Simon Thomsett

Category: Raptor Expedition | Date: Apr 29 2009 | By: simonthomsett

Laila has written about our crossing the Zambezi into Chobe and the profusion of wildlife and raptors we encountered on the way. The Zambezi is a broad, ill-defined ecological division zone separating the moimbo/mopane woodlands that begin in southern Tanzania and stretch almost uninterrupted across the vast countries of Zambia, Mozambique, southern Angola and into Zimbabwe. In East Africa, the open dry plains and impoverished soils that support mostly acacia are the Hollywood image of Africa. Kenya and Northern Tanzania are spoilt with their habitat. In these areas, there are specialized open grassland ungulates feeding on various levels and quality of grasses and shrubs. Many seasonally migrate in search of pasture. These animals are easily seen and photographed. They include zebra, wildebeest, cheetah, bat-eared foxes, Biesa/Fringe Eared oryx, topi, Thomson’s Gazelle. Less obviously there are a number of raptors that favour these open plains and acacia riparian lines, such as the Greater Kestrel, Martial Eagle, Tawny Eagle, Gabar Goshawk, Gyps Vultures, Black Shouldered Kite and the migratory harriers.

On the fringes of the open plains as they merge with the broad-leafed woodlands are other raptors such as Brown Snake Eagle, Wahlberg’s Eagle, Bateleur Eagle, African Hawk Eagle and Ovampo Sparrowhawk. I guess the mammalian equivalent would be Impala, Kudu, Buffalo, Sable and Roan Antelope.

Many had said that the miombo woodland is monotonous and I am ashamed to say that I found this to be partly true. It restricts ones view and in south Luangwa, in Zambia for example, it was tough work searching of wildlife in the thick growth. But the density of wildlife is high for you do not have to go far before you see something. The same applied to the raptors. Within this belt and its wetlands are specialist ungulates such as Puku. To name a raptor counterpart that typifies the miombo and or its wetlands would be hard, but the Banded Snake Eagle is a good contender.

We had entered this massive belt of almost orchard-like forest and had seen both the mammalian and raptorial fauna change. Just south of the western Zambezi River basin on the Caprivi strip the land suddenly dries and the woodlands fade into open plains and deserts. One can see again for vast distances. The wildlife of the plains north of this belt and south of it are similar. North Chobe River front looks and feels like Tsavo/Samburu, Nxai Pan like Amboseli, Makgadikgadi like Mara/Amboseli. Etosha like Amboseli. To further deceive one into thinking one had happened upon the northern East African environs we encountered Gemsbok (Oryx), Springbok (a large Thomson’s Gazelle-like migratory ungulate), Steenbok and cheetah. The raptors too of course change. Martial Eagles, Tawny Eagles, Bateleur Eagles we saw in fair numbers. What excited me the most was a similar raptor to the northern east African plains, but a distinct species with similar habits … the Pale Chanting Goshawk.

These two areas, divided over a millennia or more look and feel very similar, yet different, too, and it is a an illustration in taking caution before one assumes things are all the same across this continent.

Tags: chobe national park, moving across bio-geographical zones, ungulates

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Category: Raptor Expedition | Date: Apr 20 2009 | By: Laila Bahaa-el-din

We set off from Maun for just a couple of days in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. There is something magical about the name Kalahari and we had been advised to go there by a fellow raptor-enthusiast so we had high expectations. But it managed to exceed those expectations ten-fold. The first 40km consisted of mainly scrub which meant poor visibility. We didn’t see much in the way of wildlife. Then we got to Deception Valley and immediately were surrounded by Gemsboks and Springboks. We started to see Pale Chanting Goshawks perched at regular intervals on low trees. We went in search of a water source, knowing this would be our best bet of seeing wildlife. I’ll admit that I was very keen to find Wild Dogs, as I have yet to see any and Botswana is apparently the best place to see them. We drove around dry pans but had no luck finding water. We had arrived in the park quite late and before long had to go and set up camp.

Secretary Bird and the Kalahari’s full moon

In the morning, we renewed our search for water. We drove for a few hours until Simon spotted a Red-necked Falcon. A little further and I noticed a Gabar Goshawk dive-bombing a Lanner Falcon. From behind them a group of Sand Grouse flew up into the sky and Simon said “that’s a good sign for water.” And sure enough, there it was, the waterhole we had been looking for. It was surrounded on all sides by bushes so we found a gap that we could look through. Before long, the Lanner Falcon was diving down to the water, trying to catch doves. A young Gabar Goshawk flew in after some smaller birds, then another Gabar, and another. We counted eight at one point. A Red-necked Falcon came in and impressed us with the speed and determination with which it pursued birds around the waterhole. A pair of jackals came in to drink. Then our first kill of the day: a Gabar had caught something. Within seconds, a Lanner came down at such speed that we didn’t even see it until we saw it fly into the sky with a bird in its talons. So sooner had it gone than the Red-necked Falcon returned and this time was successful in catching something.

Jackal Drinking at waterhole

Gabar Goshawk

We had found our most productive raptor spot of the whole expedition and we had no intention of moving. We sat there and watched incessant raptor activity for the whole day. Secretary Birds came to drink, as did a White-backed Vulture. A Shikra flew in and made a fast kill. A couple of Pale Chanting Goshawks also made an appearance, though it was the many Gabar Goshawks that kept us entertained, constantly flying across the water from bush to bush, often catching something on the way, then chasing each other around trying to pirate the food from the successful hunter. We were very disappointed that we had to leave the next day but determined that we would return for a couple of hours in the morning before exiting the park. The following morning was just as exciting and we made our way back to Maun feeling very satisfied with our trip to the Kalahari.

Gabar Goshawk coming down to bathe

Tags: gabar goshawks hunting, kalahari safari

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Category: Raptor Expedition | Date: Apr 15 2009 | By: Laila Bahaa-el-din

Most of the drive to Nxai Pan and Makgadikgadi Pans National Park was along a big main road and we were continually surprised at seeing elephants foraging by the roadside. Another surprise was driving up to a large Cobra sun-bathing in the middle of the road. It quickly disappeared into the undergrowth by the roadside. Numerous Bateleurs flew overhead and quite a few Martial Eagles were spotted too.

Elephants on the road

Cobra on the road

We got to Nxai Pan just after midday and drove for quite a while before coming out into the open pan that gives the park its name. On the way, we saw our first Gemsbok, the cousin of the more northern Oryx. We drove straight towards the main waterhole where two lions lazed in the shade of a bush. Nearby, we spotted our first Springbok, a southern African species of gazelle. We left the waterhole to explore the pan more thoroughly. We saw lots of Pale Chanting Goshawks and couldn’t help but compare them with their northern counterpart, the Eastern Chanting Goshawk. They seem quite a bit larger, and, as the name suggests, paler. We spotted a couple of cheetahs lying in the shade of some far off trees and watched three bull elephants splashing white-muddy water over themselves, turning themselves white in the process.

Young Pale Chanting Goshawk

Elephants covering themselves in white mud

The next day we drove to the southern part of the park, the Makgadikgadi Pans. We drove first to the river, which isn’t flowing at the moment but consists of a few shallow pools. We noticed more than 40 vultures perched in trees staring down at one spot. We followed their gaze and found a lioness who had obviously stashed a kill in the bush she was lying under. Our campsite that night was a remote one on some hills in the middle of the park and we set off at first light, this time towards the famous pans. After watching some Mongooses trying to get warm in the first rays of the sun, we spotted a vulture sitting in a palm tree. We found this to be unusual and photographed it thinking it was a rarity. We were soon to find out that in this park, it was the norm. We came upon an area with quite a few palms and a huge portion of them had vultures sitting in them. As we watched them, the day got warmer and they took off to a spot a few hundred metres away where they landed on the ground. Our binoculars showed us that two male lions had made a kill over there but no road could get us close enough to get any more information.

White-backed Vulture in a palm tree

A small tortoise and a decent sized python entertained us on the way to the pans. We noticed that quite a few zebras seemed all walking in the same direction, away from the pans, towards the river about 70km away. We assumed this to be part of the zebra migration that takes place in this park around this time of year, when the pans dry up and the zebras go in search of permanent water sources. We later bumped into some people that confirmed the fact: the zebra migration had started that day! The pans were quite a sight … large expanses of white-grey soda-ash interspersed with grassy areas. A few animals remained but the bulk of them were on the move. Most fun were the ground squirrels that live in communities and stood all in a row watching us drive by. We saw very few raptors over the drier pans, just a few Greater Kestrels and one Black-shouldered Kite. Rather than the animals this time, it was the starkness and beauty of this landscape that drew our attention.

Migrating Zebras

Ground Squirrels

Makgadikgadi Pans

Tags: makgadikgadi pans national park, vultures in palm trees, white elephants

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Category: Raptor Expedition | Date: Apr 13 2009 | By: Laila Bahaa-el-din

Our second day in Chobe we planned to drive towards the other end of the park, to the Savute area. It is a tough drive there, so we returned to town to refill on fuel and spent another night on the riverfront before starting to make our way to Savute the following morning. Our first interesting sighting of the morning was a pair of Tawny Eagles mating and nest-building. Not much further and we saw another honey badger.

Tawny Eagle carrying nesting material

We hadn’t yet left the riverfront when we stopped to photograph an Ovampo Sparrowhawk. As we watched it jump from branch to branch, I noticed a Martial Eagle about 400m high off the ground, stalling in midair before going into an impressive stoop. The Guinea Fowls noticed its approach and started alarming and running for cover. The Martial missed and went to sit on a nearby tree. No sooner had we approached the tree that she flew straight from her perch to some bushes just out of view. The Guinea Fowls started yelling again but this time it was no use. The Martial had got its talons on a young Guinea and flew to a tree to pluck and eat its prize. We watched for quite some time before we remembered that we had a tough drive ahead of us and we set off. Just as we were leaving the riverfront, we saw more than 40 vultures coming down fast to the ground. Unfortunately, what they were flying to wasn’t anywhere near the road so we could only guess at what died, and what might have killed it …

Martial Eagle carrying its kill: a young Guinea Fowl

We arrived in Savuti, the south-western part of Chobe NP, and were immediately struck by its potential for predators - large open areas with sporadic water holes. Zebras and Wildebeest, different races than those we were used to in East Africa, congregated at these water holes. I delighted in seeing a new species of very cute Mongoose. From the illustrations in the mammal guide, I think it’s the Selous Mongoose. We also saw a different race of Topi, this one called the Tsessebe. Brown Snake Eagles and Black-shouldered Kites were our common raptors and we got very excited at seeing another Red-necked Falcon. We didn’t see any of the large ground predators, but there were plenty of signs that they were around. Large Bull elephants stood at regular intervals under tall trees, or bathed in mud puddles. Pleased with a great four days in Chobe, we returned to Kasane town where we fueled-up, ready for our next destination.

Selous Mongoose

Zebras around a waterhole

Angry Cobra in Savuti

Tags: angry cobra, chobe national park, red-necked vultures, selous mongoose

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