The Spitzkoppe undoubtedly ranks as one among my favorite locations on the planet. The huge surrounding plains, stark dry surroundings, and glowing pink rocks within the evenings, represent among the many most lovely landscapes I do know. The final time I visited this spot was on a tour by way of Namibia that began with a brief keep within the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, lined in my final put up.
One of the vital particular birds of the Spitzkoppe is the Herero Chat, and this was the chicken I desired to see probably the most. Nonetheless, regardless of three intense days of looking out, I left empty-handed. Different species have been much more cooperative, together with the charismatic White-tailed Shrike. The flame-coloured eye together with the supercilium that ends above the attention and the black masks, this species appears to be like very uncommon. I spent an excessive amount of time watching this species after I was hopelessly stranded in areas that appeared excellent for the Herero Chat, and luckily the chicken did supply some comfort. Funnily sufficient, the shrike was very comparable on the whole colouration to the very in another way formed Pririt Batis, which was additionally widespread right here.
In areas with just a few extra timber on the base of the rock outcrops, Dusky Sunbird was additionally widespread. This species does seem true to its identify when seen in dangerous mild, and did does appear to have the behavior of being in darkish spots surrounded by very vibrant mild, making it look purely black in such high-contrast situtation. Within the solar nevertheless, the “black” plumage of this chicken turns into very exquisitely iridescent, with a tone fairly in contrast to that of different species in southern Africa.
The Mountain Chat (or Mountain Wheatear) was additionally fairly widespread on this space, and a few of the males had a superbly pied plumage. Just like the shrike-batis parallels, this chicken did appear moderately comparable on the whole colouration (other than the iridescence, after all) to the Dusky Sunbird. That is actually a coincidence however did seem curious as I had the photographs side-by-side.
The above birds give the impression that regardless of having completely different shapes, most birds round this space have a equally boring plumage. This appears to be true to some extent, with another birds I noticed, reminiscent of Pale-winged Starling, Bradfield’s Swift, and Monteiro’s Hornbill, having equally muted colors. Nonetheless, another birds together with waxbills and particularly Rosy-faced Lovebirds, didn’t match into this sample in any respect. These vibrant birds have been quite common right here, and have been breeding in a deep hole in a rock face, including a welcome splash of color to the arid panorama.
Tenting in such a gorgeous setting, on the base of big rocks with huge plains stretching out to the horizon through the day and an evening sky sprinkled incredulously densely with stars, was very gratifying. A really respectable listing of birds may be amassed right here inside a short while, though subsequent time I’ll go to, which hopefully gained’t be too far sooner or later, I’ll be certain to plan in additional time for the Herero Chat!
