm Omandumba)
Seeheim
Sesriem
Solitaire Guest Farm
Sossusvlei, UNESCO World Heritage Site
Swakopmund
Twyfelfontein
Voigts Gabi & Stephan (Farm Voigtland)
Walvisbay
Windhoek
BirdsConTour Report (Namibia) Personal Highlights:
BIRDSCONTOUR FOR A CLEANER BIRD HABITAT
BURCHELL’S COURSER
ELEVEN GERMAN GUESTS REWARDED
EUROPEAN BEE-EATER
FORK-TAILED DRONGO
MARTIAL EAGLE
SOLITAIRE GUEST FARM – BIRD & BIRDER FRIENDLY AWARD
Distance traveled: 3 810 km
22.09.'13 Farm Voigtland, Windhoek Pied
Crow (1) Regarded as being absent from the
Kalahari and eastern Namibia, even in the area where Farm Voigtland is
situated. But these birds start colonizing these eastern regions of Windhoek,
probably because of increase of urban areas.
22.09.'13 Penduka, Windhoek Great
White Pelican (60) The Goreangab Dam where
Penduka is situated seems to have developed into a suitable habitat for these
big birds. Their communal fishing practices impress guests visiting the Penduka
Restaurant. While dining, guests can observe how small flocks gather to form
larger ones for communal fishing in this clear water. When large shoals of fish
are found, cooperative groups of pelicans form ‘U’-shapes to herd fish prey
into shallow water in the attempt to increase the catch success.
23.09.'13 Turnoff to Mount Etjo BirdsConTour
for a cleaner Bird Habitat Another
BirdsConTour for a cleaner Bird Habitat cleaning session was held while being
on an Etosha tour with an eleven German guest group. Not only can the litter
lying around, including glass bottles, cause a bush fire and threaten bird- and
wildlife in general, but it is no good impression for guests. Today cleaning
was done at the turnoff B1/Mount Etjo where the big termite mount is situated
where visitors often stop to admire the marvelous tower that is created by the
small termite creature.
23.09.'13 Frans Indongo Lodge Fiery-necked
Nightjar (5) While they mostly call at
dusk and dawn, the vocal activity seems to be determined by the light
intensity, since the longest calling takes place on nights when the moon shines
and birds start calling already late afternoon on overcast days, such as today.
24.09.'13 Allgemeine Zeitung, Namibia Rosy-faced
Lovebird An article of these interesting
birds was published in the Allgemeine Zeitung. Read more under
www.birdscontour.blogspot.com.
24.09.'13 Etosha NP. Red-capped Lark (4) Found less common in northern parts of southern
Africa but is well represented in the Etosha NP.
24.09.'13 Etosha Safari Camp (Gondwana Collection)
Carp’s Tit (2) This near-endemic
species is named after Bernard Carp, a South African naturalist who financed an
ornithological exploration in southern Africa.
25.09.'13 Etosha Safari NP. Burchell’s
Courser (1) Classified as an uncommon
breeding near-endemic species. Although it is not listed in the Red Data Books,
the rapid decrease in population size and local extinctions in Botswana and
South Africa in the past 50-150 years are cause for concern. Habitat change
because of intensive agriculture (irrigation and use of pesticides) probably
plays a role but does not explain population decrease in the Kalahari unless
movement between Kalahari and eastern South Africa takes place.
25.09.'13 Etosha Safari Camp (Gondwana
Collection) Fork-tailed Drongo
(1) At the camping site a Fork-tailed Drongo can be observed and photographed
in close proximity because this bird associates with moving humans in the
attempt to catch flushed prey.
26.09.'13 Petrified Forest Rüppell’s
Korhaan (3) Preferred habitat of these
birds, near-endemic to western Namibia, are the gravel and sandy plains of the
Namib Desert where the rainfall does not exceed 200 mm. Only 17 % of the
Namibian population, estimated at about 100 000 birds, can be found in
mountainous area. Therefore it was interesting to have seen these three birds
in the mountainous area of the Petrified Forest.
26.09.'13 Twyfelfontein, Organ Pipes African
Harrier-Hawk (2) Where this pair has been
seen there are no large trees, the preferred habitat for breeding. The next
larger trees are in the Aba Huab River, not far away. Interestingly enough
there lives a pair of Verreauxs’ Eagles in the neighborhood, even having raised
a chick, juvenile by now, although it is known that the year-round territorial
African Harrier-Hawks react aggressive towards other raptors, including
Verreauxs’ Eagles.
26.09.'13 Damara Mopane Lodge (Gondwana
Collection) White-tailed Shrike
(1) Damara Mopane Lodge with its biologically managed garden serves as an oasis
for a wide variety of wild birds being attracted. Guests are impressed by many
different species, one highlight being a species that is near-endemic to
Namibia, the White-tailed Shrike. While relaxing in the garden with a cocktail
in your hands this speciality hops around you, doing its work as pest
controller.
27.09.'13 Farm Omandumba Common
Scimitarbill (2) A pair can often be
observed foraging in the same tree, whereas the male concentrates on the main
trunk and the larger branches and the female among smaller outer branches. The
sexual difference in bill length and size probably sorts out the inter-sexual
competition for food and foraging.
27.09.'13 Hohenstein Lodge Herero
Chat (2) Hohenstein Lodge, an ideal place
to spot this special bird. Given the fact that the Herero Chat occurs in such a
restricted range within Namibia and that it is near-endemic to Namibia, it is
given the Amber status in this country.
28.09.'13 Swakopmund Fork-tailed
Drongo (1) A more intense westward
expansion onto the coast of Namibia seems to take place. This individual was
seen in the town park of Swakopmund between the beech and Strand Street, height
of Orange House.
29.09.'13 Walvisbay Eurasian Curlew (1) Their breeding range has expanded in
northwestern Europe since 1900 but the eastern population decreased because of
intensive agriculture in south central Siberia. Interestingly their numbers
have decreased in southern Africa also since 1900.
29.09.'13 Solitaire Guest Farm Bird &
Birder Friendly Award The latest
addition to the bird and birder friendly awardees has been awarded with a two
penguin rated Bird & Birder Friendly Award.
Solitaire Guest
Farm, which is situated about ten minutes drive east of Solitaire, with
breathtaking views, offers their guests ideal bird watching opportunities.
With a bird
friendly waterhole and garden, the guest farm attracts a diversity of real
desert birds for guests to easily observe.
30.09.'13 Sossusvlei, Namib Sand Sea World
Heritage Site It is scary what devastating footprints guests cause
with their visit to Sossusvlei. A research showed that every guest climbing the
dune Dune 45, walking to the Death Vlei and back and/or walking in the
surrounding of Sossusvlei unconsciously kills with his or her stay an average
of ±50 small animals (ants, beetles etc.). With hundred guests per day this is
a loss of ±5 000 potential food items of in this case birds. Given the fact
that most birds living in this hot and dry part of the Namib Desert prey on
small animals to replenish their body moisture as an alternative to water,
these footprints left behind by the guests cause a big loss in possible
moisture for the feathered animals. This results in a severe decrease of the
natural bird population in this area.
To counteract this negative influence and to help the
birds to replenish their body moisture, BirdsConTour together with Pack Safari
and Chamäleon (German travel company) came up with a solution. Every tour guide
who leads Chamäleon guests into the Sossusvlei area takes a portable water
feeder, constructed and funded by BirdsConTour, along. When the tour vehicle is
parked at the 4x4 parking area, the guide fills the water feeder and hangs it
to the wiper, a tree or puts it onto the ground close to the Pack Safari tour
vehicle. With peace of mind, the Pack Safari guide together with the Chamäleon
guests can now go and discover and enjoy the Sossusvlei area, while the birds
can refill their needed body moisture with water as an alternative for the
small animals that are destroyed unconsciously by each visitor.
30.09.'13 Sesriem Rock Kestrel (1) Probably a pair is breeding in this
surrounding. Rock Kestrels are well represented in the protected area of this
Namib Naukluft Park.
30.09.'13 A-little-Sossus Lodge Great
Sparrow (2) Unlike all other Sparrow species
in southern Africa, the Great Sparrow is the only species that has not adapted
to human settlements. Sometimes they visit rural gardens.
01.10.'13 Tourismus Namibia Yellow-billed
Stork Find out why the German name of this
bird is Nimmersatt under www.birdscontour.blogspot.com.
The article was published in the Tourismus section of the Allgemeine Zeitung.
01.10.'13 Garub, Wild Horses Greater
Kestrel (2) Establishment of electricity
and telephone lines has increased its range. To advertise their territory, they
perch prominent. It is not known that this species drink or bathe.
01.10.'13 Klein Aus Vista Karoo
Scrub-Robin (1) Klein Aus Vista has
another special bird to show birdwatchers, the endemic Karoo Scrub-Robin. Three
subspecies occur in southern Africa and the Cercotrichas coryphoeus abbotti
is the least common one, represented in the garden of the establishment.
02.10.'13 Dias Point Kelp Gull (1) Mr. Marc Davis spotted a Kelp Gull about 60 km
inland on the B1 tarred road, Lüderitz to Aus, quite some distance outside its
usual distribution area. A Pied Crow mobbed this big bird. It is well known
that individuals specialize in particular foraging techniques, but in general
they are generalist foragers and scavengers. It is recorded that they sometimes
kill birds as big as Hartlaub’s Gulls and terns. They even occasionally rob
Rock Kestrels and Sacred Ibises of food. Other food includes eggs and chicks.
It is not impossible that this individual specializes on
following the tarred road this far inland to scavenge on roadkills and
harassing Greater Kestrels, Rock Kestrels, Cape Crows and even Pied Crows in an
attempt to get to these species’ eggs and chicks, knowing it is their breeding
season this time of the year.
02.10.'13 Lüderitz Capped Wheatear (2) Although described as being rare in drier
habitats, one bird was found in Lüderitzbucht the city itself and one was found
inbetween Lüderitz and Aus, 60 km west of Aus. It is known that most birds are
in their breeding areas during July and November but move into drier areas soon
thereafter. So the question is if these two birds are done with their breeding
activities, or are they residents in these areas?
02.10.'13 Klein Aus Vista Layard’s
Tit-Babbler (2) The drainage lines here
are perfect spots to view this endemic Tit-Babbler in close neighborhood with
the more common Chestnut-vented Tit-Babbler.
03.10.’13 Fish
River BirdsConTour for a
cleaner Bird Habitat Another BirdsConTour
for a cleaner Bird Habitat cleaning session was held while being on an Etosha
tour with an eleven German guest group. Not only can the litter lying around,
including glass bottles, cause a bush fire and threaten bird- and wildlife in
general, but it is no good impression for guests. Today cleaning was done at
the picnic site at the start of the bridge crossing the Fish River, nearby
Seeheim.
03.10.'13 Fish River Canyon Common
Ostrich (3) More than sixty percent of its
daytime these birds spent on walking, up to 18.5 km daily, within an average
home range of 84.3 square kilometer.
03.10.'13 Canyon Roadhouse (Gondwana Collection) Red-faced Mousebird (5) Some fruit farmers in South Africa consider
these birds a pest because the feed on fruits of all different plants. During
cold temperatures they perch in an upright position with legs apart, facing
towards the sun while raising their short hair-like belly feathers to expose
the skin to the sun.
04.10.'13 Mesosaurus Fossils Martial
Eagle (1) An alarming drop of 60% in the
population size occurred in the last few years. Of biggest concern are areas
with a high density of powerlines, areas where temperatures increased, areas
where prey abundance diminished and where small stock farming is practiced.
Although protected areas are a stronghold, the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and
the Kruger National Park show a decline of 45%. What causes this is busy being
studied and sightings of tagged birds should please be reported to MartialEagleSightings@gmail.com.
04.10.'13 Kalahari Farmhouse (Gondwana Collection)
Bird & Birder Friendly Award
By traveling directly with
BirdsConTour or making use of a guide from BirdsConTour you support bird
conservation and create an economic platform for local livelihoods. Sometimes
travelers also participate in other BirdsConTour projects. To say THANK YOU,
every tour participant receives a Bird & Birder Friendly Award at the end
of the tour.
Eleven German-speaking guests were rewarded with one
penguin-rated Bird & Birder Friendly Awards:
Billmann Silke & Michael
Breitenstein Dorothea & Peter
Dörner Marion
Finke Evelyn
Hoffmann Ingrid
Jonas Helena Maria Yvonne
Müller Lutz
Welcker Irene
Wirtz Heinrich Wilhelm
This Etosha Tour, organized by Pack Safari and Chamäleon
Reisen, took place from the 22nd of September until the 5th
of October 2013.
05.10.'13 Onjala Lodge European
Bee-eater (8) Most summer arrivals from
Eurasia are mid August to early October, migrating in flocks, sometimes with
the Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters. The southwestern Western Cape populations
collapsed in the mid 1990’s, causes unknown!
05.10.'13 Windhoek African
Paradise-Flycatcher (1) This breeding
migrant has arrived in Windhoek. The Von Falkenhausen male is giving its
presence away through its territorial song.
Enjoy Birding,
Stefan Rust
Please note: Most scientific information has been taken
from Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, V11th edition!
(For further reading see www.birdscontour.blog.com)
(For more information contact Stefan Rust on +264
(0)81 129 8415 or birdscontour@iway.na)
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