Wilkinson's World

The most impressive thing about the Kori bustard is its size. It is big. Really big. Not as big as a Common ostrich, admittedly, but the difference is that the Kori can fly; in fact it may well be the largest flying bird in the world. The males are up to 1.5 metres in length and can weigh as much as 19 kg. That’s about 1,200 times heavier than a canary.

Their weight, though, does make them a little reluctant to fly, and they are most commonly seen walking sedately through the long grass of the veld. Even when disturbed they will often walk away quickly. When the Kori does fly, it often uses a running take-off, although it can take off from a standstill.

They are solitary or in pairs when breeding; but may be in larger groups at other times. The males display with their necks inflated, their tails raised over their backs and fanned. These polygynous birds don’t make a nest, with the clutch of 1 or 2 eggs laid in a scrape on the bare ground. They are fairly wide spread in Southern Africa, although they are more common in the drier West and are fairly common in Namibia and Botswana. In the Savuti area of Botswana the Southern carmine bee-eater reportedly uses the Kori as a roost as it hawks insects that are disturbed as the Kori walks through the grassland.  This association appears to be less common in other parts of Southern Africa.

The Kori’s diet consists of insects, small vertebrates, seeds, and carrion. The fact that they also eat gum from Acacia trees provides the reason for their Afrikaans name – “Gompou”, which means “Gum bustard”.

The scientific name for the Kori bustard is Ardeotis kori; ardeotis being from the Latin “ardea”, meaning a heron or bustard and kori being a corruption of the Setswana word “kgôri”, being the Setswana name for the Kori bustard.

And of course you know this limerick, don’t you?

The bustard is  an exquisite fowl

With minimal reason to scowl

For he escaped what would be

Illegitimacy

By the grace of a fortunate vowel.

I’ve always suspected that our family has a number of adrenalin junkies hidden in the closet and so it was no surprise when we unanimously decided to try white water rafting on the Orange River.  As we were staying at Norotshama, a resort some sixty kilometers from Noordoewer on the Namibian side of the river, the obvious choice for our trip was Felix Unite, a company well-known for their river tours.  They very obligingly allowed us to book a half-day trip on the river on New Year’s day.

We were somewhat apprehensive about the wisdom of going on New Year’s day as we weren’t sure how hung over our party would be, let alone the condition of the guide who was to take us.  However, when we arrived at Felix Unite, our guide turned out to be a sweet young lady who was quite capable of leading the group.

After fitting ourselves out with life jackets we climbed onto the back of a truck and were driven a few kilometers upstream to the starting point of our trip.

We were given a short briefing on what to do and then we were off!  The scenery in that part of the world is amazing, with the river flowing alongside high mountains on the left bank and the dry Namibian landscape on the right.

There are numerous birds in the reeds and in trees on islands in the middle of the river and it was lovely to watch them take off effortlessly as we neared them.

The smooth water ahead reflects the mountains and a sense of peace and tranquility overtakes one as one paddles silently down the river.

It has to be said that calling it “white water rafting” along this stretch of river is a bit misleading.  For starters we were in ordinary two man Mohawk canoes (not rubber dinghies as we had hoped) and the rapids that we had to negotiate were extremely tame.  In fact I’m sure we were all somewhat disappointed that it hadn’t been more of a challenge.  Having said that, however, another couple who tacked on to our group, did manage to overturn on the last rapid and ended up losing some of their gear, so either they were really unlucky or we were pretty good to keep afloat!

A highlight of the trip was when we had canoed about halfway and we pulled over to the bank and went ashore.  Here we were encouraged to walk back a few hundred meters and then step into the river to catch the current, supported only by our life jackets which made us beautifully buoyant.  Our guide called this “nappy running” and it turned out to be such fun that we did it twice.

Felix Unite operate four and six day tours here as well and provide all the essentials for the trip.  They are a well-run organization and can be recommended for their canoe trips, which are reasonably priced.  However, if you are hoping for a white-knuckle experience over hardcore rapids, in rubber dinghies, I suggest you head to the Zambezi or you will be disappointed.  To be fair to Felix Unite though, they don’t advertise their trips as anything but canoeing down the Orange River, so we were slightly mislead by the resort which punted white water rafting!  Also, the strength of the rapids obviously depends on how much rain they have had upstream.  But it’s an awesome experience nonetheless!

The “Red List” records the African black oystercatcher as “Near threatened”, which means that it could be threatened with extinction fairly soon if there isn’t a turnaround in its dwindling numbers. On the southern coast of Namibia and also parts of the South African coast, though, this oystercatcher is locally quite common and it presents a splendid sight as it searches for food along the rocky coastline, avoiding the thundering waves with great agility.

The African black oystercatcher is a large (approximately 40 cm long) wader with totally black plumage and with bright red legs, red eyes and a strong red bill with which to open shellfish such as mussels, limpets whelks, and periwinkles that make up a large part of its diet. But strangely, they don’t often eat oysters. Although the sexes are alike in plumage, the adult females are larger than the males.

The oystercatcher is apparently monogamous and the pairs mate for life – they can live for up to 35 years – and the female lays 2 to 4 eggs in a shallow scrape in the sand on an exposed beach or rocky area during summer. The human activity on the beaches at the height of the holiday season makes it difficult for the birds to breed; the eggs and nest are not easily visible and many eggs are probably lost under the trampling feet of holidaymakers. It is this increased human presence along the coast that poses a significant threat to the survival of the species.

They are usually to be found in pairs or in small groups, and are fascinating to watch as they forage for food within the rocky intertidal zone, dodging incoming waves with an uncanny sense of timing. Often the breaking waves seem to be directly overhead before the birds react, but they never seem to get caught and dragged off the rocks.

They call while on shore or while flying, a loud klee-weep, klee-weep and several birds may call together.

The binomial for the African black oystercatcher is Haematopus moquini.  Haematopus being from the Greek words for “blood” and “foot”, referring to the colour of the legs and feet, and moquini after Horace Benedict Alfred Moquin-Tandon (1804-1863), a French collector, ornithologist and author.

“He was a mongoose, rather like a little cat in his fur and his tail, but quite like a weasel in his head and his habits. His eyes and the end of his restless nose were pink; he could scratch himself anywhere he pleased, with any leg, front or back, that he chose to use; he could fluff up his tail till it looked like a bottle-brush, and his war-cry, as he scuttled through the long grass, was: ‘Rikk-tikk-tikki-tikki-tchk!’”

Congratulations if you recognized that quote from the short story in “The Jungle Book” by Rudyard Kipling, a description of the heroic Rikki-Tikki-Tavi that leads a short while later to the graphic description of the little mongoose’s fight-to-the-death with Nag, the cobra. No prizes for knowing who won! Written well over a hundred years ago, the Jungle Book remains an absolute classic.

The story of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi is, of course, set in India, but Namibia too has an abundance of mongooses.

We are always interested to see which of our blogs attract the largest number of hits, and one of the most searched items is the humble mongoose!  This is quite surprising as a mongoose is not a  particularly exciting animal to look at, but obviously it generates a lot of interest on the Internet.

These little mammals are quite common in Namibia and we even see them in the grounds of our townhouse complex on the outskirts of Windhoek.  The most common variety in this area is the yellow mongoose, easily distinguished by its light yellowish coloured coat and the white tip on its tail.  They are very shy animals and will scurry away quickly, or duck into whatever shelter is closest, as one approaches   We often see them in pairs when we go on our walks to the nearby Avis Dam.

Further north at Etosha, in the Caprivi region and on the eastern border of Namibia the banded mongoose is more common, very similar in looks to the slender mongoose, except that it has a number of stripes on its back.

This creature, unlike its cousin the yellow mongoose, prefers woodland and riverine forest as its habitat.  It also breeds during the summer months and has between two and eight young.   The gestation period for all breeds of mongoose is approximately eight weeks.  Their diet consists of lizards, beetles, termites, birds eggs, mice and fruit.

Eggs present no real challenge.and the mongoose will often pick up the egg in its front paws and then slam it  onto a rock or onto the ground to break it open.

At the Harness Wildlife Foundation we were amused to see dozens of slender mongooses follow the voluntary helpers around at feeding time – it looked like a scene out of  the Pied Piper of Hamelin!

They are extremely sociable animals and live in groups of twenty or more.

We unfortunately don’t have photographs of yet another variety of mongoose found in Namibia, namely the black mongoose, due to it’s elusiveness and rarity.  The black mongoose is endemic to Namibia and is found mainly in the Erongo mountains.  Not much is known about this species so a number of scientists are conducting studies on the black mongoose at the moment.  We have seen them on three different occasions, which makes us feel extremely priviliged.

If you are walking quietly through the veld, trying to catch a glimpse of an elusive Tchagra or some other well-hidden bird, the sudden, raucous, ear-splitting  kraaak, kraaak, krraka krraka kraka, kraka of a male Northern black korhaan bursting from the grassland a few metres ahead provides a heart-stopping moment.

It is wonderful to watch these birds in ungainly flight, as they do not usually cover too much distance before coming back to earth with their legs dangling comically and their wings flapping rapidly.

They are quite large birds, about 50 cm in length, and the males are usually conspicuous walking slowly through the grass, quite striking with their black and white plumage and bright yellow legs. When disturbed he will often run with his head lowered, and then stop with his back towards the intruder, making him surprisingly difficult to see. Further perceived threat may see him taking to noisy flight. The females are less colourful than the males and in consequence are less frequently seen.

Korhaans feed on a wide variety of insects, termites, beetles, ticks, spiders and also seeds. They forage while walking slowly, pecking food from the ground and chasing after insects.

They are polygynous and their courtship is elaborate, with one male displaying for several females. He engages in undulating flight displays, playful chasing and displaying his white breast patches. He is very protective of his 200-300 square metre territory, ejecting male intruders by striking at them with his wings. Females, of course, are welcome.

They breed year-round, but do not build a nest, instead laying one or two eggs directly on the ground, among grass tufts and shrubs, sometimes under small thorn trees.

The scientific name for the Northern black korhaan is Eupodotis afraoides, eupodotis from the Greek meaning “good feet”, perhaps referring to the birds fleetness of foot, and afraoides from the Latin for “like afra” (afra meaning from Africa), meaning that it is like the Southern Black Korhaan  - Eupodotis afra. Thus, a swift bustard that is like its southern relative.