10-11 Apr 2019: Ameib Ranch, Erongo Mountains

Rock Formations, Ameib

The birding was good and the scenery even better. Situated in the Erongo mountains near Usakos, Ameib’s granite outcrops create spectacular rock formations and hidden valleys filled with grassy shrubland. This was the ideal habitat for the Hartlaub’s Spurfowl and Rockrunner, but trudging these rocky paths was extremely hard and hot work. I spent the day in the mountains, climbing to Philip’s Cave to view the San paintings and hoping to hear the call of the target birds. Alas, the only call I heard was that of Red-billed Francolins, and it seemed as if the Rockrunner was running elsewhere. The midday sun grew so hot that it fried the circuit boards of Daai Dêng’s solar panels – I still don’t understand how a manufacturer can produce solar panels that overheat!

Hou Moed, Ameib

Halfway up a hill to Philip’s Cave I came across a sign reading “Hol Moet” (Bum Must). I think it was meant to read Hou Moed (Keep Faith/Be Strong) but at that stage of the climb the first interpretation also worked…

Although I did not find the target birds, Monteiro’s Hornbill, Carb’s Tit, White-tailed Shrike and Shaft-tailed Whydah were added to the African Year List – just another very hot day in Africa.

Elephant Head, Ameib.

The next morning before dawn found me using a torch to find my way up the rocky slopes to ambush the Hartlaub’s. It seemed as if the stars were so near that one could pluck them from the sky. I tried to determine my direction using star navigation, as taught during basic military training, but I must have slept through that lecture. Sitting high on a hill, enjoying the sunrise and listening to the dawn chorus, the only thing missing was the call of a Hartlaub’s Spurfowl. Some time later, in near desperation, I decided to play the call. For the next ten minutes there was a hushed silence among the rocky outcrops, and then a Hartlaub’s called out of a depression not twenty metres away. I tried to entice it out into the open by again playing the call, but with no success. Climbing down into the depression to flush the bird also did not work, it was long gone. Just another beautiful and frustrating day in Africa!