10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2015

I used to live in Botswana, where there are about 450 bird species in an area a few dozen miles from the capital; then somewhat naively moved back to Serbia with mere 250 species around the capital. Botswana (529 / 577). And, sadly, haven’t even reached one thousand birds on my life list, yet. And it shows. Malaysia (702 / 781).

Sri Lanka 257

Sri Lanka Botswana Africa Serbia 257

10,000 Birds

JUNE 5, 2012

The Okavango Delta of Botswana, however, provides one of the very best opportunities to catch a glimpse. The elusive Pel’s Fishing Owl Although I had seen Pel’s Fishing Owls a couple of times since, I was a touch nervous when asked by the Botswana Tourism Organization to film one for our Birding Adventures TV Botswana series.

Fish 251

Fish Owls Botswana Barn Owls 251

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 12, 2017

Since I used to live in and know Botswana, let’s see what the guide says on that country in one and a half pages. Let’s presume I am travelling to Botswana. Checking the accounts of other Botswana targets such as the near-endemic Slaty Egret and the Short-clawed Lark , I get the idea which areas to visit and on which sites to focus.

Africa 172

Africa Botswana Nigeria Namibia 172

10,000 Birds

JUNE 3, 2015

I bring this up because birding the Chobe River in northern Botswana gave me the interesting opportunity to bird a country I technically wasn’t in. But I have visited Guatemala, Lesotho and Zimbabwe to actually visit them and count them, even though I spent less time in them than I did Zurich. It’s arbitrary, but there you go.

Botswana 162

Botswana Lesotho Bald Eagle Elephants 162

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 10, 2016

Africa), Hwange (Zimbabwe) and, recently, in Chobe national park in Botswana (the one that was considered so safe that the Clintons have visited it as a presidential couple)! Indeed, the proposal to up-list four southern African populations to Appendix I could well have opened a back door to illegal international trade.”.

Elephants 189

Elephants Botswana Zimbabwe Africa 189

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 21, 2014

You probably have to go to a resturant in Botswana or South Africa to find Tigerfish on the menu. In fact, Tigerfishing is sometimes done with a dry fly, in Botswana. I’ve only seen Tigerfish (Alestidae, genus Hydrocynus , usually Hydrocynus goliath ) in two contexts, but I’ve seen a lot of them. One is on the plate, as dinner.

South Africa 211

South Africa Botswana Africa Zimbabwe 211

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 14, 2012

For this reason, places like the Okavango Delta in Botswana and the pan systems of northern-eastern South Africa are good places to find these delightful ducks. Most favored are shallow waterbodies that contain both plenty of water-lillies and surrounding reed-beds.

Geese 182

Geese Ducks Botswana Madagascar 182

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 15, 2017

The reserve, in the eastern corner of Botswana near Zimbabwe and South Africa, isn’t open to the public in general, so I figured I’d share a few images here by way of showing off. I had the amazing opportunity to visit one last year as the guest of a friend of mine who is a shareholder (not what you know but who!).

Zimbabwe 100

Zimbabwe Botswana South Africa Endangered Species 100

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 2, 2021

When I moved to Botswana, to learn my birds I got myself the thickest local field guide. But I have to disagree with the publisher, HarperCollins, calling it an “ all-encompassing new field guide” – it is a world checklist and I say it with a lot of respect.

Botswana 250

Botswana Africa Ecuador Birds 250

10,000 Birds

JULY 3, 2012

But there is one place in Africa where Wattled Cranes still gather in fair numbers – the Okavango Delta of Botswana. For more information on these stunning creatures and the beautiful country of Botswana , feel free to view our episode below. www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8-lZzV0Wck v=w8-lZzV0Wck a.

Botswana 153

Botswana South Africa Africa Ethiopia 153

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 24, 2021

You may have read my recent piece on Birding the Okavango Delta in Botswana here on 10,000 Birds. If you did you may have gathered that I have a love affair with that wonderful place. However, I have another ongoing love affair, with India. If you have never thought of India as a birding destination, I’d urge you to give it a good look.

India 193

India Wildlife Tigers Rhinoceros 193

10,000 Birds

APRIL 8, 2015

I was told by some researchers that in Botswana trackers watch for this species when looking for Painted Wolves (or African Wild Dogs) as they follow packs to snatch up prey and scraps. It is now treated as its own species, confined to Africa and the tip of Arabia (Black Kites also migrate here from Europe and Asia).

South Africa 160

South Africa Africa Botswana Wolves 160

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 3, 2013

At the time, I was an active volunteer in an organisation soon to become the BirdLife Botswana and have noticed that Brown, Forbes and Symes quoted only two out of five Botswana observations accepted by the Rarities Committee, so I wrote to the Vulture News editor, suggesting that I write a short note on all five observations.

Sudan 230

Sudan Macedonia Botswana Serbia 230

Critter News

JULY 26, 2012

King Juan Carlos may be the King of Spain, but he is no longer the honorary president of World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Spain due to his hunting and killing of elephants in Botswana, Treehugger reports. From EcoRazzi.

Elephants 100

Elephants Hunting Spain Wildlife 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 7, 2012

Azure skies over the Okavango Delta of Botswana (Ever seen a Pel’s Fishing Owl ? Whatever your plans this weekend, make time to enjoy SkyWatch Friday. Also be sure to come back Monday to share your best bird of the weekend ! James Currie has… ) a.

Botswana 161

Botswana 2012 Birds Fish 161

10,000 Birds

APRIL 25, 2019

Ecuador or Botswana, respectively). In the end, there were more than 40 destinations listed, most of them countries, and some of them smaller regions within large countries (e.g. Galapagos or the Okavango Delta). In such cases, I added one vote to the country they belong to (e.g.

Papua New Guinea 214

Papua New Guinea America Costa Rica Sri Lanka 214

10,000 Birds

MARCH 16, 2016

My books weren’t helping much so I had resorted to looking for large green areas on Google Maps on the border of South Africa and Botswana, and I happened on Madikwe. I had a look at the website and it looked interesting. But they are very cute!

South Africa 153

South Africa Leopards Giraffes Africa 153

10,000 Birds

MARCH 8, 2012

Boy, Botswana is beautiful! Share your plans in the comments below. Whatever your plans this weekend, make time to enjoy SkyWatch Friday. Also be sure to come back Monday to share your best bird of the weekend ! Enjoy more gorgeous pics by Adrian Binns in James’s trip report (photo by Adrian Binns ) a.

Botswana 163

Botswana 2012 United States Birds 163

Critter News

APRIL 20, 2012

King Juan Carlos of Spain, Honorary President of WWF Spain, is recovering in hospital after breaking his hip in Botswana where he was on an elephant hunt. From the Wildlife Extra News. April 2012.

Spain 100

Spain Elephants Hunting Botswana 100

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 26, 2021

I’ll finish with a recent communication: a friend of mine told me that she booked a bird tour of the Okavango Delta in Botswana (the Pantanal of Africa), and asked if I think she should get a copy of Peacocks and Picathartes? Therefore, I did not feel like describing the book when the author did a great job himself. Most definitely so.

Congo 264

Congo Africa Madagascar Kenya 264

10,000 Birds

MAY 27, 2015

These Collared Palm-thrushes were photographed in the Cresta Mowana Lodge in Kasane, pretty much the only place you’ll see the species in Botswana (according to one of the guidebooks I read). They remain little know. There’s the collar. They seem to like the building and are pretty tame.

Mozambique 166

Mozambique Zambia Zimbabwe Namibia 166

4 The Love Of Animals

SEPTEMBER 5, 2009

The fun starts tonight with a show called “Swamp of the Baboons&# , which takes a look at the complex social network of baboons in Botswana. Among the forested islands and wildlife-rich floodplains of Botswana lies the highest concentration of baboons in Africa.

Botswana 100

Botswana 2009 Africa Suffering 100

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 21, 2019

At the time I was the Secretary of the Botswana Bird Club, and Claire was one of recipients of the club’s ornithological journal The Babbler. Is its habitat still there? No one has seen it after the initial discovery! The habitat was there, the birds were there and Claire found them.

Angola 189

Angola United Kingdom Mozambique Botswana 189

4 The Love Of Animals

FEBRUARY 24, 2011

First up, you can enter to win a trip to Botswana for a 12 day private safari! A new National Geographic movie, The Last Lions, opened this past weekend in Washington, DC. The movie is about saving lions, and they are doing some really fun promotions to help spread the movie around the country. Have an iPhone or iPad?

Lions 100

Lions DC Botswana Washington 100

Critter News

APRIL 23, 2012

Adding Insult To Injury Spaniards can't decide which would be worse — whether their king might have spent public money on his jaunt to Botswana last week, or whether it was paid for by an Arab businessman courting favor, as some reports say. Either way, there are calls for the king's abdication.

Elephants 100

Elephants Hunting Botswana Spain 100

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 7, 2019

In both India and Botswana, I was at the very edge of the tropics (under the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, respectively), but in dry semi-desert zones, never deep in the true, humid tropics.

Costa Rica 219

Costa Rica Birds India Botswana 219

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 16, 2022

One study found that birds living in Botswana had elevated levels of lead in their bloodstreams during hunting season, presumably coming from lead bullets used on animals killed by hunters. ” (HBW). Other – sadly rather common – reasons are habitat loss due to agricultural expansion and the use of some veterinary drugs.

Elephants 147

Elephants Congo Birds Africa 147

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 28, 2017

18 years ago I moved to Botswana where that gloriously bright sunshine makes observing them easier, while shorebirds themselves ease things further by mostly sporting their wintering plumage. If I were to give a speech at the shorebirds conference, those would have been my opening words. Anything else would be a lie.

Botswana 120

Botswana 2017 Groups Europe 120

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 5, 2015

My eyes will be returning to the lonely acacia next to a waterhole, trying to spot a large shadow in the sunset.

Rhinos 173

Rhinos South Africa Rhinoceros White Rhinos 173

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 21, 2014

And, a dozen years later, I still remember his name: Steven Makala , working for the Limpopo River Lodge in the Tuli Block province of Botswana. He had no binoculars and yet, was easily picking up and correctly identifying birds around us. What makes a good bird guide? Knowing birds and where to find them is only the first step.

Botswana 214

Botswana Leopards Birds Free Range 214

10,000 Birds

JULY 9, 2013

This 15,000 sq mi Kalahari desert reserve straddles the South African and Botswana border regions and was created when two national parks were merged – these being South Africa’s Kalahari Gemsbok National Park and Botswana’s Gemsbok National Park.

Leopards 162

Leopards Cats Namibia Botswana 162

4 The Love Of Animals

DECEMBER 6, 2010

Big Cat Odyssey chronicles their meticulous work over three decades of filming, photographing and documenting the behavior of big cat species in Botswana. Award-winning filmmakers and National Geographic Explorers-in-Residence Dereck and Beverly Joubert set out 30 years ago on a quest to get close to big cats.

Cats 100

Cats Leopards Lions Botswana 100

Critter News

AUGUST 16, 2008

It will allow China to bid for more than 100 tonnes of ivory stockpiled in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe through culling and natural deaths. The UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) meeting in Geneva voted in favour of China becoming a licensed importer.

Elephants 100

Elephants China Zimbabwe Namibia 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 6, 2019

We break for… a beautiful Malabar Whistling Thrush (another lifer), only to discover a busy bird party: Asian Paradise-flycatcher (my first white morph male and the second paradise-flycatcher in my life list – I have observed an African one in Botswana before), Black-hooded Oriole , White-browed Fantail , Oriental White-eye , Red-breasted Flycatcher (..)

India 180

India Owls Tigers Cows 180

10,000 Birds

JULY 10, 2014

Several years passed on and my home was now under the southern sky, on the outskirts of Gaborone, Botswana, not far from the Ngotwane River. The Kozara route (7.8mi, top) and the Veliko Ratno Island circumnavigation route (4.3mi, left; source: Google Earth ).

Serbia 243

Serbia Stray Dog Botswana Protection 243

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 11, 2012

Prime destinations for seeing African Elephant in the wild include Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Uganda. Lions are most easily found in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

Buffalo 207

Buffalo Rhinoceros Leopards Elephants 207

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 14, 2019

More: my kayak birding experiences from Botswana (with, I cannot believe it, 35 k readers so far). As luck would have it, I have very few photos birding from a kayak, and in recent years, I mostly do it from a canoe. Which I find more comfortable. But that is another story. The post How to bird by kayak appeared first on 10,000 Birds.

Birds 227

Birds Botswana Mississippi Eagles 227