Morocco 5

Tags

Addax, Atlas Kasbah, black-winged stilt, Dorcas Gazelle, Golden Fringe-toed Lizard, Great Cormorant, greater flamingo, hoopoe, linnet, Little egret, Moroccan Magpie, Morocco, North African Ostrich, osprey, Red-necked Ostrich, Ruddy Shelduck, Sanderling, Scimitar oryx, Souss Massa National Park, White stork, Woodchat Shrike

Wednesday 11th March was mammals day. For that we visited the Souss Massa National Park, and learnt something of its conservation work. We went in four 4x4s, so that each of us had a window. They put me in the front seat of the vehicle driven by Mohammed in case I needed to communicate urgently with the driver. (I didn’t.)

The Park was set up in 1991 in recognition of the area’s importance as a breeding ground for certain birds, including the Northern Bald Ibis. To quote Wikipedia, “Souss-Massa also holds captive-breeding programmes for four threatened North African ungulates: scimitar oryx, addax, dama gazelle [not on our target list] and dorcas gazelle, … The reintroduction of the North African ostrich – which is extinct north of the Sahara – is also underway.” With the exception of the Dama Gazelle, we saw all of these. The Rokein Special Reserve, where goats are kept out and as a result the vegetation is more lush, is where the conservation work is done and where we saw the mammals (and the ostriches).

Addax

These Addax females were being kept apart, for breeding reasons I think.

The North African, also know as Red-necked, Ostriches gather together here as they are fed supplementary rations at this spot. This sub-species is the largest living bird.

Isn’t there something about ostriches burying their heads in the sand?

Black-winged Stilt

A load of linnets

Dorcas Gazelle

Woodchat Shrike

(Through the windscreen) Oh! Ahead of us on our road (we were the first of the four vehicles). How sweet is that?

They moved out of our way, in a very leisurely fashion.

Ostrich photo overload? I think not. How often do you see a mummy and a daddy ostrich, with 14 babies?! Wow!

There’s the head of a hoopoe in there – ginger splash, middle slightly left.

Scimitar-horned Oryx. Thanks to conservation work, it has been possible for this recently to be upgraded from Critically Endangered to ‘merely’ Endangered.

Dorcas Gazelle

Cream-coloured Coursers, about the size of a pigeon

(Through the Windscreen.) Bonelli’s Eagle, wingspan around 5 feet, 150 cm, which flew off…

… into a tree…

… to be mobbed by …

… a kestrel.

Golden Fringe-toed Lizard

We had our packed lunch standing in a shelter, and among other things, watched a sea mist…

… rolling in.

but, although we drove through a little mist as we left, it came to nothing. The drought continues.

A final sighting of Dorcas Gazelle as we drove towards the exit.

And a decent viewing of a Hoopoe

After a stop at a local pottery and café, where I had a much-craved ice-cream, we were driven to the mouth of the Oued (River) Souss, and stood on a bridge to see what we could see, hoping for flamingos.

Lots of gulls. We saw that day Black-headed, Mediterranean, Yellow-Legged and Lesser Black-backed. Two days earlier we had seen Slender-billed.

White Storks

Great Cormorants stay put.

And here are some Greater Flamingos

Ruddy Shelduck

For our final stop, we were driven over the bridge, and further downstream to a rather unprepossessing spot, where we could see a two-poled pylon in the far distance.

This had a smudge at the left hand end of the bar at the top.

Which we were reliably informed was an osprey.

Immediately to our left was a telegraph pole.

With two Moroccan magpies, their blue flashes visible.

When one flew off, the other obligingly turned profile for us.

A final look round revealed a Little Egret …

and some Sanderlings. Or so Mohammed said, and he was very good at his wildlife.

Before dinner, it was Hélène’s turn to invite us into the salon of the Atlas Kasbah. She opened her big wooden box, which like all Moroccan brides (she is French) she received on her wedding day. It was full of traditional health and beauty items, and she explained the purpose of every one. A question at the end (from me) about covering her hair at the school where she teaches (she doesn’t, though the fact that it is a French school may have something to do with it?) led to an immense amount of information about the role of women in Morocco – considerably more liberated than in many other Moslem countries.

Namibia/Botswana/Zambia 9

Tags

black-winged stilt, buffalo, Caprivi Strip, Chobe dwarf gecko, Dark chanting goshawk, elephant, European bee-eater, Giant kingfisher, hippo, Kaisosi River lodge, kudu, Mahango National Park, Mahangu Safari Lodge, Okavango, Painted snipe, pied kingfisher, Pygmy-goose, ruff, Sable antelope

Friday 1st March. Just before sunrise over the Okavango River from my ‘garden’ at the Kaisosi River Lodge.

A little while later, a fisherman was working from his dugout canoe opposite my room.

And just before we set off after breakfast, an African Pygmy-goose appeared.

We had been at the north of the Caprivi Strip, (that ‘handle’ at the north east of Namibia) and this morning were moving well towards the south of it but not much further east yet.

En route, we (they) couldn’t resist visiting the previous evening’s sewage works again. But before getting there we saw (among other things – it’s always among many, many other things, especially birds) ..

I’ve spent over half an hour searching for what this pretty bird might be, to no avail. Thank goodness that after this I started making a note of the name of every bird of which I took a photo! Much later: I’m beginning to suspect that my first thought, which I rejected initially because of the beak, was right. A Carmine bee-eater, its beak very much foreshortened in the photo.

Upper wire: giant kingfisher with prey. Lower wire – pied kingfishers.

At the sewage works.

Painted snipe. Seeing this caused some excitement.

Black-winged stilt

If the ground is too low for the telescope to be of use, you use whatever else is to hand, here the luggage trailer.

Ruff

European Bee-eater

We moved on.

Dark chanting goshawk

And in due course arrived at the Mahangu Safari Lodge, still on the Okavango (or Kavango) River, and by the Mahango National Park.

We were due to go on a river cruise later in the afternoon.

Almost as soon as we arrived, I was thrilled to see this Sable Antelope on the far bank. I had been doing my homework and knew that there was a possibility. Beautiful creature!

Chobe dwarf gecko on the side of one of the rooms

And this is the view from my own lime-green-painted room, which was to be home for three nights.

There was a small ‘normal’ swimming pool at the lodge, but this one had been carved (not sure that’s the right word) out of the river. One of our number tried it and said it was quite impossible to swim there. He was just swept to the far (in this photo, near) side of the pool by the current.

Way upstream these buffaloes came down to graze on the opposite side of the river.

But directly opposite were many, many elephants. They entered right and left left, for over an hour. I stayed and watched them while most of the others went off for a bird-wander before our cruise.

The white mounds are salt, put there by the proprietors of the lodge to attract creatures needing it, here elephants and, behind, kudu.

Glimpse of a hippo

Namibia/Botswana/Zambia 6

Tags

black-backed jackal, black-winged stilt, blacksmith lapwing, Blue crane, elephant, Etosha agama, European bee-eater, gemsbok, giraffe, hoopoe, Hyena, laughing dove, lilac-breasted roller, northern black korhaan, oryx, Ostrich, Pale chanting goshawk, pearl-spotted owlet, red-eyed bulbul, vulture, Wildebeest, zebra

After as early a breakfast as the hours of Mokuti Lodge would allow, we set off for the morning’s drive.

Very near the roadside and indignant at being disturbed.

Lilac-breasted roller. I seem to have taken a lot of photos of this species. They seem to be quite co-operative. And pretty.

?

?

Risking the slight irritation of my birdy companions, I asked if we could stop for a photo of these palms, which we had seen the day before without stopping. My companions were in fact quite pleased, in the event, since …

… they spotted in one of them what we would note at the of the day as a white-backed vulture.

?

Northern black korhaan. If I were to go by my bird book I would say it might be a White-quilled bustard but that is not on our checklist, and it has a different Latin name.

Blue crane

Black-winged stilt and very blurry ‘duck’. ?Teal?

We came across a lot of ostriches.

Many, many ostriches.

A male (black) and a female (brown)

To me they seem rather sinister when you can only see necks and legs

Strutting their stuff

Showing their irritation I think. We had hung around for a while.

We stopped for unexpected mid-morning hot drinks, prepared and served by our leaders.

Any stop provides an opportunity for looking out for birds.

African red-eyed bulbul

Someone said, rather patronisingly, that this bird was far too far off for me to be able to take with my small camera. Well, ya boo shucks! Pearl-spotted owl(et). Book says ‘appears dumpy, large-headed and short-tailed’. Yup!

Laughing dove. Soooo pretty!

And we continued on our way.

European bee-eater

How leader Neil managed as he was driving along to spot this motionless creature by the side of the road, so well camouflaged against its background, I couldn’t say. ‘Experience’, they said.

Etosha Agama (lizard)

Hoopoe

Pale chanting goshawk

We arrived at a waterhole, where we were to observe wildlife drama. Wildebeest and zebra were standing around, preparing to drink, but then along came an elephant troop.

A hyena sloped off.

Indeed, two elephant troops arrived – and merged.

To take over the pool entirely. I love the way giraffe’s heads show up against a treeline.

After drinking, mud baths are in order

A gemsbok/oryx arrived, but did not yet go near the pool.

Wildebeest hold back

As do giraffe. The bolder zebra were soon ‘discouraged’.

Two of which took it out on each other.

In due course the elephants did move off…

And the first to drink in the, by now very disturbed, waters were a black-backed jackal and a blacksmith lapwing.

It was time to return to the lodge for lunch and a siesta.

Namibia/Botswana/Zambia 1

Tags

African monarch, black-winged stilt, blacksmith lapwing, dikdik, Egyptian goose, Grey go-away-bird, little grebe, Namibia, Naturetrek, Pale chanting goshawk, purple roller, Safariwise, Verreaux's eagle, violet wood hoopoe, Waterberg Plateau, wood sandpiper

Saturday night and Sunday morning. (23rd/24th February 2019). We’ll gloss over the sheer panic I had felt for two hours on the Friday afternoon when a trespasser on the railway at my local railway station made me miss my long-haul flight to Johannesburg, South Africa, and I saw my two-week safari in three countries melting away before my eyes. I’ll just thank Naturetrek for speedily booking me onto a flight 3 hours later, and for having arranged the timing of the whole journey such that I was still able to take the intended onward flight to Windhoek, Namibia, (formerly South West Africa) at the same time as my prospective 14 companions.

At Windhoek, we were met by Neil, the proprietor of Safariwise, and the other leader/guide, Jakes, both Afrikaans-origin Namibian nationals. They drove us in two vehicles to the Waterberg Plateau, halfway to Etosha, where we would spend the night. From my leaving home to arrival at our lodge there, it had been some 27 hours.

The scenery changed during the four hours

Approaching the Waterberg Plateau. Termite mounds were everywhere throughout the trip.

Pale Chanting Goshawk, a bird we were to see many times in the two weeks. Even I came to recognise it.

Here is a map to explain our itinerary.

From Waterberg we were to go onward to central Etosha for two nights, eastern Etosha for another two, and onward to the north-east border of Namibia to stay for one night in a lodge in Kavangoland, on the Okavango River, with Angola on the other bank. We would then move for three nights to a lodge at the western point of the Caprivi Strip. From there we would make a day visit into Botswana (formerly Bechuanaland), after which we would move on further east within the Caprivi strip for a night in a lodge on the banks of the Zambezi River, and then spend two nights in Botswana itself in Chobe National Park. Our last two nights would be spent just over the border in Zambia (formerly Northern Rhodesia) and we would fly back home, via Johannesburg, from Livingstone, near Victoria Falls.

The following, Sunday, morning, we started as we went on most days – getting up very, very early, with a pre-breakfast walk. This makes sense because it is around dawn and dusk that wildlife is most active. Like us, the creatures do not like to move around in the middle of a hot day. (Daytime maxima during the fortnight varied from 33°C to 38°C, night-time minima from 18° to 22°.) We followed a track near to our accommodation, which was considerably higher than the surrounding plain, but still with the plateau looming over us.

Verreaux’s eagle

The sun was not yet up.

But arrived during our walk

Purple roller

A word on captions. I only started systematically noting the names of the birds I photographed about halfway through the trip, so certainty about the names is not always guaranteed, depending both on whether I was able to check them out after the event, and also on whether I noted them correctly (the latter going for the second half of the trip also). Anyone with better information than I is very welcome to make corrective notes in the comments!

Grey Go-away-bird. These were common, its name deriving from its call.

Violet wood Hoopoes

I found their movements quite amusing (3 secs)

These sweet little Damara dikdik were all around the rooms – this one was feet away from mine after breakfast – and were quite unafraid of humans.

Fork-tailed drongo eating African monarch butterfly, which we saw it catch while we were waiting to leave

After breakfast we set off for our next destination, Etosha National Park. This is one of the two vehicles we travelled in. Everyone had a window seat, most also having the chance for a better view if they stood when the roof was up.

As we travelled our guides kept their eyes skinned for anything of wildlife interest and stopped for us to look and take photos as appropriate. The rule seemed to be that the longer we were taking to get anywhere, risking our next meal, the more significant the creature had to be for us to stop! I was just amazed at what Neil and Jakes noticed and immediately identified as they drove along.

Even before we left the lodge’s grounds we stopped to look at colourful butterflies, and more particularly a Rüppell’s parrot of which I did not get a good photo

The African monarch butterfly, quite unlike the one seen in N America and Madeira

Monarch butterflies on a plant which is highly poisonous to other creatures, including us, which make the butterfly in turn toxic

We diverted to a sewage works – not for the last time in the fortnight! I was the only traveller not principally and passionately interested in (and knowledgeable about) birds, my interest in wildlife, and the countries visited, being more general. And I was to learn that sewage works are fantastic for birdwatching, as they are made up of a series of ponds which attract waders and other birds.

Wood sandpiper

Egyptian geese, little grebes and (BL) garganeys and black-winged stilts

Blacksmith lapwings and … ?

The beautifully elegant black-winged stilt

Neil and Jakes also removed some illegal traps set to catch birds at the sewage works.

We had lunch at a safari lodge en route. We did not starve in the 14 days!

Andalucia 10

Tags

Acebuche, Andalucia, Andalusia, azure-winged magpie, black-winged stilt, Blue rock thrush, Cattle egret, cinereous vulture, cormorant, Donana National Park, Eagle owl, Egyptian vulture, El Rocio, Eurasian black vulture, grey heron, greylag goose, griffon vulture, Iberian great grey shrike, Iberian magpie, Imperial eagle, Jandula, lapwing, littel egret, Naturetrek, Red-legged partridge, rock pipit, Sardinian warbler, Sierra Morena, spoonbill, starling, stonechat, White stork

Birds in Andalucia.  Look, I’m not very good with bird identification, but I do know that eagles tend to soar.  So when Simon said, incredibly excitedly, ‘There’s an imperial eagle on that post’, I quickly zoomed in on it and took this. I was not alone.  And not alone to realise, on examining the photo enlarged on the camera screen, that ‘that’ post’ was not that post!  What Simon meant was this – perhaps half a mile away.   When you go on a Naturetrek trip, they provide you in advance with a checklist of all the creatures you may see, with a column for each day.  There are always hundreds of species of birds on this list, and when we’re out I am in such awe as I hear naturalists/guides (and others) crying’, ‘That was the call of an X’, ‘There’s a Y.’  ‘Where, where?’ we all say, and they all do their darndest to help you see the creature.  I’m probably about average in being able to pick something out visually, no better, and am certainly poor on birdsong.  At the end of each day we gather together – nothing compulsory about it – and go through the list.  Of those seen or heard by someone, I will have seen perhaps a third to a half, the bigger the bird the more likely I am to have seen it.  I will have managed to take a photo of very few indeed. Here’s what I did get, with their identifications to the best of my recollection, (totally subject to correction, please).  Firstly in the Coto Doñana.

Original identification corrected to female or first-year male stonechat (Ack. BL)

Iberian great grey shrike

Stonechat

???

Cattle egrets living up to their name

And why not  take a bunch of starlings?  Especially when they are beautiful Spotless starlings, with wonderful glossy coats (though ordinary ones are pretty wonderful too!)

Griffon vultures

Griffon vultures

Best I could do to get a griffin vulture in flight

Easier to take this

We had driven a great loop and were now nearer to (but not very near) the Imperial eagle.  Only about 4500 left in the world

And then Simon spotted another, incredibly far away, and I’ve magnified this many times, but the nest can be seen in silhouette, and the eagle in a direct line with it, on the right.  Two Imperial eagles in view at the same time!

Almost as exciting to the leaders were a total of 6 Egyptian vultures coming in to two trees.

White storks and a heat haze

More cattle egrets doing their thing. To quote Wikipedia, ” It was originally native to parts of Southern Spain and Portugal, tropical and subtropical Africa and humid tropical and subtropical Asia. In the end of the 19th century it began expanding its range into southern Africa, first breeding in the Cape Province in 1908. Cattle egrets were first sighted in the Americas on the boundary of Guiana and Suriname in 1877, having apparently flown across the Atlantic Ocean. It was not until the 1930s that the species is thought to have become established in that area.”

We were taken to a tiny patch of the wetlands that was still wet.  I would have expected that there would have been vast concentrations of waders there.  There were not.  In addition to these Little egrets (I think) and lapwing/black-winged stilts (which, or something else?) we saw spoonbill and other species further away.

Greylag geese, on the ‘lagoon’ at El Rocío

Then at our picnic spot at El Acebuche, I managed at last to see an Iberian (or azure-winged) magpie.  I had heard them mentioned a few times, but this was the first time I had properly seen the beautiful creature, rather smaller than the common ones (and there were plenty of those around).   A few new birds (in terms of photographic opportunities) in the Sierra Morena. We saw a fairly rare Cinereous (a.k.a. Eurasian black) vulture over our picnic stop by the Jandula dam, but sadly this is not one, but a griffon vulture. (Identification BL)

Rock pipits at the dam

There is a Blue rock thrush in this picture, also at the dam.  Half way up the slope there is a bit sticking out.  The bird is not that bit. The bird is the bit sitting on that bit!

Two red-legged partridges. Some colleagues went out for a short early evening birdwatching trip on the second evening in the mountains, and came back saying they had seen an Eagle owl.  We all went to the spot the next day, and this is where we were searching.  (Well, the rock face was much bigger than this actually.)  A third of the way down, and a quarter of the way in from the left there is this. And within that there is this.  The Eagle owl is in one of these holes. See it?  No I don’t either.  Yeah, right, we’ll believe you Simon!

 

Several birds joined us at our last picnic spot, including this grey heron, which flew gracefully towards us after a while.  And then a troop (is that the word?) of Iberian magpies arrived at the same spot, and gradually made their way towards us, taking over the picnic tables as we left them. (Actually, the collective word for magpies is a murder, or a charm, or a congregation or a gulp. Take your pick.)

If it’s one for sorrow and two for joy, what do 14 magpies signify? (BL suggests for two secrets never to be told!)

At the spot where we had seen the big fish, a kingfisher swooped along the river and under the bridge – no photo sadly – and these cormorants stood for a while and then took off. Next (and last) post: felines!