Zambia - September 1-11 2016 (1 Viewer)

I took a little birding trip through some of southwestern Zambia between September 1st and the 11th, beginning in Livingstone and ending in Lusaka.
I thought I'd write up a trip report as it isn't the most widely-birded destination but certainly has a lot to offer.

Basic Itenerary:

Sept 1: Arrival, relaxation at lodge near Livingstone
Sept 2: Viewing falls and birding on the Zambian side of Victoria Falls.
Sept 3: Zambezi National Park and Zimbabwe side of Vic Falls.
Sept 4: Drive to Choma (no birding)
Sept 5: Nkanga River Conservation Area (Chaplin's Barbet), then drive to Kafue NP
Sept 6-11: Kafue NP: Nanzhila Plains, Kasabushi Camp, McBride's Camp

Books:

Unfortunately there's not yet a bird book for Zambia. We used the Southern Africa book ("Sasol" in ZA) in conjunction with our East African book (Princeton FG, Stevenson + Fanshawe). In retrospect, though, I wish I'd gone with the Birds of Africa South of the Sahara, which has illustrations and maps for every species in the country.
"A Guide to the IBAs of Zambia" is a very interesting read, and a book I'd recommend if you're interested in the country's ornithology.


Day 1:
We flew in to Livingstone from Johannesburg on SAA... we were lucky to be on the right side of the plane to see the falls as we descended.
Having gotten up at 3 that morning for the flights in, we virtually no birding our first day, instead just getting a taxi to our lodge, the Maramba River Lodge, outside Livingstone.
It's a bit more rustic than we'd expected given the cost... but it grows on us during our three nights there. The restaurant and bar have views over the Maramba River, where hippos are almost always lounging, and occasional elephants come to drink.
In the late afternoon we take a little walk around the grounds of the lodge. Not a whole lot is about, but we do find a mixed flock containing Yellow-breasted Apalises, Black-backed Puffbacks, and Southern Black Tits. As the sun sets, we watch Squacco Herons and African Jacanas among the lily pads on the river.

Day 2:
We arrange a taxi through the hotel to take us to the Falls a little after 8. Before the taxi arrives we note a pair of Little Sparrowhawks that have a nest in a tree right by the lodge reception.
On the Zambian side of the falls there are several trails, though all are quite short. We start by walking out to Danger Point, which is the main viewing area for the Zambian side of Victoria Falls. This time of year it's mostly dry, but what is flowing is quite impressive. Along the trail out to Danger Point we see Terrestrial Brownbul, Grey-backed Camaroptera, and a number of Trumpeter Hornbills. We can also look down into trees below from a couple points and get our first looks at the magnificent Schalow's Turaco!
The second trail runs downhill 600 meters to the "boiling pot", where the entire Zambezi river passes through a channel no more than 30 meters wide! Along the walk down we see several more Schalow's Turacos, as well as the Red-billed Firefinch, a pair of Tropical Boubous, and a pair of Mountain Wagtails by the water's edge.
The hike back up is quite hot. We rest a while watching some Yellow Baboons groom each other and then take a third trail that runs out to a viewpoint near the bridge over the gorge. There are few birds along here, as it's getting toward noon. We go out to danger point to have lunch and then walk the final trail, the "Upstream Trail", which goes up along the Zambezi right above the lip of the falls. This eventually leads to the Sun Hotel, where we get a taxi back to the Maramba River Lodge, where we relax for the afternoon.

Looking forward to more We're off to the other side of Zambia - South Luangwa - next month, so it's an interesting advanced read!

We did the trip to the Victoria Falls and then Botswana in late August - see my report. Saw the Schalow's Turaco and Trumpeter Hornbills just where you did. You seem to have done better for small birds than we did - maybe better at ID!

"You seem to have done better for small birds than we did"

You were with 22 non-birders, though - that makes it tough to stop for camaropteras and such.

Bokmakierie99 said:

"You seem to have done better for small birds than we did"

You were with 22 non-birders, though - that makes it tough to stop for camaropteras and such.

Click to expand...

Funnily enough I have been carrying round an image of a small bird with a cocked-up tail in my head. I couldn't ID it at the time and didn't get a photo but I am pretty sure now it must have been a Grey-backed Camaroptera!

Day 3: (Apologies for the delay in posting)

We take a taxi to the Victoria Falls bridge at 6 and walk across, passing through border control and entering Zimbabwe. The sun rises as we cross the bridge, and in front of us massive flocks of thousands of Red-billed Queleas stream across the sky.
At 6:30 we meet our guide, David Boaler, who we have hired to take us on a half day tour in the Zambesi National Park. He's an excellent guide, with a lot of experience here and in Zambia (he gives us advice about the best route through Kafue NP in Zambia, which we end up following). We got in touch with him through Victoria Falls Guide (http://www.victoriafalls-guide.net/).
David takes us in his land rover and we drive to the park, making a couple stops along the way: first near the "Big Tree" where we find the Collared Palm-Thrush, one of the major specials of the area. Then we stop at the Vic Falls boat club, where we find a Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird in the trees there, as well as a Green Wood-Hoopoe and several more Palm-Thrushes.
We enter the park and take the river road, seeing Swainson's and Natal Spurfowls, as well as loads of White-browed Sparrow-Weavers and their nests.
We stop at several large baobabs along the road for nesting Marabou Storks and White-backed Vultures. We later also see several White-backed Vultures feeding on a giraffe carcass. Also at the top of a baobab, giving frustratingly poor views, is a singing Greater Honeyguide.
Along the river we find Common Sandpipers, African Openbills, and several egret and heron species. However, one of the best finds is in a palm tree by the riverside - a Dickinson's Kestrel!
Mammals are fairly uncommon, because of the time of day. David tells us they drink at the river in the early morning but then leave to feed. Still, we see a number of Impala, a few Warthogs, and a Kudu.
A little less than six hours and a little more than 60 bird species later, David drops us off at the Clifftop Cafe, a nice restaurant with beautiful views down a couple of the gorges behind the falls. From the deck we watch Little Swifts soar around below, while an Augur Buzzard flies above the rim.
In the afternoon we visit the famous Vic Falls hotel and then view the falls from the Zimbabwe Side, picking up a few more species: Tropical Boubou, Mountain Wagtail, and a few more common species.
After buying a few billion-dollar bills from some (rather aggressive) salesmen by the border, we return to Zambia and get a taxi back to the Maramba River Lodge.
As the sun sets we walk around the lodge grounds, and end up across the river from a herd of about 25 elephants! Luckily they seem pretty placid, and there's a steep bank on our side, so we feel pretty secure.
We eat dinner at the hotel restaurant, with Water Thick-Knees (bird #79 of the day) calling in the darkness.

stuartvine said:

Looking forward to more We're off to the other side of Zambia - South Luangwa - next month, so it's an interesting advanced read!

Click to expand...

Just in case it's of interest - already posted in separate thread but dup here - my trip to S Luangwa a couple of years ago (there's at least one ID error - the Souza's Shrike was probably a Red-backed - hopefully that's all!). An excellent place to visit imho, I'm sure you'll enjoy it!

PS - I'm also looking forward to the rest of this thread!

Day 4:
No birding this day... We pick up our car from Hemmingway's Zambia. It's a 4x4 (needed for Kafue) with two rooftop tents.
Drive to Choma in the afternoon, arriving there just before dark. We stay at the camping area in the Nkanga River Conservation Area, which is about 20 kms out of town to the north.
We see a couple Lesser Honeyguides in the trees near camp in the late afternoon. After dark, I see some kind of owl fly by, but can't ID it. We hear lots of what we later learn are Fiery-necked Nighjars.

Day 5:
At 6:30AM we meet Rory MacDougall, a local guide who is an expert on the birds of the area, especially the main target here, the Chaplin's Barbet. From 6:30 to 9 we drive around the Conservation Area with him, looking for the birds.
He drives us out to the best area for the barbet, a fairly small patch of the reserve where sycamore figs (Ficus sycamorus) grow. These trees are the main food source and only nesting site for the Chaplin's. Along the way we see some very nice birds, including Bearded Woodpecker, Black-chested Snake Eagle, Wahlberg's Eagle, and an adult Martial Eagle which is quite spectacular.
7:00 passes, then 8:00, and we continue driving through the savannah between the figs, stopping periodically to scan the tops of the trees, which Rory says is where the barbet often hangs out. We add Buffy Pipit to the list, but still no barbet.
Then, just when we're losing hope, Rory brings the car to a stop and pulls out his playback gear, saying he heard the barbets in the distance. He plays their call through the speakers, and almost immediately two Chaplin's Barbets fly in and land on the top of a tree right in front of us! They call again (sounding a lot like Green Wood-Hoopoes), and then fly to another tree, giving us amazing looks at their striking black and white plumage and red on the face.
Having seen our main target, we can take a more relaxed attitude to the birding, and we start on the drive back to the camp. Along the way we pick up a couple more species: the handsome Sooty Chat, a species not found in Southern Africa, and Burnt-necked Eremomela, which respond aggressively to playback.
One of the highlights of the day came as we returned to camp; a gigantic bird flies from a tree by the roadside, but luckily lands again just a few trees down. It's a Crowned Eagle, Africa's answer to the Harpy, and it gives us great looks.
We say goodbye to Rory and then get ready for the drive to Kafue National Park. As we pack up, I note a few birds around camp we didn't see during the drive: Terrestrial Brownbul, African Grey Hornbill, and a Lilac-breasted Roller that flies over head.

Our original plan for visiting Kafue National Park had been to drive north from Choma to the town of Namwala, and from there over to the park, crossing a pontoon bridge over the Kafue river and entering the park just below Lake Itezhi-tezhi. This would have been a full day of rather difficult driving, and we had only planned on doing so because we had read that in the southern parts of Kafue the roads were treacherous and sandy. However, David Boaler at Vic Falls, who did walking safaris in Kafue for much of his career, assured us that this was not the case, and Rory MacDougall agreed. Because of this we decided instead to take the much shorter route to the park, driving back to Choma and then back toward Livingstone for ~60 kms to the town of Kalomo, where we turned north and drove ~75 kms to the southernmost tip of Kafue Park, Dundumwezi Gate.
This drive, which we started at about 9:45, took until 1:30.
From there it's a few hours drive to the Nanzhila Plains safari camp, where we stayed the night. As predicted, the roads were not sandy, except in a few small patches close to the camp.
At Dundumwezi Gate we had to pay our entrace fees. While we waited I noted both Arnot's Chat and Crested Barbet in the trees around.
We eat a late lunch a few kilometers beyond the gate. One member of our party risks lion attack to use the toilet behind a nearby tree. As they come back they scare up a bird from the fallen leaves, and we spend the next five or ten minutes chasing around a Fiery-necked Nightjar, until it gets sick of us and flies way off into the bush.
Other neat birds on the drive north to Nanzhila Plains include Brown Snake-Eagle and Long-crested Eagle. We also almost run over a tiny little fledgling Crowned Lapwing in the middle of the road.
We arrive at Nanzhila Camp a bit before sunset. Along the road into camp we admire a pair of Saddle-billed Storks. At the camp itself we have a view over a nearby marshy area, where a female African Pygmy-Goose is swimming around. Right as the sun sets a pair of Wattled Cranes appear - an excellent bird to cap off an excellent day of birding!

Day 6:
We get up early, get out breakfast stuff, and put the tents up... as we're eating one of the park rangers in the camp waves us over and points out lion prints in the sand just ~20 meters away from the car!
We walk from the camping area over to the lodge, past the big marshy area. Some Mosque Swallows are flying over the marsh, and a few Meyer's Parrots fly overhead, but that's about it.
We're told by the woman running the lodge that the best place to see the Black-cheeked Lovebird, Zambia's other endemic bird species, is at a waterhole about 10 kilometers north of Nanzhila Plains, so we head out that way.
On the drive out we find three Black-cheeked Lovebirds, which is lucky, because we don't see any at the waterhole. In fact, the waterhole is pretty empty; only a couple Little Egrets and a young African Jacana. Overhead, we see several Hooded and White-backed Vultures descending, but we can't see where they go.
At 10ish we leave the waterhole on the long drive to Kasabushi, which is a new camp along the Kafue River north of Lake Itezhi-tezhi. Highlights along the drive include a couple Bateleurs, Capped Wheatears, troops of White-crested Helmetshrikes, and some Hartlaub's Babblers.
We stop for lunch near Hippo Bay, on the southern end of Lake Itezhi-tezhi; we drive out toward the lakeshore and eat with a view of elephants and impalas on the grass by the lake. Also lots of African Fish-Eagles flying around and calling in the foreground.
Along the Spinal Road, which runs along the southern side of the lake and then north along the Kafue River, we encounter many of the typical Kafue birds: African Grey Hornbill and Meves's Starling are the most numerous. We also encounter a new mammal, the Sharpe's Grysbok.
We approach Kasabushi in the mid-afternoon, and are temporarily stymied when we come upon a grass fire! Unfortunately the poachers in this area light the grass on fire to open up the understorey and make it easier to see the animals they're hunting. The grass fire has attracted a number of interesting birds, including a Dickinson's Kestrel and several stunning Southern Carmine Bee-eaters. For a while we aren't sure how to get past the fire, but in the end opt for driving right through as quick as we can. We learn from the folks at Kasabushi that this is the best course of action; grass fires burn hot, but also fast, so they're usually very thin.
We get to Kasabushi Camp in the late afternoon, with a bit of time left to bird around. It's a very pleasant place, set along the Kafue River. There are a whole bunch of Violet-backed Starlings around, and in the tree above where we camp we see both African Golden and Black-headed Orioles, as well as an African Green Pigeon.
After dark we hear hippos snorting up and down the river, and an owl of some sort much closer in.

Day Seven:

In the early morning we head out to the north of Kasabushi, taking a 25 kilometer game drive in search of birds and animals. Along the way there we're delayed by a flat tire, but fortunately have all the equipment to change it and keep on going.
We leave the spinal road and take a little loop recommended by the folks who run Kasabushi. We see a lot of Puku and Impala, and a bit later encounter a herd of elephants. Unfortunately the elephants in Kafue have a reputation for being quite unfriendly because of all the poaching; these ones are clearly scared of us: they flare their ears and trumpet at us.
Most of the birds we see are at a waterhole at the far end of the loop where we stop to eat breakfast. As we approach we see a pair of Wattled Cranes near the side of the road. As we watch them we notice a tiny downy chick at their feet.
At the waterhole itself are some Water Thick-knees, a couple types of egrets, and a pair of Yellow-billed Storks. In the trees and shrubs around the pool we see some other neat birds. The highlight here are some Black-backed Barbets, which look remarkably similar to the Chaplin's, except for the namesake black back. There's also a Common Scimitarbill and an Orange-breasted Bushshrike.
On the drive out we see a Black-crowned Tchagra, and stop for a while at a point along the road where there's a patch of water and a giant troop of Yellow Baboons are drinking... It's quite interesting to watch them interact with each other and with the warthogs which come down to drink as well - the baboons give the warthogs a wide berth.
On the way back to Kasabushi we search hard for some lions which we're told live in the area, but we don't see them.
In the later morning and for much of the afternoon we relax in camp. Both a Lesser Honeyguide and its host, the Black-collared Barbet are in the area, as are some Yellow-throated Petronias and a couple Trumpeter Hornbills.
In the late afternoon we take a boat trip on the Kafue River that's one of the activities offered by Kasabushi Camp. Things are fairly quiet, but we do get a brief look at an African Finfoot. There's also a Marabou Stork that flies overhead and a Yellow-billed Kite nest in a tree along the riverbank. We also get pretty close to a few hippos and crocs.

Day 8:

We spend the morning birding around Kasabushi Camp. We get advice from the owner of the camp, who tell us that the best place to find the Red-throated (aka Peters's) Twinspot is along the trail between the Kasabushi camp and the Kasabushi lodge. Walking along here, I find a productive mixed flock including Black-backed Barbets and Chinspot Batises, but no twinspots.
During breakfast, we watch a nearby fruiting tree that's filled with birds. A flock of Schalow's Turacos are the most impressive, but there are also Violet-backed and Greater Blue-eared Starlings, Trumpeter and African Grey Hornbills, Black-headed and African Golden Orioles, and some Meyer's Parrots.
After breakfast we take another walk down the trail toward the lodge and this time get lucky! There's a male and female Red-throated Twinspot feeding in the leaf litter.
Then we head off on the 45 kilometer drive to the tarred road from Lusaka which separates the northern and southern parts of the park. Along the way we stop at the same pools where the baboons were yesterday. They are no longer present, and there's a Wood Sandpiper feeding there. Mammals along the drive include Puku, Impala, Hartebeest, and a few elephant.
From where we get onto the tarred road it's ~130 kilometers to the town of Mumbwa, where we turn off on the ~90 kilometer drive to our next camp, in the northern section of the park. The tarred road is quite fast, and the road from Mumbwa is in decent condition as well. We eat a late lunch near the northern gate to the park.
We stay the night at McBride's Camp, along the Kafue River. It's run by Chris McBride, an expert on lions who wrote "The White Lions of Timbavati", and his wife. Along the drive in we see a stunning Racket-tailed Roller and a beautiful Sable Antelope.
We arrive in the late afternoon, but still early enough to join Chris and some of the other guests on a sunset drive to find a pair of male lions that have been hanging out in the area. We end up getting within 100 meters of them in the safari vehicle, which apparently they don't connect with any sort of threat. As the sun sets some Impala approach the lions, but smell them when they're still several hundred meters away and start snorting warnings at each other. It's very interesting to hear.
We drive back in the dark, scaring a nightjar of some sort off of the road.

Day 9:

We are out at 7:30 on a boat trip to look for birds along the Kafue River, arranged through McBride's Camp.
We head slowly down river a few kilometers, seeing a lot of Waterbuck and Puku along the way, as well as common riverside species such as White-breasted Cormorants, Hadeda Ibises, and African Openbills. The highlight of the trip are three African Finfoots, a female and two males - much better looks than we had of the one at Kasabushi. These ones stay in the open for quite a while, even with the boat getting pretty close.
Other neat sights include an immature Martial Eagle, a couple Bateleur, and a small group of lovely African Skimmers on a river island.
We get back to McBride's at about 10 and hang out there for the rest of the day. Around the lodge and the camp there are some good birds: two Bohm's Bee-eaters and a Brown Firefinch are the highlights in camp, along with African Yellow White-eyes and a displaying male Black-backed Puffback.
Despite being merely campers, we were welcome to hang out at the lodge communal area, which has a view over the river. There was also a lone male hippo, dubbed the "Lone Ranger" who slept during the day just feet from the lodge - apparently the young males are kicked out (and often killed) by the adults in the river when they reach sexual maturity. Chris McBride left sausage tree fruits (Kigelia sp.) out for him to eat.
In a tree right next to the lodge there's a beautiful male Red-headed Weaver building a nest.
In the evening we return to camp, declining an invitation to go on another sunset lion-hunting drive. As we walk back to camp there are two Wattled Cranes and a small flock of Yellow-mantled Widowbirds in the fields near the camping area. As the sun sets a Long-crested Eagle appears as well.

Day 10:
Our plan to join some of the other guests for a morning game walk is delayed when we wake up to find that two elephants are walking around in the camping area, trapping us in the relative safety of our rooftop tents!
Eventually they leave, but not before they break a bunch of large branches off some trees quite close by. We meet the other guests and Chris McBride and are about to leave on our walk when a lion roars from somewhere off in the bush... Unfortunately that cancels the walking plan, and we instead go on another lion-watching trip; something to prepare yourself for if you choose to stay at McBride's!
We spend a couple hours chasing a female lioness through the bush, getting quite close to her on several occasions and having excellent views. She's walking totally in the open, roaring as she goes; Chris tells us that she's searching for one of the groups of bachelor males in the area.
We see few birds because of the focus on lion-chasing, but we do see a nest of White-backed Vultures, and an African Hawk-Eagle flies overhead.
Eventually we return to camp and are able to go for a little walking safari, though by that time it's well past nine and bird activity has died down a lot. We do have one quality sighting, though: we scare up a female Pennant-winged Nightjar from the grasses right next to the trail.
The middle of our day and our afternoon follows that of yesterday. We hang around both in the camping area and around the lodge. The most interesting birds around camp are the Bohm's Bee-eaters from yesterday, as well as a couple Ashy Flycatchers. At the lodge there's a little bird bath where Ashy Flycatchers, Violet-backed Starlings, Yellow-bellied Greenbuls, and Black-backed Barbets come to bathe.

Day 11:
We are up quite early in order to get going; we have to get out of the park and all the way to Lusaka by evening.
As we're caying goodbye to Chris and the others a Rufous-bellied Heron flies upriver.
We drive fairly slowly through the miombo woodland on our way out of the park, looking (largely unsuccessfully) for mixed flocks. We do see a few neat species, including some White-bellied Cuckooshrikes, a family of Southern Ground-Hornbills, a Greater Honeyguide, and migrant European Bee-eater.
We stop for breakfast at 9ish, along the road not too far from the park gate, and see a number of tracks on the road. One set is clearly a lion, but there are smaller cat- and dog-like tracks as well.
Our last bird in the park is a Wood Pipit, and then we're off on the ~60 kilometer drive to Mumbwa. From Mumbwa it's all tarred road to Lusaka, which we reach at 4 PM or so.
Our hotel in Lusaka is the Chamba Valley Exotic Hotel, a fairy resort-ish place with some grounds. After dark we hear Fiery-necked Nightjars calling right outside the window.

MSA said:

Just in case it's of interest - already posted in separate thread but dup here - my trip to S Luangwa a couple of years ago (there's at least one ID error - the Souza's Shrike was probably a Red-backed - hopefully that's all!). An excellent place to visit imho, I'm sure you'll enjoy it!

Click to expand...

Great report - you saw rather more birds than we managed on what was a similar safari, although the mammal spotting was pretty similar. I'll knock up a report in the next week (well, maybe month) or so.

I've put most of my good photos (and some record shots as well) on to a flickr set here, if anyone's interested: https://www.flickr.com/photos/68961563@N02/albums/72157674231041821