Up at dawn for a short drive around the reserve, that was already a daring tester for the vehicle but it passed the steep gravel uphill sections. A few mammals were seen along the way but as this is an enclosed area it’s never enough for me to start writing them down, unless they can clearly clear the fences or steep ravines. A good array of birds were seen with the highlight coming later in the morning when after breakfast I walked back to the dam area and flushed a Verreaux’s Eagle Owl that helpfully landed in a nearby tree and posed admirably for my time there. Some lovely Banded Mongoose were scurrying around in the dry riverbed and a superb trio of Klipspringer were up on the rocks. Most interesting was finding a party of Red-billed Hornbills which surely should’ve been Damara, however the pale iris meant they were presumably Southern Red-billed despite this area being out of their range.
Next up was a very long drive towards Walvis Bay, totalling six hours of gravel roads with an average speed of 70kph for most of it. I deviated south onto a D road before heading due west toward Walvis, the main reason for this was to have a good chance of finding a Ruppell’s Bustard. It took roughly four hours to reach the gravel plains, this being the preferred habitat for the Bustard. Roughly 2km into this habitat I spotted a pair which showed at some distance, but a little later on a trio were alongside the road and gave frame-filling views. The arduous driving was worth it. A short while later the first car on my drive passed the other way, and small parties of Gemsbok were encountered, as did some superb Lappet-faced Vultures hanging around a carcass. I was finally smiling again and cruised into Walvis Bay with still plenty of light left. I had driven enough so decided to spend time along the water front where I found one of my top targets for the trip, a Damara Tern!! Three birds were found and even heard calling. A good spread of Waders and hundreds of Flamingos was a fitting end to a tiresome and dusty day behind the wheel.
Highlights are as follows:
Ostrich - 10
Cape Teal - 5
Greater Flamingo - 500
Lesser Flamingo - 500
Black Stork - 1
Lappet-faced Vulture - 15
Booted Eagle - 1
RUPPELL’S KORHAAN - 8
Red-knobbed Coot - 1
Kittlitz’s Plover - 4
White-fronted Plover - 10
Chestnut-Banded Plover - 10
Curlew Sandpiper - 30
Hartlaub’s Gull - 20
Kelp Gull - 4
Greater Crested Tern - 10
DAMARA TERN - 3
Verreaux’s Eagle Owl - 1
Purple Roller - 2
African Hoopoe - 2
Common Scimitarbill - 3
MONTEIRO’S HORNBILL - 2
Pririt Batis - 6
CRIMSON-BREASTED SHRIKE - 3
Brubru - 1
Long-billed Crombec - 10
Rattling Cisticola - 2
BURNT-NECKED EREMOMELA - 1
KALAHARI SCRUB ROBIN - 1
Marico Flycatcher - 8
Mountain Wheatear - 5
GREAT SPARROW - 3
Sociable Weaver - 25
Green-winged Pytilla - 2
RED-HEADED FINCH - 3
VIOLET-EARED WAXBILL - 20
BLACK-FACED WAXBILL - 8
Golden-breasted Bunting - 4
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| Monteiro's Hornbill at Daan Viljoen |
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| Red-headed Finch at Daan Viljoen |
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| Violet-eared Waxbill at Daan Viljoen |
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Short-toed Rock Thrush at
Daan Viljoen
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| Brubru at Daan Viljoen |
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| Verreaux's Eagle Owl at Daan Viljoen |
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| Namaqua Dove at Daan Viljoen |
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Swallow-tailed Bee-Eater at
Daan Viljoen
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| Greater Striped Swallows at Daan Viljoen |
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| Ruppell's Korhaan along the D1982 |
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| Damara Tern at Walvis Bay |
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| sunrise at Daan Viljoen |
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| a superb mountain pass |
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Vogelfederberg along the way
to Walvis Bay
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| Caution of Bustards!! |
