201 | BIRDSCONTOUR REPORT (18.01.-28.01.'14)

201

Art. # 201

BIRDSCONTOUR REPORT

(18.01.’14 – 28.01.’14)

Text and photos from Stefan Rust

2014

(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

Sites and countries visited during this period incl. amount of species per site:

(0-0 - Haven’t been there myself)

(single letter – indicates several sites per day)

25.01:        Scientific Society lecture hall (Pack Safari tour guide workshop), Windhoek,       

                  Namibia

25.01: 0-0 Onjala Lodge

25.01: (A) Kempinski Estate, Windhoek (9 species)

26.01: (A) Avis Dam, Windhoek (64 species)

26.01: (B) Garden Olympia, Windhoek (12 species)

27.01: (A) Road from Windhoek (3 species) – (B) Farm Sonnleiten, 45 km east of    

                  Windhoek (76 species)

Total Distance traveled:

210 km

Have a quick look if your name is included in this scientific informational work (alphabetically arranged):

Ahrens Elke (Namibia)

Austermühle Horst (Namibia)

Bahr Hans-Jürgen (Namibia)

Becker Klaus (Namibia)

Beukes Manilow (Namibia)

Byrne Holger (Namibia)

Deutschmann Heiner (Namibia)

Flor-Wunder Michael (Namibia)

Gaerdes Bernd (Namibia)

Giel Andrea (Namibia)

Gillmann Martin (Namibia)

Hellmich Henner (Namibia)

Jagdhuber Armin (Namibia)

Kendzia Hannelise (Namibia)

Maldera Giuseppe (Namibia)

Mühlberger Muhli (Namibia)

Müller Thomas (Namibia)

Nickel Freddy (Namibia)

Pack Livia & Peter (Namibia)

Rohrmann Dirk (Namibia)

Rösemann Harald (Namibia)

Rust Heidi (Namibia)

Schmidt-Dumont Jörn (Namibia)

Schultz Alfred (Namibia)

Seifart Rainer (Namibia)

Sindlgruber Andreas (Namibia)

Swart Chris (Namibia)

Van Biljon Maja (Namibia)

Von Alten Victor (Namibia)

Winter Jürgen (Namibia)

Wittreich Maria (Namibia)

Personal Highlights:

PACK SAFARI TOUR GUIDE WORKSHOP

Index to bird species observed in this period:

(English names and date when seen)

(*  - See text about species on according date beneath species list)

(A or B – Appears when species is recorded at different sites on same day, specifying where on according date beneath species list)

-Acacia Pied Barbet   26.1.(A) / 27.1.(B) /

-African Hoopoe   27.1.(B) /

-African Palm-Swift   26.1.(A)(B) /

-African Pipit   26.1.(A) /

-African Red-eyed Bulbul   26.1.(A)(B) / 27.1.(B) /

-African Fish-Eagle   26.1.(A) /

-Ant-eating Chat   27.1.(B) /

-Barn Swallow   27.1.(B) /

-Barred Wren-Warbler   26.1.(A) / 27.1.(B) /

-Black-chested Prinia   25.1.(A) / 26.1.(A) / 27.1.(B) /

-Black-faced Waxbill   26.1.(A) / 27.1.(B) /

-Black-throated Canary   26.1.(A)(B) /

-Black Cuckoo   26.1.(A) / 27.1.(B) /

-Blacksmith Lapwing   27.1.(B) /

-Blue Waxbill   26.1.(A)(B) /

-Bradfield’s Swift   26.1.(A) /

-Brown-crowned Tchagra   26.1.(A) / 27.1.(B) /

-Brubru   26.1.(A) / 27.1.(B) /

-Burchell’s Starling   27.1.(B) /

-Cape Glossy Starling   26.1.(A) / 27.1.(B) /

-Cape Penduline-Tit   27.1.(B) /

-Cape Turtle-Dove   26.1.(A) / 27.1.(A)(B) /

-Cape Wagtail   26.1.(A)(B) / 27.1.(B) /

-Chestnut-vented Tit-Babbler   25.1.(A) / 26.1.(A) / 27.1.(B) /

-Cinnamon-breasted Bunting   25.1.(A) / 26.1.(A) /

-Common House-Martin   27.1.(B) /

-Common Scimitarbill   27.1.(B) /

-Common Swift   26.1.(A) / 27.1.(B) /

-*Common Waxbill   27.1.*(B) /

-Crimson-breasted Shrike   26.1.(A) / 27.1.(B) /

-Diderick Cuckoo   26.1.(A) / 27.1.(B) /

-Dusky Sunbird   26.1.(A) / 27.1.(B) /

-*Dwarf Bittern   27.1.*(B) /

-Egyptian Goose 26.1.(A) / 27.1.(B) /

-European Bee-eater   26.1.(A)(B) /

-Familiar Chat   26.1.(A) / 27.1.(B) /

-Fork-tailed Drongo   27.1.(B) /

-Gabar Goshawk   26.1.(A) /

-Golden-breasted Bunting   27.1.(B) /

-Golden-tailed Woodpecker   27.1.(B) /

-Great Sparrow   26.1.(A) / 27.1.(B) /

-Great Spotted Cuckoo   27.1.(B) /

-Greater Striped Swallow   25.1.(A) / 26.1.(A) / 27.1.(B) /

-Grey-backed Cisticola   26.1.(A) / 27.1.(B) /

-Grey Go-away-bird   25.1.(A) / 26.1.(A) / 27.1.(B) /

-Groundscraper Thrush   26.1.(A) / 27.1.(B) /

-Helmeted Guineafowl   26.1.(A) / 27.1.(B) /

-House Sparrow   26.1.(B) /

-Kalahari Scrub-Robin   26.1.(A) / 27.1.(B) /

-Klaas’s Cuckoo   26.1.(A) /

-Laughing Dove   25.1.(A) / 26.1.(A)(B) / 27.1.(B) /

-Lesser Grey Shrike   26.1.(A) / 27.1.(A) /

-Little Swift   25.1.(A) / 26.1.(A)(B) / 27.1.(A)(B) /

-Long-billed Crombec   27.1.(B) /

-Marico Flycatcher   26.1.(A) / 27.1.(B) /

-Marico Sunbird   26.1.(A) / 27.1.(B) /

-Mountain Wheatear   26.1.(A) /

-Namaqua Dove   27.1.(B) /

-Pale-winged Starling   26.1.(A) /

-Pearl-breasted Swallow   27.1.(B) /

-Pied Babbler   27.1.(B) /

-Pririt Batis   26.1.(A) / 27.1.(B) /

-Rattling Cisticola   26.1.(A) /

-*Red-backed Shrike   26.1.*(A) / 27.1.(B) /

-Red-billed Buffalo-Weaver   27.1.(B) /

-Red-billed Spurfowl   26.1.(A)(B) / 27.1.(B) /

-Red-billed Teal   27.1.(B) /

-Red-crested Korhaan   26.1.(A) / 27.1.(B) /

-Red-headed Finch   26.1.(A) / 27.1.(B) /

-Rock Kestrel   26.1.(A) / 27.1.(B) /

-Rock Martin   25.1.(A) / 26.1.(A) / 27.1.(B) /

-Rockrunner   26.1.(A)

-Rosy-faced Lovebird   26.1.(A) / 27.1.(B) /

-Sabota Lark   27.1.(B) /

-Scaly-feathered Finch   27.1.(B) /

-Shaft-tailed Whydah   26.1.(A) / 27.1.(B) /

-Southern Grey-headed Sparrow   27.1.(B) /

-Southern Masked-Weaver   26.1.(A)(B) / 27.1.(B) /

-Southern Red Bishop   26.1.(A) /

-Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill   26.1.(A) / 27.1.(B) /

-Speckled Pigeon   27.1.(B) /

-Spotted Flycatcher   27.1.(B) /

-Swallow-tailed Bee-eater   27.1.(B) /

-Verreaux’s Eagle   27.1.(B) /

-Violet-eared Waxbill   27.1.(B) /

-Wattled Starling   26.1.(A) / 27.1.(B) /

-White-backed Mousebird   26.1.(A)(B) / 27.1.(B) /

-White-breasted Cormorant   26.1.(A) /

-White-browed Sparrow-Weaver   26.1.(A) / 27.1.(B) /

-White-rumped Swift   27.1.(B) /

-Willow Warbler   26.1.(A) /

-Wood Sandpiper   27.1.(B) /

-Yellow-bellied Eremomela   26.1.(A) / 27.1.(B) /

-*Yellow-crowned Bishop   27.1.*(B) /

-Zitting Cisticola   26.1.(A) / 27.1.(B) /

Total number of species identified:

95

25.01.'14  Pack Safari Tourguide Workshop (Scientific Society lecture hall), Windhoek, Namibia  Birds in Words / Bird & Birder Friendly Award  BirdsConTour held a Powerpoint presentation for the Pack Safari tour guides on 4 BirdsConTour projects, namely “Bird of the Year”, “Water for Sossus Birds”, “Bird & Birder Friendly Award” and “Birding Tours”. For their participation on the Water for Sossus Birds project the guides were each awarded with a two penguin-rated Bird & Birder Friendly Award. On this occasion also Livia and Peter Pack were awarded with a two penguin-rated Award for their bird friendly garden in Windhoek and the Onjala Lodge three penguin-rated Award from the previous year was renewed.

List of awarded tour guides (also online in Birds in Words www.birdscontour.blogspot.com in article 71):

Ahrens Elke (Namibia)

Austermühle Horst (Namibia)

Bahr Hans-Jürgen (Namibia)

Becker Klaus (Namibia)

Beukes Manilow (Namibia)

Byrne Holger (Namibia)

Deutschmann Heiner (Namibia)

Flor-Wunder Michael (Namibia)

Gaerdes Bernd (Namibia)

Hellmich Henner (Namibia)

Jagdhuber Armin (Namibia)

Kendzia Hannelise (Namibia)

Maldera Giuseppe (Namibia)

Mühlberger Muhli (Namibia)

Müller Thomas (Namibia)

Nickel Freddy (Namibia)

Rohrmann Dirk (Namibia)

Rösemann Harald (Namibia)

Schmidt-Dumont Jörn (Namibia)

Schultz Alfred (Namibia)

Seifart Rainer (Namibia)

Sindlgruber Andreas (Namibia)

Swart Chris (Namibia)

Van Biljon Maja (Namibia)

Von Alten Victor (Namibia)

Winter Jürgen (Namibia)

Wittreich Maria (Namibia)

A more detailed rendition of this workshop can be found in article 194 in Birds in Words (www.birdscontour.blogspot.com).

26.01.'14  Avis Dam, Windhoek, Namibia  Red-backed Shrike (1) Unusual for shrikes, this species shows a clear color difference between male and female. Its behavior of impaling prey items on natural or artificial spikes as storage, called “larders”, gave it its country name butcher bird. This summer visitor to Europe once bred commonly in Britain but is for years only a scarce passage migrant. Excitement was big when 18 years later, in 2010, for the first time since then, a pair raised chicks in Dartmoor.

27.01.’14  Farm Sonnleiten, 45 km east of Windhoek, Namibia  Dwarf Bittern (1) When this generally uncommon bird is alarmed it stands motionless with its neck upstretched and its bill points skyward

27.01.’14  Farm Sonnleiten, 45 km east of Windhoek, Namibia  Yellow-crowned Bishop (2 males and a few females) Regarded as uncommon in central Namibia, this species appears following good rains. They nest generally in wet area. Both males defended their territory desperately against Common Waxbills.

27.01.’14  Farm Sonnleiten, 45 km east of Windhoek, Namibia  Common Waxbill (2) It is the first time that this species has been noticed on Farm Sonnleiten. It lives in grass, reeds and rushes near water. Many of their pear-shaped nests have a false nest (cock’s nest) built on top of the main nest. Apparently they often weave fur from carnivore scat or fresh carnivore scat into the nest to prevent nest predation. It was observed that they dip the scat into the water to enhance its smell.

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.blogspot.com)

(For more information contact Stefan Rust on +264 (0)81 129 8415 or birdscontour@iway.na)