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Written by Jason Anderson
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Sunday, 21 February 2010 |
On Saturday I went to Akagera with several colleagues who were keen to see the wildlife there. Although they all warned me that they weren't interesting in stopping for birds, and I had resigned myself to missing a lot of good species, it turned out to be a productive day for raptors, including 5 new raptor species for my Rwandan list. On the wildlife front we had a very good trip, seeing good numbers of topi, zebra, bohor reedbuck, eland, impala, giraffe, water buffalo and warthog (all mainly in the north park, near the `Nyungwe' entrance (16 on maps). We also found the southern family of elephants (about 60 individuals) on the southern lake shores below the Akagera Lodge. Close up views were restrictive as they were in thick vegetation, but it was nice to finally locate them and to see that they are doing well.
On the northern park plains there were significant numbers of Barn Swallow with the occasional Sand Martin all hawking for insects around the game and the vehicles. A lone Pallid Harrier was my first new Rwanda record of the day, floating butterfly-like on the light winds that were sweeping in from the east. This was soon followed by 2 vultures, originally suspected to be White-backed, however as they came closer, fairly good views showed white heads and the distinctive white bellies and secondaries (on 1 bird) of the White-headed Vulture. A new species for me. A few minutes later, as we were driving across the plain, we flushed a massive bird from the ground very close by. I immediately presumed a vulture species, but its flight was more powerful, and as it gained height it showed the distinctive white belly and dark head of a Martial Eagle. Suddenly my colleagues began to show more interest in the birds! As we were on our way out I spotted a medium-sized raptor flying off in front of our car which showed a prominent white rump/tail stripe. Luckily it alighted in a tree where it stayed for fairly good views. I recognised it immediately as the stocky Western Banded Snake Eagle. The upper tail band was just visible under the folded wing, and it showed a more greyish head and nape than in Stevenson & Fanshawe. My second lifer of the day. Other highlights of the northern park included Grey Crowned Crane, Yellow-billed Oxpecker (on Water Buffalo – my first record for Rwanda), Bateleur, Openbill Stork, African Wattled Plover/Lapwing (common on plains), Black-headed Gonolek and Trilling Cisticola both calling frequently from the dense thicket near to the plains. We returned to the southern park, which also proved productive for raptors, with a Lizard Buzzard atop a dead tree near the park entrance road, another new species for me. It was already late in the day, but as we'd heard reports of the elephants nearby we popped down to the lakeside where there were plenty of the usual shorebirds (African Jacana, Squacco Heron, Fish Eagle, Egyptian Goose, Common Greenshank, Common Waxbill, Swamp Flycatcher) as well as several Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters, one of which showed fairly well for photos. An up-close encounter with two male hippos who were brawling in the shallows of Lake Ihema provided an exhilarating end to a great day. The fact that I picked up 5 new raptors for my Rwanda list indicates that I've still only scratched the surface of Akagera's birds (In 3 vehicle-based trips I've recorded only 115 of the potential 525 species seen there!). I'm planning a camping trip with more walking for my next visit in April which should hopefully produce many more species.
Jason Anderson
» 4 Comments
1Comment
at Sunday, 21 February 2010 13:36
a great round of birding it turned out to be for you! It really sounds like an awesome place...
2Comment
at Sunday, 21 February 2010 14:06
Very nice, Jason!
It is such a satisfying feeling when you manage to convert non birders into birders.
3Comment
at Tuesday, 23 February 2010 08:56
:-)
great blog thanks Jason!
4Comment
at Saturday, 27 February 2010 18:47
Well done on the 5 new raptors of which two would be lifers for me! It sounded like a very productive day!
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