Camp Moremi - Birdlife Botswana

It is well-known among birders that most birds are more interesting than the ‘Big 5’! This certainly proved to be the case recently when I arrived at Camp Moremi to undertake the water bird counts conducted annually by Birdlife Botswana with the assistance of Desert and Delta Safaris – lions had killed an elephant right outside the camp entrance, but of course was sated and fast asleep in the shade! They remained thus for the next two days, attracting safari-goers to the area, while the lagoons and waterways around Xakanaxa – where I was conducting the water bird counts – were deserted.

I couldn’t drag myself away from Xakanaxa Lagoon – right in front of Camp Moremi. This lagoon, together with Gadikwe and Gcobega lagoons, support substantial heronries, reputedly the largest breeding sites for Marabou and Yellow-billed Storks in Southern Africa. I have never seen this site so active before – in addition to the storks, Purple Herons, Great Egrets and Reed Cormorants were also gearing up for breeding. However the Yellow-billed Storks held my attention with their elaborate courtship displays and peculiar vocalizations. Storks are ostensibly voiceless, but a cacophony of wheezes, grunts and squeaks, interspersed with loud beak-clattering, belied this fact. The birds were stunning in appearance, their normal pure white plumage suffused with a soft pink, indicating that they were in breeding condition. The bright yellow beaks and bare red facial skin completed the picture.




However it was the activity which held me enthralled, and which contrasted so starkly with the lion’s immobility. There was much jostling for prime nesting positions, and a trio standing amicably on one site had me puzzled for a while – I guessed that it was a male with two females both of whom liked the spot in question. Birds flew singly and in small groups across the lagoon to the adjacent tree-line to collect nesting material – they would grasp twigs and other vegetation in their sturdy bills and flap madly to break pieces off, sometimes getting more than they bargained for.


Undaunted, they flew back to the island with trailing debris, to be greeted affectionately by admiring mates, who made a great fuss of placing the nesting material in exactly the right position.

A similar spectacle awaited us at Gadikwe heronry, where a throng of Yellow-billed Storks were joined by African Spoonbills and Sacred Ibis flying and out of the heronry in search of suitable nesting sites. My companion from Camp Moremi, Mod Samati, was very diligent in assisting with counting the constantly moving birds, and without his active participation and patience, I could not have achieved a reasonable result. It was a long two days work to cover all three lagoons, but late on the second afternoon, we returned to camp, not only satisfied with our results but elated at the spectacle we had witnessed.

I had to head back to Maun immediately before the park gates closed, and as I left Camp Moremi I was amused to see several safari vehicles parked at the lion kill, watching sleeping lions …..


Many thanks - Pete Hancock, Birdlife Botswana

Savute Safari Lodge - Dry Season at Savute

As the year progresses, we are now entering the hot, dry season at Savute. Daytime temperatures are soaring, often around the 33ºC mark. Early mornings are however still rather chilly, in the region of 15ºC. All the natural waterholes are drying up very fast, with only mud left in the natural waterholes at Harvey’s and Disaster Pans. The only available water sources are currently at the three artificial waterholes maintained by Wildlife Services and the one directly infront of Savute Safari Lodge maintained by ourselves here in camp. Currently we are pumping water constantly throughout the day to the waterholes at the lodge, often to find it drank dry by the big groups of elephant moving into the area to make use of this very limited resource.

During daytime the waterholes are usually dominated by bulls, who at times look as if they are deriving great pleasure from standing in the waterhole, keeping all others from getting close to the water. At times they can become very aggressive when any other animal approaches. You can imagine our surprise when we even saw a young bull chasing away a Guineafowl that was cheeky enough to come and drink some of “his” water.

During night time, the waterholes are more often frequented by breeding herds of Elephant. The mothers and young ones usually move in as a big group. Getting to the cool water all in one go. They do not hang around the hole as the bulls usually do, but rather drink their fill and move on again as soon as they have slacked their thirst. This provide great delight for ourselves in camp, as there are often very young ones, less than a year old accompanying the adults.

One particular individual has been grabbing our attention for a while, as he is a regular visitor to camp. This young bull has got no trunk, due to either a genetic defect or loosing it early during his life – therefore being christened “Stumpy”. Stumpy made his first appearance at the waterhole around three years ago. Then already he had no trunk, therefore we can deduct that he is at least three years old. He is coping with this defect quite well, kneeling down in the deepest part of the water to drink whenever his herd comes into camp. When feeding, he pushes his whole head into the trees to feed like an antelope, directly from the branches. He appears to be in a good condition, therefore seems to be coping well with this disability.
With the elephants dominating the waterholes, the other animals are taking a chance whenever they can to have a drink. For the first time this year we even had a couple of giraffes coming to drink at the lodge. Unfortunately they did not stay for long, as the elephants quickly chased them away.

As the season progresses, and the days become hotter, these conflicts will become more and more, providing excellent opportunities to see the interaction between the different species. Who knows what the rest of the year holds?

Many thanks: - Kobus Lubbe, Savute Safari Lodge Manager