Mashatu Game Reserve is located in south eastern Botswana. It is a dry part of Botswana where the rains usually only fall between November and April each year. In September, it is early spring in Mashatu and is very dry.

I am fortunate to be part of a syndicate which operates Rock Camp, a bush camp, located along the Limpopo river in Mashatu close to the Pont Drift border post. The camp has a water hole in front of it which attracts a variety of animals during the winter and spring months. The camp also has several stone bird baths which are filled daily and attract birds during the dry period. The stone bird baths are concave and have been shaped by rural women manually grinding maize in food preparation over many years. Many of the birds shown in this post were photographed at the camp’s bird baths. Others did not seem to require water as regularly.

“In order to see birds it is necessary to become a part of the silence.” ~ Robert Lynd

A Yellow-bellied bulbul or Greenbul. It can be identified by its olive-green upperparts and yellow underparts. It has a red eyes and clear white eyelids. I have only ever seen Greenbuls in Mashatu.

Another unusual visitor was this Terrestrial Bulbul or Brownbul. This bird has the GISS ( General Shape and Size) of a bulbul. It has dull light brown upperparts and whitish throat and underparts and it has a dark red eye. This insect eater prefers thickly vegetated habitats such as the croton groves along the Limpopo river.

An Ashy flycatcher with grey upperparts and white underparts. Its wing feathers and tail have a brownish tinge to them. This dainty little flycatcher prefers the riverine forests and broad leafed woodlands. It hawks insects from same perch which helps photographers.

A Grey-headed bushshrike taking a few deep drinks of water in the midday heat. You will invariably hear this bushshrike’s long piping call well before you see it. Its colours are vivid with a grey-head and a bright yellow eye. It has an olive green back and tail feathers. Its throat and belly are a bright yellow and its breast is orange.

A Tropical boubou slating its thirst on a warm day in Mashatu. The Tropical boubou distribution overlaps the Southern boubou in the south eastern section of Botswana. The Tropical boubou differs from its Southern cousin as it has a almost white underparts with a slight pinkish tinge where as its Southern cousin has a deeper cinnamon-orange wash on its belly and vent.

A White-crested helmet-shrike. This pied coloured shrike has black upperparts and white underparts. It has a white forecrown and the rest of the crown is grey. It has a black stripe on its cheeks and a striking bright yellow eye wattle. This species is noisy and normally flies in groups of between six and 12 birds.

“Listen to silence. It has much to say.” ~ Rumi

When driving along the dry river beds in the game vehicle we often find White-fronted bee-eaters which are resident in Mashatu. They hawk insects from either a branch jutting of the riverbank or from a protruding rock in the dry river bed. They seem to call to each other continuously. They have to regurgitate the exoskeleton of many of the insects they catch which is what this character is about to do.

A special treat, a yellow-morph Crimson-breasted shrike. We found it in the dry thorn veld along a drainage line in Mashatu. We were privileged to have extensive sightings of this unusual morph on two separate days.

A Crimson-breasted shrike singing away to its mate a few trees away next to the Appleleaf grove alongside the vlei in Mashatu. The crimson plumes on its underparts is one of the most vivid colours in the bush. This shrike is resident in Mashatu. It is unusual to have this shrike perched out in the open as they are usually very active moving in and through thorn bushes.

Similar to the White-fronted bee-eater, this Lilac-breasted roller was agitated by an intruder in its territory. This roller hawks insects from a perch but does not always return to the same perch. It also has to regurgitate the exoskeleton of the insects it feeds on.

A Sabota lark singing away from a dead branch in a prominent position. All larks have the distinctive white eyebrow but this species has a white throat with uneven streaks, and dark brown streaks on its chest. The Sabota lark is resident in Mashatu and its preferred habitat is Mopane woodland with sparse grass cover.

This was the first time I had seen a Great sparrow. It is the one and only individual that I have ever seen. It came down to the bird bath, had a deep drink of water and left never to be seen again. We see many Southern grey-headed sparrows which come down to drink at the birdbath every 45 minutes in the heat of the day.

” As a photographer you focus on your subject, time the interaction, take notice of your background, recognise the direction and quality of the light which is about seeing the whole rather than just the subject.” ~ Mike Haworth

Also regular visitors to the bird bath during the heat of the day are Blue waxbills. It is unusual to find power blue colours in the bush. Being very small they usually have to give way to the larger birds. These waxbills have powder blue plumes on their face, neck, chest, and flanks. Their belly is white and their upperparts are a light brown colour. The shape of the beak indicates that these diminutive birds are seed eaters.

A male Red-billed firefinch. This species is a frequent daily visitor to the camp’s birdbath. This firefinch has red underparts with white spots on its flanks. Its upper parts are a brownish red and it has a red rump. A key factor distinguishing this firefinch from the Jameson’s firefinch is its red beak. The shape of its beak shows it is a seed eater.

A male Jameson’s firefinch drinking from the camp’s birdbath in the middle of the day. Note this firefinch has a black to steel-grey beak. The underparts are more rose pink than red.

A Tawny-flanked prinia waiting for the traffic around the bird bath to clear. This is a slender, unstreaked warbler (prinias are sometimes called long-tailed warblers) which has a long graduated tail and has light brown upper parts and pale beige underparts. This prinia has a distinctive light coloured eyebrow. This small bird likes to forage in riverine scrub and thickets which are found along the Limpopo. The prinia’s beak is typical of an insectivore being thin and slightly curved.

A Red-billed buffalo-weaver. This is a large black plumed weaver with a vivid red beak. It has white streaks on its shoulders and flanks.

A family of Natal spurfowls came to drink when the bird bath was clear. These spurfowls will not come to the bird bath to drink if there is chatter and movement on the lodge’s patio near the bird bath. In the foreground are two juvenile Natal spurfowls with their mother at the back. Female spurfowls do grow spurs but they are smaller than those on the male legs. The juveniles had not yet started to develop spurs.

” Be quiet and be patient, you will begin to see subtleties, notice more and start to recognise the interconnectedness.” ~ Mike Haworth

The Brown-hooded kingfisher is a resident around the camp in the winter and autumn months. It seems to get pushed out by the Woodland kingfishers when they arrive in late spring. The Brown-hooded kingfisher is one of the five southern African kingfishers which do not hunt fish, but insects instead. The Striped Kingfisher can be confused with the Brown-hooded Kingfisher but the striped is the smaller of the two and has well defined stripes on its crown, a black eyestripe and its beak is two coloured with the maxilla being dark brown and the lower mandible being red. The Brown-hooded kingfisher has a red maxilla and mandible and no black eye band.

A Burchell’s coucal in an unusual position. It has creamy-white underparts, a black head, a ruby red eye and a black beak. It looks similar to a Senegal coucal but it has finely barred upper tail coverts which can be seen backlit.

“There is more to life than increasing its speed.” ~ Mohandas Gandhi

A female Red-crested korhaan. These korhaans are shy and will immediately start walking away from you as soon as they see you. The female has light brown upperparts with distinctive white V marks. It has a white breast and black belly plumes. The female does not have the red crest which the male uses during mating displays.

The birds I have shown were mostly seen around the bird bath in camp. The migrants had not yet arrived and when they do arrive they significantly multiply the numbers and species of bird that can bee seen. The several different ecosystems in Mashatu facilitate the diversity of birds resident in the south eastern part of Botswana.

“In silence there is eloquence. Stop weaving and see how the pattern improves.” ~ Rumi

A bird bath in a bush camp is likely to attract many different types of birds especially in the drier times where water is hard to find. Many of the birds are skittish and not used any close proximity to human activity. I have found the best time to photograph birds around the camp bird baths is after everyone has had brunch and they retire to their rooms for a siesta. When it is quiet in camp it is remarkable how many birds arrive at the bird bath. Some are regular daily visitors and come down to drink every hour or so, such as the waxbills, sparrows, weavers and starlings. Others visit occasionally.

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its interconnectedness and let it be.

Have fun, Mike