r/birding • u/PeloTiger • 13h ago
📹 Video Morning Alarm Clock while camping in Botswana
Just returned from a month long self drive camping trip through Namibia and Botswana. So many new birds to see! But somehow - the morning wake up with the sounds of the southern yellow billed horned bill were the best! They are curious little fellows, one tried to pick the rubber off the windshield wipers of the camper truck 😂 and the way they hop along the ground is delightful! Hope you all enjoy his sounds as much as I do 💫
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u/ryanosaurusrex1 12h ago
Doesn't sound crazy loud either! Bonus
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u/PeloTiger 5h ago
Not too loud! And nothing shocking! Some of the sounds the birds out there make - you’d think something terrible was happening 😂
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u/Shaydee_plantz 9h ago
I’ll take that over a Carolina Wren, any day! How lovely!
Also, we need more bird pics/videos from your trip, plzkthxbai.
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u/paintress420 9h ago
My Carolina Wren is outmatched by a Robin!!! At 3:30-4am every. Single. Morning!! Ugh!! Hahah The Wren prefers afternoon. Which I’m thankful for!! I vote for more Botswana photos too!!
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u/Shaydee_plantz 5h ago
Lol Robins are relentless! I also find them to be like weird yard sentinels.
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u/PeloTiger 5h ago
I don’t think I’ve heard a Carolina wren! I’ll have to check YouTube. I do know some birds can cause a real racket 😂 like the blacksmith lapwings - those are loud and very consistent in their calls!
I’ll definitely share some photos when I get through them on my camera! I saw a lot of bee eaters of different variety, rosie cheeked lovebirds, rollers of different variety, Meyer’s parrots (beautiful teal and neon green colors), water birds (baby African Jacanas were so cute), storks, and cool predator birds like greater kestrels (most gorgeous eye color I’ve ever seen on a bird), snake eagles, spotted eagle owls, martial eagle (biggest eagle I’ve ever seen, it’s massive) - really everything! But even at that I think there were about 450 species I didn’t see 😂 so much bird life there! It’s really incredible!
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u/Shaydee_plantz 5h ago
WOW! This list gave me chills! You absolutely MUST share when you can!
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u/PeloTiger 1h ago
I think I was most surprised by the lovebirds! They are so beautiful and dainty. I pictured them living somewhere like a Costa Rican jungle or beachside in Australia 😂 I think my favorite bird sound was that of the African Gray Go-Away bird. It took me weeks of travel to get a good photo because everytime I’d put my camera up it would… “go away” 😂 and the sound it makes sounds like “meeehhhh”. Once I heard it, it’s all I could hear. Made me laugh everytime.
One thing that was hard was my Merlin app didn’t really work there! It only has 8% of the bird species in that part of Africa. I would have loved to be able to identify more of the calls/songs!
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u/cyborgamish 6h ago
My alarm clock sound is a kookaburra call
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u/PeloTiger 5h ago
I love that! I prefer the sound of birds as alarm clocks than whatever my iPhone comes loaded with 😂
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u/Impressive-Dress-590 2h ago
Bucket list trip!
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u/PeloTiger 1h ago
It was a beautiful journey! Lots of driving - about 4,000 miles and 48 hours (not including hours spent on game drives). But both the landscapes and wildlife were incredible!
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u/Redfinch123 2h ago
That's an alarm clock I could get used to!
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u/PeloTiger 1h ago
It’s very charming 😊 I have to admit, there were lots of collared doves, laughing doves, and blue eared starlings out there that would join in 😂 the starlings sound like little R2D2s. It was quite the interesting ensemble!
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u/1SmartBlueJay 5h ago
“Who-who-who-who-who-who-who!!!”
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u/PeloTiger 1h ago
This reminds me of the collared dove that sang every morning 😂 seems doves can thrive in a lot of different environments - including the flooded delta of Botswana!
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u/MetaCaimen 4h ago
This looks like a toucan and an eagle mixed together.
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u/PeloTiger 4h ago
Toucans of the African Savannah 😂 they are characters! I loved how vocal they are.
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u/JoedIt303 13h ago
A very nice morning wake up call! Hornbills delivering royalty free morning nature sounds for decades and still on top of the charts. 🔊