Archive for November, 2010
Bird of the week – Week 47: Chestnut-vented tit-babbler
November 28th, 2010 | 
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Posted in Walking through the veld anywhere in Namibia or in the semi-arid western parts of South Africa it is not unusual to be attracted to a melodious and bubbling song issuing from the depths of some small tree or bush. Finding the bird responsible for this entertaining diversion, though, may be somewhat difficult if the culprit is the Chestnut-vented tit-babbler. Moving quickly through the thickets which are its favourite haunts, this little grey bird can be surprisingly difficult to spot in spite of its continuous calling.
A small bird with a length of just 14 cm, the Chestnut-vented tit-babbler is a dull grey above and also has a grey chest and belly, with a white throat that is quite heavily streaked with black. The diagnostic feature, though, is that chestnut-vent, which is often very conspicuous in the field. The eyes are white; the bill, legs and feet are black; the tail is also black but has a broad white band at the tip that is quite obvious when the bird is in flight. The sexes are alike in both plumage and size.
This common resident of southern Africa is most commonly found singly or in pairs in the thornveld and riverine bush as it forages restlessly through the branches of trees or bushes, gleaning off branches and leaves and calling often. In addition to its melodious song, it has a sharp “cherri-tik-tik” call that is the origin of its Afrikaans name – “Bosveld tjeriktik”. It feeds mainly on insects and spiders, but will also eat fruit, seeds and nectar. When moving from one tree to another its flight is usually low and direct.
Chestnut-vented tit-babblers are monogamous and build a nest of dried grass and small roots, lined with fine plant material and feathers. The female lays a clutch of two or three white eggs, spotted with brown, that hatch after an incubation period of approximately 14 days.
The scientific binomial for the Chestnut-vented tit-babbler is Parisoma subcaeruleum; Parisoma from the Latin for “a tit” and subcaeruleum from the Latin for “blue below”. Thus a tit which is blue below. Well, I would have though more grey than blue – and nary a mention of that gorgeous chestnut vent!
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Bushveld Soap Opera
There’s a Dettol advertisement on TV in South Africa at the moment in which they are marketing a soap dispenser with a sensor that makes the soap squirt out without you having to touch it at all. This is to prevent you from catching germs from the dispenser itself. I ask you with tears in my eyes – just how many people have died from dangerous soap dispensers in their homes? Aren’t we becoming a little too paranoid about germs these days?
Our travels through Southern Africa have taken us to many different places and we’ve come across ablution set ups that have gone from the sublime to the ridiculous, especially at campsites. These are great fun though and we never fail to be amused at the creativity of the ablution designers, which tells you a lot about them and their sense of humour. I don’t mind how whacky and adventurous a loo or shower is as long as it’s clean. In all the years of camping, there haven’t been many places that weren’t acceptable, although I doubt whether the Dettol manufacturers would agree with me.
Bear with me as I take you on a little tour of some of the ablution facilities we’ve been privileged to use over the last few years…..
Let’s start with this elegant design that we found at the Omandumba campsite in Namibia. Definitely worth wiping with Dettol before sitting on that! Not your average loo, but at least it has a good plastic seat and the toilet roll holder is conveniently close enough for you to unroll paper from the nail in the ground.
Talking of toilet roll holders, the owner of a campsite near Clarens, in the Free State, surpassed herself when she designed matching arum lily doorhandles and toilet roll holders in the ladies’ ablution block. How classy is that!
For the adventurous camper there is always the open-air, out-door bathroom. Sometimes it’s built into the rocks, like this one at Namibgrens. This one doesn’t have a door, but that’s not the only part that makes you slightly uneasy – it’s the fact that there is a big hill overlooking the loo, so you have to be on the look-out for peeping mountaineers as well.
Or what about this lovely loo overlooking a dry river bed at the Tsauchab River Camp? Admittedly it’s a private spot with no other campers within miles, but there’s always the chance of a stray hiker following the course of a long-gone river.
The shower cubicle is a bit drafty too, so it’s probably advisable to do your ablutions under cover of darkness. I can see a Dettol sensor dispenser looking quite neat on this wash basin.
If you get tired of the outdoor stuff and want something a bit more upmarket, then look no further than the VIP suite at Namushasha. The wash basin comes complete with animal horn to give it an authentic African bushveld look!
Fantastic. Must tell them about the Dettol dispenser though – that’s if I live to tell the tale because I only use a disgustingly dangerous bar of soap when I wash my hands.
Bird of the Week – Week 46 : Southern carmine bee-eater
Carmine is the name of the red dye that was originally obtained from the cochineal beetle; described as the colour of tomatoes or rubies. Or blood. The name of a food dye used to colour foodstuffs like yoghurt. And part of the descriptive name given to one of the most beautiful birds in southern Africa – the Southern carmine bee-eater.
Read more on the beautiful Southern carmine bee-eater by clicking here.
Namushasha to Kalizo Lodge
One of the delights of being a birder is the way events unfold when an unexpected bird puts in an appearance. On our way from Namushasha to Kalizo Lodge, we were driving through the Caprivi, happily anticipating our visit to the Zambezi, when Rob spotted a Southern ground hornbill wandering through a field adjacent to the road. He immediately slammed on brakes and the excitement began. Southern ground hornbills (listed as vulnerable) are not very common outside the large game reserves and here we were seeing one at quite close quarters.
With camera in hand, Rob set off to get his ‘up close’ photograph. The Ground hornbill was having none of it though and flew off with Rob following as best he could on foot. I turned the car around and headed off in the general direction of the bird (thank heavens for an all-terrain vehicle), only to discover that there was actually a pair of the enormous birds. We tracked them through the unfenced veld on foot, careful not to get too close and stress the birds, or panic them into flight, but wanting to get close enough for a few clear photos. About forty-five minutes later we had wonderful photos of the birds and were able to resume our journey. What a happy diversion that turned out to be!
Kalizo Lodge is situated on the banks of the mighty Zambezi River about forty kilometers from Katima Mulilo, and its claim to birding fame is that it is home to breeding colonies of both Carmine bee-eaters and African skimmers. After checking into the lodge and booking a late afternoon boat trip to visit these birds, we settled into our comfortable little bungalow with views over the river.
We were pleased to be given our own personal guide and boat for our trip by the obliging manageress of the Lodge, who perhaps realized that we were more interested in seeing the Carmine bee-eaters and African skimmers than crocodiles and hippos that are the more usual attraction. It was great to be back on the Zambezi, being driven past a lazy croc sunning itself on a sand bank, passing local folk fishing from wooden mokoros and watching visitors from other lodges in the area trying their luck fishing for tigers and whatever else they could haul in as the sun went down.
We were taken to a sand bank where a half a dozen or so African skimmers were gathered. Our helpful guide climbed out of the boat and found a nest – just a scrape in the sand – with three eggs. We moved away quickly as we didn’t want to upset the mother bird, who settled back onto the eggs just a few minutes after we returned to the boat. All the while the Skimmers flew around, dipping their beaks into the water as they skimmed along the surface.
The highlight of the outing was seeing thousands of Carmine bee-eaters as they returned to their nests for the night. With the sun lighting their pink feathers, it was an awe-inspiring sight. This will be the subject of a post on its own.
Kaliso Lodge is a fantastic spot for birds and, judging by the pictures in the delightful pub, for fishing as well.
The trees around the lodge abound with an endless variety of birds that are a continual source of delight. But the most amazing sights are to be found on the flood plains near the lodge that attract thousands upon thousands of birds. How the pans can sustain such numbers is a mystery to us.
Marabou storks, Yellow-billed storks, Openbills, numerous types of ducks, egrets and herons, Pygmy geese, Ibisis, African spoonbills, Hamerkops, African fish-eagles.
An abandoned mokoro with no less than eight Pied kingfishers perched on it, three or four with fish in their bills.
We instantly regretted the fact that we had planned for only one night at the lodge. We had come to see the bee-eaters and skimmers, but there is so much more to see and do, and the lodge is so wonderfully situated that it deserves a much longer stay. There is also a great looking campsite overlooking the river that is very inviting. We will be back!!
Bird of the week – Week 45: Yellow-bellied greenbul
The Yellow-bellied greenbul is an attractive little bird that can sometimes become quite friendly and used to the presence of people; several times we have been visited by these birds while camping in northern Namibia and on one occasion a young bird sat at the edge of the forest around our campsite for minutes at a time, watching us with apparent curiosity. Birds that visit campsites are almost always looking for an easy source of food, but this little greenbul just seemed to be amused by our activities, turning the tables and watching us as we often watch birds.
Fairly small, with a length of around 22 cm, the Yellow-bellied greenbul is a brownish-olive colour above, with a pale yellow mantle and rump and bright yellow below. It has a distinctive white eye-ring and dark red eyes; the bill is slate-coloured, and the legs and feet are grey. The sexes are alike in plumage, although the male is slightly larger than the female.
In southern Africa it is found in the eastern part of the region, and its range extends northwards into Angola and Kenya. It is a common resident of coastal and riverine bush, thickets and evergreen forests, where it is generally found in pairs or small groups. Although it prefers the dense bush low down in these bushes where it is well hidden, as mentioned above it sometimes becomes quite used to the presence of people.
The Yellow-bellied greenbul usually forages for food within the forest, spending much of its time in the lower levels although it will also venture to the higher levels on occasion. It feeds mainly on fruit, but also enjoys flowers and seeds, and will hawk insects in flight. It sometimes forages for ticks on antelope such as impala.
Previously called the Yellow-bellied bulbul, the Yellow-bellied greenbul was one several bulbuls that have been re-named over the past few years, when some became greenbuls, some brownbuls and some remained bulbuls. The word “bulbul” is apparently derived from the Persian word for a nightingale, a bird remarkable for the quality of its song. “Greenbul” and “brownbul” are no doubt of less romantic origin. The Yellow-bellied greenbul has a rather nasal pê-pê-pê, call, not unlike a yapping puppy, that is not even in the same league as the song of a nightingale.
The Yellow bellied-greenbul is monogamous, and builds a very flimsy nest of twigs and grass that is often fixed to a branch by spider webs. The females lays a clutch of between one and three white or cream eggs that are heavily marked with brown and grey, and which hatch after an incubation period of 14 days.
The scientific binomial for the Yellow-bellied greenbul is Chlorocichla flaviventris; Chlorocichla from the Greek words for “a pale green thrush” and flaviventris from the Latin for a “yellow vent or belly”. Thus a pale green thrush with a yellow belly. Quite descriptive, really.
