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