All quiet on the western front - PM 2023

[pedro maia]

23 minutes ago, Galana said:

It does in both my Books. SASOL "Birds of Southern Africa" and Sinclair & Ryan 'Birds south of the Sahara'.

Occurrence right along the line of Namibian Desert from Kunene river, south.

I do see that Wikipedia suggest Nicholson's as a race of Long-billed.

At your leisure.

 

I think this is quite recent, I don´t know which editions you have but mine is Birds of Southern Africa, Sicblair and others, 2023, and under "Nicholson´s Pipit Anthus nicholsoni, it goes like this:

"Nicholson´s Pipit of´s Africa recently split from E. Africa populations which retain the name Long-billed Pipit (A. simillis)".

 

Damned splits...

 

Anyway, I think I´ll go with your offer of Buffy.

[pedro maia]

11 hours ago, Galana said:

3. I am inclined to suggest Rufous-eared Warbler.

 

9. I am suggesting Cape Penduline-Tit.

 

 

 

3. would have to be a juvenile, right? My doubt is that in my bird legs seem to be darker than in the photos I see online, What do you think? I saw this bird in the Swakopmund river bed, near the S«Desert Breeze.

 

 

9. I think you´re spot on, my first thought was Yellow-bellied eremomela, like @Tdgraves, but for that chest should be white with only yellow belly and my bird is yellow from belly to chest and with the pointed bill it has to be Cape Penduline-Tit.

[pedro maia]

After this ID intermezzo, I´m back to the trip and the count.

 

For our final night in Namibia we stayed at the Auas Safari Lodge, south of Windhoek and 45m from the airport without having to pass by the capital, the distance to the airport was one of the reasons to chose this lodge since our flight departed next day at 2:30pm, the others beeing good bird species numbers according to ebird and also the possibility to see some general game, my brother-in-law had never been to Africa and the rest we wouldn´t mind seeing same animals.

 

It was a good choice, we arrived at lunch time, there was time to rest by the pool overlooking the waterhole, I went for a walk to look for birds and booked a private game drive for the afternoon, they were a bit reluctant but I insisted and they agreed, so we didn´t have to share the drive (I really don´t know if there were other guests interested, we didn´t see any other vehicule during the drive.

 

The game drive was a pleasant one, nothing too exciting but it was good to see the game they have in the 10.000 hectare property.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were two species I never saw before, Sable

 

 

and Black wildebeast

 

[pedro maia]

Bird species from the afternoon walk and from the game drive:

 

N80, Great sparrow (Passer motitensis)

[Galana]

3 hours ago, pedro maia said:

I saw this bird in the Swakopmund river bed, near the S«Desert Breeze.

Well my old edition (2014) of Sasol has this to say. "In arid scrub. Keeping to low shrubs, briefly up on bushes, then on the ground moving rodent like between bushes."

Sounds just right for the Swakop river bed from Desert Breeze.

[pedro maia]

N81, Egyptian goose (Alopochen aegyptiaca)

[pedro maia]

N82, Wattled starling (Creatophora cinerea)

 

[pedro maia]

N83, White-browed sparrow-weaver (Plocepasser mahali)

[pedro maia]

N84 (W679), Groundscraper thrush (Turdus litsitsirupa)

 

[pedro maia]

N85, African spoonbill (Platalea alba)

[pedro maia]

N86, Verreaux's eagle owl (Bubo lacteus)

[pedro maia]

N87 (W680), South african shelduck (Tadorna cana)

 

[pedro maia]

N88 (W681), Red-billed teal (Anas erythrorhyncha)

[Kitsafari]

wow black wildebeest! i've only seen them once and they were racing away. They're stunning gnus. 

 

your bird count is growing fast!

[pedro maia]

N89 (W682), White-tailed Shrike (Lanioturdus torquatus)

 

 

This one wasn´t an easy ID, I don´t have any front picture, they were quite skittish and didn´t allow me to approach but I think I got it right.

 

[pedro maia]

14 minutes ago, Galana said:

Well my old edition (2014) of Sasol has this to say. "In arid scrub. Keeping to low shrubs, briefly up on bushes, then on the ground moving rodent like between bushes."

Sounds just right for the Swakop river bed from Desert Breeze.

 

Perfect then, it goes to the bag!

[Galana]

13 minutes ago, pedro maia said:

I think I got it right.

You did. One of my favourites that I am always happy to see. Never found them skittish. Quite the opposite at times.

[PeterHG]

What a beautiful batch of photos! That Sable would have been a lifer for me, too. Great sighting!

[michael-ibk]

A very good place to choose - looks like a lovely game drive. 

[TonyQ]

@pedro maiaI am just catching up!

You total has really moved on. Great birds and lots of excellent photos.

Beautiful landscapes as well.

The bird I’d section was interesting.

I am surprised that “Useless Cisticola” hasn’t been used as an official name

[pedro maia]

2 hours ago, TonyQ said:

@pedro maiaI am just catching up!

You total has really moved on. Great birds and lots of excellent photos.

Beautiful landscapes as well.

The bird I’d section was interesting.

I am surprised that “Useless Cisticola” hasn’t been used as an official name

 

I was surprised not to see any cisticola during the whole trip.

[michael-ibk]

How incredibly disappointing that must have been. 😎

[pedro maia]

33 minutes ago, michael-ibk said:

How incredibly disappointing that must have been. 😎

 

I have to go back just to try to see those amazing birds...

[xelas]

3 hours ago, pedro maia said:

 

I was surprised not to see any cisticola during the whole trip.

 You should give the bird more than 7 days to show !

[Galana]

4 hours ago, pedro maia said:

I have to go back just to try to see those amazing birds..

Somebody complaining they never saw a Cisticola This must be a first. I bet you did nevertheless.

If it is any consolation they are not that prevalent in Namibia with only a dozen species to play with.

Croaking Cisticola    Cisticola natalensis

Grey Cisticola           Cisticola rufilatus

Zitting Cisticola         Cisticola juncidis

Luapula Cisticola       Cisticola luapula

Chirping Cisticola      Cisticola pipiens

Desert Cisticola         Cisticola aridulus

Piping Cisticola or Neddicky    Cisticola fulvicapillus

Rattling Cisticola        Cisticola chiniana

Red-faced Cisticola   Cisticola erythrops

Red-headed or Grey-backed Cisticola  Cisticola subruficapillus

Tinkling Cisticola        Cisticola tinniens

Winding or Black-backed Cisticola  Cisticola galactotes galactotes.

Edited April 24, 2023 by Galana
added text.