Namibia: 2013 summer bird wetland count reflects dry conditions

The summer of 2013 in Namibia has so far been mostly hot and dry and this was expected to affect the bird counts in several ways, Holger Kolberg from the Ministry of Environment and Tourism reported last week. 

Kolberg wrote that the summer wetland count brought up two serious concerns. 

Blue Cranes seem to have disappeared from the Etosha area with only one pair with chicks counted. Kolberg stated that as to the whereabouts of the Blue Cranes, which are usually present in Etosha at this time of the  year, no one seems to know where they have gone. 

Water birds.

Another concern raised by the latest wetland count, is the glaring absence of birds of prey. They were conspicuously absent at several of the inland wetlands where raptors are usually counted, especially the African Fish Eagle. 

Kolberg said that in this case the lack of birds of prey in the count could be linked the the severe pressures and declining numbers world-wide. They are slow breeders and sensitive to disturbance and I think this is what is happening here. There are more and more people with the result that there is less space for the birds and they probably also breed less. 

Marsh Owl, a rare bird threatened by uncontrolled fires in its reedbed wetland habitat.

Photo: Mark Paxton

Two places share the highest number of species recorded (43 species): Shamvura on the Okavango and the Walvis Bay Ramsar site.

This is the first time in many summer counts that large numbers of flamingos have been counted at the coast, probably as a result of the dry conditions inland, although healthy numbers still remain at Etosha.

 

Birds along the coast

The usual crop of rarities was reported: A Red-chested Flufftail from the Kayova area on the Okavango, Terek Sandpiper at Grosse Bucht, Lüderitz, American Golden Plover at Walvis Bay and Eurasian Oystercatcher at Walvis Bay and Sandwich Harbour. The Red-necked Phalaropes and partially leucistic Common Redshank at Walvis Bay and the Mile 4 Saltworks respectively count as stock birds these days.

Thanks to the efforts of Mark Paxton of Shamvura Camp in the Kavango we are now receiving counts from several places along the Okavango River, covering about 70km of that river.