As the final weeks and days ticked by we tried to fit in a few activities. We had a day in Arusha National Park. Unlike recent visits it was damp after rain, cool and not dusty. For some reason it was also quiet with few safari cars. We reversed our usual route and got to the rainforest on Ngurdoto Crater early. At the main lookout there was a large family of Guereza Colobus in the trees. Several crossed the road at one point. I don’t remember seeing them on the ground before. As we headed back down Jenny noticed something on the side of the road and we backed up to see a huge Crowned Eagle with a freshly killed Colobus.
We headed to the Momella Lakes and found about 10,000 Lesser Flamingos. What a sight! With recent rain some of the other lakes in the country are unsuitable for Flamingos and we had never seen so many here. Of interest here were Greenshank and Marsh Sandpipers in full breeding plumage as they prepared to fly up to the arctic for the breeding season. I found an Upcher’s Warbler in the acacias near the lakeside picnic site (this was a lifer).
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| Saddle-billed Stork with Cape Buffalo and Plains Zebra in the background. |
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| Little Bee-eaters are very photogenic. |
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| Cape Buffalo close to the lakeside picnic site. |
One day recently at home I heard a commotion of birds in the hedge outside a window and eventually found a pair of tree snakes hunting. They are pencil thin and very well camouflaged. Apparently they hunt the chameleons in the garden but probably take birds as well.
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Battersby's Green Snake. There are two in this photo.
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A bird guide from Melbourne - Clint Schipper - was back in Arusha to guide some clients that had been scheduled back when COVID arrived. After his tour we met up and went birding to the acacia woodland north of Oldonyo Sambu. Isihaka Salim Saidi joined us and we had a good day’s birding cut a bit short by looming storm clouds. Highlights included Common Rock Thrush, lots of Common Whitethroat, Rosy-patched Bushshrike, Red-tailed Shrike and Tiny Cisticola.
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Clint and Isihaka comparing their bird lists while a few local kids
wonder what on earth we are doing in their backyard. |
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| Red-tailed Shrike |
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| Nubian Woodpecker (female) extracting ant larvae from these galls. |
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| Foxy Lark |
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| Common Rock Thrush |
One of the more elusive birds in Africa is the African Emerald Cuckoo. It is common and often heard but calls from inside trees and seems to be able to teleport from tree to tree. The male is particularly beautiful with emerald green head, back and chest and bright yellow underparts. I have heard them many times but only seen a male once and a female (mostly brown with heavy white banding below) a couple of times. We have them calling regularly near home and the Rüppell’s Robin Chat regularly mimics the call. So I was pleased to get OK photos of a male a few days ago. The Robin Chat has been out in the open a bit more recently and I have managed some decent shots of it as well.
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| African Emerald Cuckoo |
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| Rüppell's Robin-Chat |
Our first local birding friend, James Nasary, was back in town from his job as a guide in Serengeti National Park and we arranged for a half-day’s birding in Chama Forest above Usa River. Paul Kivuyo joined us and we arrived at the forest entrance just as the light rain stopped. Birds were calling but very hard to see. I of course don’t know all the calls so missed a couple of species that the others recorded. Nevertheless I added 6 to my year list and enjoyed the company and the peace of the forest.
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| James Nasary |
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| Narina Trogon (female) |
We have finally been getting rain. It’s a case of careful what you wish for. We awoke around midnight a couple of weeks ago to heavy rain and loud, close thunder. This kept up for 6 hours. I don’t know how much we had here but it was apparently heavier to our west and caused some flash flooding and lots of eroded soil washing across the highway and into shops and houses. The deepest gutters could not cope and excavators were required to scoop out the soil. Sadly it seems at least one child was swept to her death. I have heard totals of 120 to 180 mm from the event. It has rained regularly ever since and our nearly empty water tanks are now full.
Yesterday I went with Erwin Kinsey (my boss at ECHO from 2019-20) to visit the Bandari School in Mto wa Mbu. They had land and water and want to develop an income stream from cropping and livestock enterprises. We were able to give them lots of ideas (possibly too many!) for things they can try.
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Erwin Kinsey from ECHO with Seif Sakate (in red cap),
founder of the Bandari School Project in Mto wa Mbu. |
We are emptying the larder and sorting out what we will pack and what we will leave behind. Sadly, none of our neighbours in the compound are in residence at the moment so we have to say our goodbyes to them via Whatsapp etc. It will be sad also to say goodby to the team of guards and Gladness our housekeeper. I will miss the birding, the mountain, the climate, Arusha National Park and the amusing things we see every day. I won’t miss the driving, the touts or the shouty church folk. As I write there’s one screaming at the top of his voice nearby. Not sure what he is saying but he sounds quite demented. Why they need to shout, why they need loudspeakers, why they often start up at 5am and why their neighbours put up with it are mysteries.
Our wonderful friend Stanley will come and collect us on Tuesday for the drive to the airport and we'll jet off to London.
