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PHOTO BY JASON ANDERSON It's great having a zoologist and wildlife guide in the family! My cousin Jo came over from Tanzania with an adventurous client, and we had a ball in Nyungwe. As well as memorable encounters with chimpanzees, grey-cheeked mangabeys, and vicious safari ants at the campsite, we saw some amazing birds. First off, we stopped on the way into the forest at a small area of swamp with heather and other highland heath plants. A Rwenzori Double-collared Sunbird put in a good appearance and allowed me to get reasonable photos and recordings of the call. It's interesting that, as Marcell has said, the bill length and the call are the only surefire separators from Northern Double-collared, which is present throughout the forest. Rwenzori DC subspecies in Nyungwe is schubotzi according to Stevenson & Fanshawe.
The next day we were up early, hurtling down soggy hillsides in pursuit of man's closest relatives, which we observed well for an hour feeding in a fruiting fig tree. On the way back from visiting the Banda chimps we were lucky enough to spot at least two Kungwe Apalises (Buff-throated Apalis if not split) in a mixed apalis flock, also including Mountain Masked Apalis and Chestnut-throated Apalis along the Rukuzi Trail, where the guide Narcisse confirmed he had also seen Kungwe. I also got reasonable photos of the stunning Purple-breasted Sunbird, defending a tree (not Symphonia) from other sunbirds. Nearby, Jo spotted a tangled Blue-headed Sunbird nest in a tree about 10m above the ground. Later that afternoon, during a prolonged rainstorm we came across a male African Goshawk standing on the road, appearing to be staring at his own reflection in a puddle. We managed to walk down to the Kamiranzovu Swamp, but it was so wet that we recorded not a single bird at the swamp, although I got a Red-throated Alethe on the way back and Jo spotted a Grey-winged Robin-Chat....
The next day we went along Bigugu, with the excellent guide Narcisse for company. He knows almost every call in the forest! Driving along the road, we came across a Handsome Francolin, who stuck around long enough for quick photos. I decided to let Narcisse take Jo and his client all the way to the summit, while I lingered to enjoy the birds along the way. Although I got some nice pics of Regal Sunbird and recordings of a range of apalises and other species, I made the wrong decision. Narcisse confidently guided Jo and Peter to good views of almost every endemic ever seen along Bigugu(!), including the two that are rapidly turning out to be my bogey species; Archer's Robin-Chat (I hear it everywhere, just can't see it!) and the real speciality of Bigugu, Red-collared Mountain Babbler! After lunch Jo drove us along the Boyeye Road (south towards Burundi) in his Land Rover. We stopped and took a 1-hour walk at altitude 2300m. Highlights included lots of Purple-breasted Sunbirds, Doherty's Bush-Shrike, Waller's Starling, and a lone male Violet-backed Hyliota calling from a tree top, another of Nyungwe's specialities. Narcisse picked up the calls of more Red-collared Mountain Babblers, but, alas they never came into view. Later that afternoon I took a stroll along the Green Trail (renamed Igishigishigi Trail, after my favourite Rwandan tree) to have a look at the canopy walkway that they've just started constructing in the forest. This trip turned out to be much more productive for me than Bigugu, including (finally) my first Yellow-eyed Black Flycatcher and Rwenzori Hill Babbler (both species photographed). I also recorded Red-throated Alethe's call for the first time, and listened in vain to the haunting calls of another pair of Archer's Robin-chat in nearby impenetrable thicket! I stayed out until dusk, and was treated to views of at least 8 Montane Orioles hawking for insects in the canopy far above as the light faded.
Several parties of Banded Prinia were seen on this trip, and I noticed, that, in contrast to illustrations in Stevenson and Fanshawe, all the birds here (subspecies given as melanops) clearly have a red, not pale eye.
Other Albertine endemics seen on the trip included Rwenzori Turaco, Rwenzori (Collared) Apalis, Mountain Masked Apalis, Rwenzori Batis, Regal Sunbird, Blue-headed Sunbird and Stripe-breasted Tit, all of which were seen several times. We also got good views of Black-billed Turaco on two occasions, which is a truly stunning bird. It's difficult to explain how, but it outdoes even the Great Blue Turaco and Rwenzori Turaco hands down for beauty; the illustrations in Stevenson & Fanshawe don't do it justice.
Several `suspected' species (all of which provided inconclusive views) included Malachite Sunbird and Broad-tailed Warbler in the `Rwenzori DC' Swamp, a tantalisingly brief appearance of what was probably a Yellow-bellied Wattle-eye (I didn't manage to get my bins on it in time) near the Banda Chimps and a brief view of what I think was a Neumann's/Short-tailed Warbler, which, as with my 2 confirmed sightings in Nyungwe and Gishwati, was working its way through the undergrowth and mid-canopy with a feeding party dominated by African Yellow White-eyes. As well as missing out on views of Archer's Robin-chat (again), Red-collared Mountain Babbler (again) and Grauer's Swamp Warbler (rain stopped play), I also failed with aplomb to see Grauer's Warbler, despite hearing singing birds several times along Bigugu. That gives me four reasons to go back as soon as possible – maybe I'll try the canopy walkway, despite my fear of heights!
Dodgy photos of several of these fantastic birds are on ABID:
Handsome Francolin (1st for ABID)
http://www.birdquest.net/afbid/latestimages.php?func=latestview&totalimages=60&pageno=14&pagesize=1
Regal Sunbird
http://www.birdquest.net/afbid/latestimages.php?func=latestview&totalimages=60&pageno=17&pagesize=1
Rwenzori DC Sunbird
http://www.birdquest.net/afbid/latestimages.php?func=latestview&totalimages=60&pageno=19&pagesize=1
http://www.birdquest.net/afbid/latestimages.php?func=latestview&totalimages=60&pageno=21&pagesize=1
Stripe-breasted Tit
http://www.birdquest.net/afbid/latestimages.php?func=latestview&totalimages=60&pageno=13&pagesize=1
Yellow-eyed Black Flycatcher
http://www.birdquest.net/afbid/latestimages.php?func=latestview&totalimages=60&pageno=12&pagesize=1
Evergreen-forest Warbler
http://www.birdquest.net/afbid/latestimages.php?func=latestview&totalimages=60&pageno=17&pagesize=1
African Wet Goshawk admiring his reflection in a puddle
http://www.birdquest.net/afbid/latestimages.php?func=latestview&totalimages=60&pageno=23&pagesize=1
Some of these are exceptionally poor in quality, which is becoming my trademark bird photo signature.
I'll try to get as many of my recordings of the Albertine endemic species up onto Xeno-canto when I get the chance.
Jason
» 5 Comments
1Comment
at Friday, 29 January 2010 10:52
thank you so much for sharing this with us, Jason! Sounds like you guys had an awesome birding trip!!
2Comment
at Friday, 29 January 2010 12:59
wow!!! thank you Jason for sharing your amazing trip with us! absolutely awesome!
3Comment
at Friday, 29 January 2010 13:06
Really cool blog! Thanks for sharing!
4"Re"
at Friday, 29 January 2010 13:12
From time to time I try to detect the stuff like yours, but all the time I receive the metropcs ringtones and very often the ringtones. Though at present I eventually got what I needed.
5Comment
at Saturday, 06 February 2010 09:14
Lovely array of colourful birds seen (the majority of which I've never heard of before)...
Thank you for the report, Jason!
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