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Rundu Sewage Works (1 Viewer)

James Bray

Well-known member
I'm visiting in a couple of weeks and was wondering if anyone could give me good directions for the sewage works at Rundu. I have the Birdfinder, but the directions in it don't seem as detailed as they are for other sites. Also, is the birding likely to be good at the sewage works at the beginning of November?
Thanks for any help you can give.
James
 
As I didn't get a reply to my post I thought I'd put the part of my trip report for Rundu sewage works (that I'll finish and post sometime soon, hopefully)here in case anyone is wanting to visit and wants details.

We visited the sewage works three times between 27th Oct and 2nd Nov 2008.

Rundu Sewage works – I could not find detailed maps or directions before our trip, furthermore Callan Cohen told me that tracks around the site change, so we did a bit of exploring and found some really good birds. We visited before the majority of summer migrants had returned – during the rains the birding here is meant to be superb. Best birding conditions are very dependent on water levels and time of year, however, a visit is very worthwhile even outside peak times.

Directions: The road from town that runs past the turnoff to Sarasungu soon turns into a dirt road. After approximately 3kms there are two large ponds visible on the left. The first (western) pond you reach from town is fairly small and is lined by a lot of emergent vegetation and reeds. We saw a Baillon’s Crake here early morning, as well as several African Swamphens and Black Crakes.

The second pond visible from the road is much larger and has several small islands and clumps of reeds. Large numbers of duck and a few waders were seen here, and we had a European Hobby over the pond during one late afternoon.

A path runs downhill along the western side of the first pond to another couple of ponds that are not visible from the road. We had to jump across a metre-wide ditch containing what looked and smelt like raw sewage going this way! A Lesser Jacana showed really well at the edge of the first pond down the hill which again had a good sized reedbed and plenty of emergent vegetation.

At the bottom of the hill water runs out onto the floodplain. This looks amazing for crakes, rails, herons etc, most of which arrive once the summer rains have set in. There are large areas of flooded grasslands here, and I don’t think that we saw nearly all of the floods, although there weren't too many birds around. The best birds that we could manage were a few Black-winged Stilts, a Collared Pratincole and a Yellow Wagtail. Scrubby thickets can be found between the ponds and down the hill, in which we found White-browed and Coppery-tailed Coucals, Magpie Shrike, Jameson’s and Red-billed Firefinches. Five Bradfield’s Hornbills on the eastern side of the ponds were a good surprise (our only ones of the trip).

You can then walk round the ponds keeping the ponds on your right all the way back up to the road. Alternatively it is possible to drive down a sandy track that is on the eastern edge of the two roadside ponds. Several tracks in various states of condition wind their way across the floodplain. Track conditions and accessibility would probably be very different in summer.

Key birds seen – Lesser Jacana, Baillon’s Crake, Coppery-tailed and White-browed Coucals, European Hobby, African Marsh Harrier, Bradfield’s Hornbill, Hartlaub’s Babbler.
Other birds – Comb Duck, Hottentot and Red-billed Teal, African Swamphen, Black Crake, Squacco Heron, Black-crowned Night-heron, Collared Pratincole, Little Stint, Curlew, Marsh and Common Sandpipers, Three-banded and Common Ringed Plovers, Greater Honeyguide, Lesser Swamp Warbler.

Other possibilities – African Pygmy Goose, and in summer Lesser Moorhen, Allen’s Gallinule, African Crake, Dwarf Bittern (in acacia thickets by the wetlands). Also various bee-eaters, migrant waders and warblers, Marsh Owl and Brown Firefinch. African Hobby and Bat Hawk at dusk.

We left our car by the road here, as did another couple of birders, and had no trouble. However, we were told that other people have had problems at this site. As everywhere, do not leave valuables in the car and make sure it is locked.
 
As I didn't get a reply to my post I thought I'd put the part of my trip report for Rundu sewage works (that I'll finish and post sometime soon, hopefully)here in case anyone is wanting to visit and wants details.

Hi, James,
Thanks for this information. A lot of South African birders use the forum shown below, so they may have missed your original query.

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=104790

You'll also find a lot of Southern African birding information on that site, including South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia.

Best wishes,
Dave Kennedy
 
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