After completing one of the world’s toughest mountain bike races, Chanan Weiss sought recovery in one of Earth’s richest wetland ecosystems—the Okavango Delta, where two bird species became the stars of the show.
I’d just completed the Absa Cape Epic – an 8-day, over-600 km mountain bike race in conditions that varied from mid-40 degrees Celsius temperatures atop granite-domed mountains, to sticky mud on long cold rainy days. It was gruelling and it was the closest I’d come to not completing it. I was finished.
It coincided with a couple of South African friends who were visiting from London, and they were yearning to visit the “bush”. Four nights recovering in the Delta was exactly what the doctor had ordered.
Even as my regional bird list grows, the list of outstanding birds to see and photograph remains stubbornly long. Before a trip, I scroll through my guides, noting what I still need in the area, or I try to visit areas where long-enough lists tease with promising yields.
Botswana’s central Okavango Delta is one such destination. Of course, for most, the main drawcards are the abundant wildlife, idyllic wetland landscapes, and warm climate, all collaborating to produce the perfect safari. They’re why I keep returning.
Our homebase would be Jacana Camp, located on an island in the Jao Concession, bordering Moremi Game Reserve, on the edge of the panhandle.
Wishlist
At the top of my list was the Brown Firefinch, probably the hardest of the four regional firefinches, inhabiting riparian and thicket vegetation in the Okavango and Namibia’s Caprivi.
Following closely were White-breasted Cuckooshrike, Pallid Harrier, White-backed Night Heron, Yellow-throated Sandgrouse, Dickinson’s Kestrel, Grey-rumped Swallow, and a couple of coursers, larks, warblers, swallows and nightjars that have eluded my lens for far too long. The usual suspects.
Therein lies the collector’s dilemma: we chip away at our lists, but we also don’t want them to get too short.
Other specials in the area, where I’ve been luckier, include Pel’s Fishing Owl, African Skimmer, African Pygmy Goose, Wattled Crane, Lesser Jacana, Lesser Moorhen, Rufous-bellied Heron and Slaty Egret.
It’s a short and scenic flight to the Jao airstrip from Maun, passing over a swamp-sea mottled with islands of varying shapes and sizes, connected by ancient tracks and hippo waterways. It is a preserved wonderland on a grand scale that warms the heart.
On Land and Water
Water levels in the Okavango Delta were low so most of our activities were on land, although a mokoro (dugout canoe) trip provided good views of many of the region’s highlights: African Fish Eagles punctuating tall jackal berries, Rufous-bellied Herons gliding overhead, and Lesser Moorhen flushed by our presence.
Our species list fast approached 100 as we bumped along narrow jeep tracks, navigated the Delta’s waterways, and ambled over its rickety wooden bridges.
Commonly seen highlights were Coppery-tailed and White-browed Coucal, Slaty Egret and all the kingfishers barring Half-collared, Long-toed Lapwing and Little Heron (previously Striated or Green-backed Heron), African Pygmy Goose and African Snipe, Hartlaub’s Babbler and Meyer’s Parrot.
We had individual sightings of other sought-after species:
Southern Ground Hornbill, Wattled Crane, Greater Honeyguide, Bateleur, Brown Snake and Martial Eagle, Wood and Marsh Sandpipers, Black-bellied Bustard, Pearl-spotted Owlet and Verreaux’s Eagle-Owl, African Marsh Harrier, Levaillant’s Cuckoo and Western House Martin.
Quarry in sight
On one afternoon drive I noticed a sleek grey raptor flying between ilala palms. It could only be the elegant Dickinson’s Kestrel. I’d seen them before in the Linyanti, further northeast, and in Zimbabwe’s Gonarezhou National Park, but they were too fast for my camera-response times.
This individual kestrel, a little further south than the distribution maps suggested, was content to perch on a frond and make hunting forays to the ground nearby. Third-time lucky.
One of the camp’s other guests was an Australian wildlife photographer who we met and chatted to between outings. He said he might have seen a Brown Firefinch on route to his chalet, when I mentioned that it was one of my targets for the trip.
I wasn’t hopeful, as I’d seen quite a few Red-billed Firefinches in camp and I suspected he’d seen these. But I was wrong and boy, was I glad.
A brief interaction with a single male provided the opportunity I’d longed for. I returned a few times but didn’t see the charming little firefinch again.
Final Tally
The Okavango’s large herds of buffalo, elephant and plains game had moved to other areas for the season. Still, we had good views of most of them, as well as a pride of lions and a single leopard. Red lechwe were everywhere. Hippos amused us.
Sunsets in the panhandle are impossibly saturated. Mesmerising. Hard to beat.
And despite many migrants having begun their return journeys, our bird list had topped out at a respectable 110 over four days.
But the firefinch and the kestrel were the highlights of my week.
See more of Chanan’s photography at chananweiss.com
Follow Chanan on Instagram: @chanan.weiss
