Walvis Bay

The scenery quickly transformed from sand

 to rock & gravel.

Pretty desolate around here!

Gray's Lark.

Perfectly camouflaged in this barren landscape.

Always tough to get close to them.

We drove north from Bushman's through some barren, but very scenic countryside on 24th March. As we got closer to Walvis Bay the environment became increasingly bleak & barren, as we were driving through the Dorob National Park. We saw a couple of Lappet-faced Vultures (here at their highest breeding density in the country) & eventually two Gray's Larks. This latter species is always found in the most inhospitable of terrains, where virtually no other species is present. 

We were spending the next six nights in Walvis because Delana had a virtual workshop to conduct on a project she was working on in Zambia. How times have changed! Working with a team scattered all over South Africa & Zambia while travelling on the road with a caravan! The internet has changed our lives & in some cases for the better.

Our camping site. Sheltered from the constant high

 winds which characterise this part of the country.

The work station all set up in the caravan.

This cat quickly made itself at home & was with us

 for the next six nights.

There is good beer & nice restaurants 

in this part of the country.

Our restaurant.

Walvis Bay was chosen as it had good internet connectivity & it was a great place for me to go birding while Delana was working. However, it was not all pleasure, as we had to fix the movers on the caravan which had stopped working, as had our camping fridge in the car. Both were fixed, but took a lot of my time. We had chosen a camping resort right on the edge of town where I had stayed before. It was a complete concrete environment (not ideal) but had all the facilities that we need over the coming week. It proved an excellent choice & birding began just three hundred metres away! 

Thousands of waders were on these mudflats.

Curlew Sandpipers & Common Ringed Plover.

Curlew Sandpiper coming into summer plumage.

Close to full summer plumage.

Little Stint

This species was still in winter plumage, 

indicating that it gets to its breeding grounds

 later than the previous species.

Sanderling

Common Greenshank

Grey Plover in summer plumage.

Common Ringed Plover

White-fronted Plover

With small fish!

Great White Pelican

Kelp Gull

Hartlaub's Gull

Grey-headed Gull

Caspian Tern

Common Tern

Damara Tern

White-winged Black Tern

Nice to see birds in full summer plumage.

Not all birds were in summer plumage.

Every day I would go birding in the tidal areas of Walvis Bay. The place was thronged with waders. One day I noted 1,2,50 Curlew Sandpipers of which most were in summer plumage. There were huge numbers of both Little Stints & Bar-tailed Godwits. A good variety of Terns were seen, as well as up to 90 Great White Pelicans. It was a pleasant few days birding in an unusual habitat.