The arrival of summer sees the influx of a large variety of migrant birds from the northern hemisphere which use Botswana – and more specifically the Okavango Delta – as preferred areas for breeding and feeding.

The first migrants arrive during September. They will all have arrived by December, which increases Botswana’s bird population by 20% compared to the winter months. The period from December to March is very active and the colours, especially with the birds in breeding plumage displaying, are spectacular.

The Okavango Delta is a birders’ paradise, which entertains both the experienced ornithologist and the eager amateur. One of the highlights of the birding calendar takes place during September–October, when the Carmine Bee-eaters arrive from Central Africa and are often seen in their hundreds on the Savuti Marsh. Interestingly, they make use of the large Kori Bustards, by riding on their backs as they move through the grass of the marsh and kick up fleeing insects, which are then caught by the bee-eaters.

Another highlight is the heronry at Gadikwe Lagoon, which provides nesting sites for hundreds of birds. (The Gadikwe Lagoon is situated between Camp Moremi and Camp Okavango and/or Xugana Island Lodge, and is a highlight for guests taking the boat transfer between the lodges.)

Owing to the heronry being shared by a variety of species it is active from July to March and is busiest from September to December, when breeding colonies of herons are joined in the shallows and among the low trees and swamp-fig thickets by Marabou, Yellow-billed and Saddle-billed Storks, Sacred Ibis and several species of egret. Flapping, noisy and colourful breeding displays can be enjoyed at close quarters (although we maintain a 50 metre exclusion zone).