14-16 Apr 2019: Brandberg
- vagranttwitcher
- Apr 16, 2019
- 1 min read
Brandberg, Namibia’s highest mountain at 2573m, dominates the desolate plains of the Namib. Having dipped on the Benguela Long-billed Lark and the Herero Chat in the Uis area, I drowned my sorrows with a few cold ones at the White Lady Lodge. Some fine European migrant birds at the poolside were highly appreciated. At dusk I took a walk through the campsite and found numerous Damara Red-billed- and Monteiro’s Hornbills, but no new ticks for the year-list. That evening, in the campsite, four owl species were calling: the Pearly-, Barn-, Scops- and Spotted Eagle Owl.
The next morning, at a nearby waterhole, two African Hawk-Eagles were sitting right next to the water and taking their pick of the hundreds of Namaqua Sandgrouse who came to drink. On a nearby granite outcrop a Peregrine Falcon was still contemplating breakfast. I drove down the dry river bed of the Ugab River, looking for Rüppell’s Parrots, but found Rüppell’s Korhaan in their place. Later, while driving up a rocky hill, two Benguela Long-billed Larks entertained me with their descending “fee-ooh!” calls, and it was a relief to finally tick them on the year-list.
The evening was spent contemplating the braai-fire at my campsite. With the help of a dram of Scottish perceptiveness I came to the profound conclusion that a fire can only flame when there are two or more pieces of wood in the fire. One single piece of firewood only smokes, and irritates the hell out of everybody. I’m sure there is a life-lesson in this; somewhere…
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