Irish interlude - Royally chuffed

Yesterday, Thursday 25th August, was spent in County Kerry. News of a Royal Tern last week in County Mayo made me sweat, but I wasn't able to go straight away what with just getting back from Namibia and A Level results day at school. Anyhow the bird had flown, and so it allowed me one less Royal Tern dip compared to the guys that went out there last week. Roll on exactly a week and the Kerry tern legend Davey Farrar was visiting Beale Strand - as he does regularly - and had one of those heart stopping moments. Having already found an Elegant a few years ago, having a big orange bill pop out wasn't perhaps as big a surprise for him though! Anyway, I was unable to go on Wednesday day so flew out late that night and was on site for dawn Thursday... just me and four Irish birders. A quick check of the point revealed little, and so I headed east to the next car park near Astee. And there, hobbling about in among the Sandwich Terns, was a whopping Royal Tern: -

Royal Tern Beale Strand, Kerry 25th August 2016

It really was a massive bird, and at one point in time as it flew over it actually spooked all the other terns for some reason. With a gammy leg and full black cap, this Royal Tern was the same as that in Mayo a week ago and lays to rest a species I've chased three times unsuccessfully in the past.

Royal Tern Beale Strand, Kerry 25th August 2016

I had a brief trip to Black Rock during the day too, where three juvenile Curlew Sandpipers and a couple of flag ringed Sanderling (from Greenland/Iceland - awaiting results) were nice to see. So all in all a very enjoyable day out of London!

Namibia - Kulala Desert Lodge and the famous red dunes

Pied Crow at Sossuvlei

It took a little longer than expected to reach the area around Sesriem from Buellsport on 4th August. Though as we turned in to Kulala Desert Lodge, with the entrance track being upwards of 10km through stony and sandy desert, the birding and mammal watching began. This area was great, and I drove it a couple of times during our couple of days' stay, with the bird highlights being fantastic views of both Ludwig's Bustard and Ruppell's Korhaan as well as some more distant views of Temminck's Courser one morning: -

Ludwig's Bustard at Kulala Desert Lodge

Ruppell's Korhaans at Kulala Desert Lodge

Mammals too showed well on our entry with a small group of fairly cute looking Bat-eared Foxes swaggering across the road, as well as a couple of Black-backed Jackals along with the more common Oryx and Springboks.

Bat-eared Fox at Kulala Desert Lodge

Around the camp, birdlife was relatively sparse with just the odd White-backed Mousebird, Pale-winged Starling and Red-eyed Bulbul; having Ostriches mooch past was fairly novel though!

Ostrich at Kulala Desert Lodge

The first evening drive was pleasant, if not fantastic for wildlife. Though with plenty of Ostriches, Oryx and Springboks in the evening light I was happy enough: -

Springboks at Kulala Desert Lodge

Oryx at Kulala Desert Lodge

The following morning we'd booked a balloon ride over the dunes for first thing. It was really great, and one of those experiences that was worth shelling out for and we even got a champagne breakfast sitting in the dunes afterwards. Truly dudey and touristy, but there was a plan - Dune Lark! This is the only true Namibian endemic, and is restricted to the sandy desert in the Namib-Naukluft National Park. I didn't realise how easy they would be, and was extremely happy to find a handful of birds pecking about on the periphery of our breakfast area. Really nice birds too; skittish when approached quickly but they soon settled down to be nicely papped...

Dune Lark at Sossuvlei

Pied Crows enjoyed the action too, pecking at what they could get in this otherwise extremely arid environment.

Pied Crow at Sossuvlei

After chilling out during the middle of the day, I ventured out again for the evening into the same area I'd been the previous day. The undoubted highlight was this African Wild Cat: -

African Wild Cat at Kulala Desert Lodge

Our final morning here, August 6th, was all about the red dunes. We set off in the dark and into the Sossuvlei National Park where we had a climb of Dune 45 and then onto the somewhat eerie Deadvlei, where dead trees populate the sand. Predictably, the birdlife was limited here although Ruppell's Korhaans, Cape Sparrows, Familiar Chats, Pied Crows and a Pale Chanting Goshawk all showed rather nicely.

Cape Sparrow at Sossuvlei

We got back to Kulala Desert Lodge at around 11am, and after collecting our bags, we were on the road north towards the coast at Walvis Bay and Swakopmund. The whole Sesriem and Sossusvlei area was filled to the brim with incredible desert scenery - the best I've seen (and I've seen the Sahara in Mauritania, Morocco and Western Sahara), and would recommend it to anyone.

Namibia - from Windhoek to the dunes

After visiting Avis Dam early morning, and then having the first of many great Namibian breakfasts, we set off south from Windhoek and then headed west and into the Namib desert. The destination for the afternoon/night was Buellsport which, although on the map as a place, was literally the farm and guesthouse where we were staying! This was obviously our first full day, and was an introduction into how sparsely populated the country is.

Anyway, Karen had booked some horse riding for the afternoon so while she did that, I went for a long walk in the stony desert on a quest for Hartmann's Mountain Zebra. Predictably, I took the 6 mile long Zebra trail and thankfully it delivered: -

Hartmann's Mountain Zebra

In total, I saw a dozen of these vulnerable, range restricted beasts - a couple on the mountain ridge and then a group of ten grazing distantly. There was a bit of birdlife too, with White-tailed Shrike, Brubru, Sabota Lark, Karoo Chat, Black-chested Snake Eagle and a load of Sociable Weavers seen. Back at the guesthouse Pririt Batis and Yellow-bellied Eremomelas were common by our chalet. I also had to sort out a puncture that evening too, as driving on gravel/dirt roads for miles and non-off road tyres aren't an ideal combination.

Pririt Batis

The next day, before heading off west again, we had an early morning walk for a couple of miles where in the stony desert, I was able to eek out a bit of birdlife - a couple of Cape Buntings were nice, as was a group of Cape Penduline Tits and some more Crimson-breasted Shrikes. Monteiro's Hornbill and Common Scimitarbill were present in the woodland along the dry riverbed. Pale-winged Starlings were really common around the guesthouse too.

Cape Bunting

Pale-winged Starling

A small (and I mean small) area of water held a single South African Shelduck; miles from any other water, and in the middle of nowhere, I felt a bit sorry for this bad boy: -

South African Shelduck

After breakfast on 4th August, we set off towards Sesrium and Sossuvlei - Namibia's iconic red dune system. A short while down the road, a couple more Hartmann's Zebras were seen while as we neared our destination there was a bit of commotion by the roadside...

Lappet-faced and White-backed Vultures on Zebra kill

These Lappet-faced and White-backed Vultures were lapping up this zebra kill, and was a great African wildlife scene to watch for a while. I noticed a couple of the Lappet-faced Vultures were yellow wing-tagged, so hopefully should find out where they're from sooner or later. Other than that, the drive was filled by nice views of my first Springboks, Oryx and Ostrich. All good stuff!

Introduction to Namibia - Windhoek and Avis Dam

After an overnight flight on Monday 1st August, we arrived late morning in Namibia and went straight into Windhoek city centre - not much cultural bits to see thankfully. Bird wise there was just the odd White-backed Mousebird, so by late afternoon I'd convinced Karen to head to Avis Dam 'for an evening walk to keep us awake'. Anyway, she evidently knew it was a birdy place and so I set about my business...

Southern Fiscal Avis Dam

As I started picking up my first Namibian birds - stuff like Blue Waxbills, Cape Wagtails, Pale-winged Starlings and Fiscal Shrikes - the sun was going down all too quickly, and I had a lot less time than I had expected. Though the African Palm Swifts and Rock Martins were busy whizzing about, all the other passerines had shut up shop.

Blue Waxbill Avis Dam

So, after a great meal that (somewhat hypocritically) involved Kudu, Springbok and Oryx that night, I headed back to Avis Dam the next morning and experienced loads more birds during the first African sunrise of the trip! I think I woke up this sleepy Rock Kestrel: -

Rock Kestrel Avis Dam

Avis Dam is just a couple of km outside Windhoek, and from reading tour reports, seems to be where most groups/visitors go to first. And there is a reason why with the gaudy looking Crimson-breasted Shrike being common, lots of Yellow and Black-throated Canaries, Cape Glossy Starlings, Monteiro's and African Grey Hornbills, smart looking Kalahari Scrub Robins with loads of Short-toed Rock Thrushes, White-browed Sparrow Weavers, Marico Flycatchers, Familiar Chats and Mountain Wheatears. Though Avis Dam is a site for Rockrunner, I didn't really try too hard for it - knowing I would have a site where it was easy later in the trip. Just nice to get a feel of the common birds for starters.

Kalahari Scrub Robin Avis Dam

Crimson-breasted Shrike Avis Dam

White-browed Sparrow Weaver Avis Dam

Black-throated Canary Avis Dam

Marico Flycatcher Avis Dam

The dam itself was dry, with a solitary Egyptian Goose the only waterbird. This was to be the start of a trip full of aridity, surface water shortages but a country still full of birds and great birding. One of my most enjoyable trips to date - with the combination of some good mammals too. So after Avis Dam, we left Windhoek and drove south and then west to Buellsport where we stayed for the night of 3rd August...

The day I flew to Namibia...

Admittedly old news now, but on Sunday 31st July I was sat in the London Guildhall celebrating my mate's wedding. Pretty safe season birding wise, although these days the big birds seem to drop whenever (usually when I have prior commitments!). Anyway, there was news of a Purple Swamphen at Minsmere RSPB - potentially a new British bird?

To be honest, I reckon a fair few people were stung recently with the acceptance of the Chinese Pond Heron. What this meant was a more 'glass half full approach' to this bird, with little skepticism about the bird's origins from the birding fraternity - with a recent scattering of birds in France, with one recently in the extreme northwest and nine extralimital records since April, there was also decent circumstantial evidence for wild origin. Added to this, the overall bluish toned plumage meant it was of the nominate Iberian/European race too; unlike the usual escaped poliocephalus 'Grey-headed' birds.

Despite flying to Namibia early evening, I decided to dawn raid Minsmere on 1st August and look what was plonking about in the early morning haze...

Purple Swamphen Minsmere RSPB, Suffolk 1st August 2016

Nice bird, great to be up and about at one of Britain's best wildlife reserves at the crack of dawn. I had actually seen a Purple Swamphen in Britain previously - in Cumbria in 1997; it cost me an Ivory Gull (which I still needed at the time) and I must admit that the origins (and race) of this bird were never properly determined. With the new breed of BOU decision making - a combination of pseudo-science and mere opinion - I doubt it'll be more than a couple of years before this Suffolk record gets the green light. Happy days!

Namibia quick update

Just a quick update on the first week here in Namibia. We've been here since Tuesday, travelling south and west from Windhoek into the Namib Desert and then up onto the coast to the Walvis Bay/Swakopmund area - so far a night in Windhoek, a night in Bullsport then two nights at Kulala Desert Lodge and then here in Swakopmund. If you like aridity, deserts, wide landscapes and a distinct lack of people then this is a decent place to come. The South Atlantic midwinter rollers aren't too shoddy either. This isn't a hardcore birding trip, but I have managed to squeeze a bit in along with some mammal viewing: -

Dune Lark - Namibia's only truly endemic species

Ruppell's Korhaan

Ostrich

Pied Crow

Kalahari Scrub Robin

Hartmann's Mountain Zebra

Black-backed Jackal

African Wild Cat

Oryx

Springbok

And of course what trip of mine wouldn't be complete without some of these: -

adult Kelp Gull