Chobe Game Lodge Newsletter, November 2006

General

November was the advent of our rainy season and with it came the complete metamorphosis of the bush from dry arid landscape to lush green vegetation. In total we have had 113,5mm of rain for November. On the 16th a very big thunderstorm passed over the Kasane region with up to 110mm falling in Kasane itself, with the brunt of the thunderstorm passing by us towards our east. At Chobe Game Lodge we only measured 10mm of rain after the storm. The Sedudu area of the National Park must have had quite a lot of rain falling there as well during the storm of the 16th as the Sedudu Pan was almost completely full after the storm. The rain also brought the mean day temperatures down a lot and most days were quite mild and pleasant.

Vegetation

As mentioned already the rain brought bout a dramatic change in the bush as most plant species indigenous to this area respond very quickly to any rainfall. This fact can be ascribed to the very seasonal nature od most indigenous plants in most parts of southern Africa and certainly in Botswana. The vegetation has adapted to respond very quickly to rain because most species have rather short life cycles to fit into the few raining months of the year.

Away from the river inside what is classified as miombo woodland the Zambezi teak trees and Muondo trees started shooting their new leaves for the season. These trees characteristically have bright pink to red new leaves, making for some spectacular scenes after the first heavy rains. The Zambezi teaks also started to blossom for the season dotting the lush green bush with its purple flowers.

All the grass species growing on the deep Kalahari soils are annuals and the new growth for the season started within a week of the first good rains. By the end of December game viewing should start getting significantly more difficult with the dense undergrowth of grasses sprouting out.

Birdlife

All the Chobe's summer visitors and residents have returned by the end of November. The very characteristic calls of the woodlands kingfishers are ringing out from everywhere in the bush, as are those of Klaas's cuckoo, Diedericks' cuckoo, and the 'I'm so sick' call of the black cuckoo. These calls are so abundant during the summer months that one hardly notices them but they are sorely missed in winter time.

Klaas's cuckoo was named after a Khoi-Khoi servant of the French explorer Francois Levaillant. Levaillant came to the Cape in 1781 in the service of the Dutch East India Company. All cuckoo species in southern Africa are brood parasites and normally target species like weavers and starlings. Their eggs typically have a much shorter incubation period than the host species giving the chicks a head start over the chicks of the host which will often be killed by the cuckoo chick.

Steppe buzzards are surprisingly abundant this year. They are Palearctic migrants and as their name implies they travel all the way from the steppes of Europe and Asia in the northern hemisphere to spend their summers in the southern parts of Africa. They typically hunt from perches like dead tree tops and often while hovering as well.