Trip to Akagera Bridge Papyrus Swamps

Posted by Jason on the Rwanda_BurundiBirds group on 19 June 2010

The furthest downstream bridge across the Akagera River in S.E. Rwanda is between Ngoma and Bugesera Districts at 2°12'20.70"S+ 30°16'7.04"E. There is lots of pristine papyrus swamp, interspersed with small lakes and some flooded fields. The bridge cuts across 2.5km of the swamp and is lined by eucalypt and acacia trees. There are also 2 roads, heading upstream among the papyrus and providing very good access to the wetlands. I booked out a moto for the whole day and headed down there last Sunday, and had another excellent day's birding.

As soon as I arrived at 7am I found Pied Kingfishers nesting in the road escarpment bank, and Angola Swallows nesting under the bridge. See habitat pic here: http://kilnsey.tripod.com/akagerabridge.jpg

As I explored around, I could hear good numbers of White-winged Warblers chirping and burring in the papyrus and the occasional Papyrus Gonoleks. Overhead, large numbers of wildfowl were moving about, moving mainly upstream, but a few also going downstream. White-faced Whistling Duck, Spur-winged Goose, Pink-backed Pelican, Great White Egret, Black-headed Heron were some of the first species noticed. Then a flock of approx. 30 Fulvous Whistling Ducks suddenly passed upstream flying quite low overhead, showing their distinctive white undertail coverts and tail flanks. This may be a common bird in East Africa, but this was my first record for Rwanda and, as Marcell confirmed, it turned out to be the first record for the Atlas: http://kilnsey.tripod.com/ful.jpg

A short diversion into some flooded fields/grassland produced a glot of Little Rush Warblers, with at least 6 birds calling and displaying in an area about half the size of a football pitch. Good views and reasonable photos followed, but the call is so high-pitched that it doesn't register well on my Olympus Voice Recorder, unfortunately. It recalls an trainee White-winged Warbler, with a similar, but much higher pitched accelerating cadence followed by a miserly wing burr, during which it hardly takes off from its perch. When I noticed that I was beginning to sink into the mud, I headed back to the road to be confronted by a 4-foot catfish in the hands of a local fisherman. He offered me it for 5000 Francs. I declined!

A little further on I got my second Dwarf Kingfisher for Rwanda, which along with the Pied, the Woodland and the ubiquitous Malachites made 4 species. A pair of Spectacled Weavers, after Slender-billed, Black-headed and Baglafecht proved good diversity for this genera, as well. This was added to with Northern Brown-throated Weaver later in the day. Great Reed Warbler and Swamp Flycatcher were common along the edges of the papyrus. A pair of Yellow-billed Duck flew north, followed by a Goliath Heron, only my 3rd record for Rwanda. By 9am the mozzies had begun to hide, and I was able to relax in the shade of the trees along the roadside. Up ahead I heard the distinctive `sonic machine-gun' calls of the Papyrus Gonolek, and I rushed to see what was happening. A pair of Black-headed Gonolek were in the roadside lantana bushes, and the local pair of Papyrus Gonoleks were clearly objecting to their presence. They all provided excellent views, although not together, unfortunately. On several occasions, one of the Papyrus Gs came out of the papyrus to shoo the intruders away. Nice photos followed: http://kilnsey.tripod.com/papyrus_gonolek7.jpg As well as the usual calls, the (presumed) male also produced an unfamiliar call for me, a rapid, almost Kingfisher-like churr, with the female responding with the machine gun. A local Grey-capped Warbler joined in for a while.

A little further along I got my first confirmed sightings of African Reed Warbler. No previous knowledge of this species had meant that I wasn't able to ID it by call, but 1 obliging bird gave very good views as it gleaned swampside weeds, singing its endless refrain, slightly softer and less grating than the European Reed Warbler (which should all be in Europe by now!).

By now I was about half way across the bridge and I came to a drainage canal where the mud banks had been extended a little further into the swamp. A pair of Water Thick-knees (my first outside of Akagera) posed for excellent photos, and then I saw a Yellow Warbler, perhaps Papyrus, in the bushes. I scrambled for my camera (I've never confirmed this species) and got some reasonable photos. As I approached it dived into the papyrus and allowed a few more pics. Five minutes of watching didn't provide any conclusive views, before it came back across the path and into acacia bushes, where I got a few more pictures. It looked good for Papyrus, although the eye seemed a little darker than I'd expected. There was no suggestion of a pale supercilium or darkish bill that would be more typical for juv African Yellow Warbler. Overall it showed warm orangey-yellow tones, rather than olive yellow, and the bill was long and pinkish. The tail end seems fairly rounded, but none of the pics are conclusive on this. I've put the photos up here. If anybody would like to offer an opinion, I'd appreciate it.
http://kilnsey.tripod.com/y1.jpg http://kilnsey.tripod.com/y2.jpg http://kilnsey.tripod.com/y3.jpg http://kilnsey.tripod.com/y4.jpg http://kilnsey.tripod.com/y5.jpg http://kilnsey.tripod.com/y6.jpg http://kilnsey.tripod.com/y7.jpg http://kilnsey.tripod.com/y8.jpg http://kilnsey.tripod.com/y9.jpg
http://kilnsey.tripod.com/y10.jpg

A little further on I heard a Golden-tailed Woodpecker in the roadside trees. It was a male and he seemed to be heading east, searching for food both on the acacia and the eucalypts. A male Klaas's Cuckoo was a pleasant surprise in one of the acacia trees. My second record for Rwanda.

Palm Nut Vulture, Wire-tailed Swallow and Southern Red Bishop were the next 3 notables. By 11am I'd made it to the other side of the bridge, and I called my moto driver to come and pick me up. We tried a road that wasn't on Google Earth, heading from the west side of the bridge directly upstream into the papyrus, and it turned out to be an excellent choice. As we headed along, new species began to appear. Long-toed Lapwing, Hottentot Teal, Squacco Heron, Grey Heron, Little Egret and many of the above already-mentioned. The water had broken through the road and was busy washing it away. We managed to get the moto across, and then as soon as we did a large number of egrets/herons flushed from the reeds. Among them a Little Bittern, unmistakable in flight was my first record of this species for Rwanda. Scanning the lake edge nearby produced Long-tailed Cormorant and Striated Heron - after last week my second record for this species in Rwanda. A little further along, the road had been completely washed out, so we had to turn back. As we drove back, I spotted some movement a way off on the edge of a pond that had been invaded by water hyacinth. As soon as I could get off the bike, I had my binoculars up and spotted Allen's Gallinule perching on the edge of the papyrus, but not going any further. It was a long way away, but the light blue frontal shield showed well through the scope, and I managed a few confirmation photos using the scope and camera together: http://kilnsey.tripod.com/ag1.jpg http://kilnsey.tripod.com/ag2.jpg This bird was a real treat to finish the day, and a lifer for me. We tried another road following the river upstream, but this proved to be much less productive. By now it was mid-afternoon, the sun was beating down and the birds were taking a siesta. We tried to get to some light scrub I'd seen on the east side of the river, but the roads seemed to be taking us in the wrong direction. Given I'd got well over 90 species and 500 photos, I decided to call it a day and we headed back to Kibungo.

Jason