Birding in the Okavango Delta

In the Okavango Delta, the birding begins right outside your tent door- after all, as a world-famous birdwatching destination, this is one of the main reasons why so many people come here. Lodges are built in areas of scenic beauty and abundant wildlife - the trees ring with the calls of glossy starlings, doves and woodland kingfishers. Robins and hornbills hop around your tent and you may be disturbed from your afternoon siesta by the raucous call of francolins. Take a stroll around camp - weavers and sunbirds flash past in bursts of colour, warblers and thrushes dash for cover and you might have to shoo away an inquisitive bulbul from your breakfast table.

With over 500 recorded species in a wide range of habitats and with a variety of ways to see them, a birding trip to the Delta seldom disappoints. For really keen birders a summer, rainy season visit is a must. The Delta's resident species are joined by intra African and Palaearctic migrants - the rain-filled pans, floodplains and thick green vegetation provide feeding and breeding opportunities for waders, wildfowl, crakes and rails, bee-eaters, orioles and cuckoos.

From the water, either in a mokoro or motorboat, expect to see cormorants, kingfishers, warblers, cisticolas, coucals and rails in the waterside vegetation. Drift quietly under the overhanging branches of riverine trees to look for Pel's fishing owl and rufousbellied heron. The open floodplains are the places to spot the slaty egret, waders, storks and cranes; sandbars might throw up roosting wildfowl and a flock of African skimmers.

The nature of birding changes on land based activities. A game drive will enable you to cover a diverse set of habitats: wind your way through mopane woodland for chats, parrots, woodpeckers and hornbills. As you head towards the water the woodland gives way to more open scrub - look for shrikes, rollers and bee-eaters, starlings, flycatchers and prinias. Stop next to a seasonal pan and scan the area for ducks and geese, waders and pratincoles, gulls and terns. The air is full of wheeling swifts and swallows, but keep an eye out for the sudden low level appearance of a dashing sparrowhawk or goshawk, or the bigger raptors patrolling the sky - eagles, buzzards and vultures.

A walking trail enables you to birdwatch at your own pace and on a more intimate level - look for nests, roosting places and, if you are lucky, you'll be lead to a bees' nest by a honeyguide.

At night the camp's croaking chorus of frogs is broken by the eerie calls of dikkops, nightjars and owls. Creep cautiously towards the sound with your torch to get a look or, even better, go on a guided night drive with a spotlight - the sandy roads are favoured by nightjars and owls are on the hunt for frogs and rodents.

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