28-29 Apr 2019: Drosky’s Camp, Botswana

The day started well when I found the Dark Chanting Goshawk sitting on a powerline just outside the Mahango Game Reserve. A few kilometres further a Bradfield’s Hornbill was walking around on a village soccer field. I was heading to Drosky’s Camp in Botswana, and the target bird was the Pel’s Fishing Owl. That evening, in the camp, I heard the eerie wail of a juvenile Pel’s, “like the cry of a lost soul falling into a bottomless pit”.

White-backed Night Heron, Droskys.

A boat trip on the Okavango River to Shakawe, early the next morning, delivered good views of two White-backed Night Herons, Greater Swamp Warbler and Lesser Jacana. At Shakawe we searched the river bank for about an hour, but could not find the Pel’s. The rest of the day was spent in the camp, searching every tree for the resident owl. Although I did see a large, chocolate brown bird flying away amongst the trees, it disappeared too fast to make a positive id. Thus the Pel’s is ticked as a “only heard”.

African Fish Eagle, Drosky's.