Birding Trip Namibia 2009
We had just returned from a 15 day trip through Namibia. It was a journey of
6600 km in which we saw 360 bird species and a lot of mammals and reptiles,
even a run-over black mamba.
Day 1: Cape Town to Noordoewer
Swartland: Black Harrier, Blue Cranes,
Ystervarkspoort, Clanwilliam: Protea Canary, Fairy Flycatcher, Black Eagle,
Greybacked Cisticola
Namaqualand: Martial & Booted Eagle, Lanner Falcon, Greater Kestrel, Chat
Flycatcher, Rufouseared Warbler.
Vioolsdrift / Noordoewer: Lots of Stark's Larks, Greybacked Sparrowlark,
Orange River White-eye, Namaqua Warbler, Yellow Canary
Day 2 : Noordoewer to Aus.
Richtersveld / Orange River: Jackal Buzzard, Karoo Longbilled Lark, Stark's
Lark, Longbilled Pipit, Dusky Sunbird, Goliath Heron, Afr Pied Wagtail,
Willow Warbler, Swallowtailed Bee-eater
Rosh Pinah / Aus: Karoo Korhaan, Blackbreasted Snake Eagle, Chat Flycatcher
Klein Aus Vista: Namaqua Sandgrouse, Barlow's Lark, Damara Canary, Cape
Eagle Owl, Karoo Eremomela
Day 3: Aus to Solitaire:
Pygmy Falcon, Ludwig's Bustard, Kori Bustard with chicks, Rüppell's Korhaan,
Common Swift, Steppe Eagle, Pinkbilled Lark, Desert Cisticola, Great Sparrow
Naukluft Mountains: Monteiro's Hornbill, Rosyfaced Lovebird, Shorttoed Rock
Thrush, Blackbreasted Snake Eagle
Day 4: Solitaire to Swakopmund:
Spreetshoogte Pass: Herero Chat (at foot), Carp's Tit, Ashy Tit,
Fawncoloured Lark, Pinkbilled Lark
Towards Swakopmund: Tractrac Chat (white form), Karoo Chat (white form)
Day 5: Swakopmund / Walvis Bay area
Dune Lark & Ashy Tit (Rooibank), American Golden Plover, Gray's Lark
(northeast of Mile 4 salt works), Terek Sandpiper, Chestnutbanded Plover,
Pomarine Skua.
Day 6: Swakopmund to Omaruru:
Spitzkoppe: Herero Chat, Whitetailed Shrike, Augur Buzzard, Monteiro's
Hornbill, Carp's Tit, Great Sparrow, Violeteared Waxbill
Omaruru / Erongo's: Hartlaub's Francolin, Rockrunner, Whitetailed Shrike,
Bradfield's Swift, Great Spotted Cuckoo, Afr Scops Owl, Damara Hornbill,
Bearded Woodpecker, Pied Babbler, Burntnecked Eremomela, Desert Barred
Warbler
Day 7: Omaruru to Kamanjab:
Brandberg: Benguella Longbilled Lark, Burchell's Courser, Temminck's
Courser, Rüppell's Korhaan
Kamanjab: Madagaskar Bee-eater, Rüppell's Parrot, Ashy Tit, Marico Sunbird,
Black-faced Waxbill, Barecheeked Babbler, Shikra, Whitecrowned Shrike
Day 8: Kamanjab to Kunene River Lodge:
Abdim's Stork, Chestnut Weaver, Redcrested Korhaan, African Cuckoo, Striped
Cuckoo, Damara Hornbill, Dusky Lark, Afr Golden Oriole, Yellowbilled
Oxpecker, Chestnut Weaver
Day 9: Kunene River Lodge:
Grey Kestrel, Rednecked Francolin, Cinderella Waxbill, Rufous-tailed Palm
Thrush, Whitebrowed Coucal, Madagaskar Bee-eater, Giant Eagle Owl,
Greyhooded Kingfisher, Afr Golden Oriole, Swamp Boubou, Mozambique Nightjar
Day 10: Kunene River Lodge to Sachsenheim Guest Farm
Grey Kestrel raiding Redbilled Buffalo Weaver's nest near powerstation at
Ruacana Falls, Great White Egret, Woollynecked Stork, Squacco Heron, Abdim's
Stork, Pygmy Geese & Afr Jacana (all at waterpans in Ovamboland), Afr
Cuckoo, Common Swift, Golden Bishop.
Sachsenheim Guest Farm:
Blackfaced Babbler, Comb Duck, Black Cuckoo, Desert Barred Warbler,
Woollynecked Stork
Day 11: Etosha
Bateleur, Redfooted Falcon, Lesser Moorhen, Saddlebilled Stork, Doublebanded
Courser, Afr & Jacobin Cuckoo, Dusky Lark, Pinkbilled Lark, Carp's Tit,
Icterine Warbler, Cape Penduline Tit, Burntnecked Eremomela, Chestnut Weaver
and several wader species.
Animals include elephant, lion, giraffe, kudu, gemsbuck and lots of rain.
Day 12: Sachsenheim Guest Farm to Waterberg Mountain Camp
Redfooted Falcon, Lesser Spotted Eagle, Afr Hawk Eagle, Goldentailed
Woodpecker, Ashy Tit, Shorttoed Rock Thrush, Bradfield's Hornbill
Waterberg Mountain Camp:
Rockrunner, Hartlaub's Francolin, Freckled Nightjar Paradise Whydah,
Goldentailed Woodpecker and an afternoon of rain.
Day 13: Waterberg Mountain Camp to Marienthal:
Whitebacked & Hooded Vulture, Lesser Spotted Eagle, Afr Hawk Eagle,
Bradfield's Swift, Melba Finch
Marienthal:
About 80 - 100 Marabou Storks at the abattoir, Bradfield's Swift, Hottentot
Teal & Afr Black Duck in Fish River.
Day 14: Marienthal to Springbok:
Peregrine Falcon, hundreds of Namaqua Sandgrouses coming to drink at a pan
and chased by Lanner Falcons and Steppe Buzzard, thousands of Barn Swallows
emerging early morning from the reeds in Fish River, Swallowtailed Bee-eater
Springbok (Spektakelberg area):
Layard's Titbabbler, Karoo Lark, Dusky Sunbird
Day 15: Springbok to Cape Town
As on every trip you will always have the odd missings and on this trip it
was:
No Black, Openbilled or Yellowbilled Storks, no Brown Snake or Afr Fish
Eagles?, only one sighting of a flying Rüppell's Parrot, no Chestnutbacked
Sparrowlarks.
