We arrived at Shamvura Camp mid-afternoon on the 3rd November, after a long drive on mainly gravel roads. We were also delayed quite a while by road works close to Rundu. I had been wanting to visit this camp for quite a while as it is a legendary area for birders, with a bird list of over 400 species.
We were greeted by Mark & Charlie Paxton (the owners) & shown around the camp. We then went to our private campsite & spent the next two hours setting up camp. We enjoyed pleasant conversation & a nice meal with The Paxton's in the evening. Square-tailed Nightjar & both African Wood Owl & Barn Owl called.
On 4th November we were up early & spent the morning birding the small remnant patch of woodland which surrounds the camp. It is worth noting that most of the original woodland of this region has been cleared by the rapidly expanding human population. Mark & Charlie's small woodland patch is it for birds in this area. We enjoyed the woodland birding, the highlight being a male Shelley's Sunbird, which proved very elusive & ultimately impossible to photograph. It was hyper-active but moving around with the dense canopy. We spent sometime with it, but the views were less than good.
It was a very hot day, so spent quite a bit of time in the pool & birding the garden, which was being watered & therefore attractive to many birds.
The late afternoon & early evening was spent birding from the lookout, which gives views over the river & adjacent floodplain into Angola. it is a very nice spot indeed & we saw 2 African Skimmers (distant), a fly-by Rufous bellied Heron, Osprey, (which is uncommon to rare, for this location), African Marsh Harrier & late on, a distant African Marsh Owl. Just before dark two Grey-headed Parrots flew over calling noisily. This proved to be a regular occurrence, but unfortunately no photos could be obtained because of the lateness of the hour.
On 5th November we birded the garden & from the lookout. Best birds being: White-headed Vulture, Black chested Snake Eagle & Marabou Stork. Yet again it was incredibly hot. We spent the afternoon trying to get better views of Shelly's Sunbird even though we saw a pair the views were poor.
On 6th November we left Shamvura & birded a couple of areas of woodland which were still standing. The variety of species was good but we were hampered by not being able to enter the forest properly because for safety reasons we couldn't leave the car by the roadside. The highlight of the morning was a pair of Racket-tailed Rollers which I eventually obtained some nice photos of.
We spent the rest of the day in camp dodging thunder & lightening, the rain being heavy at times. We saw a female Shelley's Sunbird again but yet again, not brilliant views.
The 7th November was spent birding the dry woodland, trying to obtain better views of Shelley's Sunbird & a couple of hours birding from the lookout.
The late afternoon & evening was spent with Mark on a boat trip along the Okavango River. It was lovely to be out on the river, much cooler than the land. Mark first took us slightly upstream to an area of sandbanks & on he edges of the river some muddy margins. The highlight at this spot being an obliging African Snipe. This is often a very tricky bird to obtain good views of, so both Delana & I were pleased about this sighting.
We slowly motored downstream checking the sandbars & the small, remnant patches of marsh vegetation, In total we saw four Coppery-tailed Coucals along this stretch of the river.
We dodged the groups of Hippos in the river & eventually came to an area with some small rocks & of course Rock Pratincoles were present! This is a species that I don't see very often & it is always a joy to get up close to this little cutie!
Rock Pratincole's nest, with two eggs.
Interestingly, we found a nest on a sandbank (not rocks). The nest contained two eggs & was positioned among pieces of charcoal where some passer by had enjoyed a braii here.
We enjoyed fly by views of 11 African Skimmers; Rufous bellied Heron & 135 Collared Pratincoles which came out to feed above the rive at dusk. Lanner, African Marsh Harrier & late on an African Marsh Owl were seen. All had one thing in common, they proved impossible to photograph!
We enjoyed sundowners on a sandbank & then returned to camp, hearing two Square-tailed Nightjars along the way. We recorded a creditable 59 species on the river & it was a very enjoyable excursion.
The next day we packed up camp, said our goodbyes & hit the road yet again. It had been an enjoyable stay here, but you can't help wondering what it was like 30 years ago. Human encroachment has been rapid & unrelenting in this region & a lot of habitat is alas no more.
No comments:
Post a Comment