Archive for December, 2010
Bird of the week – Week 49: Crowned lapwing
December 12th, 2010 | 
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Posted in Lapwing.  Now there is a rather strange word, but what does it mean? Well, don’t try researching this on the Internet unless you have quite a bit of time to spare, and are prepared to weave your way through a variety of explanations that are often at odds with one another, ranging from “refers to the birds’ slow wingbeat” to “from the Old English for leaper-winker”. A leaper-winker? Well, to make a long story short and skipping a few intermediate steps, the “leaper” was corrupted to “lap” and the “winker” to “wing”.
The Vanellus lapwings in southern Africa were previously called plovers, which presents less of an etymological dilemma. The meaning of the word “plover” appears to have been derived from the Latin word “pluvial” meaning rain or bringing rain. Many of the plovers are found close to water, so this makes a little sense, although exactly what the relationship is with bringing rain is a mystery.
All of which brings us to the Crowned lapwing, which is found rather widely throughout Africa south of the Sahara, and which we often see in the short grass along the roadside while driving through Namibia. Fairly large, with a length of about 30 cm, it is an unmistakable bird with its greyish-brown upperparts and chest, white belly separated from the greyish-brown chest by a black breast band, and with a black crown separated from the black band that covers the forehead, eyebrow and nape of the neck by a strip of white. The eyes are orange or light brown, the bill is red with a black tip and the legs and feet are orange to red. The sexes are alike in plumage, but the males are a little larger than the females. The colour of the legs and feet intensifies when the birds are ready to breed.
The Crowned lapwing favours the drier parts of the country (excluding the actual desert) , and particularly favours short grasslands, open savanna and man-made fields such as airfields, playing fields, parks and, as mentioned, the short grass verges along the road. They are gregarious birds, often found in quite big groups, as they hunt for insects, termites and other invertebrates that form their diet; running in short bursts before stopping to peck at a likely source of food.
They are very noisy birds, with a strident “kree-kree-kreep-kreip”, often uttered while in flight. They are very protective and defend their nests by diving at intruders while screaming noisily, an intimidating performance that will see off all but the most determined intruders. It is almost impossible not to duck down under these attacks, although the birds are not likely to actually make contact.
Crowned lapwings are monogamous and their nests are shallow scrapes on the ground, lined with small stones and bits of plant material. The female lays a clutch of two or three yellowish or brown eggs that hatch after an incubation period of about 30 days.
The scientific name for the Crowned lapwing is Vanellus coronatus, Vanellus from the Latin for a winnowing fan, perhaps referring to the action of the birds wings, and coronatus from the Latin for crowned. Thus a crowned bird with wings that move like a winnowing fan. I have no experience of a winnowing fan, but at least I can vouch for the crown.
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The Ju/’hoansi Bushmen of Tsumkwe
We came across the Ju/’hoansi Bushmen at Graskop quite by chance.  We’d been traveling on the C44 towards Tsumkwe when we were stopped at a veterinary check point.  After exchanging pleasantries with the official on duty for a few minutes, I asked where the best place was to see authentic Bushmen.  He told us to turn off about 700 metres further on and follow the road until we reached a settlement.  Six kilometres later, after negotiating a very sandy track lined with beautiful Mangetti trees and sparse bushveld, we arrived at the settlement, known as the Living Museum of the Ju/’Hoansi San.
This open-air museum was initiated by a Namibian tour guide called Werner Pfeifer in 2004 and was the first of its kind in Namibia. Â It is a sustainable way for the Bushmen to earn a living in their harsh and remote environment, whilst promoting tourism and teaching visitors about their hunter-gatherer way of life. Â A number of other similar museums have since been established throughout Namibia.
A friendly young lady greeted us and said that she would be our guide once we had chosen the tour that we wanted.  I was keen to see the Ju/’hoansi singing and dancing around a campfire, which incorporated a demonstration of how they go into a trance and contact their ancestors for healing and advice.  We were then taken to a nearby area with grass huts, where we were joined by six other Ju/’hoansi, wearing only animal skins and deep wrinkles.
Our guide spoke perfect English and Afrikaans, and translated for us when we asked questions of the medicine man who clicked away in his native tongue. Â What an emotional and exciting time this was for Rob and me.
The tour started with a demonstration of how they start a fire by rubbing two sticks together.  Fires are always lit prior to any ceremonies that are held.  Whilst the sticks were being vigorously rubbed together, the Ju/’hoansi sang and spoke to their ancestors, asking for help with the process.  After an amazingly short time the dry grass was smoking and by blowing softly they coaxed a fire to life.
We were then shown how arrows are made, and how a spear can be shaped using an axe that doubles up as a pipe when the axe-head is removed.  (Apparently rabbit droppings are used as part of the tobacco mixture for their pipes.)  The lightweight arrows are not strong enough to kill the larger animals, so the Ju/’hoansi paint their arrow shafts with poison derived from the larva and pupae of chrysomelid beetles.  Up to ten larvae are applied to the arrow.  The poison is not put on the arrowhead itself in case the arrow maker accidentally poisons himself.
The Ju/’hoansi then showed us their trance dance where they go into an altered state of consciousness and sing and dance around the fire, all the while calling upon their ancestors.  I found the healing part of the dance very similar to Reiki in the way that the medicine man used his hands.  Participation in their activities is encouraged and we were delighted when they asked us if we wanted to come up for healing.  I went first and after placing his hand on my head, the medicine man then took my head between his hands and blew onto my forehead and both cheeks.  He then gathered the bad energy in my body and flung it away into the air, clearing me and my aura.  He did the same for Rob.  What a privilege to be part of such a special ceremony with such a lovely group of indigenous people.
At the end of the proceedings, the medicine man astounded me by picking up a hot coal from the fire and rubbing it in his armpits.  Later I could have kicked myself for not asking why he did this – was it a means of deodorizing his body on a hot day?  And how come he didn’t burn himself?
We purchased a handmade bead necklace that was on sale before bidding these amazing people farewell.  Our biggest regret was that we had such a short time there.  They have a basic campsite under large Mangetti trees (no water available) and offer tours where one can spend time with them tracking animals, gathering food and making snares and crafts – in other words getting to experience their way of life.  We have to go back sometime as we would dearly love to spend time out in the bush with them – but it will have to be in winter as the summer months are unbearably hot.
TO SEE MORE PHOTOS OF THE JU/’HOANSI SAN click here.
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Bird of the week – Week 48: Pied kingfisher
We were visiting a series of small pans near the Zambezi River to the east of Katima Mulilo in northern Namibia when we came upon a wooden moroko pulled up on the bank of one of the water-filled pan. Not unusual perhaps, but perched on this mokoro were no less than eight Pied kingfishers, four of them with fish clamped in their bills! Usually found in pairs, or in small groups, this is the first time we had seen so many of these birds sharing the same perch and it was a splendid sight.
The Pied kingfisher is one of the most common of the kingfishers in southern Africa, and is, in fact, one of the most common kingfishers in the world, being found throughout most of sub-Saharan Africa, Egypt, the middle east, and southern Asia. In southern Africa it is a familiar sight at many of the rivers, lakes, dams and other waterways where small fish are to be found. It is the only purely black and white kingfisher in the region and is quite conspicuous while perched close to the water.
A medium sized bird with a length of about 28 cm, the Pied kingfisher is quite distinctive with its black-and-white colours; the under parts are white and although the sexes are similar in both size and plumage, the male has two breast bands and the female has just one. Both sexes have dark brown eyes and their legs and feet are black.
Although the Pied kingfisher sometimes hunts from a conveniently situated perch, it also flies well away from the shore and hunts while hovering over the surface of the water, its body almost vertical and its bill pointing downwards as it scans the water for fish. With a likely morsel spotted, the bird dives quickly, usually hitting the water with a splash before emerging with its prey clasped firmly in its bill. It returns to its perch and beats its prey on a convenient branch or other hard surface before swallowing it. Although it feeds mainly on small fish, of just one or two grams in weight, it will also feed on insects such as dragonflies and crickets, and on small crabs.
The Pied kingfishers are monogamous and nest in a burrow that is usually between one and two metres in length dug into a vertical sandbank. The female lays a clutch of 4 to 6 white eggs that hatch after an incubation period of about 18 days.
The scientific binomial of the Pied kingfisher is Ceryle rudis; Ceryle from the Greek for a kingfisher and rudis from the Latin for the wooden sword used by gladiators in training – presumably a reference to the birds sword-like bill. Thus a kingfisher armed with a sword, which is quite appropriate really.
Chobe National Park – Botswana
In previous blogs we have talked about our wonderful holidays in Botswana, in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and the Central Kalahari, as well as up in the Savuti area. In all these places the wildlife has been abundant and we’ve had the privilege of viewing it in relatively remote and isolated conditions with few other people around us at the time.
The Chobe River area is also well worth a visit as it probably has the greatest variety of wildlife in Botswana – the only downside being that it is easily accessible so one has to share this piece of paradise with lots of other tourists.  Nevertheless, it remains one of our favourite spots and we’ll venture back there at every opportunity.
There are some great camping spots along the Chobe and our choice of a site at the Chobe Safari Lodge in Kasane was ideal. Nestled privately amongst the trees, with the water lapping a couple of meters away (and the protection of a fence to keep intruding crocs and hippos at bay), our campsite was well positioned to give us excellent views of the animals coming down to the river to drink.
The highlight of any visit though has to be a sundown boat cruise on the Chobe as the birdlife on the banks and islands is superb.
If you’re not into bird spotting, you will be just as enthralled at the vast numbers of animals that congregate on the riverfront towards the end of the day – elephants, buffalo, kudu – the list is endless. Top all this off with an ice cold beer and an amazing sunset and you’ll wonder why you don’t spend every holiday here.
We also enjoyed our stay at the Kubu Lodge campsite which gave us the chance to do a self-drive into the Chobe National Park. The Lodge offers game drives into the Park, but we preferred going on our own as it enabled us to stop and photograph at our leisure. Kubu (Kubu means hippo) Lodge has enormous grounds to walk around in and we had little buck peeping at us through the trees. We were warned to be on the lookout for a stray buffalo that had come ashore from the river – fortunately we didn’t encounter it while we were out birding.
If you’re planning a visit, don’t limit your time in the Chobe area as there is so much to see and do. If birds and animals don’t interest you, then try your hand at tiger fishing – it’s guaranteed to give you a thrill when you land one of these amazing fish. All in all a very special part of Botswana and a photographer’s delight.
