Honey Badger [Mellivora cpensis]Want to send me mail? Click here: tomrdavis@earthlink.net.
There are a lot of photos on this page. If you're in a hurry, here is a page with my top dozen photos.
Here's my trip report.
In case you're thinking of doing something similar, here's a page describing the logistics of our trip.
Here's a page containing advice for those wanting to take photos in Botswana.
Here's a complete list of all the birds we saw but didn't necessarily photograph on the trip.
You can click on any of the thumbnails below to obtain a larger version. The thumbnails are of quite low quality to make this page load faster; the quality of the larger versions is quite high.
Honey Badger [Mellivora cpensis]
These guys were shy and fast. I was lucky to get this photo.
Swallow-tailed Bee-eater [Merops hirundineus]
Wahlberg's Eagle [Aquila wahlbergi]
Magpie Shrike [Corvinella melanoleuca]
Grey Lourie (Go-away-bird) [Corythaixoides concolor]
Brown Snake-Eagle [Circaetus cinereus]
Common Warthog [Phacochoerus africanus]
Common Impala [Aepyceros melampus melampus]
African Elephant [Loxodonta africana]
African Elephant [Loxodonta africana]
Blue Wildebeest [Connochaetes taurinus taurinus]
(Obviously, with some zebras in the background.)
Water Monitor [Varanus niloticus]
Tree (Smith's Bush) Squirrel [Paraxerus cepapi]
Red-billed Spurfowl [Pternistis adspersus]
Greater Blue-eared Starling [Lamprotornis chalybaeus]
Coppery-tailed Coucal [Centropus cupreicaudus]
Verreaux's (Giant) Eagle-Owl [Bubo lacteus]
With pink eyelids, no less...
Leopard [Panthera pardus]
Pale Flycatcher [Bradornis pallidus]
Yellow-billed Kite [Milvus aegyptius]
Yellow-billed Kite [Milvus aegyptius]
Lion [Panthera leo]
Lion [Panthera leo]
Rock (White-throated) Monitor [Varanus albigularis]
Hippopotamus [Hippopotamus amphibius]
Spur-winged Goose [Plectropterus gambensis]
Bateleur [Terathopius ecaudatus]
Black-backed Jackal [Canus mesomelus]
Black-backed Jackal [Canus mesomelus]
Red-billed Oxpecker [Buphagus erythrorhynchus]
White-backed Vulture [Gyps africanus]
African Fish-Eagle [Haliaeetus vocifer]
African Fish-Eagle [Haliaeetus vocifer]
Blacksmith Lapwing [Vanellus armatus]
White-faced Whistling Duck [Dendrocygna viduata]
Lion [panthera leo]
Lion [panthera leo]
Brown Snake-Eagle [Circaetus cinereus]
White-faced Whistling Duck [Dendrocygna viduata]
Greater Blue-eared Starling [Lamprotornis chalybaeus]
Senegal Coucal [Centropus senegalensis]
Wattled Crane [Bugeranus carunculatus]
Egyptian Goose [Alopochen aegyptiaca]
Pied Kingfisher [Ceryle rudis]
There were lots of these, but I never got a great photo.
Saddle-billed Stork [Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis]
Red-billed Quelea [Quelea quelea]
Plains (Burchell's) Zebra [Equus quagga burchellii]
Plains (Burchell's) Zebra [Equus quagga burchellii]
Fork-tailed Drongo [Dicrurus adsimilis]
Gabar Goshawk [Melierax gabar]
Lion cub [Panthera leo]
Little Bee-eater [Merops pusillus]
Cape Buffalo [Syncerus caffer caffer]
The buffalo that is standing has a Red-billed Oxpecker on its back, picking off parasites.
Saddle-billed Stork [Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis]
Pel's Fishing-Owl [Scotopelia peli]
One of the main reasons that birders visit the Xigera camp is to see this bird. We were incredibly lucky and found it within the first two hours of arriving. We went back to the site the next day and found three birds: two adults and a juvenile. Photos of those three birds appear below.
African Fish-Eagle [Haliaeetus vocifer]
This and the next three photos are a series of the same bird taking off.
African Fish-Eagle [Haliaeetus vocifer]
African Fish-Eagle [Haliaeetus vocifer]
African Fish-Eagle [Haliaeetus vocifer]
Chacma Baboon [Papio ursinus]
Little Bee-eater [Merops pusillus]
Rufous-naped Lark [Miafra africana]
Little Bee-eater [Merops pusillus]
Lilac-breasted Roller [Coracias caudatus]
Lilac-breasted Roller [Coracias caudatus]
Vervet Monkey [Cercopithecus aethiops]
This guy was sitting on the walkway between our tent cabin and the lodge. The vervet monkeys were all quite fearless and were constantly trying to steal food from the kitchen.
Pel's Fishing-Owl [Scotopelia peli]
Pel's Fishing-Owl [Scotopelia peli]
Pel's Fishing-Owl [Scotopelia peli]
(Juvenile)
Golden Weaver [Ploceus xanthops]
Golden Weaver [Ploceus xanthops]
Here is the weaver working on its nest among the papyrus reeds.
Green-backed Heron [Butorides striata]
Squacco Heron [Ardeola ralloides]
Hadeda Ibis [Bostrychia hagedash]
African Darter [Anhinga rufa]
It's flanked by two Reed Cormorants [Phalacrocorax africanus]
Red-billed Quelea [Quelea quelea]
African Jacana [Actophilornis africanus]
Malachite Kingfisher [Alcedo cristata]
Unfortunately, I never got close enough to this beautiful bird to get a good photo. The version here is cropped from a tiny portion of the middle of a full frame.
Wattled Crane [Bugeranus carunculatus]
Wattled Crane [Bugeranus carunculatus]
Squacco Heron [Ardeola ralloides]
Blacksmith Lapwing [Vanellus armatus]
Southern Giraffe [Giraffa camelopardalis]
African Elephant [Loxodonta africana]
African Skimmer [Rynchops flavirostris]
These are fast flyers, and it was getting dark, so the photo is pretty blurred, I'm afraid.
African Elephant [Loxodonta africana]
Leopard [Panthera pardus]
This leopard was very hungry and was eating some horrible chunk of dead animal that the hyaenas hadn't bothered to eat. It eventually ate the whole thing, hair and all.
African Fish-Eagle [Haliaeetus vocifer]
Wild Dog [Lycaon pictus]
We were lucky to see these animals. They sure behaved a lot like domestic dogs, and it was fun to see them loping along. But suddenly they got on the trail of an impala, and the whole pack just took off like rockets.
Wild Dog [Lycaon pictus]
Lilac-breasted Roller [Coracias caudatus]
Magpie Shrike [Corvinella melanoleuca]
Verreaux's (Giant) Eagle-Owl [Bubo lacteus]
African Grey Hornbill [Tockus nasutus]
Brown-crowned Tchagra [Tchagra australis]
Brown-crowned Tchagra [Tchagra australis]
Red-billed Firefinch [Lagonosticta senegala]
Blue Waxbill [Uraeginthus angolensis]
Cape Turtle-Dove [Strepyopelia capicola]
Southern Giraffe [Giraffa camelopardalis]
Lion [Panthera leo]
Lion [Panthera leo]
Lion [Panthera leo]
Lion [Panthera leo]
Lion [Panthera leo]
Lion [Panthera leo]
Cleaning his butt.
Spotted Hyaena [Crocuta crocuta]
Steenbok [Raphicerus campestris]
Chacma Baboon [Papio ursinus]
We were watching a large group of baboons when suddenly one of the larger males started beating up on a smaller individual. In this photo and the next, we see how baboons are just like many humans: when one is doing violence to another, all the rest just sit and watch.
Chacma Baboon [Papio ursinus]
Leopard [Panthera pardus]
Leopard cub [Panthera pardus]
This, and the next three photos are of a cub tearing apart a guineafowl for dinner, and then, when finished, joining his mom up in the tree.
Leopard cub [Panthera pardus]
Leopard cub [Panthera pardus]
Leopard cub [Panthera pardus]
Leopard [Panthera pardus]
Here's a nice shot of mom plus cub.
Common Impala [Aepyceros melampus melampus]
Red Lechwe [Kobus Leche]
Crested Barbet [Trachyphonus vaillantii]
This is a great bird, but we only saw one of them, and I never got a photo in good light.
Bateleur [Terathopius ecaudatus]
Rufous-bellied Heron [Ardeola rufiventris]
Yellow-billed Kite [Milvus aegyptius]
African Jacana [Actophilornis africanus]
Black Crake [Amaurornis flavirostris]
The first few times we saw this bird was as a flash of black racing across the water. We were told the flash was a Black Crake, but it was so fast I never saw enough for a good id. Then, much later, I got a decent photo.
Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill [Tockus leucomelas]
Southern Red-billed Hornbill [Tockus erythrorhynchus]
Greater Kudu [Tragelaphus strepsiceros]
Kori Bustard [Ardeotis kori]
Tawny Eagle [Aquila rapax]
Tawny Eagle [Aquila rapax]
Southern Carmine Bee-eater [Merops nubicoides]
White-backed Vulture [Gyps africanus]
This gang of vultures were tearing into the body of a zebra that had been killed by a hyaena. The entire zebra body was shaking on the ground as the vultures gorged themselves.
Marabou Stork [Leptoptilos crumeniferus]
This stork was waiting for a chance at the same zebra body that the vultures were devouring in the photo above.
African Sacred Ibis [Threskiornis aethiopicus]
Lilac-breasted Roller [Coracias caudatus]
Lion cub [Panthera leo]
Lion cub [Panthera leo]
Lion cubs [Panthera leo]
Mom! He's biting my butt!
Goliath Heron [Ardea goliath]
Common Warthog [Phacochoerus africanus]
White-browed Coucal [Centropus superciliosus]
Pied Kingfisher [Ceryle rudis]
Double-banded Sandgrouse [Pterocles bicinctus]
African Openbill [Anastomus lamelligerus]
African Openbill [Anastomus lamelligerus]
Here's the same bird as above, ready to eat a snail.
White-backed Vulture [Gyps africanus]
Leopard [Panthera pardus]
Roan [Hippotragus equinus]
Yellow-billed Kite [Milvus aegyptius]
Yellow-billed Kite [Milvus aegyptius]
Here the kite is eating a piece of meat that he stripped off the dead zebra that appears above with all the vultures.
Tawny Eagle [Aquila rapax]
Southern Carmine Bee-eater [Merops nubicoides]
Springbok [Antidorcus marsuplialis]
Northern Black Korhaan [Afrotis afraoides]
South African Ground Squirrel [Xerus inauris]
Double-banded Courser [Rhinoptilus africanus]
Steenbok [Raphicerus campestris]
Tawny Eagle [Aquila rapax]
Oryx (Gemsbok) [Oryx gazella]
On the horns of this Oryx skull are the tubes made by hornworms that digest the organic material in the horns.
Northern Black Korhaan [Afrotis afraoides]
Bat-eared Fox [Otocyon megalotis]
Southern Pale Chanting Goshawk [Melierax canorus]
White-backed Vulture [Gyps africanus]
Scorpion
One of the activities at the Kalahari Plains camp was a "Bushman Walk." We walked with a young man who knew how to live as a bushman, but who also spoke good English. He showed us how they lived: what plants and animals they ate, how they made fire, how they trapped animals, how they built shelter, how they made arrow poison to kill some animals, et cetera.
They eat almost anything, including scorpions, and when we found some scorpion holes, I asked how they got them out, and he demonstrated by digging with a sharp stick. He'd loosen up some dirt and then dug out the loose dirt with his hands. I asked if he was afraid of a sting, but he said that the scorpions always back into their holes, so they can only pinch you, with the stinger pinned behind them.
Sure enough, eventually he got pinched, but then he used a stick that the scorpion pinched and he hauled it out. We did not eat the scorpion, however.
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Want to send me mail? Click here: tomrdavis@earthlink.net.