Namibia's Caprivi Strip: 2

Look out for several species of rallids, including African Water Rail, African Crake, Spotted Crake, Purple Gallinule and Common Moorhen. African Skimmer have been recorded here in the past, as have large concentrations of Collared Pratincole, which tend to occur mostly in the open areas around the golfcourse and zoo. Bee-eaters are always around and flocks of Carmine, Blue-cheeked and European can be present together. Smaller numbers of Little, White-fronted and rarely, Swallow-tailed can also be found. Marsh Owl occurs in small numbers.

Several specialities should be seen relatively easily. Coppery-tailed Coucal occur throughout the area (as do Senegal and White-browed) and are easiest to see in the early morning, when they perch and call from high in the reed beds. White-rumped Babbler, Chirping Cisticola, Swamp Boubou, the blackheaded form of the Spotted-backed (Village) Weaver and Brown Firefinch are all common in the sewage works area. Quail Finch is abundant, but are almost impossible to see, listen out for their distinctive, trilink trilink, call as they shoot out of the grass at your feet.

The Rundu Divundu road (B8)
The 240 km between Rundu and Divundu is on a good-quality tarmac road, which runs parallel with the Okavango River, and can be covered in a few hours. However, it is definitely worth making an early start, to bird the broad-leaved woodlands en route, to find a good list of typical species. Don't bother stopping near settlements and on cleared agricultural land as there is much pristine woodland.

In the summer months the woodlands are good for a variety of migrant raptors including Steppe Eagle and Lesser Spotted Eagle, which can be seen in large numbers at termite emergences (throughout the Caprivi) during the early part of the wet season from November to late January, depending on the pattern of rainfall. Termite emergences take place synchronously over large areas and are a major food source for large numbers of birds. Termites can only be described as the popcorn of the bird world. If you are lucky enough to come across an emergence, the variety and numbers of birds feeding will astound you. Aerial feeders include Hobby, Red-footed Falcon, Black Kite (both the African Yellow-billed and the migrant races), Lanner and Peregrine Falcons, African Hobby and accipiters such as African Little Sparrowhawk. Check all the big feeding groups for small numbers of Eastern Red-footed Falcon, Lesser Kestrel (they tend to favour very open habitats such as grasslands and airfields) and Dickinson's Kestrel. The larger raptors tend to feed on the ground and feeding parties may include most species of vulture, Secretary Bird, Wahlberg's Eagle, African Hawk Eagle, African Fish Eagle, Bateleur, Tawny Eagle and Dark Chanting Goshawk.

Large numbers of Abdim's, Marabou and Woolly-necked Storks are also found at termite emergences. Grey Hornbill show a deft touch in catching termites on the wing, with Red-billed, Southern Yellow-billed and Bradfield's Hornbills all tending to feed on the ground. In one particularly wet year I saw several hundred Whiskered and White-winged Terns feeding at a big emergence in the Lake Liambezi area of eastern Caprivi.

Regular stops along the way in tall, mature woodland should give good views of African Golden Oriole, Tinkling (Grey) Cisticola, Neddicky (Piping Cisticola), Southern Black Tit, Pale Flycatcher and Black (Amethyst) Sunbird. Keep a look out for Sharp-tailed Starling and Rufous-bellied Tit in any stand of tall woodland east of the Omuramba Omatako (about 90 km from Rundu). The woodlands around Katere have reached near mythical status as the place to see these species but I have found that they are readily seen in mature woodland all along the main road.

The Okavango River is broken up into a maze of small channels and wooded islands in the Andara area (signposted off the B8) by a broad band of quarzites which run at right angles through the river. Outside of Popa Falls this is the easiest place to see Rock Pratincole, which occur in fairly large numbers on boulders and rocky outcrops from May through to February. The dense riparian forest and scrub on the river bank and islands is also good habitat for African Emerald and Red-chested Cuckoos, Long-crested Eagle, African Wood Owl, Retz's Red-billed Helmet Shrike, Collared Sunbird and, very rarely, Red-capped Robin-Chat (Natal Robin). If you are in the area at about sunset listen out for the distinctive 'kow kow kow' of Freckled Nightjar this is the best place to see it in the north-east of Namibia and look out for Bat Hawk and African Hobby hunting over the river. The area is most easily reached through the Roman Catholic Mission at Andara where you should ask permission to walk around. A number of the islands are traditional burial grounds and you should not go onto these under any circumstances.

Popa Falls and the Mahango Section of the Okavango National Park
Popa Falls is about 30 ha in extent and is a very popular camping and accommodation site administered by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism. It is named after a low series of rapids which drop about 5 m.

Popa Falls and the Mahango Section of the about to be re-proclaimed Okavango National Park are without doubt the prime sites for birding in the western section of the Caprivi. With over 420 species, including all the Okavango specialities, recorded in an area covering only some 25,000 ha, this is the place no birder should miss.

Popa Falls park can be broadly divided into four distinct habitats. The area around the hutted accommodation is made up largely of very tall knobthorn, Acacia nigrescens, forest, with a dense understorey of shrubs where it hasn't been cleared. African Wood Owl and African Barred Owlet can easily be called up here at night but please use tapes sparingly. African Emerald, African and Red-chested Cuckoo are regularly recorded in the tall trees here but are difficult to see. Patient searching in these taller trees should yield at least African Little Sparrowhawk, African Goshawk and Shikra (Little-banded Goshawk). Other species should include Golden-tailed, Cardinal and Bearded Woodpeckers, African Green Pigeon (especially in the early morning when they tend to sit out to sun themselves) and Black-collared Barbet. The dense understorey in this area of the camp is excellent for Terrestrial Brownbul, White-browed Robin-Chat (Heuglin's Robin), Red-capped (Natal) Robin (rare), White-rumped Babbler, Swamp Boubou, Orange-breasted Bush Shrike, Grey-backed Camaroptera, Ashy Flycatcher and a range of Palaearctic warblers.

The drier rocky slopes of the middle of the camp are covered with relatively low scrubby vegetation in which it is difficult to see birds. Yellow-breasted Apalis favour this area, as do Brown-headed Tchagra, Cinnamon-breasted Rock Bunting (rare), Blue and Violet-eared Waxbill and Emerald-spotted Wood Dove. The more open areas of exposed rock are the favoured roosting and nesting sites for Freckled Nightjar. Other species of nightjar recorded here include Fiery-necked, Rufous-cheeked and Square-tailed. Pennant-winged Nightjar tends to favour open woodland habitats closer to the Mahango. In the campground area of Popa Falls the drier scrub comes down to the edge of a small side channel of the river. Look out in the small stands of candelabra acacias, Acacia hebeclada, for Brown, Red-billed and Jameson's Firefinches, Golden Weaver, Yellow-bellied Bulbul, Collared Sunbird and Tawny-flanked Prinia. At both the campground and the huts there are several Black Crake which are very tame and feed on scraps around the fireplaces.

The small island on the eastern side of the camp is also good for most of the species listed above, but provides access to the riverine habitats where a number of specialities occur. As you cross the small zigzag footbridge turn left along the small channel. The papyrus, Cyperus papyrus, beds here are the favoured haunt of Greater and Lesser Swamp-Warblers, Winding and Chirping Cisticolas. Thick-billed Weaver make their neat nests in the reeds along this section. The more forested sections are good for Crested, Black-collared and Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird, Terrestrial Brownbul, Kurrichane Thrush, African Mourning Dove, Eastern Black-headed Oriole, Grey Tit-Flycatcher (Fan-tailed Flycatcher) and African Green Pigeon.

On the far side of the island there is good view over the top of the 'falls' and the rocky outcrops here are favoured roosting sites for Rock Pratincole. Another good area is at the junction of the camp boundary fence and the river. The best times to see this species are the early morning and late afternoon when they can be seen hunting and displaying over the falls.

During the heat of the day search the rocks for basking Crocodile. Hippo occur in the area and it is for this reason that it is inadvisable to walk around on the island at night when they come ashore to graze. Early morning walks along the river may be rewarded with views of Cape Clawless Otter.