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A
few interesting observations over the past year at or around Shamvura
Camp:
(By Mark Paxton == Posted on 9 May 2006) |
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| BIRDS: | Our location, on the Okavango River, is an ideal area in which to find diverse concentrations of birds migrating through to the Southern reaches of South Africa. Being a large body of water affords most migrating birds a rest opportunity before embarking on the arduous journey southwards. Here they have feeding opportunities to increase much needed energy levels. Here these birds seem to be more concentrated and we often pick up the more unusual birds before they disperse into the diverse habitats in the South, were they are less likely to be noticed. Every year results in an ever-increasing list of these more unusual sightings and additions to our area bird list. |
| Egyptian Goose: | (3 January) Unusual to this region, where they are seldom recorded even in conservation areas, two adults were seen in association with some sixty Openbill Storks on a sandbank between Skimmer Island and Matondoti inlet. |
| African Black Duck: | (1 January) Last year during July/August I saw two adults flying into the reeds near Kakeni inlet, the light was quite bad, being at sunset, and I could therefore not be quite sure. However this time one adult was clearly seen sitting on a sandbank together with some thirty Whitefaced Whistling Duck near the Matondoti inlet and would most likely have been one of the pair seen the previous year. |
| Maccoa Duck: | (4 February) eight birds, mixed male and female, seen on a sandbank near Matondoti inlet, late afternoon. |
| American Golden Plover: | (28 January) one bird seen on a diminishing sandbank upstream from Rukwekwe inlet together with a Common Sandpiper and Whitefronted Plover. Although late afternoon (17h00) the bird was quite easy to approach to within 40 metres for easier identification. The following day the bird was again seen at the same location. |
| African Skimmers: | Have increased to a relatively stable group of 35 - 40 birds, which arrive in the area early June, and then settle down to the usual group of 10 - 20 actively breeding birds, while the remainder disperse elsewhere. |
| Northern Black Khorhaan: | Normally absent from this well-wooded region, is now regularly seen, probably due to deforestation causing the open grassland habitats they prefer. |
| Grey-headed Parrots: | A loose group of up to 20 birds in the area still regularly fly over us from their southern roosts to cross the river or feed on the fruit-bearing trees on the property. |
| Lesser Jacana: | Previously not seen here, are now more regular annual visitors to the flooded or water-lily covered areas in the immediate vicinity of Shamvura Camp. |
| Carmine Bee-eaters: | Occupy a colony of approximately 450 nests downstream from us and this has now been their third undisturbed breeding season, resulting in a significant increase of these awe-inspiring birds. This colony is also the only one known for the Okavango River within Namibia and therefore constitutes an important asset to the region. |
| African Snipe: | (21 February) A group of fifteen birds seen during some rainy weather at a swampy area recently waterlogged downstream from the Shamvura / Shinyungwe washing point. |
| Wattled Crane: | (22 February)
(These birds were first noted in the area during May 2003) A pair of adult
birds were seen on the Angolan floodplains opposite Shamvura Camp from the
treetops viewing deck (Ian & Norma Smith, Durban. R.S.A) and were quite
regularly seen for the next week before presumably moving off. On 5th June two adult birds were seen flying over the river near the Kakeni inlet to feed on the Namibian bank. On 7th June I again saw two adult birds flying over the Cuito River junction some 4kms upstream from Shamvura Camp. All the sightings may not have been of only one pair as these floodplains are quite vast extending over some 30kms and largely uninhabited, mostly on the Angolan bank, offering some ideal habitat for these birds to establish themselves in. We are now closely monitoring this extremely rare bird in association with the Namibian Crane Working Group and a club of local students (Makena Ecosystem Protection and Environmental Education club). |
| White-backed Night Heron: | In previous years we were not able to find this bird anywhere along the approximate 18kms stretch of river we regularly use for boat trips. However, it now appears that we have two separate locations where we can often pick up these birds. The one location is between Kashika and Mahangi inlet where individual birds were occasionally seen. The other location is on Kayaru’s island where we now appear to have a resident and nesting pair which operate as far downstream as the Shamvura / Shinyungwe washing point, and are sometimes seen on the canal and at the boat house below the Treetop Cottage. |
| Yellow-billed Duck: | (21 March) although common in South Africa they are very seldom recorded anywhere in Namibia. Two adult birds were seen with a mixed group of Openbill Storks and Whitefaced Whistling Ducks on a sandbank near Matondoti inlet. Two birds were again seen on 25th May in the same vicinity together with a group of Yellowbilled Storks, African Skimmers, and Grey Herons. On 8th October three adult birds were seen flying in the vicinity of Kayaru’s island. This is not a common duck for Namibia, and these sightings are very likely to be the same birds roaming up and down a stretch of about 8kms of river. |
| Grey Plover: | An individual bird was first noted on 22 December 2004 near Matondoti inlet and another on the same day on Kayaru’s island, undoubtedly two different birds. On 17th October 2005 another single bird was noted on a sandbank downstream from Rukwekwe inlet. |
| White Pelicans: | (10 July) A group of fourteen birds were seen near Openbill Roost / Rukwekwe inlet. This group had two adult birds with the rest of the flock being sub adult birds in pre-adult plumage and were easily approached and photographed. |
| African Spoonbill: | (19 June) this is not a commonly seen bird for this region and even in conservation areas like Mahango Game Park. One adult was seen here for almost a week before moving off. |
| Painted Snipe: | (19 June) A female bird was noted near the Rukwekwe inlet and is only the second time over a five year period this bird has been noted for this area. |
| Curlew: | (10 October) a single adult seen and calling distinctively on the river flying upstream in front of Shamvura Camp. |
| Sanderling: | (26 October) Normally a coastal wader, two individual birds were seen, the first near Rukwekwe inlet and the second near the Matondoti inlet. Three birds were first seen in association with a single Turnstone (Also usually a coastal wader) on 3rd October 2004 near the Matondoti inlet. |
| Green Sandpiper: | (23 October) One single bird seen for more than two weeks in the vicinity of the Rukwekwe inlet, most times loosely associated with other small wader species. |
| Bairds Sandpiper: | (26 October) A single bird was first noted in very loose association with Little Stints when first noted downstream from Rukwekwe inlet by myself and Dr. Tersius Gous, who is quite familiar with White-rumped Sandpiper. The behaviour of this bird put it apart from the numerous Little Stints occupying the same sandbank. This bird also appeared much paler in colour and the wingtips extended noticeably past the tail. It was in the same location the following day when it was photographed and stayed for more than a week. It was approached to within 10m quite easily and from this close proximity it’s feeding and posture appeared to be quite different to the Little Stints nearby with which it was not associating. It then moved on with the rising water level of the river gradually covering it’s regular sandbank. This photograph, although not absolutely clear, was circulated on the Internet and was generally disputed by various experts. However I still maintain it’s behaviour and posture was distinctly unlike Little Stint. |
| Sharptailed Starling: | (27 October) although these birds were presumably noted occasionally in our vicinity by various birders over the past years, they have become progressively scarcer over the years. Nowadays they are only regularly noted from Khaudum Park with very occasional sightings in our vicinity or in the western areas of Mahango Game Park. However, together with Dr. Tertius Gous, we picked up what appeared to be a resident or possibly breeding group of three birds very close to Shamvura Camp where they were first seen (and heard) defending a hollowed tree from two Cape Glossy Starlings. Subsequent sightings in this vicinity have confirmed them to still be in this area but wide-ranging. |
| Bronze Mannekin: | ( 31 August) A foraging group of 15 - 20 birds were seen around Shamvura Camp which is quite a range extension for this little bird in Namibia which is only recorded from the western areas of Caprivi. |
| River Warbler: | (28 December) Several calls were heard from the reeds in front of the Treetop Cottage and on the canal while out looking for the resident African Hobby with John and Kerry Glindenning. I then had a confirmed sighting of a bird showing the tail and chest regions. Mistnets a week later failed to capture the bird but did turn up a number of Greater Swamp Warblers normally associated with Papyrus and not reed beds. |
| Rufus barred form of Black Cuckoo: | During December I noted a very heavily barred Black Cuckoo flying around at Shamvura Camp where, every year, we have a cacophony of Black Cuckoo calls when the first rains fall. During late March a similar bird injured itself on one of our windows and was kept alive for several days before succumbing. The bird confirmed itself as an adult female by laying an egg. Literature seems to radically vary on the rarity of this Rufus-barred version but it remains a very strange and interesting sighting. |
| Raptors: | Over the
past 15 years there has been a significant decline in most raptor species
throughout the Kavango Region. Of particular note is Dickinson’s Kestrel,
Western Banded Snake Eagle and Dark Chanting Goshawk, which
could eventually be relied upon to make an appearance in previous years.
At Shamvura Camp we however seem to have an increase in the Fish Eagles
from one pair to up to eight birds which are now becoming quite resident.
Our resident and breeding Black Sparrowhawk every year cull our resident
Guinea fowl troop and every year the African Hobby is doing his methodical
late afternoon forays into the roosting bird life in the reed bed below
the Treetop deck. Of particular interest have been the sightings of Melanistic
Ovambo Sparrowhawks at Shamvura and as far a field as Divundu some 80kms
to the east. We have had three different sightings during April, two of
which were with birding groups from R.S.A (John Bradshaw and Charles Hardy
with their groups). Also during Ruth Urben’s visit, (21st February 2005) I saw a Rufus morph Spotted Eagle Owl near the Khaudom Park northern boundary. This birds orange eyes and orange/Rufus heavily barred chest had me convinced it was the first Cape Eagle Owl recorded in this region. We also had an adult Osprey on 23rd July seen only a short distance downstream from Shamvura Camp. During the summer months we occasionally note this raptor but never during the winter months when it migrates back to the Northern Hemisphere to breed. Clearly global warming is having some effect on the migrating bird life as we’ve even had Greenshanks, Common Sandpipers and Wood Sandpipers over wintering during 2005. I’ve no doubt that George Bush and the Iraqi war are also somehow to blame. If the rest of the world events are generally blamed on him, why can’t we blame unusual birding events on him as well. |
 OTHER ANIMALS AND FISH: |
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| Hippopotomus : | Our resident group of Hippos has now increased to a total of 26 with the inclusion of a small calf seen on 27 July and another 3 young calves seen on 19 August. Later sightings of this group in December confirmed a total of five new calves born in this area in 2005. This group is now starting to disperse and we have a resident bull near Shamvura Camp with up to four cows that occasionally come into the property to graze in the lower floodplains. |
| Elephant and Antelope : | An extended trip up the Cuito River confirmed a surprisingly significant elephant population within 25kms of Shamvura Camp as well as Sitatunga, Reedbuck and other antelope species. There is some extensive, largely unpopulated floodplain separating us from these concentrations and we might very well be seeing some spillover into our immediate area in the future. |
| Fish : | The Okavango River supports 83 known species of fish and one would assume this system is well researched. However we have managed to find a new species of fish, which is unknown to scientists. It is a large species of bream, and specimens of over 1kg have been caught by some of our fishing guests. So far three Ichthyologists have been consulted and they can, as yet, only narrow the identification down to the genus, Sargochromis. Also surprising is the fact that many fishing guests were landing specimens of what appeared to be Sargochromis codringtonii (Green Happy). This is mainly a vegetation feeder and unlikely to be caught with conventional spinning tackle and lures. Interestingly we also seemed to be landing unusually regular specimens of Humpback and Thin faced Largemouth. Tiger fish however seemed to be consistent with former seasons and no unusual events occurred. |