YOUNG BIRDER'S NOTES: SUMMER BIRDING TRIP: Day Five: Chobe to Moremi

Once more the day began early, as we ate a quick breakfast before boarding our boat. We cruised up the Chobe River, scanning the banks and surrounding floodplains for wildlife. A wide variety of birds were present. White-crowned lapwings, blacksmith lapwings, African jacanas and three-banded plovers stalked the river's banks, while squacco and purple herons waited patiently for prey to swim by. Vegetation overlooking the river held a distant white-fronted bee-eater, as well as several red-eyed doves and many red-billed quelea. African fish eagles and yellow-billed kites soared over the river. Groups of impala and Chacma baboons fled to the river's banks to escape some unknown predator. When we travelled near the floodplains of the river, many Nile crocodiles and some distant puku were visible, along with spur-winged geese, African sacred ibis, various egrets and Egyptian geese. A few hippo were swimming in the river's shallower areas, with red-billed oxpeckers perched on their backs. Most importantly, on the return leg of the journey 2 giant kingfishers were seen fishing the river from its banks.

The Chobe River is the only place in southern Africa where puku are common

A few ducklings accompanied this spur-winged goose as it strode along the bank

The squacco heron is closely related to Asia's pond-herons

Red-billed oxpeckers pick ticks off their hosts, but also drink their blood

As its name suggests, the giant kingfisher is the world's largest kingfisher

Yellow-billed kites can be told apart from black kites by their yellow bills

The Egyptian goose has been introduced to Florida and Germany

Several Nile crocodiles were sunning themselves in the floodplains

The African sacred ibis was once conspecific with the Australian white ibis

This beautiful African fish eagle landed to eat from a carcass

Large amounts of impala dotted the banks of the river

After returning from the cruise, we packed our bags and left the lodge for Kasane Airport. On the way, we saw several Jameson's firefinches, a lizard buzzard, a fork-tailed drongo, many lilac-breasted rollers and a brown snake-eagle, most of which we stopped for. We also spotted a small flap-necked chameleon trying to cross the road.

The black throat-stripe of the lizard buzzard makes it easy to identify

The lilac-breasted roller is easily one of Africa's most beautiful birds

As its name suggests, the brown snake-eagle feeds mainly on snakes

The fork-tailed drongo is Botswana's only resident species of drongo

This young flap-necked chameleon was getting paler as we looked at it

We flew to Moremi Game Lodge via light aircraft. On the flight, I saw several crowned plovers along the airstrip. Many African elephants were visible while we were in the air.
When we got to the lodge, after eating and being shown to our rooms I looked around for birds. A small flock of yellow-breasted apalis, collared sunbirds and long-tailed crombecs was immediately visible, however they were far too quick for me to photograph. A terrestrial brownbul was foraging in the undergrowth. Woodland kingfishers, crested and black-collared barbets, and red-eyed doves, along with both black-collared and crested barbets, were common. A lone Burchell's starling was singing loudly from the cover of a bush. 2 African green pigeons were hiding in a nearby tree. Finally, the reeds around a small pond held nesting Holub's golden weavers. We were introduced to our guide, Letz, who would be taking us on all of our game drives and other trips.

Like most sunbirds, the collared sunbird feeds primarily on nectar

Male Holub's golden weavers attract a mate by building a nest for them

Red-eyed doves are common throughout Botswana

The call of the Woodland kingfisher is said to foretell rain

As its name suggests, the terrestrial brownbul is rarely seen high in the canopy

The black-collared barbet has a rare yellow-headed morph

African green pigeons feed mainly on fruits such as figs

Burchell's starlings were extremely common in Moremi Game Reserve

The crested barbet isn't related to Asia's barbets, being in a separate family

Ring-necked doves look similar to Eurasia's collared doves, but are much smaller

In the afternoon we went on a game drive through the reserve. With Letz's skilled guiding, we saw a wide variety of birds and animals which we would have missed. A young female leopard put on quite a show for us as it approached a group of impala, waiting patiently next to our jeep. Near a small lake, wattled cranes, marabou storks, various egrets and several red lechwe were seen. We saw a pair of lions feeding on the corpse of a baby hippo that they'd dragged into some shrubs, the male eating everything and the female left to go hungry. Some plains zebra grazed in the shade of a tree. An area of grassland held a herd of tsessebe. A variety of other birds such as Burchell's starling, Meyer's starling, white-backed and hooded vultures, tawny eagle, lilac-breasted and broad-billed rollers, among many others, were visible. Most importantly, we got crippling views of a pair of Southern ground hornbills walking across the road and disappearing into the grassland. Letz's expert guiding and eagle eyes were extremely useful and the safari was a huge success.