Kunduchi waders, the Zanzibar ferry crossing and Jozani-Chwaka Bay National Park

Little Egret, Kunduchi

Jenny and I went to the VSO annual conference at Kunduchi - a beach suburb north of Dar es Salaam on 15-17 December.  I attended some of the sessions but spent as much time scanning the beach for waders, gulls and terns.  The largest concentration of birds were out on a sand bar and identification of smaller species was not possible.  Many came closer however and I saw quite a few species.  The highlights were my first sighting of Crab Plover and Sooty Gull - both here in small numbers. Other good waders were Greater and Lesser Sand Plover (nice to be able to compare them side by side), Grey Plover, Terek Sandpiper (only my second ever sighting), Whimbrel and Ruddy Turnstone.

Crab Plover

Little Stint (with a Common Ringed Plover)

Whimbrel

After the conference we headed over to Zanzibar for 6 nights of being tourists.  On the ferry crossing I perched up on top and scanned for sea-birds.  Several tiny Saunders's Terns were new for me.  Other species were Lesser crested, Gull-billed, Sooty and Sandwich Terns and Brown Noddy.

Zanzibar is largely devoid of original vegetation and large numbers of the introduced House Crows have effectively eliminated most native bird species.  The only place to see bush birds in any numbers is the tiny Jozani Forest and the adjacent coral rag scrubland.  I booked a bird guide (compulsory apparently) and birded the forest from 0600 to about 1100 on the 19th. Bakari, the guide was excellent and really knew his stuff.  More than half of the 11 new birds for me were down to his skills and ability to zero in on a bird calling in dense foliage.  We saw 37 species in all - the highlights were Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, Green-backed Woodpecker, Pale Batis, Zanzibar Boubou, African Golden Oriole, Little Greenbul, Green-backed Camaroptera, Black-bellied Starling, Grey Sunbird, Vitelline Masked Weaver and Dark-backed Weaver.

Lilac-breasted Roller, Jozani

Blue Monkey, Jozani

Zanzibar Red Colobus, Jozani

Another highlight here was the good sighting of three new mammals: the Zanj Elephant Shrew, the Zanzibar Red Colobus and the Blue Monkey.

Sunday 26th December, Bukoba

Birding Minziro Forest Reserve

Yesterday Jenny and I went on our first visit to the Minziro Forest Reserve.

This sign greeted us at the start of the forest - not sure what it says...

There is very little forest cover left in Kagera and the Minziro forest is easily the biggest.  To find it type -1.10482, 31.51714 into Google Earth's search and you will see the road through the reserve.

The forest is about 25,000 ha in size and consists of 3/4 seasonal swamp forest and 1/4 seasonally flooded grassland with Acacia woodland.  It is fairly low-lying and flat and large areas are regularly inundated by the flooding of the Kagera River to the south.

Leen, Terri and Jenny watching butterflies and birds.

A flock of butterflies

The forest has been extensively logged for the large, valuable Podocarpus trees in the past and these are now scarce and small.  Illegal logging on an unknown scale continues. The forest is continuous with the Malabigambo Forest Reserve in nearby Uganda border.

Minziro Forest is important because it is one of the largest forests in Tanzania.  It is more important however because it represents a type of forest found nowhere else in the country and one which is more similar to the forests further west in the Congo and Guinea.  It therefore contains plant and animal species that reach their eastern range limits here and occur nowhere else in Tanzania.  58 of the 245 bird species recorded in the reserve are not found outside Kagera in Tanzania and 56 of these have only been seen in Minziro.  Minziro Forest also has over 600 butterfly species - more than any other forest in Africa.

Terri searching for one of the few elephants left in the reserve

There have only been a handful of surveys of the birds of Minziro Forest and there are, no-doubt, other bird species to be found that will add to Tanzania's national tally.

So, with all these facts, we wanted to visit the forest.  The local tour company will take us into the forest with a bird guide for about US$200 per person per day.  There is supposed to be an access fee but they will never tell me who the fee is to be paid to.  We decided to do it ourselves and, if nothing else, have a nice drive.

As it turned out the drive was an easy 90 minutes, the 20 km of gravel road was smooth and the few people we met on the road in the forest were friendly and demanded nothing but our greetings.

With Jenny and I were Terri (from Maryland, Texas and soon New Mexico) and Leen (from Belgium).  Terri has been here for  a year and a half working to empower women through micro-loans etc.  She leaves us to resume her academic career in the USA on Wednesday morning.  Leen has recently arrived and is working on developing the banana industry.  She will be here for a year - possibly two.  Both lovely young women, interested in the plants and animals of the forest.

"What about the birds?" you ask.

Since it was just a first reconnaissance visit I was very pleased with the birds we saw.  Only 34 species for the forest (including adjacent grasslands) but several of the 56 forest specialists and 10 lifers for me in all.  We basically parked the car on the side of the road in a few likely places and walked along the road or on some of the tiny paths that lead into the dense forest.  The forest was quiet but the roadside edges were productive.

Highlights were Great Blue Turaco, Blue-breasted Kingfisher, Blue-breasted Bee-eater, Western Nicator, Plain Greenbul, Whinchat, Moustached Grass Warbler, Black-throated Apalis, Isabelline Shrike and Western Oriole.

Now that we know how easy it is to get to we will make as many visits as we can over the next 6 months.

Isabelline Shrike

White-throated Bee-eater

Blue-breasted Bee-eater

Sunday 5th December, Bukoba

You know you're in Africa when...

We had dinner with a friend last week and she has a Maasai askari (guard) who sits in her yard all night to keep her safe.  This is a fairly common practice with westerners and the better off-locals.  Often our organisations insist on us having a guard (ours didn't and we don't). 

Maasai men are often used as they are said to be very reliable and look fierce.  Usually they have their large stick and you see the occasional askari with a rifle (not sure if it they are usually loaded or not).

Leen's guard is a lovely chap who opened the gate for us when we were leaving.  He is armed with a bow and three arrows.  Each arrow is tipped with a large metal point about 4 cm long.  I wouldn't mess with him!

Monday 29th November, Bukoba

Report on my regular bird surveys

November is drawing to a close so I thought I'd write a blog about the regular surveys I've been doing for the Tanzanian Bird Atlas project (http://tanzaniabirdatlas.com/).

The main survey is the daily log for the 500m radius circle around the house.  Currently I have seen 117 species in this small area with an average of 87 species in each of the four months so far and 30-35 per day.  The frequency of new birds added is slowing down considerably but in November I added Abdim's Stork, Wahlberg's Eagle, Red-headed Lovebird, Klaas's Cuckoo, Lesser Honeyguide, Rock Martin, Grosbeak Weaver and Golden-backed Weaver.  November has seen a rapid increase in the amount of breeding behaviour around the house with all the weavers, the Firefinches, the Mannikins etc all busy building nests.  The Blue Flycatchers that built a nest and began incubating in late October were thwarted by a ravenous pair of Tropical Boubous.  They have moved on to try again elsewhere.

I've already described the fish factory beach.  I've surveyed this twice now with a good range of migratory waders and other species like African Openbill, Hamerkop, Black Crake, Osprey, Spur-winged Lapwing, African Jacana, African Snipe, Grey-hooded Gull, Little Bee-eater, Grey-backed Fiscal and Western Yellow Wagtail.  I've logged 37 species here with about 30 species on each visit.

A few km south of Bukoba is the Rubare Forest which is mainly a pine plantation with small patches of original forest where the ground was too rocky to plant pines.  I've surveyed this three times now for a total of 32 species.  Not many here and only an average of 16 on each visit but there are species here that are not likely to venture far from forests and there are so few patches of forest left in this part of Kagera.  The highlights have been Blue Malkoha (aka Western Yellowbill), Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird, Black Cuckooshrike, Yellow-whiskered Greenbul, Grey-backed Camaroptera, Brown-crowned Tchagra, Collared, Olive-bellied and Western Olive Sunbirds and Black-necked Weaver.  Every time I visit the forest I hear new calls but struggle to see the birds in the dense foliage.

The Ngono River survey has been the most productive to date.  This was also described in an earlier blog post.  I've surveyed here four times now for a total of 70 species and an average of 32 species per visit.  It's a good spot for freshwater birds like Yellow-billed Ducks and Rufous-bellied Herons).  This is also where we saw the Shoebill in October - one of Africa's truly special birds.  The combination of open water, extensive reedbeds and rocky scrubland means a good range of species can be expected here.  It also has the advantage of being largely devoid of people - unusual anywhere in Tanzania.  Some of the other highlights here include: Squacco Heron, Osprey, Palm-nut Vulture, Black-chested Snake-Eagle, Eurasian and African Marsh Harriers, Long-toed Lapwing, Red-headed Lovebird, Malachite Kingfisher, Bearded Woodpecker, Black Roughwing, Dark-capped Yellow Warbler, Fan-tailed Widowbird, Black-bellied Seedcracker, African Firefinch, Fawn-breasted Waxbill and Pin-tailed Whydah (don't you just love some of the bird names?).

My newest survey site is at the Katoke Teacher Training College about an hour's drive south of Bukoba.  This is a large residential college surrounded by eucalyptus plantations, hilly grassland and rocky scrub country with some remnant forest along the valleys.  It is also a nice quiet area where I can work undisturbed.  Friday last week was my first survey there and I saw 42 species in a couple of hours.  Several others were unidentified due to time constraints and lack of a camera.  I'll go back later this week for another survey earlier in the morning when birds are more active.  Highlights from Friday's visit were Tambourine Dove, Lilac-breasted Roller, Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill, Spot-flanked and Double-toothed Barbets, Rufous-naped Lark, Sooty Chat, Eastern Olivaceous Warbler, Croaking Cisticola, Red-faced Crombec, Brown-crowned Tchagra and Copper Sunbird.

A few recent photos:

Pink-backed Pelicans with a Marabou Stork, Bukoba

White-headed Saw-wing, Bukoba

Black-backed Puffback, Bukoba

Black-chested Snake-Eagle, Ngono River, Kagera

Pin-tailed Whydah and Yellow-throated Longclaw, Ngono River, Kagera

Black-headed Oriole, Bukoba

Northern Brown-throated Weaver, Bukoba

Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill, Bukoba (photo by Jenny Clark)

Double-toothed Barbet, Bukoba

Survey site adjacent to Katoke Teacher Training College

Little Egret, Bukoba

Bronze Mannikin, Bukoba

Abdim's Stork, small sample of the 300 over our house recently, Bukoba

Monday 29th November, Bukoba

Birding the Lake Victoria shore

The airport runway splits central Bukoba in half.  It begins close to the centre of town and terminates just before the Lake Victoria shore. The beach south of the end of the airstrip is usually bustling with people doing all sorts of things (fishing, picnicking, swimming (not advisable with Biharzia snails present).  There are birds here but not many and not much variety.  Birding is always problematic when there are lots of people around.  You never know how they might react to wazungu with binoculars and cameras.

North of the airstrip there is a 1 km stretch of quiet beach and swampy grassland with few people and lots more birds.  Jenny and I have walked this a couple of times now for Tanzanian Atlas surveys.

The two visits have yielded 37 species.  Some of the more interesting are: Egyptian Goose, Yellow-billed Duck, Hamerkop, Black Crake, Western Osprey, Spur-winged Lapwing, Common Ringed Plover, African Jacana, African Snipe, Black-tailed Godwit, Grey-hooded Gull, Little Bee-eater, Grey-backed Fiscal, Lesser Striped Swallow, Spotted Flycatcher and Western Yellow Wagtail.

A few photos:

African Jacana, Speke Bay, Lake Victoria

Common Ringed Plover, Bukoba, Lake Victoria

Egyptian Goose, Speke Bay, Lake Victoria

Grey-backed Fiscal, Lake Mburo National Park, Uganda

Grey-hooded Gull, Bukoba, Lake Victoria

Lesser Striped Swallow, Bukoba, Lake Victoria

Western Yellow Wagtail (ssp. lutea), Bukoba, Lake Victoria

Yellow-billed Duck, Bukoba, Lake Victoria

Saturday 13 November, Bukoba

Shoebill!

I can come home now - I've seen my Shoebill!  For those not familiar with this bird it looks like this:

My bird was not quite so co-operative so I only managed distant flight shots:

Thanks to friend Terri (a non-birder) who spotted it first and thought "Will I tell Steve about the Fish Eagle heading this way?"

The Shoebill is probably the species on top of birders' wish list when they are planning an East Africa trip.  I didn't expect to see one because I wasn't planning on going to their regular haunts in Uganda.

"My" bird was near the bridge over the Ngono River about 30 mins drive south-west of Bukoba.  This is one of my regular survey locations and is turning up some other great birds: Western Marsh Harrier, Long-toed Lapwing, Red-headed Lovebird, Common Swift and Pin-tailed Whydah were new species added on yesterday's survey.

This is what a tiny section of this river and the associated swamp looks like:

Cheers
Steve
Bukoba, 1st November 2010

Some local scenes

Jenny and I walked down to town on Sunday and I took some photos with her little camera.  Taking photos in public can be problematic.  Some people, especially kids, want you to take their pictures and they can be hard to get rid of.  Others object.  Many of the things we have seen we would love to show you but it is hard to get the photos.

Anyway some scenes are now on my Flickr site showing our local landscapes, buildings, downtown shops etc.  I must say we were amazed how quiet it was in town and the photos don't show the normal hustle and bustle of the shopping district.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bukoba_steve/sets/72157625084261713/

I hope you like them!

Steve
Bukoba, Friday 22nd October

Uganda weekend

The previous owners of our little Suzuki had ventured over the border into Uganda and the car had paid up Ugandan insurance until October 16 so we thought a weekend visit would be just the thing.  Our plans involved driving several hours to Lake Mburo National Park and staying at the Mihingo Lodge.

African Wattled Lapwing

Emerald-spotted Wood Dove

We set off from Bukoba at 0600 on Saturday morning and headed for the border at Mutukula about 2 hours north west.  Crossing into Uganda was very confusing.  We had to export our car, exit Tanzania, import our car and enter Uganda.  Sounds simple enough but there were unmanned, locked boom gates in strange places that people were driving around (so we did too).  There were random people who turned out to be officials who directed us into the various offices.  There were no signs to indicate any process.  At each manned boom gate we assured the boom gate men that were had completed the procedures to move onto the next stage.  Our word was good enough - they didn't need to see our paperwork.  All very odd.

Kongoni (Hartebeest)

Long-crested Eagle

Klipspringer

Unfortunately Saturday was Ugandan Independence Day and all the money changing places were shut at Mutukula.  We had been told we could buy the necessary US and Ugandan currency here.  Our meagre US/Ug notes were insufficient for entry visas, park fees and car fuel so we needed to swap money with our lodge people and found out that the Suzuki is quite economical and the fuel  gauge is accurate.  The lovely young woman (Caroline) at the Lake Mburo National Park gate was extremely helpful (if her bosses read this).

The other main problem in Uganda was the roads and the drivers.  The road from Bukoba to the border is excellent.  Certainly better than the Glenelg Highway in Victoria and I can only remember a couple of small potholes.  The highway deteriorated markedly once in Uganda and a long stretch west of Masaka was atrocious.  This is on the main Kampala to Kigali international highway.  The drivers are definitely worse than our Tanzanians.  I had thought only the Chinese could possibly be worse.  We were run off the road at one point when an international coach overtook us going up a hill and then ran out of space as a car came towards us.

Black-bellied Bustard

African Finfoot

These little hurdles behind us we had a lovely time.  The park consists of the lake and associated papyrus swamp with wettish acacia woodland, grassland and small swamps.  Lots of small rocky hills with scrubbier vegetation as well.  On one of these hills just outside the park is Mihingo Lodge.  The office and restaurant are at the top of the hill and there are about a dozen tented rooms scattered down the slopes.  Each is situated so you can't see the next one and each has a deck with an outlook over the plains, Lake Kacheera or a waterhole and salt lick area.  We had the latter and watched a range of animals coming in each morning and afternoon.

The Lodge was excellent with great food, great rooms and friendly and efficient staff.  It wasn't cheap but what price do you put on hot showers,  full english breakfasts, three course lunches and dinners, real coffee, real bread, real butter, sit-on toilets, Bushbabies visiting at night etc?

Yellow-throated Longclaw

Grey-backed Fiscal

The National Park was quite small.  That said we drove around only half of the available tracks, mostly on the east and northern sides of the lake.  You are not permitted to leave your vehicle away from the main picnic, office areas unless you have an armed warden with you.  There are apparently two Lions in the park and a few Leopards.  We got out of the car a few times but never walked far.  There are a couple of big herds of Buffalo and these are probably as dangerous as Lions. No Elephants, Rhinoceros or Giraffe in the park but plenty of Zebra, Waterbuck, Impala, Kongoni (Hartebeest), Warthog, Mongoose etc.  Hippos in the lake as well.

Birds were also plentiful although we were unable to get onto many of the smaller species because of being confined mostly to the car.  I managed about 95 species in the two days in the park, around Mihingo Lodge and on the track out to the north.  About a dozen of these were new to me and quite a few were additions to our current stay in Africa.  Rob Farnes (my birding mate from Portland) had been here a few weeks earlier and recommended the lake cruise for birds.  Unfortunately the guide he spoke highly of was on leave but our chap, Ben, seemed to know his birds.  He found a female African Finfoot for me fairly quickly.  It was a good cruise with lots of Hippopotamus, a few small Nile Crocodiles and quite a few birds that we wouldn't have seen otherwise.

Common Buzzard

Apart from Finfoot the park bird highlights were Crested Francolin, Yellow-billed Duck, Goliath Heron, Common Buzzard, Grey Crowned Crane, Green Sandpiper, Red-headed Lovebird, Meyer's Parrot, African Cuckoo, Pygmy Kingfisher, Spot-flanked Barbet, Nubian Woodpecker, Black-headed Gonolek, Mosque Swallow, Purple-headed Starling, Black-faced Waxbill and Plain-backed Pipit.  One bird I photographed has been identified by a couple of African birders as a European Honey Buzzard (fairly common migrant to East Africa) but another expert reckons it might be a Crested Honey Buzzard from Asia.  If he is correct this would be a second record for sub-saharan Africa (one was seen and photographed in Gabon in 2004).  I wish I'd taken more photos of it now!

Honey Buzzard - but which one?

An issue I had with the park is that there are several herds of long-horned cattle grazing illegally.  Some years back the park size was reduced to return more land to traditional cattle herders.  Not satisfied they still put their cattle in the park every day.  We saw them regularly along the tracks.  What happens apparently is that cattle are confiscated by the wardens, corralled outside the park until fines are paid and then given back to the herders who promptly put them back into the park.  Clearly the fines are not sufficient to be a deterrent.  On Sunday night we heard gunshots and were told the next morning that herdsmen had tried to liberate their cattle and were chased away by gun-wielding wardens.  We were also told that most of the herds in the park are owned by politicians - not local villagers.  These politicians would be expected to lobby against reintroduction of more predators (lions for example) and to lobby for cattle friendly fire regimes in the park.  Cattle numbers in our section of the park would have matched the native grazing animals.

All in all we had a great weekend and gave the Suzuki a real workout on rocky and muddy tracks (and the terrible Ugandan highway).

Waterbuck

Thursday 14 October, Bukoba