Trip Reports

Tanzania Trip Report 2003
Tanzania Trip Report 2005
Kenya Trip Report 2008 Uganda Trip Report

 

TANZANIA BIRDING TRIP REPORT
Tanzania 2003
By Mark Sutton

The team

Mark, Linda and Brent Sutton, John and Janette Martin, Pete Antrobus (AKA Tripod), Debbie Hough.

 

Introduction

Our initial plans were to spend the first half of the holiday in Kenya, with the second half in Northern Tanzania, but due to terrorist threats the UK Government were advising against travel to Kenya. As a result we could not get insurance cover for Kenya, this combined with our personal safety concerns meant we changed our plans to a purely Tanzanian trip at quite short notice. Fortunately the airline, Emirates, allowed us to change our flights, the down side being that we had to book new tickets through Emirates and wait for ten weeks to get a refund on the original Kenyan flights. Quite an expensive option, in the short term.

All the accommodation and transport, including the internal flights, were arranged through Anthony Raphael of Birding and Beyond Safaris, who I had used on my trip to Kenya two years previously. I would certainly recommend Anthony from Birding and Beyond Safaris to anybody considering a trip to E. Africa. Further details can be found on the website: www.tanzaniabirding.com or e-mail tours@tanzaniabirding.com

 

Transport

We used a 4x4 Safari Minibus, with driver, throughout our time in mainland Tanzania. A safari minibus, with its roof, which can be raised, is ideal for game viewing, birding and photography in the game parks. Our driver Arnold was very knowledgeable about the sites visited, with a good knowledge of the mammals, but not birds. He was extremely good company and looked after us very well. On Pemba Island the Manta Reef Lodge provided a vehicle and driver.

 

Health

No major health problems were encountered other than a 24-hour stomach upset which I had. We all took Anti-malarial precautions either in the form of Larium, Doxycycline or Malarone

 

Food

Food was of a good standard, with packed lunches being provided by the hotels / lodges on a number of occasions. In addition Arnold usually came equipped with a flask of hot water, tea & coffee.

 

Weather

Generally dry throughout except for heavy thunderstorm overnight in the Serengeti.

 

Books & Tapes

Trip reports: We obtained some information from trip reports found on the Internet, but with the exception of the Serengeti / Ngorongoro area could found very little information on the areas we visited.

 

Field Guides: Field Guide to the Birds of East Africa - Terry Stephenson & John Fanshawe, published by T& A D Poyser. The format of having the text and range map opposite the illustration is very useful. but some of the illustrations were not up to the standard you would expect from a modern field guide, as they did not capture the true appearance of the bird.

Birds of Kenya & Northern Tanzania - Zimmerman, Turner and Pearson published by Helm. A very good guide, I found the text far more informative than the Poyser guide, in addition the maps were more detailed. On the down side it only covered Northern Tanzania.

 

The Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals (Poyser) - very good.

 

Other Guides: Where to watch birds in Africa - Nigel Wheatley, published by Helm - Invaluable.

 

Lonely Planet, Tanzania - As usual an essential companion to any trip.

Road Map to East Africa - purchased on previous trip to Kenya

Sound guides: African bird sounds volume 2, an 11 CD set, with target species transferred to tape. This useful CD does not cover E. Africa, so many of the most sought after species are not covered. A CD covering E. African is apparently due to be published in 2004.

 

Accommodation

11th & 31st Beachcomber Resort. Situated on the Indian Ocean, a couple of hours drive from the airport. A good standard of accommodation, with swimming pool makes it an ideal place to chill out at the beginning / end of a trip. Listed in the Lonely Planet guide, under the Northern Beaches section.

 

12th Manta Reef Lodge. Situated in a beautiful beachside location in the North of Pemba, only a short drive from the Ngezi Forest. The lodge provided transport to & from the airport, as well as a vehicle and driver during our stay. Listed in the LP guide under Kigomasha Peninsula.

 

13th A basic hotel in the town of Morogoro, the name of which was not noted.

 

14th Udzungwa Mountain View Hotel. A pleasant, but basic hotel situated about 500m south from the HQ of the Udzungwa Mountains NP. Listed in the LP guide under Udzungwa Mountains NP.

 

15th & 16th Mkumi Genesis Motel. A basic but adequate motel , situated in the outskirts of Mikumi town. Listed in ther LP guide under Mikumi.

 

17th & 18th Amani Conservation Centre Rest House. Situated in the East Uasmbara Mountains at the Amani Nature Reserve, basic but excellent accommodation, but probably only accessible with a 4WD. Listed in the LP guide under Amani NR.

19th & 20th Muller's Mountain Lodge. Situated in the West Uasmbara Mountains near the town of Lushoto. Superb accommodation & food - highly recommended. Listed in the LP guide under Lushoto.

 

21st Elephant Motel Situated 1km SE of the town of Same. A modern, but basic Motel, listed in the LP guide under South Pare Mountains.

 

22nd Maasai Safari Centre. This Lodge is located a little outside the regularly crowded large tourist Hotels in the middle of the busy Arusha town. It has an excellent garden and comes highly recommended, but regrettably it is not listed in the LP guide & I don't have any contact details.

 

23rd Tarangire Porini Camp (tented camp). Situated in dry bush, just outside the northern perimiter of the NP. The highlight here was the drinking pool, which attracted large numbers of birds which could be watched and photoghaphed from the comfort of the restaurant. Listed in the LP guide under Tarangire NP.

 

24th Tarangire Tented Safari Lodge. This luxury tented camp, compete with swimming pool is situated within the grounds of the Tarangire NP. Listed in the LP guide under Tarangire NP.

 

25th & 26th Serengeti Sopa Lodge. This up-market lodge, complete with pool, is situated in the centre of the Serengeti NP. Listed in the LP guide under Serengeti NP.

 

26th & 28th Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge. This up-market lodge, complete with pool, is situated on the eastern rim of the crater, close to one of the access roads to/ from the crater bottom. Listed in the LP guide under Ngorongoro Crater.

 

29th Migunga Forest Camp. The fairly basic, but adequate, tented camp is set on 35 acres of yellow acacia forest in a secluded part of Migungani Village and on the boundary to the Lake Manyara NP. The camp consists of nine self-contained tents with Bathrooms having running hot and cold water, showers, and flush toilets. There is a dining room and bar under thatch. Electricity is 12 volt supplied by solar power. Listed in the LP guide under Mto Wa Mbu. swala@swalasafaris.com

 

Sites visited

We relied heavily on the local knowledge of Arnold, our diver, at most sites; as a result exact locations for some of the sites are not know.

Pemba Island: All birding was done either from the grounds of the Manta Reef Lodge, or in and around the nearby Ngezi Forest. You should obtain a permit to bird the forest, from the office at the start of the track which runs through the middle of the forest, and which eventually leads to the Lodge. Not covered in Wheatley

 

Kilombero River and Flood Plains: The town of Ifakara lies on the edge of the floodplain. Bird the road, which leads south from the town, down to the ferry across the river. Covered in Wheatley.

 

Udzungwa Mountain Forest National park: The park HQ, where you have to arrange a guide, lies about 500 M north of the Udzungwa Mountain View Lodge. You can bird this area, but it is apparently better habitat on the waterfall trail, about 10 km further north, which is where we spent the morning. Covered in Wheatley.

 

Miombo woodlands, Mikumi: The dirt road running north from Mikumi to Ulaya cuts through some excellent miombo woodland. We birded this road a couple of kms north of the town & also a side road off to the west (Pipeline Road). An advantage with this area over the NP is that you can bird on foot. Not covered in Wheatley

 

Mikumi NP: The main road from Dar es Salam to Mikumi cuts through the NP, and quite good birding can be had along this road itself, although other traffic can be a problem. The park lies on the eastern edge of Mikumi, with the main entrance lying about 15km from the town. Tsetse flies were a nuisance in part of the park, although they do not apparently carry sleeping sickness. Covered in Wheatley.

 

Amani NR: This reserve is situated in the East Usambara Mountains and is a mosaic of small patches of woodland and cultivation. The majority of our birding was done within walking distance of the Rest House, either along local roads or on the trail to a viewpoint, which leads from the Rest House itself. A 4WD is required to reach the reserve. Mentioned in Wheatley

Sawmill Track, West Usambaras: I do not know the location of this site other than it was about 45 minutes drive from Muller's Mountain Lodge. We walked the track for about 1km as it ran through a narrow section of remnant woodland. Not covered in Wheatley

 

Track through Remnant Forest near Muller's Mountain Lodge: This track was about a 10-minute drive from the Lodge and ran through a small section of degraded woodland. Again we relied on Arnold's local knowledge. Not covered in Wheatley

 

Taveta Golden Weaver Site: This site is situated along the main road to the town of Same, where a reed fringed river, boarded by rice fields, transects the road. Not covered in Wheatley

 

South Pare Mountains: We birded the patched of dry scrub on the hillsides to the north east of the town of Same. Access was along a dirt track off the main road near the Elephant Motel. I suspect that any area of scrub in this area will produce similar birds, as we did not manage to see the target White-eye, only Abyssinian. We suspect it is located, higher up in the forested mountains. Not covered in Wheatley

 

Tarangire: We birded two areas 1) The Tarangire Porini Camp, which is situated on the Northern edge of the NP. You can bird on foot here as long as you are accompanied by a guide from the camp. 2) Tarangire NP, as with most NP's, most birding is from the vehicle. The only areas you can bird on foot are in the picnic sites and around the Lodge. Covered in Wheatley.

Olduvai Gorge: This site lies in the northern section of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and is only a short detour from the journey to the Serengeti. We only birded around the museum & the picnic site, which, as usual, attracted many birds.

 

Serengeti: The majority of the birding is from the vehicle, although the picnic sites at Seronera and at the Naabi Hill Gate exit for the park were very birdy. Covered in Wheatley.

 

Ngorongoro Crater: As above, the majority of the birding was carried out from the vehicle, except for at a couple of picnic sites. We did a full day in the crater & covered most of the area including the soda lake, and a couple of other lakes & marshes. We also birded around the grounds of the Hotel. Covered in Wheatley.

 

Lake Manyara: From the vehicle we birded the woodland around the edge of the lake, as well as an accessible section of the lakeshore. We also birded on foot, around the Migunga Forest Camp, on the edge of the reserve. Covered in Wheatley.

 

Itinerary

11th August

We arrived in Tanzania at dusk, 30 hours late due to a delayed departure in Manchester. This delay caused us to miss our connection in Dubai by half an hour. We then had to endure a 30-hour wait in Dubai, albeit in a very comfortable hotel, before the next available flight to Dar es Salaam. Arnold, who would be our driver for the duration of our holiday in mainland Tanzania, met us at the airport. We drove to the Beach Comber Resort where we arrived well after dark, but luckily the hotel obliged in making a late meal for us all, before we crashed out. It had been our intention to fly to Pemba Island today, but had missed the flight. Luckily Anthony had managed to postpone our flight by a day, which resulted in us only having one night on the island instead of two. This meant we had a rather rushed start to the holiday & missed out on a days chilling out on Pemba.

 

12th August

Managed to get 15 minutes birding from the beach at dawn, before the 6:30am breakfast and transfer to the Airport for the scheduled flight to Pemba. The flight departed at 8:35am and flew via Zanzibar, arriving on Pemba at 10:10. On arrival at Chake Chake Airport in Pemba, we were met by staff from the Manta Reef Lodge, who transferred us to the hotel, which took about two and a half hours. After Lunch and a couple of hours birding around the grounds, a member of the hotel staff drove us to the nearby Ngezi Forest, where we birded until late in the afternoon and then birded the forest edge until dusk. We returned to the Hotel for an evening meal after which we went back into the field in search of the Scops owl.

Highlights. Hotel grounds: Pemba White-eye, Pemba Sunbird & Madagascar Bee-eater.

 

Ngezi Forest area: Mangrove Kingfisher, Ethiopian Swallow & Pemba Scops-owl.

 

August 13th

The morning was spent birding the forest edge in search of the Green Pigeon, our last remaining Pemba endemic. After Lunch we caught an afternoon flight back to Dar Es Salaam, again via Zanzibar. We originally intended to try and drive as far as Mikumi , but as it was getting late we decided to stay over in Morogoro and continue to Mikumi in the morning.

Highlights. Ngezi Forest area: Pemba Green-pigeon & Dickinson's Kestrel.

 

14th August

We made an early start, passing through Mikumi NP, which gave us our first taste of Tanzanian National Parks, before stopping at the Mikumi Genesis Motel for breakfast. After breakfast we drove through the Udzungwa Mountains, stopping at Udzungwa Mountain View Lodge to unpack before carrying on to the Kilombero Flood Plains where three Tanzanian endemics occur, two of which are, as yet un-named cisticolas. We birded the floodplains and river until late afternoon before returning to the Udzungwa Mountain View Lodge after dark.

Highlights. Floodplain and River: White-crowned Plover, African Skimmer, Coppery-tailed Coucal, Kilombero Weaver, White-tailed Cisticola and Kilombero Cisticola.

Journey back to the Lodge, at dusk: Usambara Eagle-owl & Square-tailed Nightjar

 

15th August

We rose at dawn & drove a short distance to the HQ of the Udzungwa Mountain Forest National park, where we met up with one of the rangers. After coffee and much debate about whether to bird around the HQ or the waterfall trail, we finally opted for the waterfall trail which was about a 10 Km drive away. After a fairly quiet mornings birding we returned to the Lodge for lunch. We failed to see any of the local specialties, which in reality require a lot more time and effort.

After lunch we drove to Mikumi, where we checked into the Genesis Motel.

In the afternoon we birded the Miombo woodlands North West of Mikumi this is a good area for a number of southern specialties, with the advantage of being able to bird on foot, which is not possible in the adjoining reserve. It would appear that none of the Tanzanian parks are fenced in, which means that the animals are free to roam where they like. As a result Elephant & Buffalo can be encountered, so care must be taken.

Highlights. Udzungwa Mountains: Green headed Oriole, Red-capped Robin-chat & Yellowbill.

Mikumi: White breasted Cuckooshrike, Greencap Eremomela, Southern Blue-eared Glossy-starling & Pale Batis.

 

16th August

The morning was again spent birding the miombo woodland, before returning to the lodge mid morning. We spent the rest of the day in the Mikumi National Park, where we had lunch at the hotel near the entrance gate. We finally left the park after dark; which is apparently not allowed and resulted in Arnold being reprimanded by the guards on leaving the reserve. The night was spent at Mikumi Genesis Motel.

Highlights. Miombo woodland: Böhm's Spinetail, Racket-tailed Roller, White-headed Black-chat, Tiny Cisticola, Miombo Wren-warbler, Rufous-bellied Tit, African Penduline-tit and Orange-winged Pytilia.

Mikumi National Park: Red necked Spurfowl Black bellied Bustard, Croaking Cisticola Northern Pied-babbler.

 

17th August

After an early breakfast, we set out for one of the longest drives on our trip. On the approach to the Eastern Arc Mountains we made several stops in the cultivated areas for Zanzibar Bishop, but only managed to find, good numbers of Black-winged Bishops. We arrived at the Amani nature reserve rest House shortly after dark.

 

18th August

The whole day was spent birding the Amani area with a short and uneventful visit to an area of riverine woodland & tea plantations in the afternoon. In the morning we birded the main track above the accommodation and after breakfast the patches of woodland and cultivated areas around the village. The late afternoon & evening was spent on the trail leading from the center.

 

Highlights: Fischer's Turaco, Green Barbet, White-starred Robin, Evergreen Forest Warbler, Forest Batis, Usambara Hyliota, Yellow White-eye, Uluguru Violet-backed Sunbird, Banded Green Sunbird and Kenrick's Starling.

 

19th August

The morning was spent birding the trail leading from the center, to the viewpoint before returning for lunch, where I met up with John & Pete who had both managed to independently see Long-billed Tailorbird in a small gully besides the road, just above the center. A brief search of the area failed to provide the desired grip-back.

After lunch we set off for Muller's Mountain Lodge, an old German colonial house, in the West Usambara Mountains. The journey took the rest of the afternoon, except for a short stop in the West Usambara foothills, so we arrived at the lodge at dusk. We were just making ourselves comfortable in front of the log fire, when John came in with the news that a Nightjar was calling from a tree in the garden. We dashed out to enjoy excellent views of Usambara Nightjar, which was soon joined in the next tree by a medium sized Eagle-owl, which proved to be Usamabra Eagle-owl. A pretty good introduction to the West Usambaras!

Today was Linda's 40th birthday, so Muller's Mountain Lodge, which is renowned for its fine cuisine, was the ideal place to celebrate the occasion.

Highlights. Amani: Crowned Eagle, Orange Ground-thrush & Amani Sunbird.

W. Usambara foothills: Nyzana Swift, Cliff Chat & Hunters Sunbird.

Muller's Mountain Lodge: Usambara Nightjar & Usamabra Eagle-owl.

 

20th August

After an early breakfast we birded the sawmill track, about a half hour drive from the lodge, before returning for lunch. The early afternoon was spent birding around the lodge, before heading off to a nearby area of remnant forest. The night was again spent at the Lodge.

Highlights. Sawmill track: Tiny Greenbul, Fulleborns Black Boubou, Abyssinian Hill-babbler, African Tailorbird & Red-faced Crimsonwing.

Remnant Forest: Hartlaub's Turaco, Moustached Tinkerbird & Waller's Starling.

 

21st August

The morning was again spent at the nearby remnant forest before departing mid morning with a packed lunch. We stopped for a short lunch break in the foothills before descending back onto the plain and the journey to Same, where we would spend the night. Arnold knew of a reliable site for Taveta Golden Weaver on this section where a reed fringed river, boarded by rice fields, transects the road. Shortly after entering the fields a large raptor flew towards us obligingly hovered overhead, giving excellent views. We all concluded that it was a Short-toed Eagle, a potential First for Tanzania! After an hours searching, I managed to locate a male weaver, which promptly disappeared before the others arrived & could not be relocated. A few Kms further down the road we stropped to bird an area of thorn scrub & fields, were Linda managed to locate another male amongst a mixer weaver flock.

The night was spent at the Elephant Motel on the outskirts of Same.

Highlights. Remnant Forest: Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater & Cabanis's Greenbul.

Journey to Same: Short-toed Eagle, Pink-breasted Lark, White-browed Scrub-robin, Red-fronted Warbler, Pygmy Batis, Black-bellied Sunbird, Eastern Violet-backed Sunbird, Rosy-patched Shrike, Fischer's Starling &Taveta Golden Weaver.

 

22nd August

After Breakfast, we birded an area of dry bush, in the foothills of the South Pare Mountains only a short journey from the Hotel. Our main target here was South Pare White-eye, a potential split from Broad-ringed White-eye. After about half an hour John managed to locate a party of White-eyes, which we are convinced were Abyssinian, although Anthony later insisted South Pare is the only White-eye in the area. The altitude (c1,00m) was lower & the habitat much drier than we expected South-pare White eye to occur in. We birded a couple of locations in the area until returning to the Motel for lunch.

After lunch we drove to Arusha & booked into Maasai Safari Tourist Lodge. The Lodge is located a little outside the center of town and away from the crowded tourist hotels and is set within a very pleasant garden. The afternoon was spent chilling out & birding in the hotel grounds, where we met up with Anthony, who brought with him John & Jeanette's long lost suitcase.

Highlights. South Pare: Brown Snake-eagle, D'Arnoud's and White-headed barbets, Northern Brownbul, Zanzibar Sombre Greenbul, Tiny Cisticola, Grey Wren-warbler Black-headed Batis, Sulphur-breasted and Grey-headed bush-shrikes, & Green-winged Pytilia.

Hotel: Brown-breasted Barbet, Tropical Boubou.

 

23rd August

Most of the night was spent dashing to the toilet, presumably from something I ate or drank, as a result I started the day feeling pretty rotten and not really up to walking over sun scorched plains looking for a Lark. Luckily no one else had contracted my stomach upset, so I relied on the rest of the guys putting in all the effort as I tagged on behind. After about an hour of walking over the plains, situated to the North of Arusha, a pair of Spike-heeled Larks were located. This isolated population, a potential split, is only found in this area of Tanzania. We continued a few kms further along the road until we reached a patch of acacias, which were birded for a further half an hour before returning to Arusha and dropping Anthony off at his office.

In the afternoon we drove to Tarangire Porini Camp, a tented camp, which is set in 200 acres of un spoilt wilderness on the border of the Tarangire National Park The dining area overlooks a small drinking trough, which was alive with birds coming into drink. The rest of the guys went birding, on foot, with a local guide, whilst I stayed behind to watch the drinking pool, as I was still feeling pretty rough.

Highlights. Roadside birds traveling to/from the plains: Lammergeier, Red-and-Yellow Barbet, White-fronted Bee-eater, Capped and Schalow's Wheatears.

Open Plains: Spike-heeled Lark, Eastern Chanting Goshawk and Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse

Acacia: Fawn-coloured Lark and Banded Parisoma

Porini Camp: Chestnut and Swahili sparrows, Chestnut Weaver, Green-winged Pytilia, Blue-capped cordon-bleu, Crimson-rumped Waxbill, Grey-headed Silverbill, Red-bellied Parrot, Yellow-collared Lovebird, Bare-faced Go-away-bird & Dark Chanting Goshawk.

 

24th August

The early part of the morning was spent overlooking the drinking trough, which was again alive with activity. After a leisurely breakfast, we departed for Tarangire National park, a short drive a way. En route to Tarangire NP we stopped at a couple of roadside pools, which were teemed with Chestnut-backed sparrow-larks. Upon reaching the park we headed to a picnic site where you could leave the vehicle and ate our packed lunch. After a couple of hours, we made our way to the Luxury Tented Camp where we chilled out in the pool. The late afternoon & evening were spent on a game drive in the vicinity of the camp.

Highlights: Porini Camp: Jameson's Firefinch, Black-faced Waxbill, Straw-tailed Whydah, Gabar Goshawk, Pygmy Falcon & Von Der Decken's Hornbill

Tarangire NP: Secretary-bird, Martial Eagle, Coqui and Crested francolins, Yellow-necked and Red-necked spurfowls, White-bellied Bustard, Yellow-throated Sand grouse, Ashy starling, White-headed Buffalo-weaver, and a single Rufous-tailed Weaver at dusk.

 

25th August

After an early breakfast, we checked out of the Tarangire Safari Lodge and began the long drive to the Serengeti. We started the journey on good roads, which changed to a rutted dirt road as we climbed the rift valley escarpment just past lake Manyara. We drove around the mainly forested Ngorongoro crater, where we made a brief stop in a area rich in wild flowers & Sunbirds. We continued on the Olduvai Gorge where we stopped to eat our packed lunch. This area is worth visiting, not only for the museum dedicated to the finding of mans earliest remains, but also for the birds, which feed at your feet around the picnic tables.

After lunch we continued, entering the vast expanse of the Serengeti plains. As soon as we turned off the main track and started to head towards our hotel, we came across a female Lion suckling three small cubs, which gave very close views. Within minutes of leaving her we encountered a female cheetah and three well-grown cubs at a fresh kill, shortly followed by a large male Lion, which soon got scent of the kill and chased off the Cheetah family, scattering the cubs in all directions. A pretty impressive introduction to the Serengeti!

We arrived at the Serengeti Sopa Lodge at dusk, where the hot showers & luxurious rooms were most appreciated after a long drive.

Highlights: Dusky Turtle Dove, Malachite and Golden-winged sunbirds, White-bellied Canary, Greater Kestrel, Kori, White-bellied and Hartlaub's bustards, Two-banded Courser & Rufous-tailed Weaver.

 

26th August

After breakfast we heded out for a full day in the Serengeti. Arnold drove slowly through an area of Acacia woodland, which lies along the main track near the hotel. We stopping to check any bird flock's we encountered, before picking up a Grey-breasted Spurfowl, the last endemic of the trip near one of the river crossings. We continued onto a nearby lake before heading out onto the grassy plains and a picnic site near Seronera, where we ate our packed lunch. The picnic site was alive with birds feeding on scrap, including our only Usambiro Barbets of the trip. Drove back to the hotel to pick up the girls who had spent the morning chilling out & enjoying the delights of the hotel swimming pool. We left the hotel at 4pm and headed back towards the lake, where luckily for the girls a Leopard we had seen in the morning, was still in its tree. The drive back to the Hotel was delayed by a large herd of elephants, crossing the road, which were not very impressed by out presence. We drove past a spectacular fire on one of the hillsides, which had been caused by thunderstorms we had seen distantly earlier in the afternoon.

In the evening we were treated to an impressive thunderstorm around the hotel whilst eating dinner. Back at the room the views from the balcony, across a lightening lit Serengeti, will leave a lasting memory.

Highlights. Acacia Woodland & riverine scrub: Grey-breasted Spurfowl, Meyer's Parrot, Fischer's Lovebird, Sharpe's Pied-babbler, Buff-bellied Penduline-Tit, Red-throated Tit and Abyssinian Scimitar-bill & Yellow-throated Petronia.

Open plains: Black-winged Lapwing, Temminck's and Two-banded coursers.

Picnic Site: Usambiro Barbet, Grey-capped Social-weaver.

Scattered trees near the picnic site: Silverbird.

 

27th August

We packed & left the hotel, starting to retrace ours steps back to the Ngorongoro crater where we would spend the next two nights. The tracks across the plains proved hard going after the overnight rains & Arnold had to be quite selective about which tracks to use, as some were almost impassable. We stopped for lunch at Naabi Hill Gate exit for the park, where we were again treated to close views of the many birds which came down to scraps of food.

We arrived at the hotel Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge at 18.30, where we managed a last hours birding around the grounds before dark. After taking a shower, a Mountain Nightjar could be heard from the room, but it could not be located. When we met up with John for Dinner, he gripped me off with the news that he had seen the nightjar outside his room!

Highlights. Naabi Hill Gate : Buff-bellied Warbler, Banded Parisoma Hildebrand's Starling & Rufous-tailed Weaver.

Sopa Lodge: Verreaux's Eagle-owl & White-eyed Slaty-flycatcher.

 

28th August

First light found us exploring the grounds of the hotel, before taking an early breakfast & departing for a full day in the crater.

We covered a large part of the crater bottom, taking lunch at a lakeside picnic site, before ending up at the soda lake late afternoon from where we headed back to the hotel.

The memorable day finished back at the hotel, with a pair of Montane Nightjars performing under a spotlight near the swimming pool.

Highlights. Sopa Lodge: Grey-capped Warbler, Broad-ringed White-eye & Montane Nightjars

Crater: Rosy-throated Longclaw, Grey-rumped Swallow, African Marsh-Harrier, Lesser Flamingo, Banded Martin, Grey Crowned-Crane, Hildebrand's Francolin, Yellow Bishop & Chestnut-banded Plover.

 

29th August

The early morning was spent birding around the grounds of the hotel including the nearby staff quarters and football pitch, before heading off on the journey to Lake Manyara. On arrival at Lake Manyara we ate our packed lunch at the picnic site by the entrance gate, after which we entered the park, spending the rest of the day on a game drive with a visit to the lakeshore.

In the evening we drove the short distance to the Migunga Forest Camp, which is set in 35 acres of yellow acacia forest in a secluded part of Migungani Village. The camp consists of nine self-contained tents with Bathrooms having running hot and cold water, showers, and flush toilets. There is a dining room and bar under thatch. Electricity is 12 volt supplied by solar power.

Highlights. Sopa Lodge: Hunter's Cisticola, Cinnamon Bracken-warbler, Red-collared Widowbird & Tacazze Sunbird.

Lake Manyara: Giant Kingfisher, Black Cuchooshrike & White Helmetshrike.

 

30th August

We spent a couple of hours birding the acacia woodland and the nearby grassland before heading back to camp for an early lunch.

After lunch we drove to Arusha airport where, after saying our goodbyes to Arnold and Anthony, who had driven out to meet us, we departed on the 13.00 flight to Dar Es Salaam, via Zanzibar. We were collected from the airport by a taxi arranged by the Beachcomber Hotel. The hotel had been taken over by a wedding reception and the hotel wanted us to eat at a nearby hotel, but after much insistence we were fed on the balcony of the hotel overlooking the reception party and the Indian Ocean.

Highlights. Migunga Forest Camp: Klaas's Cuckoo &. African Golden Oriole.

 

31st August

Spent the morning birding the mangroves & beach around the hotel, as well as chilling out in the pool.

Transferred to the airport for the afternoon flight that left on time and arrived in Dubai late evening. Onward flight early the next morning arrived in Manchester early afternoon of 1 September.

Highlights. Beachcomber Hotel: Dimorphic Egret

 

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Tanzania birding trip report
Tanzania September 9th - 27th 2005
Published by Jack Stephens (jstephens62 AT comcast.net)

Participants: Jack Stephens

I wake up and go outside to explore the garden. A flock of warblers is moving through the flowers, except they aren’t warblers, they are AFRICAN YELLOW WHITE-EYES. A flock of crows call in the distance. They sound odd, probably because they aren’t crows, but HADADA IBIS. The flycatcher in the tree looks familiar in silhouette, but when the light changes, it is a bird I have never seen before, AFRICAN PARADISE-FLYCATCHER.

 

This is the first day of our 17-day tour through northern Tanzania. My wife Ellen is still sleeping in our room, next door to our good friends Dan and Carol. In an hour our driver Geitan and our bird guide Anthony will arrive to take us out and start our safari. They are part of the core team of Birding and Beyond out of Arusha. Incredibly, while this is scheduled as a birding trip, I am the only birder in our group. Ellen, Dan, and Carol go months without even touching a pair of binoculars in the states. However, they have shown an incredible ability to rise to the avian challenge on previous trips. They are great at spotting birds, and get exited about the flashier species. They even convinced me to look at an occasional mammal.

 

We decided to do the standard “northern circuit” of Tanzania: Arusha National Park, Tarangire National Park, Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro Crater, and the Serengeti. One option that Birding and Beyond offers is an extension to Speke Bay Lodge on Lake Victoria, where we picked up several species .at the eastern edge of their range. We also got to see the lake fly eruption on Lake Victoria, but more about that later.
It was quite dry while we were there, which made for easy viewing of game. We probably would not have seen some of the predator hunts that we saw in the wet season. There was no concern about roads being impassable due to rain or mud. On the other hand, the birds were not singing, and the whydahs and widowbirds were in non-breeding plumage.

 

ITINERARY

 

Sept. 12: Arrive Arusha, Maasai Safari Lodge
Sept. 13: Arusha National Park
Sept. 14: Drive to Tarangire National Park, night in Tarangire Safari Lodge
Sept. 15-16: Tarangire NP, Tarangire Sopa Lodge
Sept. 17-18: Lake Manyara, E Unoto Retreat
Sept. 19-20: Gibbs Farm
Sept. 21: Ngorongoro Crater, Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge
Sept. 22-23: Serengeti National Park, Ndutu Lodge
Sept. 24-25: Speke Bay Lodge
Sept. 26: Serengeti National Park, Ndutu Lodge
Sept. 27: Leave from Arusha

 

September 9th

We fly British Airways from Seattle direct to London. It is an overnight flight; eyeshades and Ambien work better for Ellen than for me. Our seats are in the back next to the lavatories, which have a regular stream of patrons, including a few that strike up conversations. I make a mental note to avoid those seats in the future.

 

September 10th

After an easy pass through immigration and customs in Heathrow, we connect onto KLM to Amsterdam. KLM proves to be very picky about carry-on weight. They balk at my carry-on that has my scope and camera in it; it exceeds their limit of 10 kg. I pull the scope and camera out, check the bag, and carry them loose with my small bag which has my binocs. A short 45 minute flight has us into Amsterdam by 5PM. We make our way via the train into downtown, and then flag a cab that takes us to our B&B.

 

September 11th

KLM is the only airlines that flies direct from Europe to Arusha. Since the flights are so long, and since Dan has never been to Europe, we scheduled a full day in Amsterdam on the way over. We have a great day walking the city, and take in the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh museum, the Anne Frank House, and the red light district in a day. Amsterdam is a great city for the casual American visitor; everyone speaks English, the city is accessible by foot, prices are reasonable, and there is a lot to see. Our host is an expatriate American who has lived there for years. I can see why.

 

September 12th

We catch the morning flight to Arusha. I think that the weight restriction on carry-on that I ran into was due to the small size of the plane from London to Amsterdam, but no, they still have the 10 kg limit. So once again I re-shuffle my optics and check the rest. The flight is long, but anticipation grows as we cross the Mediterranean and cross over the coast in Libya. Night has fallen by the time we land in Arusha, and after negotiating our visas, immigration and picking up our bags, we quickly find our guides Anthony and Geitan and head off.

We have booked with Birding and Beyond, a company based in Arusha that specializes in birding tours. They are a smaller company, and don’t have the name recognition of some of the bigger operators. They offer custom, personalized service however, and I don’t see how we could have done better.

On the drive in from the airport Dan is chatting with Anthony and Geitan. Dan is a bit “out there”, and once he determined that they had all three been raised Roman Catholic, they were soon singing hymns in Latin and trading Sister Gertrude stories. I sigh that this is going to be a long trip.

 

September 13th

The first two nights we stay at Maasai Safari Lodge in Arusha. This is very small place, tucked behind a residential area on the outskirts of town. The electricity and hot water are iffy, but the rooms are pleasant and large, and there is small garden that attracts a nice variety of birds. After that first morning walk and breakfast, Anthony and Geitan arrive to take us on our first full day. We tick off VARIABLE SUNBIRD, AMYTHEST SUNDBIRD, COMMON BULBUL, and AFRICAN BLACK SWIFT, and then head off to Arusha National Park, just an hour away from town.

 

Many of the standard tours skip this park, which is a shame. It has a mixture of montane forest, grassland and lakes, and proved a great kick-off location for our trip. After a short drive, we enter the park and within minutes come to a clearing loaded with Giraffe, Zebra, Wildebeest, Cape Buffalo, and Warthog. It seems like a scene from the Garden of Eden. Even though we will see these species many times again, that first view is magical.

 

While we are watching the mammals, the birds are coming fast, including fly-by LIZARD BUZZARD and SILVERY-CHEEKED HORNBILL.

Arusha is the only park we will visit that allows walks with an armed ranger. So for $20 Roger accompanies us for the next two hours in his green fatigue uniform and AK-47. I think that the AK is a bit much, until we spook a Cape Buffalo just 30 yards away hunkered done in some brush. Roger says that they usually run away like this one did, but at least once he has had one run at the group. A few rounds in the air and it turned tail, but suddenly I am happy Roger and his gun are there.

 

We see our first AUGER BUZZARD soaring overhead, and get great views of a BROAD-BILLED ROLLER in the scope. After a visit to a waterfall and a walk through the woods, we return to the car, thank Roger, and head off. We score some good mammals, including Red Duiker, Sykes Monkey and Black-and-White Colobus Monkey. A visit to two lakes yields SOUTHERN POCHARD, HOTTENTOT TEAL (don’t you just love that name?), INTERMEDIATE EGRET, LITTLE GREBE, LONG-TAILED COMORANT, and GREAT CORMORANT.

 

At the end of the day we stopped by an orphanage for a visit. We had asked Anthony ahead of our trip how we could best give back to the people of Tanzania, and he had suggested this orphanage, and an elementary school that we would visit later. We brought some school supplies, soccer balls, vitamins, and candy with us, and expected to just drop it off and then leave. It turned out that they had a much more formal visit in mind. We sat down and heard about the history of the orphanage from the director, met with the assistant director, the staff member who keeps their books, and then toured the facility. It is basically a three room building with 40 children in two bedrooms, about 6 children to a double-sized bunk bed. We then sat down as the older children performed several songs and synchronized dances. There were some great singers in the group, and the songs were real toe-tappers. I was quite surprised to learn from Anthony that all the songs warned of the dangers of AIDS. After the performance it was time for us to distribute the treats, as well as some impromptu soccer practice with Dan and the children.

 

That evening we enjoyed an authentic African meal at Maasai Safari Lodge with our host Cornelius. He is a retired veterinarian who worked for 15 years with the game animals on the Serengeti, mainly doing research. It is hard to imagine treadmill tests on elephants, but he assures us that it can be done. You do need a really big treadmill, however.

Best Bird of the Day (as defined by my non-birding compatriots)
WHITE-FRONTED BEE-EATER. We had stunning scope looks on our walk in Arusha NP.

 

Hardest to Find Bird of the Day (as defined by Anthony, based on location and time of the year) BLACK-THROATED WATTLE-EYE. Seen on our walk in the forest.

Biggest Miss of the Day (as defined by me, usually the ones Anthony saw and I didn’t) HARTLAUB’S TURACO. Anthony saw one in trees during our walk and one run across the road in Arusha NP, they were gone by the time I looked. Highlights of the day (as defined by us all) The first view of wildlife in Arusha NP. The visit to the orphanage.

 

September 14th

We left Cornelius and drove to Tarangire National Park. The road down was good tarmac, with occasional villages and lots of bicycle traffic. On the way down Anthony spotted our only PYGMY FALCON perched along the side of the road, trying his best to look mean despite his size. We also started to see the beautiful SUPERB STARLINGS. “You will soon be tired of them” Geitan said, and his was almost right.

The entrance to Tarangire proved very birdy, with first views of ASHY STARLING, SPECKLE-FRONTED WEAVER, GREEN-WINGED PYTILIA, and RED-CHEEKED CORDON-BLEU. Anthony heard and we eventually found a PEARL-SPOTTED OWLET in a tree behind the entrance gate.

 

Driving in we saw our first lions, two females lounging underneath a tree just off the side of the road. After appropriate looks and photos, we started off and then realized why they appeared so satisfied. There was a freshly killed zebra just behind the tree. Since this was just off the main road, we would visit this kill several more times during our stay.

 

The first night we stayed in the wonderful Tarangire Safari Lodge. It is situated on a bluff overlooking the Tarangire River. When we pulled in there were herds of elephant, zebra, wildebeest, troops of baboon, along with TAWNY EAGLE, WHITE-BACKED VULTURE, RUPPELL’S GRIFFON VULTURE, and SECRETARY BIRD all soaring at eye level. We have another Garden of Eden moment.

At the end of the day we pass the zebra kill. There is a rib cage and parts of hindquarters left, but no vultures to my surprise.

 

That night we sleep in a tent with a permanent roof, queen-sized bed, and our own toilet and shower. We loved the experience of feeling closer to the bush, and loved our stay at Tarangire Safari Lodge. The food was great, the staff friendly and the views superb. That night I am awakened to the sound of warthogs outside our tent. Very cool.

Best Bird YELLOW-COLLARED LOVEBIRD. “They look like little jewels.”
Hardest Bird CUT-THROAT FINCH. Two found at Tarangire entrance.
Highlight: Lions at the kill

 

September 15th

We spend the day driving around the park. The zebra kill now has a large group of WHITE-BACKED and LAPPET-FACED VULTURES. New birds come fast and furious, including the common VON DER DEKEN’S HORNBILL, RED-BILLED HORNBILL, AFRICAN PIED WAGTAIL, YELLOW-THROATED SPURFOWL, RED-THROATED SPURFOWL, RUFOUS-TAILED WEAVER, and LITTLE BEE-EATER. A visit to a river bed with some standing water yields BLACK CRAKE, PIED KINGFISHER, ARROW-MARKED BABBLER and a BEARDED WOODPECKER.

We see many elephants. At one point a herd walks right by our parked car, and a juvenile reaches up with its trunk and almost touches the tourists in the car behind us. A female with a baby stops to scratch against a tree, so close we can hear the scratching. Geitan says that sometimes they scratch and the tree falls down.

Anthony finds a spot for MADAGASCAR BEE-EATER. Soon we find SULPHUR-BREASTED BUSHSHRIKE, SPOTTED MORNING-THRUSH and our first HILDEBRAND’S STARLING.

 

We pass a Vervet Monkey spread-eagle in a tree, revealing sky-blue scrotum and a cherry-red phallus. Very amusing. We also find a group of Pygmy Mongoose in their termite mound nest, extremely cute little guys.

That night we move to the Tarangire Sopa Lodge. As we drive in we see our only RED-HEADED WEAVER, while SPECKLED PIGEONS coo from the rooftops.

 

Best Bird: RED-AND-YELLOW BARBET. Just a stunning bird. It rightfully belongs on the cover of the Stevenson field guide
Hardest Bird: OVAMBO SPARROWHAWK. One flew in a perched overhead, a lucky find.
Missed Bird: ABYSSINIAN SCIMITARBILL. One was perched in dense scrub near our car. Anthony and I have one of those “It is right THERE” moments when in flies off.
Highlight: “Blue-balled Monkey”

 

September 16th

Another day in Tarangire. We head to a marsh, and pick up or first views
HAMMERKOP, COLLARD PRATINCOLE, AND COMB DUCK. Over 80 elephants are out in the marsh feeding. RED-BILLED BUFFALO-WEAVERS and PALM SWIFTS are common, along with a few WHITE-HEADED BUFFALO-WEAVER and SLATE-COLORED BOUBOUS. Raptors are everywhere, including EASTERN CHANTING-GOSHAWK, BATLEUR EAGLES, BROWN SNAKE-EAGLE and BLACK-THROATED SNAKE-EAGLE. This day is somewhat quieter than the day before, and we come to appreciate the peacefulness as well as the excitement of the bush.

 

Best Bird: MARTIAL EAGLE. An impressive raptor, seen both soaring and perched
Hardest Bird: LESSER KESTRAL. Declining and endangered, one seen perched.
Missed Bird: RED-FRONTED TINKERBIRD. Seen by Anthony briefly, then flew.
Highlight: AFRICAN HAWK-EAGLE. A pair was chasing a francolin. One hit it, the feathers flew, but the francolin escaped.

 

September 17th

We drive today from Tarangire to Lake Manyara. On the way we pass the zebra kill,
and there is now little left but a backbone and some scraps. We also see our second set of lions, this time a group of three with a wildebeest kill in the bushes. We stop at the Tarangire Safari Lodge for lunch on the way out. The food is great (Mexican, no less), and we pick up YELLOW-BELLIED GREENBUL and COQUI FRONCOLIN for good measure.

The road to Arusha leads us to the turnoff to Lake Manyara, and Anthony says this used to be one of the worst roads in the country. Then the Japanese came in, and now there is glass smooth blacktop all the way to the entrance gate to Ngorongoro Crater. The Japanese offered to continue on all the way to Lake Victoria, but the Tanzanians thought that such a road across the Serengeti would only bring more people, faster driving, and more disruption to the animals. They consciously choose less development, even when someone else was paying the tab. Interesting. The contrast was stark as we left the Japanese road and headed in on the rough dirt track to E Unoto Retreat, just outside of Lake Manyara NP. We passed through some of the most desolate terrain we would see on the whole trip, bare dirt and rock with hardly any vegetation. We started to kid that someone should put a model Mars rover out there, it looked that barren. We did pick up some good birds however, including FISHER’S SPARROW-LARK and SOMALI SHORT-TOED LARK. I was starting to worry, but just as we got to the lodge the landscape turned green. The E Unoto Retreat is nestled up against the Rift Valley escarpment. It is owned by an American, but managed by the Maasai.

We spend the remainder of the day looking around the environs of the lodge, picking up VIOLET-BACKED STARLING, BRONZE MANNIKIN and LESSER STRIPED-SWALLOW.

 

Best Bird: SADDLE-BILLED STORK. Killer views in Tarangire just as we were leaving
Hardest Bird: GRAY KESTRAL. Seen perched in Tarangire.
Biggest Miss: RED-FRONTED BARBET. Seen by Anthony as we drove up to E Unoto and not relocated
BLUE-NAPED MOUSEBIRD. Seen by Anthony several times on our walk, but always as fly-bys at a distance.

 

September 18th

We spend the day in Lake Manyara National Park. Because of the ground water here, it is relatively lush forest, the habitat is much closer to Arusha NP than Tarangire. As we toured the visitor’s center while Geitan handled the paperwork for entry, we were shocked by what we read in the guestbook at the visitor’s center. Several tourists who had exchanged their currency for Tanzania shillings were denied entry to the park; they take only US dollars!

Manyara offered our first view of hippos, with first views of BLACK-WINGED STILT, GREY-CROWNED CRANE and our only view of PALM-NUT VULTURE and BLACK HERON. At a picnic spot, a tame RED-AND-YELLOW BARBET kept us company, while CLIFF CHAT pairs worked the surrounding trees.

 

Best Birds: SILVERY-CHEEKED HORNBILL. The casque on the bill is quite impressive
RED-AND-YELLOW BARBET. A bird that never disappoints.
Hardest Birds: CRESTED GUINEAFOWL. A pair was located near the entrance to the park
PETER’S TWINSPOT. A single male off the side of the road in Manyara
Highlight: Manyara’s famous tree lions. Two females were found in a tree, affording good looks and photos.

 

September 19th

We leave E Unoto Retreat and stop at a Maasai primary school for the distribution of our remaining supplies. Again we are received by the director and have a tour of the school before we distribute our gifts. The children seemed so happy with their new pencils; we reflected on this moment when we stopped by the toy department in Harrod’s in London on the way back. Our society seems like wretched excess in comparison.

 

We stop in town for a spot where Anthony has previously seen VERREAUX’S EAGLE-OWL. We walk through yellow acacia woodland, and get good looks at AFRICAN GOSHAWK and OPEN-BILLED STORK, but no owl. We spend about an hour, and I am ready to throw in the towel, when the owl flies right by us and lands in a tree. I get good photos with my camera, but I now wish I had gone back to the car for the scope for and digiscoping camera and gotten a shot that way. We then drove to Gibbs Farm on the slope of the Ngorongoro crater. The farm has been there for decades and has wonderful gardens, great staff and fabulous views of the valley below.

 

The parking lot had a tree filled with BRONZE SUNBIRDS and occasional COLLARED SUNBIRDS. SPECKLED MOUSEBIRDS were plentiful, as were BAGLAFECHT’S WEAVERS (two races). We loved Gibbs Farm.

 

Best Bird: VERREAUX’S EAGLE-OWL
Hardest Bird: AFRICAN GOSHAWK
Highlight: All the children in the school holding up their pencils and cheering.

 

September 20th

We took a walk into the Ngorongoro Conversation Area behind Gibb’s Farm large organic vegetable garden. We could not go in early, because the elephants and buffalo come down from elevation to the surrounding forest in the night, and it is not safe to bump into one in dense forest.

The walk was somewhat quiet. We did have soaring a MOUNTAIN BUZZARD and BAT HAWK, along with a GREY-CAPPED WARBLER. Finally we saw what Anthony was looking for, a brief but stunning view of SCHLOW’S TURACO. It is emerald green above and deep scarlet below, and it just stopped me in my tracks.

 

Best Bird: SCHLOW’S TURACO
Missed Bird: MOUSTACHED TINKERBIRD, heard by Anthony but not seen.
Highlight: Gibbs Farm gardens, food, and staff.

 

September 21st

That morning Anthony and I met early to bird the gardens. We had numerous OLIVE THRUSHES at ground level, and in the canopy were CARDINAL WOODPECKER, BLACKCAP and WHITE-TAILED BLUE-FLYCATCHER. Moving down to the gardens we found migrating EURASIAN BEE-EATERS along with TAMBORINE DOVE, BLUE-SPOTTED WOOD-DOVE, and a flock of AFRICAN CITRIL.

We then gathered ourselves together and left Gibbs Farm for the Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge. As we gained elevation we encountered CINNAMON-CHESTED BEE-EATERS, a specialty of the area. After checking into the Sopa lodge we descended into the crater. Ngorongoro crater is a wonderful area, but it is heavily visited and at times we felt like we were in an animal park. We picked up some good birds including YELLOW-BILLED KITE at a picnic spot. The lake in the crater was almost dry, but a small stream of water was enough to bring in PIED AVOCET, GREATER FLAMINGO, CAPE TEAL and YELLOW-BILLED DUCK. We also got to see COMMON OSTRICH mating, which involves quite a bit of wing waving and neck gyrations on the male’s part.

 

After calling it a day, we left the lake and headed back to the lodge. We soon came across a group of cars by the side of the road, usually a good sign. Sure enough, there was a Cheetah with a kill. We had been warned that too many cars could stress the animal and put it off its kill, so we just looked briefly and then headed off. Anthony spotted something in the distance, and urged Geitan to hurry up. After a kilometer or more, we find that he had spotted a pair of Rhinoceros, mother and baby, who gave us somewhat distant but satisfying views. We were lucky, in that rhinos had not been seen in the crater in four days. Flushed with success, we continued back, saw a small group of cars around a tree, and got a good look at our only Leopard of the trip. Ngorongoro lives up to its reputation!

 

Best Bird: GRAY-CROWNED CRANE, close in and in good light.
Hardest Bird: YELLOW-BILLED DUCK
Highlight: Cheetah, Rhino, Leopard, 1-2-3, all in 40 minutes

 

September 22nd

Anthony and I birded the Sopa lodge grounds that morning, and picked up some good birds including GOLDEN-WINGED SUNBIRD, TACAZZE SUNBIRD, WHITE-NAPED RAVEN, and STREAKY SEEDEATER. We left the Sopa Lodge after breakfast for one last tour through the crater. We watched a pride of 11 Lions try unsuccessfully to stalk a mixed heard of Zebra and Wildebeest. Most appeared to be juveniles, and didn’t seem to know quite what to do. After lunch in the crater, we pressed on for the long, dusty, bumpy, hot drive to Ndutu Lodge on the eastern fringe of the Serengeti. Did I mention it was dusty? More than once I wished for Japanese engineers that afternoon.

 

Best Bird: AFRICAN WOOD-HOOPOE, at a picnic spot in the crater
Hardest Birds: CINNAMON BRACHEN-WARBLER, on the grounds of Sopa Lodge. A notorious skulker.
CHESTNUT-BANDED PLOVER, with chicks on the lake in the crater on our second visit
Biggest Miss: AFRICAN QUAILFINCH, seen by Anthony as we drove by in the crater.

 

September 23rd

After settling into Ndutu Lodge the night before, we enjoyed looks at the FISHCER’S LOVEBIRD and GREY-BREASTED SPURFOWL that would come to their water pool outside the dining room. The drive that day was somewhat quiet bird-wise; the lake behind Ndutu Lodge was dry, but we still managed good looks at SECRETARY BIRD and EASTERN CHANTING GOSHAWK.

 

Unlike Ngorongoro, we were entirely alone near Ndutu when we spotted a Cheetah stalking a lone immature Impala. The cat and the antelope stared at each other while the cat moved very slowly forward. When he finally charged, the Impala ran towards us, into trees and away. The Cheetah walked over to the road, plopped down in front of us to recover from the chase. After awhile he moved off the road so we could continue, allowing very close views. Two kilometers later we spotted a second Cheetah stalking a head of Grant’s Gazelle. She was able to hide and let them approach her. After an hour when she finally charged, she was on one gazelle in literally 2-3 seconds. She dragged her kill to some clumps of grass where she started to feed, all the while keeping a watchful eye for any predators that might come to take her prize away. Watching this hunt was one of the most memorable parts of the trip. It occurred to me later that an all-out birding group probably would have not stopped and spent the time to watch the drama.

 

Best Bird: BLACK-LORED BABBLER, my 300th bird of the trip
Memorable Moment: Cheetah hunt.

 

September 24th

This day we had a gruelling drive across the Serengeti to Speke Bay Lodge, a total of 10 hours in the van. The western Serengeti was more scenic than the eastern half, with more trees, hills and rivers. Anthony and Geitan managed to find a WATER THICK-KNEE and STRIATED HERON along the river edge. Anthony’s sharp eyes picked up a YELLOW-THROATED LONGCLAW hidden in the grass as we bounced along. We were happy to reach the western entrance to the park, pull onto tarmac road and make our way to Speke Bay Lodge on the shores of Lake Victoria.

 

Best Bird: YELLOW-BILLED STORK. One fishing in the Grumeti River
Most Difficult Bird: AFRICAN GOLDEN WEAVER. One perched, also river-side.
Biggest Miss: Probable African Cuckoo, seen flying dead away from us in the car, but not a good enough view to identify
Highlight: Two female lion with four cubs and kill, just off the road in the Serengeti

 

September 25th

I was starting to question the wisdom of the long drive to Speke Bay after the previous day’s drive. Getting up the next day however, the new birds just started rolling in, and then it seemed like a capital idea. Anthony and I quickly had both RED-CHESTED and SCARLET- CHESTED SUNBIRDS, along with BLACK-HEADED GONOLEKS, SLENDER-BILLED WEAVER, and SWAMP FLYCATCHER. On the shore of the lake were numerous GLOSSY ISIS, HADADA IBIS, RUFF, PIED KINGFISHER and WATTLED LAPWING. I managed to find one TEMMICK’S STINT in a group of LITTLE STINTS, while GREY-HEADED GULLS could be seen with the scope in the distance. I managed to find a few GULL-BILLED TERNS and WHITE-WINGED TERNS amongst the flocks of WHISKERED TERNS. Anthony is surprised to learn that we have Gull-billed Tern in the US.

 

Anthony and I bird the grounds of the lodge and in addition to SPOTTED THICK-KNEE he is pleased to pick up a HEULGIN’S COURSER. The courser hunkers down and allows me to approach if I move very slowly (“Like a cheetah” Anthony jokes) and I get great photos.

 

That afternoon Anthony comes to get me, he says we are going out looking for nightjars. “But it is daylight, shouldn’t we wait for dusk?” I ask. “No, we look for them on the ground” Anthony replies. So we stand under some trees, looking at the leaf-litter not 20 feet away with our binoculars. Apparently this makes them easier to see. Within a few minutes we pick up both SQUARE-TAILED and SLENDER-TAILED NIGHTJARS, and I learn a new birding technique.

 

We happen to be at Lake Victoria during the five days a year that the lake flies are mating. Within 100 yard of the shore, the bushes are literally covered with mosquito-sized flies. They don’t bite, but as you walk by they swarm and fly into your eyes, ears, and nose. Clouds of them look like dense fog in the distance. We are there on day 2 and 3 of the flies, and as some die there are piles of dead flies underneath the walkway lights at Speke Bay. The ANGOLA SWALLOWS are working as hard as they can to take their toll on the flies, but there are so many that it hardly makes a dent.

The flies are an annoyance, but also quite a spectacle of nature. I try to imagine the number of flies if they are covering the whole of Lake Victoria, and my brain can’t handle numbers that quickly become astronomical.

 

Best Bird: SCARLET-CHESTED SUNBIRD
Hardest Bird: HEUGLIN’S COURSER
Memorable Moment: Lake Victoria lake fly eruption.

 

September 26th

Originally we were going to spend this day in Speke Bay and then fly back to Arusha on the 27th for the evening KLM flight back. Speke Bay was full however, so we drive back to Ndutu Lodge and spend the night there. On the way out I was concerned about all the driving, but it turned out wonderfully. For those two days we got to relive parts of our safari as a perfect ending to a great trip.

 

The drive back to Ndutu Lodge was not as long as on the way out, probably because we were birding a bit less. We still managed to pick up good species, including early migrant EURASIAN SWIFTS and a BLACK-BILLED BARBET at riverside that Anthony was quite pleased to find. We find WHITE-HEADED VULTURE perched and soaring.

 

That night at Ndutu Lodge, I hear an owl hooting at dusk. I try to find it, but it stops, and I decide to respect the signs warning guests of the lodge not to go wandering into the bush.

 

Best Birds: SOUTHERN GROUND-HORNBILL. A small group just off the road
AFRICAN HOOPOE. Very impressive, even for non-birders
Hardest Bird: BLACK-BILLED BARBET. Riverside in the western Serengeti.

 

September 27th

Our last day in Africa. We are ready to go home to our families, but sad to leave. We pass our last lion of the trip, a lone female surveying the Serengeti from a kopje. We drive back via the Ngorongoro crater rim, and have a lovely lunch at Gibbs Farm. Our last baobab tree is on the descent of the rift valley escarpment down to Lake Manyara, and my last lifer is a MOTTLED SWIFT flying nearby. Anthony and Geitan have thoughtfully arranged for us to have a shower and changed of clothes in a tented camp in Manyara before the long trip home. I still have the image of the camp with its manicured lawn, the yellow acacia trees with AFRICAN GREY HORNBILLS flying through the branches, and Vervet Monkeys foraging below. There is no place quite like Africa.

 

It is dark by the time by the time we reach Arusha, and on the way to the airport we have to pull over for a police motorcade with lights flashing. It is the defendants in the Rwanda genocide trials Geitan tells us, being escorted from the courtroom where the trials are taking place to their quarters. We reach the airport, and after an emotional farewell with Anthony and Geitan we are off.

 

TIPS FOR BIRDING AND TRAVEL

BIRDING AND BEYOND

It is hard to say enough complimentary things about Birding and Beyond. Anthony and Geitan became our friends during the time we were there. They are both phenomenal in picking out wildlife, both avian and otherwise. While Geitan was driving, Anthony was ALWAYS scanning for the next sighting, even when we were tired and nodding off. Anthony knows his birds (Geitan isn’t any slouch in this department either). Geitan knows the mammals and history of Tanzania, both have the ability to make you feel well cared for. While we did not have a chance to meet Tina, who makes the arrangements back in Arusha, she did a great job in getting us the best rooms at each lodge. (best views, double vs. single beds, etc.)

Anthony is now a co-leader for one of the major US birding tour companies when they come to Tanzania. They do the same tour that we were on, with 16 people instead of 4, stay in the same lodges, same number of days, for twice the price. It is good to be smug.

 

FIELD GUIDES

I took Stevenson and Fanshawe’s “Guide to the Birds of East Africa”, as well as Sinclair and Ryan’s Birds of “Africa South of the Sahara” (Ian Sinclair guides for Birding and Beyond on occasion, by the way). Anthony had a copy of Stevenson and a copy of Zimmerman’s Birds of “Kenya and Northern Tanzania.” While we had three field guides, we basically used Stevenson 99% of the time, and I think you would be fine to use it as your only reference. I have made up a quick-reference index for the Stevenson book in Excel format, which I will happily share if you e-mail me the request.

 

GETTING READY

Having said the above about the field guides, they do have their own strengths, and I used all three to get ready for the trip. The most helpful thing I did was to buy a copy of the VHS tape “A Nature Safari to Kenya and Northern Tanzania” from the ABA, and watch it with the sound off. As each new bird would come into view, I would pause the tape, try to identify it, and then write down my ID. I then went through and saw how I did. I would get most, and miss some, but it allowed me to hit the ground running once we got to Tanzania.

 

SCOPE

I almost didn’t bring my scope, since I thought it wouldn’t work well in the car, and we would be outside of the car so little. What a mistake that would have been. We used it daily, propped inside of the car, and when we were outside at the lodges, at lunch sites, and when we were outside of the parks.

 

CAMERA

I used a Nikon 8800 8 megapixel point-and shoot with a 10X optical zoom, and a 1.7X converter. It was great to have that degree of magnification, and I got some great pictures with it. On the down side, it is somewhat slow, both with time between hitting the shutter and exposure, and the time it takes to process the image before you are ready to shoot again. I also found the auto-focus would get confused with vegetation between me and the subject, and the manual focus mechanism is cumbersome. If I had it to do over again I would look into a digital SLR. However, since I am not really a photographer, I would have a hard time spending more on my camera than I did on my scope!

I also used an Epson P-2000 digital storage device. It performed flawlessly, and allowed my to take an essentially unlimited number of pictures stored on the 40 gb hard drive. It is also handy for showing pictures on our TV when we returned.

 

KEEPING TRACK

When you see close to 100 species a day, day after day, with most lifers, it is hard to keep track of what you have seen (what a great problem to have!). I used the Birds of the World add-on to Avisys to generate a hard copy list of all Tanzanian species, added in some blank pages for notes and mammals list, and had it bound at Kinkos. I used a pocket digital voice recorder in the field, then I would check off what I had seen that night on the bound checklist. It makes this trip report much, much easier to write.

 

CASH

The preferred currency for everything except minor purchases is US dollars. Make sure you bring crisp, new bills. One lodge would not accept the older “small head” US bills in large denominations, because of the concerns of counterfeit bills coming in from Europe.

 

VISA LINE

On the flight into Arusha, try to sit near the front or the back of the plane, so you can get off quickly. Then head immediately for the window where you purchase your visas. This line gets quite long, and it is good to be at the front.

 

NYLON CLOTHES

We took only nylon travel clothes, and there is no other way to go. They wash out in the sink, and are dry by the next day. It allows you to pack light. Many lodges do have laundry service however, at E Unoto Lodge it was free.

 

SWAHILI

Tanzanians are very polite and gracious people. Every conversation must start with an exchange of something like “How are you today?”, “Very well thank you, and you?” “Quite well, thank you”. While essentially everyone speaks English, they are obviously pleased with any Swahili that we learned. They will be even more pleased if you acknowledge that their language is actually named Kiswahili; Swahili is a misnomer used by foreigners. A dozen words go a long way, learn these before you go and then build from there:

 

Hello Jambo
How are you? Habari?
How are you today? Habari ya leo?
How are you this morning? Habari ya asubuhi?
How are you this afternoon? Habari ya mchana?
How are you this evening? Habari ya jioni?
Well, good Nzuri
Very well, excellent Nzuri-sana
Please Tafadari
Thank you Asanti
Thank you very much Asanti-sana
You are welcome Karibu
You are very welcome Karibu-sana
Sorry Pole
Very sorry Pole-sana
Slowly Pole-pole

 

LAY OVER

We decided to spend two nights in Europe both going and coming. While is cut down some on our Africa time, it did provide a nice European “book-end” to the Africa experience. We stayed in Amsterdam on the way over and London on the way back. Between the two I preferred Amsterdam. It is more exotic with its canals and bicycles, very accessible, and cheaper than London.

 

GIVING BACK TO TANZANIA

We wanted to give back in some way to the people of Tanzania. Many tours will hand out treats to children as they drive by, and we did do some of this. The downside is that it encourages the children to beg for treats with each car that passes. Much better I think to visit a school or orphanage and give supplies to them. Pens and pencils are in high demand, along with some items unique to their situation (the orphanage needed mosquito nets). We also made a cash donation to both places, but this is entirely at your discretion. Ask your tour operator what they would suggest. Don’t pass up this opportunity, it is a great way to connect to the people, and gave us some of the best memories of the trip.

Jack Stephens
Edmonds, WA
Jstephens62@comcast.net

 

 

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KENYA BIRDING TRIP REPORT

3rd – 18th  NOVEMBER 2008
By Philippa Hodgins  ( AUSTRALIA )
Email: philippa.hodgins@hunterlink.net.au

 Highlight locations included Kakamega Forest, Lake Baringo, Lake Bogoria, Nakuru and Samburu National Parks, providing a great range of habitats as well as spectacular scenery – Lake Victoria, Mount Kenya, the Rift Valley and its soda lakes, and a magical equatorial rainforest remnant at Kakamega.

 In November 2008, I was fortunate to travel to Kenya on a bird-watching safari with my friend Julianne Schwenke (spouse of our esteemed editor). We used a Tanzania-based company, Birding and Beyond Safaris, who I would heartily recommend. They tailored an itinerary to our time restraints and were happy to run a 15 day tour just for the two of us. We travelled in the delightful company of our local Kenyan guide, Cliff and Tanzanian driver, Geitane, in whose care we felt safe at all times. Cliff has completed the ornithological guiding course at the Kenyan National Museum and is a fount of knowledge and boundless enthusiasm, who went birdwatching during his hours off and is responsible for training a cohort of young birdwatchers in his home village of Lake Baringo. We used an extended troop carrier with a safari-viewing “pop-top” – our personal mobile bird hide! Accommodation varied from absolute luxury (at Samburu River Lodge, Rondo Retreat and Naoromoru River Lodge) to only-just-reasonable (at Wajee Nature Park). All meals were included and food was of excellent quality and freshness, ensuring we remained in perfect health.

 

Highlight locations included Kakamega Forest, Lake Baringo, Lake Bogoria, Nakuru and Samburu National Parks, providing a great range of habitats as well as spectacular scenery – Lake Victoria, Mount Kenya, the Rift Valley and its soda lakes, and a magical equatorial rainforest remnant at Kakamega.

 

I was pleasantly surprised by the climate: as we were never below ~ 1500 metres, the days were in the balmy mid 20s and the nights chilled for good sleeping (and open fires). There were brief periods of rain but nothing seriously discouraging.

 

And the birds! I saw 390 species and it’s hard to say which were the most memorable. I guess the countless flamingos were the most extraordinary spectacle, but wonderful views of common and Somali ostriches, nesting secretary birds, herons and storks, a huge variety of raptors, coursers, dikkops, owls, owlets and nightjars and so on and so on….. . Seeing multiple species of which there are only 1 or 2 representatives in Australia was exciting – bee-eaters, sunbirds, rollers, starlings and of course those species of which we have no examples here – barbets, hornbills, woodpeckers, tchagras, weavers, widows, turacaos. I guess the rarest birds that we were privileged to see were the blue-headed bee-eater at Kakamega and the Hinde’s babbler at Wajee. My infamous dip was on the grey parrot, a pair of which flew overhead at Kakamega whilst I was taking a pee in the forest! Somehow seeing a pair in the aviary in Dunedin Botanic Gardens a few weeks later was not consoling. If I never see another cisticola it won’t be too soon.

 

“Birds of East Africa” by Stevenson and Fanshawe was a very adequate field guide, but what was a coincidental delight was “A Guide to the Birds of East Africa – a Novel” by Nicholas Drayson, which we had found in Australia a few weeks before our departure. This latter is recommended reading for all birdwatchers regardless of any lack of travel plans. For the interest of those who have come upon this gem of a book, a hadada is an ibis.

 

Of course, we also took notice on mammalian species which appeared in our field of view. There were many monkeys, antelope species, huge families of elephants, two species of zebras and giraffes, a solitary rhino, and lots of cranky hippos and crocs. Sadly for Julianne, we saw no big cats.

 

Of non-birding interest was our timing: we were in Kenya during the US presidential election and in fact at Kisumu, near the home of Obama’s grandmother, at the time of his victory. This was huge in Kenya – there was great revelry, an immediate public holiday, huge press coverage, and apparently a dozen new born males named Barek within 24 hours of the result. Julianne wore a selection of Obama tee-shirts which were great ice-breakers.

 

I would recommend Kenya as a birdwatching destination, as it is accessible, fairly safe, quite economical, there is a fabulous array of species, and English is spoken everywhere. I really endorse Birding and Beyond as an operator, and would definitely use them again if biriding in Tanzania or Uganda, which are their other destinations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

KENYA BIRDING TRIP REPORT
Kenya 2001
By Mark Sutton

 

Introduction

This report covers a birding trip taken to Kenya, covering sites north of Nairobi. The group consisted of myself, my wife Linda, 8 year-old son Brent, my brother Richard & his girlfriend Ann-Marie. This was our first trip to East Africa, but had birded Africa previously in South Africa (twice) and the Gambia. We were initially going to arrange a completely independent trip, but found that hiring a minibus & driver was not much more expensive, and the thought of somebody else with local knowledge, doing the driving was very tempting. We eventually booked the vehicle through Anthony W. Raphael of Birding and Beyond Safaris, who also pre-booked most of our accommodation and provided very useful advice & site information. Our driver, James, proved to be a very experienced safari driver and had a good knowledge of the sites we visited, as well as being good company.

 

Transport

We hired a safari minibus for the duration of the trip; this is a minibus where the roof lifts up to allow the passengers to stand. This is extremely useful for birding and mammal watching in the National Parks. The vehicle capacity was about 10 passengers (but realistically about 7 plus baggage) so it proved to be very spacious and comfortable for the 5 of us.

 

Health

No problems - we all took either Larium or Doxycycline anti-malarials, Brent had to take Larium as Doxy. is not suitable for children.

 

Food

Food was generally very good even for vegetarians, with most meals being taken in the hotels.

At the Kakamega forest we had to cook our own meals, but cooking utensils & firewood were provided at both sites. At the mount Kenya met. station all food was provided & cooked by the guides, as part of the package.

 

Weather

We visited Kenya during the "mini" wet season, but this had little effect on the birding, although it made some areas difficult to drive and stopped the vehicle driving up Mount Kenya to the Met. Station.

We were unable to get to a couple of sites around Siaport, Lake Victoria, due to the poor road conditions.

 

Books & Tapes

Trip reports: The following 2 reports proved to be very useful:

Bird watching in Kenya Feb/March 1995 by Mike Hunter
Birding in Kenya (1980 to 83) by Steve Whitehouse.

 

Site Guides: Where to watch birds in Africa - Nigel Wheatley, published by Helm - Invaluable.

 

Field Guides: Field Guide to the Birds of East Africa - Terry Stephenson & John Fanshawe, published by T& A D Poyser. This had only been recently published and proved to be an excellent field guide. The format of having the text and range map opposite the illustration is very useful.

Birds of Kenya & Northern Tanzania - Zimmerman, Turner and Pearson published by Helm. A good guide, but I preferred the East African guide.

The Kingdom Field Guide to African Mammals (Poyser) - very good.

Sound guides: African bird sounds volume 2, 11 CD set , with target species transferred to tape.

 

Costs

The "Safari" cost USD 5,350, which was split between the 5 of us. This included the vehicle & driver plus all running costs, most accommodation and food at the hotels and the cost of the Mount Kenya trip (4WD, guide & food).

 

National park & site costs:

Hells Gate N.P. USD 15$ per person
Lake Nakuru USD 27$ per person
Kakemega approx KSh 100sh per day per group plus guide tips.
Saiwa Swamp N.P. USD 15$ per person.
Thomson's Falls KSh 100sh.
Mount Kenya N.P. USD 15$ per person.
Samburu N.P. USD 27$ per person.
Nairobi N.P. USD 20$ per person.

 

Flights, booked with Sabina through Trail finders cost £419 from Manchester (incl Airport Taxes). We had to transfer to Swiss Air at the last minute, due to Sabina going into liquidation.

 

Accommodation

Lake Naivasha Hotel - Expensive @ £60.00 per room B&B, very comfortable with easy access to the Lake.

 

Stem Hotel - Just before Nakuru on road from Lake Navasha, B&B included in the package price. A little shabby but clean and comfortable. Swimming pool.

 

Sunset Hotel - Kazumu. Half Board included in the package price. Used by bird tour companies. Good standard hotel. Swimming pool.

 

Golf Hotel - Kakamega. Half Board included in the package price. Used by bird tour companies. Good standard hotel. Swimming pool.

 

Isechenco Guest House - Kakamega Forest. Self-Catering included in the package price. A row of wooden chalets on stilts in the middle of forest. Very basic but excellent. Cooked on open fire.

 

Udos Bandas - Kakamega Forest. Self-catering included in the package price. Several thatched bandas of various sizes. Good clean accommodation. Cooked on open fire. Pit toilets.

 

Alakara Hotel - Kitale. B&B included in the package price. Shabby noisy hotel in the middle of Kitale. Good restaurant.

 

Roberts Camp - Lake Barringo. Self-Catering. Stayed in excellent bandas. Camp next door to Lake Barringo Club where swimming pool can be used for 200 shillings per day.

 

Naromoru River Lodge - Half Board included in the package price. Used by bird tour companies. Excellent accommodation and food plus swimming pool. ahl@africaonline.co.ke

 

Met Station - c/o Naromoru River Lodge, Mt Kenya. Wooden dorm type chalets very basic with pit toilets. Food provided and cooked by hire staff.

Samburu Lodge - Samburu Game reserve, Full Board included in package price. Used by tour companies, excellent standard excellent pool.

 

Wajee Bungalows - Wajee Camp Nature Reserve. Pre booked bandas but upgraded to bungalow at an extra 1000 shillings. Basic but clean and comfortable.

 

Blue Posts Thika - Near Kieni Forest. Half Board included in package price. Good standard hotel.

 

Paradise Hotel - Centre of Niarobi. Clean and comfortable, cost 2600 shillings for triple and 2100 shillings for a double.

 

Contacts
Birding and Beyond Safaris, Tel +255 744 286058
tours@tanzaniabirding.com
Web site www.tanzaniabirding.com

 

Itinerary

10/11 Am: Arrived Nairobi at 06.45, met Anthony and our driver James. Drove to Naivasha, with a short stop at Limuru Pond.Pm : Birded around hotel grounds and lake shore.Highlights: Limuru Pond - White-headed Duck. Naivasha- Fischers and Yellow-collared Lovebirds (Plus hybrids?), Sharpes Pied babbler.

 

11/11 Am: Birded around grounds before going into Hells Gate N.P.Pm: Drove the 70Km to Nakuru stopping briefly to view Lake Elmenteita from the road. Spent the evening birding along the road to the South of the N.P.Highlights: Hells Gate - Hildebrants Francolin, Schalow's Wheatear. On route - Adnims Stork, Lake Elmenteita - Lesser Flamingos.

 

12/11 Am: Spent the morning in Lake Nakuru N.P.Pm: Spent the afternoon travelling to Kisumu, briefly calling into a site for Sharpes Pipit, arriving at the hotel at dusk. Nakuru to Kisumu 200Km which look 3 hours Highlights: Nakuru - Grey-rumped Swallow & Mocking Cliff-chat. On route - Sharpes Pipit & African Openbill.

 

13/11 Am: Early morning spent around the hotel grounds & nearby gardens, before moving to Hippo Point after breakfast.Pm: Journey to Kakamaga. Birded an area of fields & wet grassland to the West of Mumias bridge before moving to Mumias bridge. The evening was spent around the hotel grounds.Highlights: Hippo point - Carruther's Cisticola, Black-billed Barbet, Marsh Tchagra & Black-headed Gonolek. Mumias area - Blue-breasted Bee-eater & Rock Pratincole. Golf Hotel - Ross's Turaco & Red-headed lovebird.

 

14/11 Am: Early am around the hotel grounds, before driving to Isecheno.Pm: Spent the afternoon and evening birding the Zimmerman grid.Highlights: Isecheno - Blue-headed Bee-eater, Turners Eremomelia, Uganda Woodland Warbler.

 

15/11 Am: The morning was spent birding around Isecheno.Pm : Drove to Buyangu and spent the afternoon and evening birding near the Bandas. Highlights: Isecheno - Great Blue Turaco, Petit's Cuckoo shrike, Grey-green Bush-shrike, Red-headed Malimbe,Buyangu - Crested Guineafowl, Blue-shouldered Robinchat.

 

16/11 Am: The morning was spent birding around Buyangu.Pm: Drove for 2.5 hours to Kitale and booked into the hotel, the late afternoon was spent around Saiaw Swamp.Highlights: Buyangu - Purple-throated Cuckooshrike. Saiwa Swamp - Blue-headed Coucal, Double-toothed Barbet, Chubb's Cisticola & Grey Winged Robinchat (RS only)

 

17/11 Am: Early morning was spent around Saiwa Swamp before returning to the hotel for breakfast and the 5-hour journey to Lake Baringo.Pm: The afternoon & evening was spent around the grounds of Roberts Camp & the adjoining Hotel.Highlights: Saiwa Swamp - Grey-winged Robinchat (for MS)Lake Baringo - Bristle-crowned Staring & Northern Masked Weaver.

18/11 Am: pre-dawn walk to the nearby cliffs, returning to Robrts Camp late morning.Pm: The afternoon was spent birding the nearby scrub, enlisting the help of local "guides" for Courser, Owl and Nightjar. Highlights: Cliffs - Hemprich's Hornbill, Pallid Honeyguide & Brown-tailed Chat, Roberts Camp area- Heuglins Courser, White-faced Scops owl & Slender- tailed Nightjar.

 

19/11: Birded around Lake Baringo first thing, before departing for the Naromoru river lodge, calling in on Thompson's Falls en-route. In the afternoon we took a short cut, along a dirt road, across the plains to the lodge, but managed to get the vehicle stuck. We spent about 3 hours, unsuccessfully, trying to free the vehicle from a muddy pot hole until, fortunately, a Landrover came by which managed to tow us out. Highlights: Thompson's Falls - Cinnamon Chester Bee-eater, Tinkling Cisticola, Tacazze & Golden Winged Sunbirds.Short cut across plains - White & Black bellied Bustards, Red-footed Falcon, & 100's of Lesser Kestrels.

 

20/11 Am: Spent the early morning around the grounds of the river lodge, before departing for Mount Kenya in the hotel 4WD vehicle. The vehicle was not allowed to drive to the meteorological station, due to the wet & slippery condition of the road, instead it dropped us of at the entrance to the National Park. Pm: Walked from the entrance gates to the Meteorological station, a 4 hour walk of about 8 Kms. Highlights: Naro Moru - Hartlubs Turaco & Red-fronted Parrot.Mt Kenya- Mountain Greenbul, Moorland Chat, Brown Woodland Warbler & Mountain Yellow Warbler.

 

21/11: Early morning was spent birding around the Met. Station.After breakfast we walked up to the high altitude moorland, returning to the met. station late afternoon. Highlights: Jackson's Francolin & Cinnamon Bracken Warbler. Richard had Scarlet-tufted Malachite Sunbird, a couple of hours walk above the tree line.

 

22/11 Am: Walked back down to the Entrance gates where we met the vehicle, which took us back to the Naro Moru river lodge where we had lunch.Drove the 4.5-hour journey to Samburu, with a short stop near Isiolo for Boran Cisticola.We arrived at Samburu at approx. 16.00 and spent the last few hours of daylight exploring the reserve.Highlights: Mk Kenya - Abysinian Ground-thrush. Journey - Jackson's Widowbird, Boran Cisticola. Samburu - Kori Bustard, Senegal Courser, Golden Pipit & Vulturine Guinea fowl. Cheetah & Leopard.

 

23/11: Spent the whole day around Samburu.Highlights: Pygmy Falcon, Harlequin Quail, Black-faced Sandgrouse, Yellow vented Eremomelia, Pygmy Batis, & White-faced Mousebird

24/11 Am: After an early breakfast we left Samburu and headed to Wajee Camp which took 6 hours, This site had been recommended for Hinde's Pied Babbler, an extremely localised endemic Pm: Birded around Wajee Camp, & the nature trail, where we were accompanied by the resident guide.Highlights: Samburu - Somali OstrichWajee Camp - Hinde's Pied Babbler.

 

25/11 Am: Early morning was spent birding around the grounds, before departing for an area of Paddy fields which were on route to the Blue Posts Hotel . (Wajee to Blue Posts took 3 hours including the stop at the paddy fields) Pm: Booked into the hotel before moving on to Keini Forest, a couple of hours drive away. James, our driver was not happy with us visiting this site as it has a reputation for theft & car jacking. We spent a couple of hours in the forest before departing well before dark. We did not spend enough time at this site, which showed a lot of potential.Highlights: Paddies - White-winged Widow birdKieni Forest - White-browed Crombec & Black-tailed Oriole.

 

26/11: Early morning around the hotel grounds before moving on to Nairobi National Park. The journey from Blue Posts to Nairobi N.P. took 2 hours, through rush hour traffic.Highlights: Nairobi N.P. - Black Rhino, Pengani Longclaw, Northen pied Babbler & Red-throated Tit.

 

27/11: Departed for the UK.

 

Sites Visited

Limuru Pond

Situated about 30Km from Nairobi alongside the A104. If approaching from Nairobi, a minor road on the right just before the lake on the right can give good views over the lake and surrounding marsh.

Lake Naivasha

All our birding was carried out around the grounds of the Lake Naivasha hotel and adjacent lake shore.

 

Hells Gate N.P.

Situated just south of Lake Naivasha and can be accessed from the road to Fisherman's camp.

 

Lake Nakuru

We entered the park at the main gate, on the south side of Nakuru Town, skirted around the west shore of the lake and drove to the southern shore, which was the most productive for White Rhino.

The track passed below Baboon rocks, a popular view point, this section of, wooded track, produced Cliff Chat. The whole shoreline was fringed with Lesser Flamingos.

 

Kisumu - Lake Victoria

The best birding around Kisumu is at Hippo point, which is about 1 mile from the Sunset Hotel.

Kakemega - Isecheno

We birded the network of paths known as the Zimmerman Grid, located behind the Rest House and also a circuit to the pumping station, down the path to the main track leading to Shinyalu & back to the Rest House.

Kakamega - Buyangu

All our birding was either around the immediate environs of the campsite or on the track to & from the viewpoint.

Saiwa Swamp

The boardwalk here gives excellent views over the marsh, which was very productive on both our evening and morning visits to the reserve. Several Blue-headed Coucal were seen on both visits, perched on dead trees, which protrude from the marsh. We also birded the woodland on the far side of the boardwalk and it was form this track where we saw several Sitatunga antelope.

 

Lake Baringo

We stayed at Roberts camp, the camp and the grounds of the Hotel next door proved to be an excellent birding area. We walked to the nearby cliffs, starting off just before dawn and birded the area around the base of the cliffs until late morning. Local guides tout for business in the village & even outside the gates of the camp, these guides are very useful for the Heuglin's Courser & day roosting night birds.

This area held a huge variety of species and supposedly holds (held?) the record for the highest number of species recorded in a day.

 

Thomson's Falls

A couple of hours were spent here on the way to the Naro Moru River Lodge. We birded from the falls viewpoint & an area of marshland both between the falls and the main road and on the far side of the main road.

 

Mount Kenya

The Naro Moru River Lodge was used as a base to cover Mount Kenya. We pre-booked a two-night stay at the meteorological Station. The hotel provided: transport to/from the National Park gates, guide/cook and porters. We originally arranged for the vehicle to take us all the way to the Met. Station, but the road was closed due to the heavy rains. This proved to be advantageous, as the walk provided excellent birding. We spent the full day on the mountain birding the area from the met. Station, to the open "Moorland" just above the area of giant heather.

Accommodation at the Met station is very basic (several shared chalets with bunk beds), it can also be very cold at night, so a good sleeping bag is recommended.

 

Isiolo

This is the traditional site for Boran Cisticola, which is located on the route to Samburu. Much of the scrub appeared to be in the process of being destroyed.

We found 1+ Boran Cisticola just after we turned left to Isolo (but still on the A2) in area of scrub between the junction and an area of cultivation.

Samburu
The vast majority of the birding here was done from the vehicle, driving slowly around the maize of track that crisscross both Samburu & Buffalo Springs reserves.

We also birded the grounds of the hotel complex.

Wajee

As far as we know this is the only know site for Hinde's Pied Babbler. A small group of birds live in the grounds of this small private reserve. The wardens initially insisted that we use a guide to show us the birds, which he did. Once we had paid for the tour, we were then allows to wander freely around the reserve.

Contact details:
Tel (0171) 60359, Fax 60438 or 02 743615 Nairobi.
PO Box 148, Mukurwe-ni, Nyeri, Kenya.

Kieni Forest

Our driver, James was very reluctant to visit this site, as it is notorious for car jacking. We only spent a couple of hours here so did not really give it justice. We parked near a small track leading into to the forest & birded the track for a couple of 100 meters.

 

Nairobi N.P.
Situated on the outskirts of Nairobi, this is an excellent site to start or finish a trip to Kenya. Most birding was carried out from the vehicle, with a couple of hours on foot around the hippo pools.

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TANZANIA BIRDING TRIP REPORT
Tanzania February 12 - 26th 2005
By Keith Riding

 

Saturday, February 12th, 2005.
We had travelled from Uganda to Dar es Salaam and booked into a hotel the previous day, that Anthony had arranged for us. Anthony met us whilst we were eating breakfast. I had been out at dawn and returned to pick up Mog for breakfast at 0700 hrs. We quickly checked out and met Gaitan, our driver. We drove out of Dar, chatting earnestly. We didn’t really see much until we reached Mikumi National Park. Gaitan drove slowly though the park. We saw some interesting birds, but we weren’t allowed out of the bus. Yes, it was a small bus that we had all to ourselves. We stopped for lunch at the Mikumi Genesis Hotel. Anthony and Gaitan ate elsewhere. After lunch, we drove out of the park and at the town of Mikumi; we turned right up a dirt track into a Miombo forest, which was lovely. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed out of the bus here either as the army was around, but we saw some nice birds anyway. We carried on to Udzungwa National forest for about an hour, arriving at a very basic hotel, the Udzungwa Mountain View Hotel, in the middle of the forest, where we had a wonderful cooked supper of Impala, with soup for starters and crepes for dessert. There was even an air-conditioner in the room if we wanted it.

 

N.B. I entered the bird sightings into the software program “BirdBase” and the output is in this format. The ones in red are ‘lifers’ and the comments are in blue, just to make it easier to read.

 

Dar es Salaam; Sea Cliff Hotel at dawn.
Trip Date: 12-2-05
Species Seen: 7

 

House Crow House Sparrow Somali Bunting F Brown-breasted Barbet White-browed Coucal Yellow Bishop Red-collared Widowbird

Corvus splendens Passer domesticus Emberiza poliopleura Lybius melanopterus Centropus superciliosus Euplectes capensis Euplectes ardens

 

Morogoro to Mikumi National Park;
Trip Date: 12-2-05
Species Seen: 28

 

African Palm-Swift Barn Swallow Sacred Ibis Black Kite White-browed Sparrow-Weaver Blue-breasted Cordonbleu

Cypsiurus parvus Hirundo rustica Threskiornis aethiopicus Milvus migrans Plocepasser mahali Uraeginthus angolensis

 

Several were seen throughout the day.

 

Helmeted Guineafowl Spotted Flycatcher Lilac-breasted Roller Rattling Cisticola Tawny-flanked Prinia F Pale-billed Hornbill

Numida meleagris Muscicapa striata Coracias caudata Cisticola chiniana Prinia subflava Tockus pallidirostris

 

About a dozen birds were seen throughout the day.

 

European Roller F Zanzibar Bishop

Coracias garrulus Euplectes nigroventris

 

Several males and females were seen washing themselves in a pond.

 

F Bertram's Weaver

Ploceus bertrandi

 

Several males and females were seen washing in a pond.

 

Long-tailed Fiscal Fan-tailed Widowbird Red-faced Cisticola

Lanius cabanisi Euplectes axillaris Cisticola erythrops

 

Anthony recognized the song and we saw one fly up from the grass into a tree.

 

White-backed Vulture Brown-crowned Tchagra Spotted Morning-Thrush

Gyps africanus Tchagra australis Cichladusa guttata

 

Anthony heard these

 

Southern Ground-Hornbill Striped Kingfisher

Bucorvus leadbeateri Halcyon chelicuti

 

A couple were seen.

 

European Bee-eater Marabou Stork Yellow-billed Oxpecker Common Bulbul House Sparrow

Merops apiaster Leptoptilos crumeniferus Buphagus africanus Pycnonotus barbatus Passer domesticus

 

Near Udzungwa just after Mikumi; A Miombo Forest.
Trip Date: 12-2-05
Species Seen: 11

Red-eyed Dove European Bee-eater Fan-tailed Widowbird Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove Retz's Helmetshrike

Streptopelia semitorquata Merops apiaster Euplectes axillaris Turtur chalcospilos Prionops retzii

 

Several were seen foraging in a tall tree.

 

Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird

Pogoniulus bilineatus

 

One was heard.

 

White-headed Black-Chat

Myrmecocichla arnotti

 

Two pairs were seen.

 

Fork-tailed Drongo Black-crowned Tchagra

Dicrurus adsimilis Tchagra senegala

 

We saw the Brown-crowned Tchagra earlier.

 

Yellow Bishop African Pied Wagtail

Euplectes capensis Motacilla aguimp

 

En route to Udzungwa; from Mikumi.
Trip Date: 12-2-05
Species Seen: 5

Brown-hooded Kingfisher Red Bishop Wire-tailed Swallow Lesser Striped-Swallow African Harrier-Hawk

Halcyon albiventris Euplectes orix Hirundo smithii Hirundo abyssinica Polyboroides typus

 

Sunday, February 13, 2005.

 

Anthony and Gaitan were due to call for us at 0630 hrs for breakfast, so I got up a little earlier to see if there were any Owls in the garden. There were not, but I did hear one calling in the night. The four of us had a nice breakfast together and we left at 0700 hrs. We gave them a nice tip because they gave us a great supper and Mog took a picture of Teddy.
We drove for about two hours on a terrible road, (it should have taken one and a half hours), to Kilombero Marsh, a vast expanse of marsh alongside the Kilombero River. We got out of the bus about a quarter of a mile from the river and walked to it. Almost immediately, Anthony found the White-tailed Cisticola, a recently discovered bird (about 1999, I think) and then the Coucal and the special Kilombero Weaver. A little later he found the Kilombero Cisticola. At the river he found the Lapwing. On the way back I found a lifer for him, the Fulleborn’s Longclaw. We had a good morning! Back at the hotel, we had lunch together and then quickly packed and took off again.
On the road we got stopped by a policeman wanting a bribe, but Gaitan refused to pay and paid the full penalty of 60,000 shillings, which made the policeman write out a ticket with his number on it. Gaitan will contest the ticket later. We stopped in the Miombo forest again, and this time, I managed to get Anthony out of the bus and keep him out, although he wouldn’t walk, ostensibly because of the army being in the forest. ( This very excellent birding area has been occupied by the Tanzanian army,walking and use of Cameras by foreigners is prohibited ) We saw a few more species than if we had stayed in the bus, I believe.
It was a long drive in the wonderful hours between 1700 and 1900 when everything cools down and the light is great. When we arrived at the Morogoro Kola Hills Hotel, Anthony settled us in and then took off promising to call for us about 0900 hrs in the morning.

Udzungwa Mountain View Hotel & journey to Kilombero Marsh;
Trip Date: 13-2-05
Species Seen: 20

Common Bulbul Black Kite Pied Crow African Wood-Owl

Pycnonotus barbatus Milvus migrans Corvus albus Strix woodfordii

 

One was heard in the early hours. I described the call to Anthony and he told me.

 

Trumpeter Hornbill

Ceratogymna bucinator

 

Several were crying in the dawn light and one was seen.

 

Village Weaver

Ploceus cucullatus

 

A medium sized colony was in some Palm trees.

 

Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove Striped Kingfisher Yellow Bishop Red Bishop Zanzibar Bishop

Turtur chalcospilos Halcyon chelicuti Euplectes capensis Euplectes orix Euplectes nigroventris

 

Several were seen again today.

 

Fan-tailed Widowbird Red-necked Falcon Brown-hooded Kingfisher Southern Brown-throated Weaver

Euplectes axillaris Falco chicquera Halcyon albiventris Ploceus xanthopterus

 

Three or four small colonies were seen en route. Anthony said that he discovered them last year.

 

F Bat-like Spinetail

Neafrapus boehmi

 

I spotted two of these birds whilst we were at the Southern Brown-throated Weaver site.

 

Pin-tailed Whydah Red-eyed Dove Fork-tailed Drongo White-fronted Bee-eater

Vidua macroura Streptopelia semitorquata Dicrurus adsimilis Merops bullockoides

 

Kilombero Marshes; It was a vast area, but disturbed.

Trip Date: 13-2-05
Species Seen: 29

Coppery-tailed Coucal

Centropus cupreicaudus

 

Several were sitting up high on clumps of grass and calling.

 

F White-tailed Cisticola

Cisticola sp.

 

One was seen almost right away and later others were seen.

 

African Openbill Fan-tailed Widowbird Red-headed Quelea

Anastomus lamelligerus Euplectes axillaris Quelea erythrops

 

Small flocks of these birds swirled over the marsh.

 

Pied Kingfisher F Kilombero Weaver

Ceryle rudis Ploceus burnieri

 

A small colony was found and then others were seen later as we walked to the river.

 

Gray-headed Sparrow

Passer griseus

 

The southern variety was seen.

 

Palm-nut Vulture

Gypohierax angolensis

 

Several flew over.

 

Jameson's Firefinch Rufous-tailed Shrike

Lagonosticta rhodopareia Lanius isabellinus

 

I saw this bird in Greece.

 

F Kilombero Cisticola

Cisticola sp.

 

This was the most difficult to find today, but it had a characteristic call or song.

 

Spur-winged Goose African Marsh-Harrier Long-tailed Cormorant European Bee-eater Village Indigobird

Plectropterus gambensis Circus ranivorus Phalacrocorax africanus Merops apiaster Vidua chalybeata

 

Three were perched on separate wires.

 

Zebra Waxbill Black-headed Heron Gray Heron Spotted Sandpiper White-headed Lapwing

Sporaeginthus subflavus Ardea melanocephala Ardea cinerea Actitis macularia Vanellus albiceps

 

One was seen through the telescope on the far bank of the river.

 

African Fish-Eagle F Racket-tailed Roller

Haliaeetus vocifer Coracias spatulata

 

One was sitting on a telephone pole.

 

F Dickinson's Kestrel

Falco dickinsoni

 

A gray Kestrel with a white head was on a telephone pole.

 

F Fasciated Snake-Eagle

Circaetus fasciolatus

 

One was seen flying.

 

Red-collared Widowbird F Fuelleborn's Longclaw

Euplectes ardens Macronyx fuellebornii

 

I heard the two note song of this bird and searched for it, finding it high up on top of a bush. I pointed it out to Anthony. It was a lifer for him.

 

Long-crested Eagle

Lophaetus occipitalis

 

Kilombero to Miombo Forest at Mikumi;
Trip Date: 13-2-05
Species Seen: 4

Gabar Goshawk Lilac-breasted Roller White-winged Widowbird Hamerkop

Micronisus gabar Coracias caudata Euplectes albonotatus Scopus umbretta

 

Mikumi Miombo Forest; A second visit.
Trip Date: 13-2-05
Species Seen: 9

Eastern Chanting-Goshawk F Variable Indigobird

Melierax poliopterus Vidua funerea

 

This was right next to the Chanting Goshawk.

 

African Gray Flycatcher Fork-tailed Drongo F Pale Batis

Bradornis microrhynchus Dicrurus adsimilis Batis soror

 

Both male & female were seen.

 

White-headed Black-Chat Rufous-bellied Tit White-winged Black-Tit Retz's Helmetshrike

Myrmecocichla arnotti Melaniparus rufiventris Melaniparus leucomelas Prionops retzii

 

Mikumi to Morogoro; The Morogoro Kola Hill Hotel.
Trip Date: 13-2-05
Species Seen: 15

White Helmetshrike

Prionops plumatus

 

A few were together.

 

Sulphur-breasted Bushshrike Helmeted Guineafowl Green Woodhoopoe

Telophorus sulfureopectus Numida meleagris Phoeniculus purpureus

 

A very good view was had of two birds.

 

Marabou Stork Red-billed Oxpecker White-bellied Bustard Red-faced Cisticola European Roller Purple-crested Turaco

Leptoptilos crumeniferus Buphagus erythrorhynchus Eupodotis senegalensis Cisticola erythrops Coracias garrulus Tauraco porphyreolophus

 

One flew over the road.

 

Abdim's Stork Lesser Striped-Swallow Dark Chanting-Goshawk Cattle Egret F Miombo Blue-eared Starling

Ciconia abdimii Hirundo abyssinica Melierax metabates Bubulcus ibis Lamprotornis elisabeth

 

One was seen.

 

Monday, February 14th, 2005.
I was up at 0640 hrs for a quick look around before breakfast at 0730 hrs. This was a buffet with local doctors attending a conference. At 0900 hrs. Gaitan and Anthony came for us and we set off right away to drive to Amani, hardly stopping on the way. We did stop off for lunch at a nice place by a road junction. We turned right to Amani and to the left pointed Arusha, so we’ll likely pass that way again. Once in the Amani Park, we arrived at 1600 hrs and walked the lower forest. We walked up the mountain a fine distance and saw a few birds. After a while we drove up the rest of the way and had a short walk before dark. After dark at 1930 hrs we had supper with Anthony & Gaitan.

 

Morogoro Kola Hill Hotel; A quick look-see before breakfast.
Trip Date: 14-2-05
Species Seen: 5

Collared Palm-Thrush

Cichladusa arquata

 

Three birds were calling.

 

House Sparrow

Passer domesticus

 

There were many around the grounds.

 

Pied Crow Common Bulbul Blue-breasted Cordonbleu

Corvus albus Pycnonotus barbatus Uraeginthus angolensis

 

On the road to Amani; We only stopped for pit stops.

Trip Date: 14-2-05
Species Seen: 6

Red-collared Widowbird F Black Bishop

Euplectes ardens Euplectes gierowii

 

This bird has more red on the front.

 

Yellow Bishop Zanzibar Bishop Lilac-breasted Roller Red-faced Cisticola

Euplectes capensis Euplectes nigroventris Coracias caudata Cisticola erythrops

 

This has a very loud call for such a small bird.

 

Eastern Usambara lower mountain; We walked up hill.
Trip Date: 14-2-05
Species Seen: 13

 

Little Greenbul F Green-headed Oriole

Andropadus virens Oriolus chlorocephalus

We saw a young bird and heard the mother calling.

 

F Half-collared Kingfisher

Alcedo semitorquata

 

We saw two of these beautiful birds in the stream.

 

Mountain Wagtail

Motacilla clara

 

Two were also in the stream.

 

Eastern Mountain-Greenbul

Andropadus nigriceps

 

Anthony heard one.

 

Square-tailed Drongo Sombre Greenbul African Paradise-Flycatcher Forest Weaver

Dicrurus ludwigii Andropadus importunus Terpsiphone viridis Ploceus bicolor

 

Two were seen.

 

White-eared Barbet Trumpeter Hornbill Western Olive-Sunbird Eastern Olivaceous Warbler

Stactolaema leucotis Ceratogymna bucinator Cyanomitra obscura Hippolais pallida

 

East Usambara high altitude; Around the chalet.
Trip Date: 14-2-05
Species Seen: 7

Black-bellied Glossy-Starling

Lamprotornis corruscus

 

Two were high in a tree.

 

Waller's Starling Western Olive-Sunbird F Amani Sunbird

Onychognathus walleri Cyanomitra obscura Hedydipna pallidigaster

 

A brilliant bird!

 

Collared Sunbird

Hedydipna collaris

 

This was in the same tree as the other Sunbirds

 

F Uluguru Violet-backed Sunbird

Anthreptes neglectus

 

This was another brilliance in the same tree.

 

African Pied Wagtail

Motacilla aguimp

 

Tuesday, February 15, 2005.
Anthony & I birded from 0630 – 0815 hrs and we had a wonderful time, finding a really good spot where there were lots of birds. After breakfast, the three of us (Gaitan had a morning off) hiked up to the peak where there was a great lookout, over the forest and several tea plantations. Lunch was at 1300 hrs and we ate together. At 1530 hrs Gaitan drove us down the mountain and around the tea plantations which produced more birds. We arrived back about 1900 hrs. just at dark and then ate together at 1930 hrs. Anthony and Geitan told us some very nice stories about their travel experiences with different birders they have taken out.It was interesting how their kind of Job lets them exposed to people of different thinkings.

Amani National Park; E. Usambara Mountains before breakfast.
Trip Date: 15-2-05
Species Seen: 30

Common Bulbul Trumpeter Hornbill Western Olive-Sunbird Green Barbet

Pycnonotus barbatus Ceratogymna bucinator Cyanomitra obscura Stactolaema olivacea

 

We heard this before we saw it.

 

Scarce Swift

Schoutedenapus myoptilus

 

Two flew overhead.

 

Yellow-bellied Greenbul White-eared Barbet White-browed Robin-Chat

Chlorocichla flaviventris Stactolaema leucotis Cossypha heuglini

 

Two were singing and where they were was an excellent site for birds in general.

 

F Broad-ringed White-eye

Zosterops poliogaster

 

Several were seen throughout the morning.

 

Black Sawwing African Green-Pigeon Green-headed Oriole

Psalidoprocne holomelas Treron calva Oriolus chlorocephalus

 

We saw this well and it was calling a lot.

 

Eastern Mountain-Greenbul Amani Sunbird Gray Cuckoo-shrike Black-bellied Glossy-Starling African Penduline-Tit F Short-tailed Batis

Andropadus nigriceps Hedydipna pallidigaster Coracina caesia Lamprotornis corruscus Anthoscopus caroli Batis mixta

 

Anthony calls this "Forest Batis".

 

Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird

Pogoniulus bilineatus

 

We saw this, whereas usually we hear it and never see it!

 

African Gray Flycatcher F Pallid Honeyguide

Bradornis microrhynchus Indicator meliphilus

 

I spotted this, but Anthony confirmed it.

 

F Cabanis' Greenbul African Dusky Flycatcher Cameroon Scrub-Warbler African Palm-Swift F Yellow-crowned Canary

Phyllastrephus cabanisi Muscicapa adusta Bradypterus lopezi Cypsiurus parvus Serinus flavivertex

 

 

One was in the scope.

 

F Yellow-bellied Waxbill

Estrilda quartinia

 

A small flock flew by.

 

Black-and-white Mannikin

Spermestes bicolor

 

An other flock was this species.

 

Tawny-flanked Prinia F Cabanis' Bunting

Prinia subflava Emberiza cabanisi

 

Two birds were perched in front of us for a while.

 

Amani National Park; E. Usambara Mtns. after breakfast.
Trip Date: 15-2-05
Species Seen: 13

Trumpeter Hornbill Long-crested Eagle African Paradise-Flycatcher African Dusky Flycatcher Cameroon Scrub-Warbler F Fischer's Greenbul

Ceratogymna bucinator Lophaetus occipitalis Terpsiphone viridis Muscicapa adusta Bradypterus lopezi Phyllastrephus fischeri

 

This was probably the dullest bird with Fischer's name attached to it.

 

F Crowned Hawk-Eagle

Stephanoaetus coronatus

 

This was a first.

 

Square-tailed Drongo Forest Weaver

Dicrurus ludwigii Ploceus bicolor

 

There were three in a mixed flock of birds around the Drongo.

 

Green Barbet Yellow-bellied Greenbul African Swift F Mountain Buzzard

Stactolaema olivacea Chlorocichla flaviventris Apus barbatus Buteo oreophilus

 

One flew over.

 

Amani National Park; E. Usambara Mtns. Tea Plantation 3-7 pm
Trip Date: 15-2-05
Species Seen: 30

Lesser Striped-Swallow Common Fiscal Spectacled Weaver Broad-ringed White-eye Abdim's Stork

Hirundo abyssinica Lanius collaris Ploceus ocularis Zosterops poliogaster Ciconia abdimii

 

One was perched high up on a tree.

 

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