Etosha - Rundu

A quick check of the gardens before breakfast proved to be a little quiet, although we did see Crested Francolin, Southern Red-billed Hornbill, Southern Black Tit, Yellow-breasted Apalis and Common Duiker. We left here shortly after breakfast and headed towards Rundu with a Dark chanting Goshawk a good find during the first section of the drive. 

Dark Chanting Goshawk

We were heading eastwards and making good time on the long, straight tarmac road but making a few stops proved fruitful with a Pied Cuckoo drinking at a roadside puddle, a group of Southern Pied Babblers and a pair of Temminck’s Coursers in a large field.

Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill

Lunch was taken in the shade of a large leafy Acacia where we were joined by a flock of White-crested Helmetshrikes and an African Paradise Flycatcher. Continuing on, the scenery began to change to a more open habitat and we had our first Bradfield’s Hornbill, followed by a pair of Spotted Flycatchers and a pair of African Harrier Hawks. 

Pale Flycatcher

Golden-breasted Bunting

We checked out a nice woodland for Rufous-bellied Tit but it was 39 degrees Celsius and there was barely a bird to be seen until we returned towards the van and found Pale Flycatcher and our first Yellow-fronted Canary.

Lilac-breasted Roller - a common bird here.

We eventually arrived at Rundu Sewage Pools around 5pm where Hottentot Teal, African Greater Painted Snipe, White-throated Swallow, Senegal Coucal, Red-billed Firefinch and Giant Kingfisher were the highlights. Moving on there were Wattled Starlings, Magpie Shrikes and our first Coppery-tailed Coucal. Arriving at Nkwazi Lodge on the banks of the Okovango River a Kurrichane Thrush was spotted at its nest as soon as we arrived. Once we had reached our cabins overlooking the river we saw a group of Arrow-marked Babblers, quickly followed by Hartlaub’s Babblers, a closer Coppery-tailed Coucal, White-browed Robin-Chat, Swamp Boubou, and a brief Meyer’s Parrot.

During dinner a Small Spotted Genet was coming to scraps beside the restaurant and whilst some of the group enjoyed the local dancing provided by the lodge, others spotlighted a very confiding Fiery-necked Nightjar hovering in front of us before alighting on a nearby fence. We followed this with a Rufous-cheeked Nightjar in the spotlight calling from around 10 metres way in a field near the lodge. A great end to the day.

Fiery-necked Nightjar