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Quiet Day's Birding in Rusumo |
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Written by Jason Anderson
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Friday, 03 September 2010 |
Following my fantastic weekend's birdwatching last week, I decided to head down to Rusumo, on the Rwanda-Tanzania border on Sunday to see if the dry weather had changed the species complexion down there.
On arrival I spent some time observing the recently-arrived House Sparrows (Rwanda's first records are only a couple of years ago). They were nesting in one of the local restaurants, and feeding alongside the N. Grey-headed Sparrows, with no apparent conflict. I got some nice pics, esp. of one proud couple on the porch of their new bijou residence. http://kilnsey.tripod.com/house_sparrow.jpg
After this I headed down towards the papyrus swamp just upstream of the falls. Due to low water levels, much of the papyrus and scrub had been cut back and replaced by sweet potato, but the birds were still fairly plentiful. White-browed Coucal, Winding Cisticola, African Yellow Warbler and Swamp Flycatcher (including juv.) were some of the first species seen. As I followed a dodgy path into some remaining papyrus I heard White-winged Warbler, then saw Blue-headed Coucal. Playback of Papyrus Gonolek didn't elicit any response initially, but after some time a distant bird on the Tanzanian side started up, which inspired a much closer couple, just across the river to call back. One of them came into view for a few minutes.
Nearby Holub's Golden Weaver, Woodland Kingfisher (2 presumed separate records), non-breeding Fan-tailed Widowbird, Black-crowned Waxbill, Laughing Dove (incl. 2 juv.), Bronzy Sunbird, and Yellow-throated Longclaw were all about. The only bit of overgrown cultivation was looking after Western Citril, Brimstone Canary, Common Waxbill, Thick-billed Weaver and Red-faced Cisticola. The walk back to the village produced Augur Buzzard and Long-crested Eagle, as well as Ruppell's Starling and Grey-backed Fiscal.
I headed up the hill that led downstream of the falls, hoping that the strong wind would turn up some nice raptors or even migrants. By the time I got up to the hilltop, the winds were getting stronger. As well as the ubiquitous Black (presumed Yellow-billed) Kites and common Augur Buzzards, I spotted what I suspect to be the resident pair of peregrines whipping up and over the hilltop on an invisible conveyor belt of wind. I suspect that this pair might be nesting on the cliffs on the Tanzanian side, just downstream of the falls. I've seen them previously and the habitat seems good for them.
Little and Cinnamon-chested Bee-eaters were in the mixed eucalypt and scrub nearby. A (possibly family?) group of 4 Familiar Chats posed co-operatively for photos ( http://kilnsey.tripod.com/familiar_chat.jpg ) followed by a party of Green-winged Pytilia. I seem to have a lot more records of these 2 species since July. I stopped and sat down for a break overlooking the river valley for half an hour. A couple of distant raptors didn't come close enough for ID. Down by the river, three African Fish Eagles were waiting patiently for any casualties of the falls to surface, belaying their presence with their remarkably camp calls. (How can such a majestic bird have such a silly call?) A large white stork disappearing to the west didn't give good enough views, but seemed to have the jizz of White Stork, rather than Yellow-billed – but far from confirmed; shame. A lone female Bateleur cheered me back up as it yawed and drifted weightlessly up into the clouds, again on the Tanzanian side.
Further up the path I bumped into a pair of African Firefinch as well as Scarlet-chested and Marico Sunbirds. I had lunch on a hilltop, watched suspiciously by a tetchy gang of Trilling Cisticola, and decided to head along the ridge to a patch of eucalypt forest further west (I'm best friends with eucalypt after last weekend). Tropical Boubou was unexpected but welcome along the way. When I got there I soon located a mini-feeding party including Fork-tailed Drongo, Red-faced Crombec, Yellow Bishop (male non-breeding), Red-cheeked Cordon-Bleu, and most significantly of all 2 Pale (aka Miombo) Wren-Warblers, most probably all on a day trip from the fantastic Miombo Woodland that I envy so much on the Tanzanian side. Pale Wren-Warbler is another species that has been more apparent since the start of the dry season.
From this point on I managed to screw up several raptor sightings. A melanistic mid-sized accipter that was bugging a band of Speckled Mousebirds was probably Gabar, but it seemed to have a pale cere and (again, seemed to have) horizontal grey bars across the upper tail. Didn't get good enough views to confirm ID. Further along I found some very degraded scrub, and decided to take a shin-scratching detour across it. The two peregrines came whizzing by again, followed by another raptor so fast I couldn't even get my bins on it. Soon after, two Augur Buzzards suddenly appeared before me, utterly motionless, hanging in the prevailing north-westerly winds, as if they'd been there all afternoon. Then further away another dark raptor, larger, that had light brown on the upper coverts, as per Booted Eagle. But, this bird, as others today, seemed to have instructions to steer well clear of Homo sapiens, and it didn't come any closer. Unidentified. Shame.
Tawny-flanked Prinia and a paranoia of Arrow-marked Babblers (did you know that that's the correct collective noun for babblers?) cheered me up a bit, and then on the way back I was bowled over by a party of gracious Mosque Swallows gliding and hawking bee-eater-like over the hilltop.
I got back to Rusumo slightly annoyed by what I hadn't been able to confirm, and feeling that I'd had a quiet day. Then on return home I compared it with 3 other full days I'd had at Rusumo, and found that I'd seen more today than on any of the previous occasions. Just goes to show; familiarity can breed contempt. I hope it never does, though.
Jason
» 1 Comment
1Comment
at Friday, 03 September 2010 15:32
as i said to Jason, I had a good laugh at the Fish Eagle and "silly call" LOL, well I will now have to find a new favourite bird with a macho call LOL!
Great read, Jason, thank you so much for sharing with us again....and what a lekka day of birding you had, lucky you!
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