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5 Great Summer Birding Destinations

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thefynbosguy in Botswana,, South Africa,, Zambia,, Zimbabwe,, On Safari,, Quick lists,, Wildlife,,
December 30th, 2010 at 9:04am
Tags: Botswana,, Chobe,, Kalahari,, Makgadikgadi Pans,, Nxai Pan,

Some people just can't get excited about birds but even the most cynical among the anti-birders cannot fail to be impressed by Southern Africa's avifauna (big word for birdlife). Not only is there a staggering total of over 800 resident species occurring south of the Zambezi - including around 180 endemics - but birds are everywhere, found in every habitat from desolate mountain passes and wind-scoured beaches to verdant forests and steaming tropical bush.

And the even better news is that between Octoberand April the birdlife gets even better as around 130 extra species come winging in from Europe, Asia and other parts of Africa. The result is some of the world's best bird watching but you need to know where to go to get the best experience - here are my best 5 tried-and-tested summer bird watching destinations in Southern Africa - bring your life list.

Big Daddy - the Kruger National Park

South Africa's flagship park is always an amazing birding destination but with the summer rains comes a long list of raptors, cuckoos, waders, fly catchers and brightly coloured kingfishers, bee-eaters and rollers.

(You always know summer is here when you spot the extravangant tail feathers of the male paradise flycatcher.)

Some of the best birding can be done in the gardens of your lodge or campsite - follow mixed bird parties as they flit from tree to tree - and rank waterside vegetation is always a good bet for more secretive birds. Check the skies for downward spiralling vultures - where there's a kill, there are raptors.

There's accommodation everywhere - go at any time during the summer but I'd give the Christmas holiday season a miss.

Beak & Claw - the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

You know that weird finger-shaped bit of the Northern Cape that sticks up into Botswana? Well, if you're into birds of prey then you need to get yourself there - it's the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, home to over 50 (yes, 50) species of raptor and birding Mecca for people with long and expensive camera lenses.

Vultures, eagles, buzzards, hawks, falcons, owls and kites - you name it, it's there, and the beauty is that the birds are often seen posing magnificently in trees close to the road (we gave up stopping for eagle owls and pale chanting goshawks after a while) which often makes those long and expensive lenses redundant.

(Tawny eagles flood into Southern Africa in summer - they love savannah and semi-desert environments.)

There's camping, self-catering accommodation and a handful of lodges - go in early summer (December) when the springbok have all dropped their lambs - lots of kills, lots of raptors. And always head off on a drive just after a rainstorm - flying ants will be on the move accompanied by dozens of raptors.

Birds with Long Legs on the Beach - Langabaan Lagoon

Relax, these birds are the feathered sort but the sight of them on the mudflats of the West Coast National Park will raise the temperature of any red-blooded birdwatcher. Flying in from the northern hemisphere come millions of waders to join the massed pink ranks of resident flamingos. Throw in a range of gulls and terns plus rare raptors and local endemics and you have a birding destination second to none.

(Langabaan Lagoon is one of the region's best destinations for water birds.)

And if you get bored of trying to make out the wing bars on an out-of-focus plover, turn your head back inland - chances are an ostrich will be wandering past.

Go at any time of year (though December is very windy). Stay in Cape Town (1.5 hours south) and make a day trip to the park - head for the various bird hides along the lagoon but get your timing right for the tides.

Big River - the Chobe/Upper Zambezi

Get an order of malaria prophylaxis in - you'll need to take a course while you tick off bird after bird in the northern-most region of Southern Africa, home to an extraordinary wealth of birds as well as whining anopheles mosquitoes (though they can be beaten, see here).

(Even non-birders are wowed by the extraordinary appearance of carmine bee-eaters.)

It doesn't matter whether you visit the Chobe River area of Botswana or the Upper Zambezi of Zimbabwe/Zambia, it's all part of the same eco-system. The riverside forest and shrubby hinterland positively heaves with summer migrant birdlife and the region is also famous for rarities such as Pel's fishing-owl, rock pratincole, African skimmer, trumpeter hornbill and bat hawk (c'mon non-birders, you've just gotta love those names).

Go at any time of the summer season but the earlier the better as the malarial risk increases as summer progresses. Stay in Victoria Falls or one of the Chobe River lodges such as Chobe Chilwero or Chobe Game Lodge.

Big Sky - Botswana's Kalahari

Birding in the Kalahari parks - Nxai Pan, Central Kalahari and Makgadikgadi Pans - can be bleak in mid-winter: a few hardy chats, a thin korhaan and a morose-looking vulture or 2. Go again in mid-summer and you'll be wondering if you're in the same place.

(It took me 20 years to see the hoopoe in England - in the Kalahari summer you get tired of stopping for them.)

The Kalahari comes alive with the summer rains - raptors arrive in their thousands and follow grass fires and rain storms for fleeing or swarming insects and before you can say "we're in the Kalahari -why can I hear a duck?" the once-parched waterholes begin to ring with the happy quacks and whistles of waders and wildfowl while the bigger pans now support flamingos, pelicans, terns and gulls.

Go at any time of the summer but it gets progressively wetter as summer wears on. Stay at one of the handful of luxury lodges in the region such as Nxai Pan Lodge, Kalahari Plains, Jack's Camp - Nata Lodge is an excellent, accessible and affordable option.

(All images kind courtesy of Leigh 'Safari' Kemp)

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  • 1: 

    South Africa is the most famous travel destination and Kruger National Park is one of them. Kruger National Park is the most beautiful and interesting place for wildlife lover. It is such a great place to visit.
    Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary

    Traveller
    travel12
    February 13th, 2012 at 12:38pm

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