EBCs and misIDs: KK's BY III, MMXXIII

[BRACQUENE]

Congratulations on your century; some excellent birds to arrive there!

[Kalaharikind]

I think my mum might disagree, Galana .

 

Thanks, @BRACQUENE!

 

The only bird at the TR waterhole was a solitary Kelkiewyn; this group was at one of the roadside water holes:

 

106    Namaqua Sandgrouse
Kelkiewyn
Pterocles namaqua
 

Nossob River Road, 11 April 2023

 

We spotted a trio of extremely overfed and lazy lions, recovering from their gemsbok orgy. The jackals were slightly more active, but still kept a wary eye on the sleepy hunters, one of which was keeping a lazy eye on the scavengers:

 

 

Gemsbok with a rolled-up horn:

 

And the wonky-horned one from our previous visit:

 

 

107    Secretarybird
Sekretarisvoël
Sagittarius serpentarius
 

Nossob River Road, 11 April 2023

 

And since my 2022 BY did not feature even a single one:

108    Sociable Weaver
Versamelvoël
Philetairus socius
 

 

 

and a solitary and unsociable one:

 

Shall I leave it up to @xelasto ID number 109?

Nossob River Road, 11 April 2023

 

110    Cape Glossy (Cape) Starling
Kleinglansspreeu
Lamprotornis nitens
 

Nossob River Road, 11 April 2023

 

[Kalaharikind]

Nossob was busy, but in a nice way - it certainly is no Twee Rivieren...

 

After setting up camp, the obligatory post-driving G&Ts and ordering roosterkoek, it was time to get to the water hole. Not much happening there (apart from a lady who had probably made an early start on the G&Ts and kept saying how much she loves Nossob for its peace and quiet. I soon left, in search of peace and quiet). So, camp site birds:

 

 111    Wattled Starling
Lelspreeu
Creatophora cinerea

 

Nossob Rest Camp, 11 April 2023

 

112    Kalahari Scrub Robin
Kalahariwipstert
Cercotrichas paena
 

 

Nossob Rest Camp, 11 April 2023

 

113    Marico Flycatcher
Maricovlieëvanger
Melaenornis mariquensis

 

Nossob Rest Camp, 11 April 2023

 

114    Southern Grey-headed Sparrow
Gryskopmossie
Passer diffusus

 

Nossob Rest Camp, 11 April 2023

 

There was some interspecies conflict, but no blood was shed.

[xelas]

With pleasure, @Kalaharikind!

 

109 African Red-eyed Bulbul aka Black-fronted Bulbul

Rooioogtiptol

Pycnonotus nigricans

 

Lovely photos of birds and mammals from one very special place!

[Galana]

More exciting stuff.

That Squirrel can count itself lucky the Yellow Mongoose was only playing as there would only be one winner there.

[Kalaharikind]

Thanks so much, Xelas! Afrikaans, Latin, alternative common name - you get to move to the front of the class and sit at the special Teacher's Pet desk! 

 

(And I now have a brilliant strategy for those LBJs that aren't in any of my bird guides..)

 

@Galana, they actually made peace a couple of minutes later and were as thick as thieves and as happy as larks again, playing in the sand pit. A huge one, of course. 

Edited May 14, 2023 by Kalaharikind

[xelas]

46 minutes ago, Kalaharikind said:

(And I now have a brilliant strategy for those LBJs that aren't in any of my bird guides..)

You can try but my field of expertise ar Bulbuls .

[Kalaharikind]

I've saved the best of Nossob for last. After I'd booked us in at Reception, I started asking around about the resident owls, especially the Pearl-spotted. Dawid, one of the maintenance staff, said that the photographers with their "flesh" cameras had chased them away, but that there was a Scops in one of the trees near the shop. I looked and looked and looked, but couldn't find it, so went to the hide - and you know how that turned out. Back at the camp site, a couple staring up into a tree was a sign that I should walk over and see what was happening:

 

115    Spotted Eagle-Owl
Gevlekte Ooruil
Bubo africanus
 

 

 

After a chat, they pointed us - by then the Owlistas had become a small crowd - to another site. 

 

116    Western Barn Owl
Nonnetjie-uil
Tyto alba
 

 

The Spotted Eagle-Owl was in the first couple's garden, so to speak, but the Barn was in the campers' living room cum kitchen, so I took a pic or two and left.

 

Mr and Mrs Spotted Eagle had heard of a Southern White-faced in the "new" camp site, and the three of us went in search of it. Result: nothing, nada, zilch, no luck.

 

Ah well. Walking to the shop to see if the roosterkoek delivery had been made, there was Dawid, waving at me to say that he had seen the Scops. So, I went to fetch the Owlistas and channeled my inner Pied Piper of Hamelin:

 

117    African Scops Owl
Skopsuil
Otus senegalensis
 

 

 

Dazed by my good luck, I started walking back to our camp site, only to see Mr and Mrs Spotted Eagle waving (it was a wavy kind of afternoon), with a GPS pin to:

 

118    Southern White-faced Owl
Witwanguil
Ptilopsis granti
 

 

Not a bad way of turning 80, hey? 

 

Next up: our third one-night stand, this time at Mata-Mata. 

 

[Kalaharikind]

16 minutes ago, xelas said:

You can try but my field of expertise ar Bulbuls .

OK class, today's lesson is all about "broadening your horizons". Open your books at the cisticolas... 

[pedro maia]

Congrats on the centuty, looking forward to see more birds and other stuff from KTP and Namibia.

[michael-ibk]

Wow, a real Owling hattrick - very cool!

[xelas]

15 minutes ago, michael-ibk said:

Wow, a real Owling hattrick - very cool!

My count says four Owls - but there is not a special word for scoring 4 goals.

 

2 hours ago, Kalaharikind said:

Not a bad way of turning 80, hey? 

Do Owls get to that late age?!

[Kalaharikind]

Since I know nothing about soccer, except that there's a round ball involved and some players are very good divers, I had to ask Prof Google, who said that would be a "haul". 

 

 

[Kalaharikind]

Apparently, the only way to tell PCG and Gabar juveniles apart is by the black eye ring of the Gabar. I, of course, can see it clearly, but do they rest of you concur? (This has nothing to do with the fact that I've already counted a PCG, but not a Gabar, adult, juvie or still in nappies. Asking purely for the sake of scientific exactitude .)

 

 

 

[Kalaharikind]

I made Johan stop for this tree. Because it's so pretty. You will, of course, have noticed the Southern Fiscal, and also the fact that it's the Western race, with a white supercilium eyebrow stripe above the eye. 

 

 

You mean you can't see it? Here, take a closer look:

 

 

Game viewing was not bad, but we did not see any elephants or zebras - or even impalas. The hippos and crocs also eluded us. But, we did see these:

 

 

 

Unfortunately, I couldn't get a pic of all four of them together. Still, what with lions at their kill the previous day and the cheetahs, I'm not going to let that little detail bother me.

[Tdgraves]

30 minutes ago, Kalaharikind said:

Apparently, the only way to tell PCG and Gabar juveniles apart is by the black eye ring of the Gabar. I, of course, can see it clearly, but do they rest of you concur? (This has nothing to do with the fact that I've already counted a PCG, but not a Gabar, adult, juvie or still in nappies. Asking purely for the sake of scientific exactitude .) 

 

Juvenile PCH i’m afraid. Gabar’s are smaller and do not stand so upright (see my my BY…)

[Kalaharikind]

Thanks @Tdgraves.  I was expecting that answer, but you know, Pope's hope that springs eternal...

[Galana]

22 hours ago, Kalaharikind said:

Not a bad way of turning 80, hey? 

I said much the same when I did.

 

Great set of Owls. I would guess that the for in a row would be TopHattrick!

 

15 hours ago, Kalaharikind said:

Asking purely for the sake of scientific exactitude .)

Right. I am 50/50. It does look a bit large for a Gabar but the streaked throat and breast look right as does the supercilium. A bit leggy so I hate to disappoint but the odds come down on PCG.

[Zim Girl]

Congratulations on the century.

Enjoying all your birds, in particular that lovely set of Owls!

[PeterHG]

Congratulations on a spectacular #100! Glad you still managed to find a spot at Nossob.

[Kalaharikind]

Thanks, @Galana. Tdgraves's pointer to the posture was worth was worth a lot more than a tick.

 

If you can wait a bit longer, @Zim Girl, there's a special owl coming up!

 

It's been a long wait for a decent CBS, @PeterHG.

 

Our last day in KTFP meant a lovely drive along the Upper Dune Road to Mata-Mata. 

 

119    Northern Black Korhaan
Witvlerkkorhaan
Afrotis afraoides
 

 

My Uber-driver was instructed to stop for this:

 

 

[Kalaharikind]

The water holes on the Auob River Road were just as quiet, but I did manage to get 

 

120    Namaqua Dove
Namakwaduifie
Oena capensis
 

 

 

[Kalaharikind]

At MM it was the usual routine of setting up camp and having a G&T (two, actually) before I had a quick walk around to see what camp site birds were on offer.

 

121    Chestnut-vented Tit-Babbler (Warbler)
Bosveldtjeriktik
Curruca subcoerulea
 

 

122    Black-faced Waxbill
Swartwangsysie
Brunhilda erythronotos

 

123    Cape Crow
Swartkraai
Corvus capensis
 

 

[Kalaharikind]

The next morning it was the usual packing up, border formalities (quick, friendly and stress-free) and picking up two bags of wood. We'd met a couple at Dikbaardskolk picnic site who, when hearing that we were going to Namibia, said that they'd had to leave two bags of wood at the border post - and did we want it? Wood being wood, and free Namibian wood being free Namibian wood, we of course said yes, please, are you sure, and thanks very much - not really expecting it to be still there. Well, it was, and we were on our way, our destination for the next three nights a working sheep farm between Stampriet and Aranos.

 

21 Dunes is reached by crossing, well, 21 Dunes. A lovely drive. After all the driving Johan had been doing, he really deserved not doing much of anything for a few day. I did a bit of lazy camp site birding. 

 

124    Rock Martin
Kransswael
Ptyonoprogne fuligula
 

 

125    Yellow-bellied Eremomela
Geelpensbossanger
Eremomela icteropygialis
 

 

126    Red-faced Mousebird
Rooiwangmuisvoël
Urocolius indicus
 

 

OK, I did have to work/walk/scramble around for this lifer:

 

First sighting of it:

 

 

Slightly better, but it was still playing cat-and-mouse:

 

And after about 50 shots and three trees:

 

127    Cape Penduline-tit
Kaapse Kapokvoël
Anthoscopus minutus
 

 

128    Fawn-coloured Lark
Vaalbruinlewerik
Calendulauda africanoides
 

 

129    Acacia Pied Barbet
Bonthoutkapper
Tricholaema leucomelas
 

 

I looked - I looked really hard - for a Sociable Weaver at it nest (preferable with a Pygmy Falcon standing guard), but this is, unfortunately, the best I could do:

 

[Galana]

A good haul and free firewood. What more could one ask for (excepting a Pygmy Falcon on a Weaver's nest.)