Arusha National Park visit

Lesser Flamingos - Jenny thought this would make a good jigsaw.

Arusha National Park is often left off the itinerary of visitors to Tanzania's National Parks.  Other parks have lions, cheetahs, rhinoceros, wildebeest, crocodiles.  Kilimanjaro has a higher mountain.  Arusha has small areas of open grassland, large areas of wetlands, woodland and forest and a huge dormant volcano looming over all.  It has a selection of large mammals - elephants, giraffe, buffalo, zebra, assorted antelope but mostly it has birds.  With 550 species recorded it has more than Tarangire and only a few less than Serengeti.  I have now seen 141 species in 5 visits - plenty of work to do still.

Hard not to photograph Little Bee-eaters.

A Rufous-naped Lark singing away (The have rufous napes in other parts of Africa!)

A Giraffe posing nicely.

It is a small park and you can drive most of it in a day.  Yesterday we decided to take a track we have avoided on previous visits in an effort to get up high.  Mostly we keep below 1600 m but there are a dozen or so bird species that only occur above about 2000 m so after a drive to the Momela Lakes we climbed to about 2200 m to a picnic ground.  The road kept going up but some people driving down said it deteriorated badly from that point on.  We possibly would have walked further up but earlier we had seen several buffalo way higher than we thought they would be.  Birding along the road and at the picnic ground produced some lifers - Abyssinian Thrush, Bar-tailed Trogon and Brown Woodland-Warbler along with other forest specialists such as Mountain Buzzard, Kenrick's Starling, Hartlaub's Turaco and Mountain Greenbul.

White-eyed Slaty Flycatcher

Brown-hooded Kingfisher

Otherwise we had a great day in the park.  It was quite busy with family groups enjoying the holiday and safari vehicles with foreign tourists but apart from a few places it was easy to get away from them all.

Giant Fig - according to the signboard you can drive an elephant-sized car through it.

Maio Waterfall above 2000 m.

Ancient Podocarps at Maio Waterfall.

Another highlight was a flock of 22 Maccoa Ducks on Small Momela Lake.  This is a close relative of the Australian Blue-billed Duck and is becoming increasingly rare.  Arusha NP is one of the few places it can be seen in any numbers - formerly in 1000s now not more than 100 at a time.

Maccoa Ducks (stiff, erect tails at the back) with Southern Pochard (at the front).

Snow and birdng at Kili Golf.

We woke last Saturday to light drizzle and when the skies cleared in the afternoon our mountain had a light dusting of snow.  It lasted through to Sunday.

Zooming in on the snow.

On Thursday (a public holiday) we went with our local birding friends James and Isaac to Kilimanjaro Golf Estate for a few hours of birding.  We met Englishman Alex Rees who lives nearby and he showed us a pond where we found at least six Greater Painted-snipe.  This species is probably not rare but is seldom seen because it usually hides in dense vegetation during the day and is active at night.  Unusually, the females take the dominant role and the males do all the incubating and chick rearing.  We suspect that breeding is about to begin because we saw some aggression between two females.

Sparring female Greater Painted-snipe

Alex had to leave us but we, plus two other late comers spent the next several hours wandering the acacia woodland and wetlands between the fairways.  We saw 74 species in all.  The Painted-snipe, Black-faced Waxbill and African Black Swift were all new for me in Tanzania.  Other highlights included Mourning Collared Dove, Namaqua Dove, Green Sandpiper, Pearl-spotted Owlet, African Hoopoe, Green Wood Hoopoe, Giant Kingfisher, Orange-breasted Bushshrike, Slate-coloured Boubou, Brubru, Black Cuckooshrike, Sombre Greenbul, Violet-backed Starling and Southern Citril.

Greater Painted-snipe (female)

Magpie Shrike

Pearl-spotted Owlet

A young Leopard Tortoise (one of the 'Little Five' along with the Elephant Shrew, the Buffalo Weaver, the Rhinoceros Beetle and the Antlion)

Little Grebe

Green Sandpiper

Long-tailed Fiscal

At home recently we have had much activity at the two birdbaths in front of our house.  Yesterday we had Red-eyed Dove, Speckled Mousebird, Rüppell's Robin-Chat, Streaky Seed-eater, Pale White-eye, Dark-capped Bulbul, Red-backed Mannikin all visiting at the same time.

Arrow-marked Babbler

Baglafecht Weaver

Speckled Mousebird

Red-backed Mannikin

Our African Goshawk pair are still incubating.  Chicks should emerge in another 10 days or so and then we can watch the regular comings and goings as they are fed.  Last night we had a Verreaux's Eagle-Owl calling in the garden but I was not able to find it roosting this morning.

Off to Arusha National Park tomorrow for the day (public holiday for Eid El Haj) and next Saturday we go to a lodge near Lake Manyara for two days as Jenny's birthday treat.

Birds, a rat and our mountain.

We've had a quiet couple of weeks.  Work and home only.  I had a cold the first week and Jenny has it now (mine was worse).  Last weekend and this we barely ventured out.  Only a trip to the supermarket and a couple of walks down through our local shopping area for fruit and veg.

One shopping highlight is the opening last week of the new Sakina Supermarket.  The old one was a landmark and we still describe where we live in reference to the old location even though it has been closed for quite a while (before we arrived at least).  A while back, shutters went up and then suddenly the new shop was opened.  We popped in to check it out last weekend.  Not fully stocked yet but looking promising for many things we need.

We've had another rat.  It was popping in each evening after lights out but we have been careful not to leave any food out.  Everything is either in cupboards or containers.  I had my lunchbox on the counter with a frozen, home-made bread roll in it to thaw overnight.  The rat made a great attempt to get my roll so next night we set a trap and dispatched it.  So far none have come back.

This is quite tough plastic!

On Monday we came home and the Arrow-marked Babbler family was more than usually agitated about something in the garden.  I went to investigate and found a Spotted Eagle-Owl roosting on a water tank ignoring the Babblers.  It posed for several photos.  I assume it is still around somewhere but haven't seen it again (or heard it during the night).  A common bird but the first one for me.  Hope it stays to eat a few rats.

Spotted Eagle-Owl

I noticed a large nest that had appeared suddenly in one of the Acacias in the garden.  Landlord Paul told me that African Goshawks had nested before in the garden so that's what I assume these are.  I photographed a male near the nest on a couple of occasions but wasn't sure that it was an African Goshawk as it looked a bit small.  I put photos on the Facebook Tanzania birding page and others seem to think it is AG so we'll go with that for now at least.  It will be fun watching the chicks when they hatch in a month or so.

Almost certainly a male African Goshawk but what is it eating? A rat perhaps?

Our mountain has been showing off lately with clear skies.  Hopefully we will see snow on it one day - probably early in the next wet season.  It is about 12 km away in the photos below.

View from our friend Phil's house above Ngaramtoni.

View from Jenny's work at Olkokola (over the cowsheds).

Visa progress and Tarangire National Park

Our visa situation has improved.  Jenny has a stamp in her passport saying she can work (as a missionary!) and I have a new tourist visa (good now to October 1st) and my name is on the list of approved work permits.  Hopefully soon I will receive a letter acknowledging my work permit and then we can both get our residence visas.  I went to work every day last week (except Friday) and no longer worry every time a car comes into the grounds.

Huge old Baobabs are features of the park - but where are the new ones?

Part of a large mixed herd of Wildebeest and Zebra heading to water.

The only Secretarybird we saw.

Yellow-throated Sandgrouse - a lifer for me.

Ostrich are commonly seen in small numbers.

On Friday we went to Tarangire NP for two nights.  It is only two hours from home and a relatively easy drive - bitumen except for the last few km to the park entrance.  We arrived about 0930 and drove some tracks for a couple of hours before arriving at the Safari Lodge for lunch.  After lunch we drove more trails then did a big drive to Silale Swamp on Saturday.  The internal roads are often rough with lots of small rocks so we take it much slower than the many safari trucks.  Each afternoon we were back about 1700 for a swim (Jenny) and a beer (me) before dinner at 1900.

One can get quite close to elephants.

Rüppell's Vulture

Three-banded Plover

Yellow-spotted Hyrax

Double-banded Courser

On Saturday's drive we were heading back from Silale Swamp and came across about 6-7 safari trucks stopped together.  We stopped too and managed to see one of seven lions in the long grass before one of the other drivers indicated we had a flat tyre (rear passenger side).  Question: how do you change a tire when there are seven lions 100 m away in waist-high grass? Answer: as quickly as possible.  We drove a bit further away and one of the safari truck drivers very kindly helped so it didn't take long but we were all nervous and asked the other people to watch the lions carefully.

Giraffe were not often seen.

Von der Decken's Hornbill.  These two stole snacks from people having sundowners.

Unstriped Ground Squirrel at their burrow near our tent.

Zebra were everywhere.

Tarangire Safari Lodge is seriously pleasant.  We had a cosy tent with Dikdiks, Waterbuck and Ground Squirrels roaming around.  Each night we could hear a lion roaring not too far away.  The outdoor sundowner area has probably the best view of any lodge we've been to - over the Tarangire River with Elephant, Giraffe, Zebra etc. coming and going constantly.  Great food and friendly attentive staff - what more could you want?  This visit it was at near capacity but everything ran smoothly at meal times.  Our spare tire was not as inflated as it might have been so we asked for air on Sunday morning and the lodge mechanic promptly turned up with a compressor.  Then we looked at the punctured tire and found a ridiculously small screw embedded.  All the km of stony roads and we were brought undone by a screw!  The mechanic fixed our tire as well (no charge) so we were soon on our way with no need to find a tire repair place on the way home.

Red-and-yellow Barbet on a termite mound.

Spotted Thick-knee

We saw 118 bird species and many mammals.  Best birds were Yellow-throated Sandgrouse (lifer), Ostrich, Yellow-necked Spurfowl, White-bellied Bustard, Namaqua Dove, Saddle-billed Stork, Glossy Ibis, Secretarybird, Rüppell's Vulture, Martial Eagle, Pearl-spotted Owlet, African Hoopoe, D'Arnaud's Barbet, Bearded Woodpecker, Pygmy Falcon, Banded Martin, Northern Pied Babbler, Silverbird, Chestnut Swallow, White-headed Buffalo Weaver, Red-headed Weaver and Green-winged Pytilia.  Mammals included many Elephants, Zebra, Wildebeest and smaller numbers of Buffalo, Giraffe, Impala, Eland and Gazelle.  We also saw several Mongoose, Squirrel, Rock Hyrax, a Lion and a road-killed small, spotty cat (Genet, Serval or similar).  Still no Leopard!

White-headed Buffalo Weaver

Back to work tomorrow - no plans for more safaris until late September when friends are coming from Warrnambool and we hope to go with them to Lake Natron for a few days.

Elephants wading in Silale Swamp.

Two contrasting bushwalks and a few unrelated incidents

Lower slopes of Mount Meru above Tengeru

There's a group called the Twende Hiking Group (twende means "let's go!").  Every Sunday they organise a 4-5 hour walk to a different location around Arusha.  Jenny went on quite a few of these when she lived here in 2014/5.  Last Sunday we went on one with about 15 other folk, (locals and expats) to the steep farming land and bush above Tengeru (near Usa River).  This is on the lower slopes of Mount Meru.  I took my binoculars.  Turns out this was more of a forced march than a walk, I hardly saw a bird and was knackered for a day or so afterwards.  We walked about 12 km in 4 hours.

Potato crop.

A contour drain to stop erosion on these steep slopes.

Looking south over Tengeru town.

There's another group called the Attraction Birding Club which comprises a handful of young, local aspiring bird guides.  I corresponded with James Nasary during the week and we arranged an outing to Oldonyo Sambu about 30 km nw of Arusha on the highway to Kenya.  OS is a small village with a weekly market (lots of Maasai come to trade sheep, goats and cattle as well as the usual market food and goods).  Above the town is a large stony hill covered in good quality Acacia woodland and this is where we went birding with James and several of his mates yesterday.

Looking west over Oldonyo Sambu village.

We walked about 4 km in 4 hours and saw 40 species of birds.  Long-billed Pipit was a lifer for me and several others I'd only seen once before (e.g. Abyssinian Scimitarbill, Red-throated Tit, Foxy Lark, Grey Wren-Warbler, Banded Parisoma, Abyssinian Wheatear and Southern Grosbeak-Canary).

White-fronted Bee-eater

Abyssinian Scimitarbill

A mixed heard of cattle, sheep and goats heading to the market.

The chaps knew their stuff and were very welcoming of us.  There is a lot of competition in the safari game and not enough tourists so opportunities for a career in bird guiding are limited.  A pity when the typical safari guide knows little about birds.  We will definitely go birding with James and friends again soon.

White-bellied Canary

Long-billed Pipit (note the diagnostic, short hind claw)

The Attraction Birding Club

Some random incidents during recent days:

• We saw what was likely to be a rabid dog on the highway near home.  It looked deranged and was drooling
• I was stopped by traffic police and told to turn off my headlights (I often drive with them on during the day).  Not sure why but I turned them off, was told to proceed, turned them back on and drove off
• On the way to birding yesterday morning a bicycle with two men on board crashed alongside our car.  The front wheel stopped and the bike flipped.  The front rider sailed up and came down smack on his head.  We stopped and James ran back to help.  The front rider was out cold but the other chap was OK.  Others came to help and the first chap started to stir.  We left them to sort it out.  Apparently a dangling rope snagged the front wheel.

Still no permit/visa.  One week to go before our tourist visas expire!