2.jpg)
Photo of Mushoza/Parike Forest (archive photo by Marcell Claassen)
Monday was a public holiday here in Rwanda, so I took the opportunity to see what the newly-returned rains had done to my local dam and remnant forest tract, just NW of Kibungo. I had an amazing day's birding, with 111 species (my highest count here in Rwanda), and a lifer for me; Lesser Moorhen.
Due to poor roads, my moto driver dropped me off up on the hill, and I walked down into the valley. 2 large figs were teeming with birds, as was the undergrowth; alive with song and movement. Chubb's Cisticola (regular here at 1430m), Arrow-marked Babbler, Red-faced Cisticola, Thick-billed Seedeater, Dark-capped Yellow Warbler and a very confiding male Mackinnon's Fiscal/Shrike were all either in or near to the first tree. Green-headed Sunbird, Holub's and Vieillot's Weavers, African Green Pigeon, Yellow-throated Greenbul, White-tailed Blue Flycatcher, Spot-flanked Barbet were all in the second fig tree. It was still fairly cold and damp and as I moved down into the valley, the birds kept raining in: Black-lored Babbler, Grey-backed and Common Fiscals, Hadada Ibis, Thick-billed Weaver, Winding Cisticola, Bronzy Sunbird and Bronze Mannikin (with the obligatory funny little juveniles) were all about. Meyer's Parrot and Black-headed Heron flew over. As I approached the dam, Green-winged Pytilia and Grey-capped Warbler in the bushes. Down on the (already) flooded fields were Cape Wagtail and Common Sandpiper.
Black-headed Heron (photo by Marcell Claassen on previous trip to Abudada dam)
Abudada Dam was as teeming with birds as Nyarutarama Lake in Kigali had been on Saturday. Healthy numbers of White-faced Whistling-Ducks were dozing on the lake. More were roosting on the far shore, and several were diving in the shallows (I get the feeling that the ducks don't get disturbed here). My best count came up with 186 individuals. A lone Yellow-billed Duck and 2 Common Moorhen were also visible, along with at least 7 African Jacanas including one male with 2 juveniles.
Then things started to get exciting. In the bushes on the near lake edge, a juvenile Little Bittern was clumsily clambering around. It stayed in good view for about 15 minutes; not sure what it was looking for. Beautiful. Then over the other side of the lake I caught view of something moving around on the fringes. I focussed my scope in quickly, and was delighted to see my first ever Lesser Moorhen. The small size and yellow bill were easily diagnostic; Common Moorhen were nearby for comparison. Also noticed only a little white on the flanks and vent, and olive yellow legs, right up to the body, when it clambered over the hyacinths. It stayed in fairly good view for 10 minutes, even coming out and punting onto the lake for a few minutes. Black Crake, Purple Swamphen, Woodland and Pied Kingfishers all tried to distract me at this time, but I was rather smitten with the Lesser Moorhen. Smashing.
A smattering of rain fell, and I noticed that the local kids had gotten bored with me and drifted off (Am I the only muzungu who can bore Rwandan children?), so I moved on. As I moved to the lower end of the dam, Golden-breasted Bunting and Brimstone Canary were seen. Augur Buzzard overhead and White-headed Saw-wing and White-rumped Swift over the lake. No migrant hirundines today. At the bottom of the lake, the acacia trees turned up some interesting birds. A lone Purple-crested Turaco bounded across the branches of one tree, crest aloft, then I spotted an African Goshawk (my first confirmed record for E. Rwanda) gliding off casually beneath the dam, showing nice views of the white spots on the upper tail, yellow eye and cere.
Then things started to get exciting. In the bushes on the near lake edge, a juvenile Little Bittern was clumsily clambering around. It stayed in good view for about 15 minutes; not sure what it was looking for. Beautiful. Then over the other side of the lake I caught view of something moving around on the fringes. I focussed my scope in quickly, and was delighted to see my first ever Lesser Moorhen. The small size and yellow bill were easily diagnostic; Common Moorhen were nearby for comparison. Also noticed only a little white on the flanks and vent, and olive yellow legs, right up to the body, when it clambered over the hyacinths. It stayed in fairly good view for 10 minutes, even coming out and punting onto the lake for a few minutes. Black Crake, Purple Swamphen, Woodland and Pied Kingfishers all tried to distract me at this time, but I was rather smitten with the Lesser Moorhen. Smashing.
A smattering of rain fell, and I noticed that the local kids had gotten bored with me and drifted off (Am I the only muzungu who can bore Rwandan children?), so I moved on. As I moved to the lower end of the dam, Golden-breasted Bunting and Brimstone Canary were seen. Augur Buzzard overhead and White-headed Saw-wing and White-rumped Swift over the lake. No migrant hirundines today. At the bottom of the lake, the acacia trees turned up some interesting birds. A lone Purple-crested Turaco bounded across the branches of one tree, crest aloft, then I spotted an African Goshawk (my first confirmed record for E. Rwanda) gliding off casually beneath the dam, showing nice views of the white spots on the upper tail, yellow eye and cere.
Augur Buzzard - dark morph (archive photo by Marcell Claassen. Note - not same location)
Down beneath the dam, a male Red-chested Sunbird looked bloody marvellous on the leonotis in his freshly moulted plumage, his iridescence so strong it almost hurt my eyes when he caught the sun. Black-headed Gonolek calling nearby. It was still cool and overcast, so the birds were still very active. Here I took the left fork in the road towards a small valley that I'd spotted on a previous trip that seemed to harbour a lot of mature fig trees. Straight away I bumped into a very active feeding party that were taking great interest in the flowers of an exotic Silky Oak. They included both Black-necked and Spectacled Weavers, African Yellow White-eye and Pardise-Flycatcher. Blue-spotted Wood Dove soon after. The calls of a pair of Eastern Grey Plantain-eater alerted me to another fruiting fig tree, behind which the usual scavengers of the rice paddies were gorging on the spoils of the fresh rainfall. Sacred Ibis, Hamerkop, Hadada Ibis, Black Kite and… what the…? Palm-nut Vulture; one adult and one subadult, the former of which was feeding on something presumed to be animal, but I couldn't make it out. Pic here: http://kilnsey.tripod.com/palm-nut_vulture.jpg
Just after a pair of Wahlberg's Eagles were nice and low, allowing reasonable pics, my first confirmed records for Rwanda this autumn: http://kilnsey.tripod.com/wahlbergs.jpg
Snowy-crowned Robin-chat (photo by Marcell Claassen on previous visit to same location)
By now I was level with my favourite little forest in the world (I've blogged about it before – Mashoza/ Parike; I've called it), but across the valley, so I was surprised to see Olive-bellied Sunbird across here (to date this forest is the only place where I've seen this species in Rwanda), and then a Snowy-crowned Robin-Chat on the path ahead of me, making do with nearby lantana bushes for cover whenever cyclists came along. Not sure what he was doing: http://kilnsey.tripod.com/snowy-crowned.jpg
A mixed party of non-breeding widowbirds, weavers and Red-billed Queleas were on the path a bit further on, presumably feeding on spilt grain. Managed to ID Northern Brown-throated Weaver and Black-headed (melanocephalus) Weaver. Left a few LBJs unidentified, but there was probably Red-collared Widowbird and a couple of non-breeding bishops in there too. Soon I turned left up a fairly narrow valley where the aforementioned figs were located. Ross's Turaco made it's first appearance of the day; a party of 3 along with 3 Purple-crested Turacos and a lone Crested Barbet (only my second record outside of the Akagera area). Some local kids had tagged onto me and cottoned onto what I was doing. For 15 minutes I had eagle-eyed spotters helping me out: Yellow Bishop, Red-headed Weaver, Compact Weaver (only my second record for Rwanda), Village Weaver, and then Brown-crowned Tchagra, which showed well for nice photos:http://kilnsey.tripod.com/brown-crowned_tchagra.jpg
On the forest edge, I was surprised to find a pair of Red-capped Robin-Chats who led me across some overgrown fields past a Tambourine Dove to a Pygmy Kingfisher hiding under a small tree. I was now heading back towards my pick-up point, with plenty of time to linger. I added Common Waxbill, African Firefinch (feeding with Red-billed Firefinch, interestingly), Fan-tailed Widowbird (non-breeding) and a rare treat: Marsh Tchagra. All in overgrown fields alongside the paddies. Violet-backed Starling were in one of the fig trees. Back at the lake the (presumed same) Purple Swamphen was showing quite well, but the Lesser Moorhen had disappeared. Yellow-fronted Canary stopped off briefly. A lone female Cardinal Woodpecker flitted between the trees and the rotting sorghum stems. My last species of the afternoon: Little Rush Warbler in the marsh just before I met my moto driver. A second bout of rain clobbered us on the way home, but I didn't care.
Jason
A mixed party of non-breeding widowbirds, weavers and Red-billed Queleas were on the path a bit further on, presumably feeding on spilt grain. Managed to ID Northern Brown-throated Weaver and Black-headed (melanocephalus) Weaver. Left a few LBJs unidentified, but there was probably Red-collared Widowbird and a couple of non-breeding bishops in there too. Soon I turned left up a fairly narrow valley where the aforementioned figs were located. Ross's Turaco made it's first appearance of the day; a party of 3 along with 3 Purple-crested Turacos and a lone Crested Barbet (only my second record outside of the Akagera area). Some local kids had tagged onto me and cottoned onto what I was doing. For 15 minutes I had eagle-eyed spotters helping me out: Yellow Bishop, Red-headed Weaver, Compact Weaver (only my second record for Rwanda), Village Weaver, and then Brown-crowned Tchagra, which showed well for nice photos:http://kilnsey.tripod.com/brown-crowned_tchagra.jpg
It's interesting to note that the easiest separation feature of Brown-crowned and Black-crowned Tchagra here is the clear orangey wash to the back part of the crisp white supercilium and face on the Black-crowned, compared with the creamy super of the Brown-crowned that shows no wash (this is often much easier to see than the crown itself).
I exhausted the figs and the kids soon after and thunder was rumbling overhead, so I decided to head for my little forest. The rice paddies stood in the way, but I was willing to risk a dunking rather than walk a good kilometre back upstream to the bridge. On the paddies I added Yellow-billed Stork to the previous species. A couple of farmers pointed out the best route across to me, and I made the forest just as the rain was starting. I donned my poncho, crawled into the undergrowth and sat it out on a log. It was a long rainstorm. A respite after about 20 minutes brought me a feeding party including Grey Apalis, a lone Ludher's Bush-Shrike making a sweet 2-note call, nothing like I've ever heard from this species, and a Collared Sunbird. Then the rain came on again, and I dined on a soggy lunch.
I exhausted the figs and the kids soon after and thunder was rumbling overhead, so I decided to head for my little forest. The rice paddies stood in the way, but I was willing to risk a dunking rather than walk a good kilometre back upstream to the bridge. On the paddies I added Yellow-billed Stork to the previous species. A couple of farmers pointed out the best route across to me, and I made the forest just as the rain was starting. I donned my poncho, crawled into the undergrowth and sat it out on a log. It was a long rainstorm. A respite after about 20 minutes brought me a feeding party including Grey Apalis, a lone Ludher's Bush-Shrike making a sweet 2-note call, nothing like I've ever heard from this species, and a Collared Sunbird. Then the rain came on again, and I dined on a soggy lunch.
After another 40 minutes it began to ease off and the birds all came out as if it were dawn again. Red-capped Robin-Chat, then Grey-winged Robin-Chat, one of the gems of this little woodland, both honoured me with brief appearances. This was followed by Grey-backed Camaroptera and Yellow-whiskered Greenbul. An attack of weird little black biting insects crawling on my legs set me off again and I took a trail east, where I spotted Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird, then European Bee-eaters (at least 4 above the forest moving south). As I came to the forest edge, my last feeding party turned up White-chinned Prinia, Brown-throated Wattle-eye (incl. 1 juv.) and a handsome male Black-billed Weaver. Here's a stitched photo of Mashoza Parike `Forest' from across the valley: http://kilnsey.tripod.com/mashoza_parike.jpg
Common Waxbill (archive photo by Marcell Claassen; note - not at this location)
On the forest edge, I was surprised to find a pair of Red-capped Robin-Chats who led me across some overgrown fields past a Tambourine Dove to a Pygmy Kingfisher hiding under a small tree. I was now heading back towards my pick-up point, with plenty of time to linger. I added Common Waxbill, African Firefinch (feeding with Red-billed Firefinch, interestingly), Fan-tailed Widowbird (non-breeding) and a rare treat: Marsh Tchagra. All in overgrown fields alongside the paddies. Violet-backed Starling were in one of the fig trees. Back at the lake the (presumed same) Purple Swamphen was showing quite well, but the Lesser Moorhen had disappeared. Yellow-fronted Canary stopped off briefly. A lone female Cardinal Woodpecker flitted between the trees and the rotting sorghum stems. My last species of the afternoon: Little Rush Warbler in the marsh just before I met my moto driver. A second bout of rain clobbered us on the way home, but I didn't care.
Jason
0 comments:
Post a Comment