Trip to Bare & 2nd Country record for Peter's Twinspot

Posted by Jason on the Rwanda_BurundiBirds group on 18 October 2010

On Sunday I went to my favourite papyrus swamp near Kibungo. As well as fantastic views of my favourite pair of Papyrus Gonoleks, I came across a pair of Peter's Twinspot, which is apparently only the second record for Rwanda, here in the northwestern most corner of its range.

A very early morning moto dropped me off at Bare and I walked down to the bridge between Ngoma and Kirihe Districts (GPS S 2.29347, E 30.50067) before the mist had cleared. Despite the thick white blanket of cloud, the dew raining off the trees and the rather persistent mozzies, the birds were already active when I arrived, with the call of the White-winged Warbler ringing out every 30m or so as I walked down, along with more occasional Greater Swamp Warblers gargling their way through their curious repertoire.

Almost immediately (where I saw my first ever pair), a pair of Papyrus Gonoleks came into view, and turned on their amazing duet for me. Since the rains started (approx. 1 month) the PGs have been reasserting their territory. This pair provided some smashing pics:
http://kilnsey.tripod.com/pap1.jpg ; http://kilnsey.tripod.com/pap2.jpg

Other good birds in this early period included Collared Sunbird, European Bee-eater, Meyer's Parrot, Vieillot's Black Weaver (lots), Yellow-throated Greenbul, Holub's Golden Weaver (got lovely photos of a pair nestbuilding), Winding and Red-faced Cisticola (alas still no Carruther's!), Yellow Bishop (males just starting to adorn breeding plumage), Grey-capped Warbler, Mackinnon's Shrike, Spur-winged Goose, Black Crake, Yellow-billed Duck and Woodland Kingfisher.

Migrants included a steady stream of European Bee-eaters, at least 3 Common Buzzard, one Wahlberg's Eagle, and one (perhaps an intra-African migrant?) Ayres's Hawk-Eagle with its very distinctive underwing markings and flight pattern. My 2nd record for Rwanda.

As the mist rose, and the day began to heat up, I headed north east along the edge of the papyrus, finding several nice valleys with remnant or degraded woodland. These provided Lesser Honeyguide, E. Grey Plantain-eater, Black-headed Oriole, Narina Trogon (a bit of a surprise, but it gave fantastic views as it slouched nonchalantly over a branch in a big fig tree), Copper Sunbird, Grey-backed Camaroptera, Siffling Cisticola (in nearby scrub), Green-backed Woodpecker (only my 3rd record for Rwanda of this dainty little guy, calling with a surprisingly plover-like two part slurred whistle), African Dusky Flycatcher, Chinspot Batis, Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater, African Citril, Green-headed Sunbird, White-chinned Prinia and Banded Mongoose hurrying along busily in front of me as I sat for lunch.

The edge of the papyrus also produced Black-and-white Mannikin, Cape Wagtail, Black headed (melanocephalus) Weaver (males just starting to come into breeding plumage), Yellow-throated Longclaw (surprisingly! These guys get everywhere), African Marsh Harrier, Northern Brown-throated Weaver, Swamp Flycatcher, Blue Monkey (not really a bird, but visible today as they were coming to the edges of the swamps to feed on the palm dates - Is this Phoenix Palm on the edges of the papyrus?), and I also found a pair of Spot-flanked Barbets nesting in the stump of an old palm, where they'd chiselled out a perfectly round nesthole: http://kilnsey.tripod.com/barb1.jpg

On my way back, I stumbled haphazardly on the highlight of the day, a pair of scruptiously beautiful Peter's Twinspots, feeding very casually on the freshly dug bean fields between overgrown vegetation and the edge of the swamp. What an amazing stunner this guy is, and his wife was quite cute too! Wow! Managed to get photos of what was a first for me, and it turned out, only the second record for Rwanda: http://kilnsey.tripod.com/peter1.jpg

This week I'm off on a whistle-stop tour of Nyungwe, Cyamudongo and then up to the Virungas to see chimps, gorillas, hopefully a few birds. I feel like a child on Xmas eve!

Jason