19 Mar 2019: Pink Eyelids and Mocking Owlets

Beth Hackland told me about finding the Verreaux’s Eagle-Owl near Mata-Mata, and I decided to first target this owl before leaving the Park. This entailed scanning every tree on the 120 km to Mata-Mata, and the realisation soon set in that there are a lot of trees in the Kalahari. Six hours later, in the heat of the Kalahari midday sun, and a bit cross-eyed from scanning through my binos, I arrived at Mata-Mata with no owl. To rub salt into the wounds a nearby Pearl-spotted Owlet started mocking me with its call.

Map Kgalagadi TF Park

The road back to Twee Rivieren was travelled a bit faster, as I wanted to reach Upington, about 380 km away, before nightfall. Then, out of the corner of my eye, a distant shape, shrouded in branches, leapt out at me. A Verreaux’s Eagle-Owl, in all its magnificent glory, was having a nap in a camel-thorn tree. I think it was expecting to be photographed, because it was wearing pink eyeliner makeup as it regally posed for some pictures. Just another good day of birding in Africa!

Verreaux's Eagle Owl, Kgalagadi