The Chobe Chalkers from Kasane , Botswana had a successful Birding Big day on 29 Nov. 1997. The team, Anne Hansel, Hans Meevis, Alison Flatt and Richard Randall recorded 239 birds, 6 more than during the 1996 BBD.

The foundation for this total, after a rather meagre harvest of nocturnal species on the road between Kazungula and Lesoma Village, was the couple of hours spent at the grounds of Mowana Safari Lodge. These grounds, bordered by the Chobe River and about 2km², provide an exceptionally rich birding habitat, as proved by the 100 species recorded there in the two hours after dawn.

From the Lodge (the base) the team went into the Chobe National Park, the Kasane Sewage Works, Lesoma Valley and the excellent teak forests of Kasane Forest Reserve, returning to base in the late evening.  

The very hot and unusually dry weather resulted in fewer species being recorded than hoped for, especially from 11h00 to 15h00 when the temperature was in the late 30s. One exception to this, however, was the sighting of 11 species of birds (including Racket-tailed Roller and Lesser Honeyguide) in as many minutes in a patch of teak woodland in the early afternoon.

In the few days prior to BBD the Chobe Chalkers recorded, cumulatively, over 300 spp. on substantially the same route as that taken on the Day itself, and we assess that, given the right conditions (rain the day before or during the early morning and cloudy bright weather during the day) a 24 hour total of 275+ birds is feasible in this area. If we only had a coast nearby (like the Natalians).... The furthest straight line distance from base that we travelled during BBD was 20 km and we did not take a boat up the river as it is possible to see nearly all the aquatics by vehicle from the park roads which follow the Chobe. One may not tick Greater Swamp and a few other warblers by not going on the river, but the extra time spent in the woodlands more than makes up for this as the bird life is always greater there.  

There are always preposterous dips on BBD. A selection of ours is Kori Bustard, Namaqua Dove, Giant Eagle Owl, Trumpeter Hornbill, Yellowbilled Oxpecker, Bluegrey Flycatcher and Cutthroat Finch. These we considered a sure thing at the commencement of the Day....

Raptors were not much in evidence (only one of our four regularly occurring vultures was sighted) and many nocturnal species were clearly deliberately avoiding us.

There were, of course, highlights: a pair of Threebanded Coursers with two chicks; a Honey Buzzard flying over the 4x4; a Whitethroat, a Tree Pipit, Western Redfooted Kestrels; Miombo Rock Thrushes and Dwarf Bitterns to mention a selection of them. 

The team felt that generally the day went well and though the day's target - 250+ spp. - was not achieved, we were pleased with the result (the highest 24 hr count for Botswana) especially as we had to make a last moment substitution for one of our team members, Mark Muller. Mark, a raptorphile of note, suddenly became indisposed just before kick-off time on BBD and Alison, who was going to be a driver, stepped in as a Chalkers team member. Anne (The Unflappable) kept up the energies and morale of the team with her usual cordon-bleu catering (smoked oysters and salmon, salami sandwiches, quiches, Greek and fruit salad - that sort of thing) and showed exemplary patience in handling urgent, and sometimes conflicting, CD bird call requests. 

Botswana has relatively few birders - and fewer who are willing to spend 24 hr on birding - but we hope that in the coming years there will be more BBD teams from this country and some teams from the other Southern African countries.  

Anne Hansel, Hans Meevis & Richard Randall - Kasane, Botswana