Birding in Rwanda

Trip to Nyungwe Rainforest, SW Rwanda 20-21 Oct 2010

2010-10-31T11:07:00.009+02:00

View over Nyungwe forest from the Bigugu Trail (Photo by Marcell Claassen)

Posted by Jason on the Rwanda_BurundiBirds group on 30 October 2010

Last week I took a few days off work to show a visiting cousin around Rwanda. As well as a smashing trip to see the gorillas, I persuaded him to come down to Nyungwe to see the chimps and other primates too. Sure enough we were successful on all these fronts, and it turned out that there was time to do a spot of birding too.

The first day we went to see the chimps in Cyamudongo (a small tract of forest between Nyungwe and the DRC border, at about 1800m), with the excellent guide Narcisse Ndayambaje, whose mastery of forest birdcalls still amazes me. We arrived at dawn, and although we couldn't see them, Narcisse pointed out the distinctive call of Cabanis's Greenbul, a first for me. We also heard Grey Apalis, Narina's Trogon, Red-capped Robin-Chat and White-headed Wood-hoopoe. We had no time to stop and bird, as we wanted to get to the chimps before they `de-nested' (as they say in the chimp world – the English equivalent is `get up'). We succeeded in this and were rewarded with good views of chimps all around us, some getting up, others already feeding, and one or two of the larger males moseying along the forest trails nearby. A curious youngster came very close to see what we were, and every 5 minutes or so, their call rang out all around us. Nearby, mona monkeys were feeding (apparently they actively seek out the company of chimps, unlike other monkeys). Fantastic! But no birds.

Luckily, on the way back, we spotted several feeding parties. The first was a silent, stealthy party, moving through the mid-canopy, and allowed me to get good views of Cabanis's Greenbul. The pale throat and belly showed well, as did the rufous upper tail, but the pale eye ring was not as exaggerated as shown in Stevenson & Fanshawe. As well as Yellow-whiskered Greenbul, I spotted a couple of small birds feeding in a strombosia tree, which turned out to be Green Twinspot, male and female. On the way back to the car park we came across another feeding party in open woodland that included Ludher's Bush-Shrike, Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird, Collared Sunbird, Grey-backed Camaroptera, and my first record of Yellowbill for Rwanda, skulking inconspicuously in a tree overgrown with creepers. This feeding party blended with another working its way through the canopy. We spotted Black Cuckoo-Shrike, Northern Puffback, Black-billed Weaver and a lone White-browed Crombec among others previously mentioned.

Back at Gisakura that afternoon, I went out on my own, and found another nice feeding party in the gardens of the ORTPN Guesthouse. It included White-tailed Blue Flycatcher, Dusky Flycatcher, White-eyed Slaty-Flycatcher (incl. juvenile), Northern DC Sunbird, Paradise-Flycatcher, Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater, Western Citril, Black-billed Weaver, Collared Sunbird and Brown-throated Wattle-eye. However the two highlights of this party were a Grey-headed Nigrita (my first record for Rwanda) and a Mountain Masked Apalis foraging in a pile of discarded Eucalypt branches on the ground – surprisingly for a species that I've only ever seen in the canopy or mid-storey. I got some nice photos which reveal a very different looking bird to that illustrated in Stevenson & Fanshawe – less black on the nape and throat, with larger white areas on the sides of the neck. The colour on the wings and mantle was very yellow, rather than a dull olive tone. I wondered if it could be an immature?: http://kilnsey.tripod.com/mountain_masked_apalis1.jpg http://kilnsey.tripod.com/mountain_masked_apalis2.jpg Later that afternoon I also found a female African Goshawk perching inconspicuously in the lower branches of a tree nearby.

The next day, as we only had a free morning and no car, we decided to do the waterfall walk with Narcisse. As soon as we started off, just behind the guesthouse, Narcisse heard Mountain Illadopsis (identifying the calls of both parent and young), which after a little patience all showed well foraging near the ground. Chinspot Batis and Mountain Masked Apalis were also around. The next bird was a real surprise – Purple-breasted Sunbird… in eucalypt. Narcisse remarked that he had seen very good numbers of these birds over the last few months, but that this was the first time he'd seen it in eucalypt. The male and presumed female were at the top of a tree and appeared to be feeding on the eucalypt flowers.

The tea plantations produced the usual poverty of species, but as well as the Streaky Seedeaters, Stonechats and Common Waxbills on the paths, there were Barn Swallows mixing with the Angola Swallows hawking overhead. A Siffling Cisticola was my third record of this species on tea plantations here, and Fawn-breasted Waxbills were a surprise, seen twice today in this area.

As we got closer to the forest, the calls of Rwenzori and Great Blue Turaco were both heard. Then on the top of a tree in a small isolated tract of native woodland I spotted two bright orioles that turned out to be Eurasian Golden Orioles, male and female with the former showing the distinctive black wing and lores and yellow wing spot. This was a first for both me and Narcisse, and I think for the atlas – Is it Marcell? (Marcell: this is indeed our 1st record for the Atlas)

African Green Pigeon, Grey Apalis, European Bee-eater and Mountain Buzzard (a pair) were all recorded before we made it to the forest proper. Despite the fact that it was already 9am, there was quite a lot of noise and activity in the forest. Red-faced Woodland-Warbler was the first we saw well among the many Northern Double-Collared Sunbirds. A little further on a Great Blue Turaco showed well for my cousin, who was completely amazed by this, his first turaco. A pair of Eastern Mountain Greenbuls were next and Black Saw-wing were seen overhead as we dropped down into the valley. As the undergrowth got thicker we came across several Equatorial Akalats, one of which posed patiently for photos ( http://kilnsey.tripod.com/equatorial_akalat.jpg ), followed by a similar bird with a distinctive light grey stripe above the eye. This turned out to be my first ever record of White-bellied Robin-Chat, which, as the book says, looks very much more like an akalat. The pale stripe is much stronger than in S&F (shown better in Sinclair and Ryan), but the tail is clear – orange outer feathers and a dark centre. Smashing bird. http://kilnsey.tripod.com/white-bellied_robin-chat.jpg

As we needed to get back for a 12 o'clock bus, Narcisse and Kev (my cousin) decided to pick up the pace and make it to the waterfall. I decided to lag behind and enjoy the birds, which were still showing well in the cool valley. Now, last time I decided to part with Narcisse in the forest (Bigugu Trail in January), he managed to find pretty much every montane endemic going (including my bogey species - Red-collared Mountain Babbler), while I spent an hour watching a pair of Regal Sunbirds nestbuilding, so I was a little apprehensive. However, this time I definitely made the right decision. The first stream valley there produced smashing views of Mountain Wagtail. Two male Black-faced Rufous Warblers were calling, and I was lucky enough to see a female briefly as she foraged in dense undergrowth, producing a constant `zik, zik' contact call. Both of these were new for me in Rwanda. The same valley also produced Blue-headed Sunbird, Regal Sunbird (without doubt my favourite bird in Nyungwe – this male was just incredible in his fresh breeding plumage – a little rainbow ball flying through the forest), Yellow-eyed Black Flycatcher (a noisy pair with a juvenile - here's one of the adults: http://kilnsey.tripod.com/yellow-eyed_black_flycatcher1.jpg ), Rwenzori Batis (also with a juvenile showing the brown-flecked crown), and also Black-billed Turaco (although I could only hear him – no views alas). Narcisse and Kev. showed up about an hour later, looking very tired, and having seen only the waterfall. So we pegged it back up to Gisakura and just made our bus.

Yellow-eyed Black Flycatcher

What a magical forest Nyungwe is. As the bus sped through the forest I felt sad that I was perhaps leaving it for the last time… In November I'm off back to the UK.

Jason

Common (Steppe) Buzzard in Musanze

2010-10-26T15:55:00.004+02:00

I came across this bird at our site (Ikoro) in Ruhengeri (Musanze) this morning. Altitude is 1850m and habitat is eucalypt 'forest' (6.5 hectares) with wild understorey (dense in some places) and adjacent to the road to the Cyanika border with Uganda. According to one of my guys, the bird has been around for a few days now.

It had been perched when I saw it the 1st time from where it flew to two other perches, avoiding my camera at all costs it seemed. I caught a hint of what appeared to be a pale rump - paler than the rest of the brown back and the dark fingers were distinct. Flight was slow 'relaxed' wingbeats. The last time it took off, it started circling higher and further albeit with hardly a wingbeat so must've found some good currents. This is the only time I managed to get photos.

Dick Forsman has kindly just confirmed the ID as Common (Steppe) Buzzard Buteo buteo vulpinus. This is the 1st record for this species at our site and also the first that I have for Ruhengeri where the bird was not on soaring high on passage.

Trip to Bare & 2nd Country record for Peter's Twinspot

2010-10-22T12:33:00.003+02:00

Posted by Jason on the Rwanda_BurundiBirds group on 18 October 2010

On Sunday I went to my favourite papyrus swamp near Kibungo. As well as fantastic views of my favourite pair of Papyrus Gonoleks, I came across a pair of Peter's Twinspot, which is apparently only the second record for Rwanda, here in the northwestern most corner of its range.

A very early morning moto dropped me off at Bare and I walked down to the bridge between Ngoma and Kirihe Districts (GPS S 2.29347, E 30.50067) before the mist had cleared. Despite the thick white blanket of cloud, the dew raining off the trees and the rather persistent mozzies, the birds were already active when I arrived, with the call of the White-winged Warbler ringing out every 30m or so as I walked down, along with more occasional Greater Swamp Warblers gargling their way through their curious repertoire.

Almost immediately (where I saw my first ever pair), a pair of Papyrus Gonoleks came into view, and turned on their amazing duet for me. Since the rains started (approx. 1 month) the PGs have been reasserting their territory. This pair provided some smashing pics:
http://kilnsey.tripod.com/pap1.jpg ; http://kilnsey.tripod.com/pap2.jpg

Other good birds in this early period included Collared Sunbird, European Bee-eater, Meyer's Parrot, Vieillot's Black Weaver (lots), Yellow-throated Greenbul, Holub's Golden Weaver (got lovely photos of a pair nestbuilding), Winding and Red-faced Cisticola (alas still no Carruther's!), Yellow Bishop (males just starting to adorn breeding plumage), Grey-capped Warbler, Mackinnon's Shrike, Spur-winged Goose, Black Crake, Yellow-billed Duck and Woodland Kingfisher.

Migrants included a steady stream of European Bee-eaters, at least 3 Common Buzzard, one Wahlberg's Eagle, and one (perhaps an intra-African migrant?) Ayres's Hawk-Eagle with its very distinctive underwing markings and flight pattern. My 2nd record for Rwanda.

As the mist rose, and the day began to heat up, I headed north east along the edge of the papyrus, finding several nice valleys with remnant or degraded woodland. These provided Lesser Honeyguide, E. Grey Plantain-eater, Black-headed Oriole, Narina Trogon (a bit of a surprise, but it gave fantastic views as it slouched nonchalantly over a branch in a big fig tree), Copper Sunbird, Grey-backed Camaroptera, Siffling Cisticola (in nearby scrub), Green-backed Woodpecker (only my 3rd record for Rwanda of this dainty little guy, calling with a surprisingly plover-like two part slurred whistle), African Dusky Flycatcher, Chinspot Batis, Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater, African Citril, Green-headed Sunbird, White-chinned Prinia and Banded Mongoose hurrying along busily in front of me as I sat for lunch.

The edge of the papyrus also produced Black-and-white Mannikin, Cape Wagtail, Black headed (melanocephalus) Weaver (males just starting to come into breeding plumage), Yellow-throated Longclaw (surprisingly! These guys get everywhere), African Marsh Harrier, Northern Brown-throated Weaver, Swamp Flycatcher, Blue Monkey (not really a bird, but visible today as they were coming to the edges of the swamps to feed on the palm dates - Is this Phoenix Palm on the edges of the papyrus?), and I also found a pair of Spot-flanked Barbets nesting in the stump of an old palm, where they'd chiselled out a perfectly round nesthole: http://kilnsey.tripod.com/barb1.jpg

On my way back, I stumbled haphazardly on the highlight of the day, a pair of scruptiously beautiful Peter's Twinspots, feeding very casually on the freshly dug bean fields between overgrown vegetation and the edge of the swamp. What an amazing stunner this guy is, and his wife was quite cute too! Wow! Managed to get photos of what was a first for me, and it turned out, only the second record for Rwanda: http://kilnsey.tripod.com/peter1.jpg

This week I'm off on a whistle-stop tour of Nyungwe, Cyamudongo and then up to the Virungas to see chimps, gorillas, hopefully a few birds. I feel like a child on Xmas eve!

Jason

Black-crowned Waxbill - altitudinal wanderings?

2010-10-22T11:55:00.006+02:00

Another interesting set of sightings from Dave up at Sabinyo Silverback lodge. (NW Rwanda adjacent to Volcanoes NP)

He mentioned the other day to me that he had seen Black-crowned Waxbill Estrilda nonnula up at the lodge - I thought this very odd as I've only recorded Black-headed/Kandt's Waxbill E. atricapilla there and the altitude 2500+m would be theoretically too high for E. nonnula.

Black-crowned Waxbill (photo by Dave Richards)

Dave got this photo of an unmistakable E. nonnula during March-June stint up at the lodge. The vent is white and the white underparts correspond with my photos (one below) of E. nonnula down in Ruhengeri (altitude 1840m). Even More interesting is that Dave saw some nonnula feeding with a loose flock of atricapilla! Something I've not come across in Rwanda at all before.

Stevenson & Fanshawe (Field Guide to the Birds of East Africa - Kenya Tanzania Uganda Rwanda Burundi) give altitudinal range for E. nonnula as 800-2200m and Zimmerman et al (Birds of Kenya & Northern Tanzania) as 1500-2000m - either way, these birds are minimum 300m above the range. Britton (Britton 1980) in "Birds of East Africa" does not refer to Rwanda but mentions Virunga Volcanoes, Kigezi in SW Uganda where E. nonnula occurs below 1600m. An altitudinal range of 800-2200m is also given.

The habitat in this case for E. nonnula per se is thus fine i.e. forest edges and clearings but has gone at least 300m above the known (from the above literature) range.

Below I've added 2 of my photos of the both E. nonnula (Ruhengeri 1840m altitude) and E. atricapilla (also lodge location at c.2520m altitude)

Black-crowned Waxbill E. nonnula photographed in Ruhengeri town (Rwanda) at 1840m altitude.

Black-headed (Kandt's) Waxbill E. atricapilla photographed in 2009 at Sabinyo Silverback Lodge at c.2520m altitude

Rufous-chested Sparrowhawk (Accipiter rufiventris) - Kinigi, Rwanda

2010-10-18T08:24:00.005+02:00

I went to visit Dave Richards (17 Oct 2010) up at the lodge in Kinigi after he told me about "different/strange" nesting Accipiters. This was also posted on the Rwanda_Burundi group on 17 October 2010 (Dave's photos can also be seen on the group messages).

Female Rufous-chested Sparrowhawk which had been feeding the chicks in the nest

As background;
- the location is a mix of bamboo and dense shrubs with patches of Eucalypt trees and located about 800m-1km from the perimeter of the Volcanoes National Park, Kinigi (about 20km from Musanze) and at altitude of c2560m.
- earlier the year Dave had regularly seen a pair of Rufous-chested Sparrowhawks (A. rufiventris) hunting around the lodge area including once seeing an adult take a waxbill.

Today;
- nest located at the edge of a stand of Eucalypt trees about 20-30m high; typical small stick nest - one composite of Dave's photos attached shows a juvenile bird on the nest
- Dave has regularly witnessed the female adult feed the 2 chicks in the nest; the latter fledging about 2 weeks ago - no male bird accipiter was seen anywhere near this location up to this stage.
- my photos of the juvenile, a very obliging model eventually, was just after it had caught and eaten a Chubb's Cisticola and it was very obviously rather stuffed.

Rufous-chested Sparrowhawk - juvenile

Now the 'strangeness' - we both managed to get photos of the female and a juvenile; the undersides are very similar with blotchy, almost streaky rufous marks on the chest going down toward the belly with a stronger rufous wash/patch on the flanks. In the event of this being A. rufiventris, the underside plumage of the adult female is in direct contrast to all literature (Sinclair & Ryan, Zimmerman et al, Kemp, Britton and Stevenson & Fanshawe) which mention that the female is darker underside than the adult male.

Rufous-chested Sparrowhawk - juvenile

The underside plumage of the juvenile as seen and photographed is not illustrated, mentioned or even alluded to in any of the above literature. The only 'agreement' is on the feint /pale eye-stripe and (as mentioned in 2-3 cases) the rufous ear area giving the bird a capped look.

Responses this far;

Callan Cohen (Birding Africa): The juvenile plumage of Rufous-chested Sparr is quite variable, but your bird is certainly consistent with what we see in South Africa (the same race, rufiventris) -- normally the chest is streaked rufous (can be quite dark brownish), but then some of the feathers show some some barring which normally becomes more apparent lower down (you can see some of these barred feathers on this bird). They can end up looking quite mottled. Juvenile birds around Cape Town quite often show those white feathers on the back so it's curious as to why that doesn't seem to be mentioned in the literature.

Etienne Marais (Indicator Birding): Little Sparrowhawk is known to breed while still showing juvenile plumage, in the case of the pair I was monitoring in Pretoria, South Africa the female died of unknown causes and was replaced within ten days by a “young” female still showing immature plumage. I’ve heard other reports of this from Hugh Chittenden in Zululand.

Update (22 Oct)

Michel Louette (Head of Department African Zoology, Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium) I have checked the specimens in our collection. These birds are A. rufiventris. The parent bird must be a “second calendar year”. A. rufiventris is very close to A. nisus, based on the COI molecular study (see Van Houdt, J., Sonet, G., Breman, F. and Louette, M. DNA barcoding of European Accipiter and their African relatives. Abstract 2009 EOU Zurich).

Bill Clark: I was shown a nest of a pair near Stellenbosch in Cape Province years ago in which the female was not fully adult. The pair looked just like yours.

Dave Richards managed to get photos of another individual yesterday (21 Oct) that was continuously calling throughout the morning until c.2:30pm. Below is the photo - this appears to be a 5th individual as it's clearly not one of the 1st three we photographed and is also not the male bird we saw fly past us the other that had the dark rufous underside - a textbook version of A. rufiventris male.

(photo by Dave Richards)

Migrants and "wind-blowns" in Ruhengeri (Musanze)

2010-10-11T15:00:00.001+02:00

I arrived back in Ruhengeri (Musanze) Saturday (9 Oct) to some interesting birds. The last few days before my arrival there had been fairly severe storms and northerly winds which may have played a role in the following records.

First "oddity" in the garden was a pair of Ring-necked Doves, not a bird really seen in this neck of the woods with only 5 records on the Atlas database from the lodge site at the edge of Ruhengeri town.

This was followed by a Ross' Turaco moving between the various avocado and fig trees in my and the adjoining properties. After about 15 minutes we heard a ruckus in one of the trees next door and saw the Augur Buzzard trying to get to the now madly scrambling Turaco. This is the 1st record I have for this species north of Kigali - all other records are from East and SW Rwanda and Kigali.

Meanwhile I'd texted Jason about the sightings and while reading his response about Common Buzzards in Kibungo, we had 4 flying over in southerly direction, very high but a certain ID. The only sightings before I've had of Common Buzzards here was with Jason at Lake Ruhondo when they were on passage back north during April/May.

Jason's note to me about "heaps" of migrants out Kibungo side on Saturday might also indicate a huge movement due to the strong northerly winds.

Trip to Southern fringes of Akagera NP (3 Oct 2010)

2010-10-11T14:36:00.003+02:00

Posted by Jason on the Rwanda_BurundiBirds group on 27 September 2010

On Sunday I visited the southern fringes of Akagera National Park for a full-day's birding. My aim was to reach the shores of Lake Ihema, which I just managed, and had a very interesting day's birding in the process. I made a trip to this part of the park back in February, although then I went due east. This time, I wanted to stay on the periphery of the park (south east from Nyankora -1.938018° + 30.669278° to -1.961080° + 30.717770°) and make it to the shores of the lake; partly to investigate the human impact on this border area, and partly to get to the lake without coming across any Buffalo, which are, according to the locals, rather common in this part of the park.

See pic: http://kilnsey.tripod.com/south_akagera.jpg

I set off from Nyankora at just before 7am. In the farming valley just east of the town were a pair of Thick-billed Weavers, plentiful Scarlet-chested Sunbirds and Western Citrils. I didn't hang around too long, given the distance I had to cover and the rather Velcro-like nature of the children in this particular corner of Rwanda. As I sped up the hillside towards the transmitter mast that marks the south western corner of the park, I spotted Southern Black Flycatcher (I often see this species in the plantain groves), Eastern Black-headed Oriole, Black-crowned Tchagra (this seems to be much commoner nowadays – and nearly always in drier habitat than Brown-crowned) and Ring-necked Dove. The first interesting bird was a Copper Sunbird, a species I haven't seen since 9th May (and interestingly according to the Tanzanian Bird Atlas Yahoo Group, a species with local seasonal movements).

Migrants (very obvious today) at this stage included European Bee-eater (today's count was a minimum 120 birds – from just 3 parties alone) and Barn Swallow, which were omnipresent all day long; feeding, so v. difficult to count.

Black-collared Barbet was the first real fix; my 3rd record for Rwanda (my 1st, a breeding record, was nearby, and the other was also in the park). I found a fruiting… tree (not sure about the species), which provided the first of many Spotted Flycatchers as well as Ross's Turaco, Meyer's Parrot and more Common Bulbuls than you could shake a stick at, and before I knew it I was at the hill top mast, watching at a Familiar Chat, and spotting a non-breeding Yellow Bishop male nearby. As soon as I hit the park fringes, the species changed. I heard Yellow-breasted Apalis, Green-backed Camaroptera, and more distant, the call of African Grey Hornbill (the first time I've heard it in Rwanda, surprisingly – pre-breeding behaviour?). The Miombo woodland just beneath the mast had suffered from forest fire this summer, however, it was regenerating fast, with few trees burnt, and a fresh carpet of grass so green I was almost tempted to graze.

Collared Flycatcher
A little further and Marico Sunbird, Green Wood-hoopoe and Miombo Wren-warbler all came into range. The Spotted Flycatchers were very numerous here. At least 12 separate individuals within 30 minutes. Then I spotted a (female/non-breeding) Ficedula flycatcher also nearby. It took a while to get good views of, but when I did, the lack of white on the median coverts, combined with the fairly pale neck sides and no trace of a paler rump showed it to be a Collared Flycatcher, only my 2nd record for Rwanda after being shown one on Marcell's plot, and my first for Akagera or the east. Poor quality pics here: http://kilnsey.tripod.com/collared_flycatcher.jpg (photo on left)

This Collared Flycatcher turned out to be the harbinger of one of those golden birding periods (often early morning), when you can't point your bins anywhere without seeing beauty. Above, a party of over 50 European Bee-eaters swooped down to hawk above the trees, a few alighting for a well-deserved break on their way south. Another Pale Wren-warbler confided in me, allowing a few nice pics, and then one of my favourites of all: Souza's Shrike – surprisingly my first record for the park, and as with previous birds, quite confiding for photos (photo below): http://kilnsey.tripod.com/souzas_shrike.jpg What's interesting about this bird is how weak the brown is on the mantle and wings. Far closer to Mackinnon's than Red-backed. Then White-winged Black Tit, Red-headed Weaver (male looking bloody marvellous in breeding garb), Siffling Cisticola, African Paradise-Flycatcher and Black-backed Puffback.

Souza's Shrike

The rush eventually died off, and I headed on towards the lake. In a small gulley below I found Lesser Honeyguide, Collared Sunbird, Sulphur-breasted Bush-shrike and Black-faced Waxbill. Above I spotted a male Bateleur, followed soon after by a female, and then another raptor broke the skyline: The distinctive contrasts of Brown Snake-eagle were easy to ID; my first record for Rwanda. A nice cameo, but it was soon gone back over the hilltop. As I passed through the thickest woodland in the gulley, a small dark sunbird that showed well turned out to be Purple-banded, my 2nd confirmed for Rwanda. As I began to come out onto the plains, Crested Barbet, Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird (this turned out to be my 1000th bird record for the park) and Tabora Cisticola all showed up. A feeding party with Red-cheeked Cordon-Bleus and Trilling Cisticolas also turned up a finer delicacy: migrant Icterine Warblers, at least 2 (followed by another presumed different 2 birds half an hour later). A distant Greater Honeyguide was calling and White-headed Saw-wings were feeding low overhead as my phone went. I sat down for a 10-minute chat with my mum, who complained about English weather and her computer blues as I sat under an acacia tree in the blistering sunshine, happy that I was nowhere else.

As the plain flattened out, more birds followed: Chinspot Batis, Augur Buzzard, Lilac-breasted Roller, juvenile Grey-headed Kingfisher, and then Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater (this one the first of 3 seen today at 1340m – see previous discussion on the altitude flexibility of this species – I think this is our lowest confirmed record for Rwanda).

The sun wasn't planning to let off, so I decided to pick up the pace in order to make the lakeside. It was already 11am, and I had drunk half of my 3 litres of water. The park edge on this side is marked by a 4 foot-deep ditch followed by a bank (created since Google Earth pics were taken), presumably to keep the buffalo in and the cows out (although it is broken in several places, probably intentionally by cattle grazers taking livestock in). The top of the bank provides a nice vantage point and a convenient path. Before I made the lake I added Slate-coloured Boubou and Red-billed Quelea to my day list.

As soon as I reached the edge of the lake, the sounds and sights changed quickly; Hadada Ibis, Squacco Heron, Helmeted Guineafowl, Woodland Kingfisher, Common Sandpiper, Malachite Kingfisher and some very tall papyrus, broken only by several thick hippo paths. I tried to call up Papyrus Gonolek and White-winged Warbler, but got just Greater Swamp Warbler and 2 tsetse flies for my troubles.

By now it was past 1pm, and I was soon going to have to turn back. My water supply wasn't looking too good – 1 litre left, and it was getting hotter. I dived into a woodland glade, one of many small, thick copses on the lakeside to find a shady spot for lunch and was delighted to come across a pair of Scaly-throated Honeyguides, very confiding, allowing very nice views. This was my first ever record for this bird, and the real gem for me today. Smashing.

I sat down to have lunch under a tree before doing a last spot of lakeside birding which turned up more really nice records. In the dead treetops above I spotted a pair of Grey Kestrels, one of them a suspected juvenile (see photo: http://kilnsey.tripod.com/grey_kestrel.jpg ) Then in the tree above me, a weird frog-like call turned out to be a Broad-billed Roller, partner calling nearby. Before I headed off, I also got Red-capped Robin-chat, Purple-crested Turaco, Black Cuckoo-shrike (fem.), and a pair of Yellow-throated Greenbul. African Fish Eagle and Common Scimitarbill were the last 2 before I began my attempt to make it back in the belting afternoon sun with only half a litre of water, and an already dry throat.

As always, the way back turned out to be much further than the way there. I had seriously underestimated my water requirements for the first time in ages, and found myself having to leave nearly all (bird) calls for attention to ensure I made it back without any danger. The two notables on the way that I couldn't miss were White-browed Coucal and White (-crested) Helmet-Shrike (at least 4). I stumbled into Nyankora a little worse for wear, and found a bar with a fridge, ice-cold water and soda to quench my raging thirst. I got a few funny looks, but savoured the moment, wondering when I would be able to get back to that magical spot, if ever? I had only scratched the surface of this lakeside woodland, and I bet there's a lot more there to be discovered. Just under 90 species. Any previous for Scaly-throated in the park, Marcell? (Marcell: these are indeed the 1st records in Atlas project for this Species)

Jason

European Bee-eater & Barn Swallow migration count, Kibungo (2 Oct)

2010-10-11T14:31:00.002+02:00

Posted by Jason on the Rwanda_BurundiBirds group on 2 October 2010

Due to the very large numbers of European Bee-eaters and Barn Swallows passing south at the moment, I decided to do a migrant point count at a fairly open spot on a ridge just north of Kibungo, SE Rwanda this morning: 2 hours from 8:30am to 10:30am. Unfortunately, a southerly breeze meant that not many birds passed through and those that did spent as much time feeding as they did travelling. Nonetheless, the following were recorded:

54 European Bee-eaters moving south over the 2 hour period.

41 Barn Swallows was the maximum count at any one time, both on the power line and hawking the football pitch nearby.

2 Sand Martins

2 Wahlberg's Eagle

1 probable Common Buzzard (rather high to be sure)

1 Aquila eagle v. high – possibly adult Steppe.

I'll try the same next Saturday.

Jason

Trip to Mount Kigali, Rwanda, 25 Sept 10

2010-09-29T13:13:00.003+02:00

Posted by Jason on the Rwanda_BurundiBirds group on 27 September 2010

Last Saturday was Umuganda, the day when everybody in Rwanda volunteers to help their local community. So I went birdwatching by myself. Not that I don't like the idea of Umuganda, just that I'm officially a volunteer 5 days a week, so I felt no pangs of guilt on my conscience when I took off at dawn for one of the largest eucalypt forests near the capital city.

The forest is atop the largest hill in the vicinity of the capital, which reaches 1850m ( 1°58'7.40"S+ 30° 2'15.10"E). I got there by 6:30 to find good numbers of Cinnamon-chested Bee-eaters picking off the eucalypt bees, including several juveniles still being fed by parents ( http://kilnsey.tripod.com/cinnamon_juv.jpg ). Around were Bronzy Sunbird, Bronze Mannikin, Brimstone Canary, White-browed Robin Chat, Red-cheeked Cordon Bleu, Yellow-fronted Canary and Scarlet-chested Sunbird. The first notable was a lone Streaky Seedeater foraging on low bushes. East of Kigali, I have no records of this species, and in the town itself it's rare. This was the first of 3 birds today, so I suspect its range is restricted by altitude in Rwanda. Above the tree tops I could hear European Bee-eaters warming up with the day. I suspected that they had roosted there, but I went on to hear them all day long. Due to the tree cover, it was difficult to estimate the numbers of individual parties, or indeed to estimate whether they were separate parties, or one bunch of birds taking a sabbatical out of their migration. 3 brief glances above the canopy produced views of 20-40 birds each time. But were they one party?

As I moved into the forest and found some reasonable undergrowth I was surprised to hear a White-browed Scrub-Robin, which I eventually tracked down. Trilling Cisticolas were around, and indeed became one of the commonest species of this woodland. Other birds that were common were: African Paradise-Flycatcher – possibly the commonest species in these woodlands (including just-fledged juvenile), White-eyed Slaty-Flycatcher and Southern Black Flycatcher, which often associated with Fork-tailed Drongo to cause a little confusion for me.

A lone Red-chested Cuckoo was a surprise, followed by lone Green-backed Camaroptera and African Thrush. As I reached the top of the hill, the forest gave way to low scrub with smaller eucalypts and pines. This habitat turned up Thick-billed Seedeater, Tropical Boubou, chasing a pair of puffbacks, which after a little observation of the female and some nice recordings of the male calling turned out to be Northern Puffback. Holub's Golden Weaver, and (finally) Common Bulbul were also here, along with a lone Willow Warbler and a pair of Yellow-throated Longclaws on the more open area.

One of the nicest surprises today was the song of Mackinnon's Shrike/Fiscal (photo above), heard on 3 occasions and recorded. It was a pleasingly melodious but hesitant warble, not at all like most of its scratchy congeners. http://kilnsey.tripod.com/mackinnons.jpg

Black Cuckoo-shrike, both male and female were in a small copse of pine trees overseeing a ground party including no less than 14 Yellow-fronted Canaries. Golden-breasted Bunting were the only other new species here. Back into the eucalypts, I picked up my first Spotted Flycatcher for this autumn. This was followed by a Lesser Honeyguide, seen very close up, but not heard.

After a spot of lunch, I was passing through a dull patch of forest when suddenly a Long-crested Eagle swooped in, followed very closely by a larger eagle. Up and down, over the trees then round and back they came, the Long-crested making an awfully cissy-like racket. It appeared to have something in its claws, that perhaps the eagle wanted. On the second flyby, the eagle gave lovely views of both underside and uppers. It turned out to be a juvenile Tawny Eagle, my first confirmed record for Rwanda, after many suspected birds on the thermals above Akagera. A surprise to confirm this species here, mind.

The most interesting turned up last. As I was recording a Black-crowned Tchagra, one of 3 singing mid-afternoon, I spotted a Narina Trogon! On the branch of a pine tree in mixed pine and eucalypt. It stayed for a few very quick photos before disappearing into a pine thicket. After Marcell's record on his site in Ruhengeri, this is the second record of Narina Trogon in exotic woodland in Rwanda. Most interesting, and as always clumsily enigmatic. One of my favourite birds in Africa. http://kilnsey.tripod.com/narina.jpg

By mid afternoon I'd exhausted the species of this woodland, topping out at just under 50. Not very much. A nice day's birding, but I've gone off eucalypt woodland. Think I'll do Akagera next weekend… again.

Jason

Trip to Abudada Dam and Mashoza Parike Forest, Kibungo, SE Rwanda (6 Sept 10)

2010-09-10T09:52:00.003+02:00

Posted by Jason on the Rwanda_BurundiBirds group on 10 September 2010

Photo of Mushoza/Parike Forest (archive photo by Marcell Claassen)

Monday was a public holiday here in Rwanda, so I took the opportunity to see what the newly-returned rains had done to my local dam and remnant forest tract, just NW of Kibungo. I had an amazing day's birding, with 111 species (my highest count here in Rwanda), and a lifer for me; Lesser Moorhen.

Due to poor roads, my moto driver dropped me off up on the hill, and I walked down into the valley. 2 large figs were teeming with birds, as was the undergrowth; alive with song and movement. Chubb's Cisticola (regular here at 1430m), Arrow-marked Babbler, Red-faced Cisticola, Thick-billed Seedeater, Dark-capped Yellow Warbler and a very confiding male Mackinnon's Fiscal/Shrike were all either in or near to the first tree. Green-headed Sunbird, Holub's and Vieillot's Weavers, African Green Pigeon, Yellow-throated Greenbul, White-tailed Blue Flycatcher, Spot-flanked Barbet were all in the second fig tree. It was still fairly cold and damp and as I moved down into the valley, the birds kept raining in: Black-lored Babbler, Grey-backed and Common Fiscals, Hadada Ibis, Thick-billed Weaver, Winding Cisticola, Bronzy Sunbird and Bronze Mannikin (with the obligatory funny little juveniles) were all about. Meyer's Parrot and Black-headed Heron flew over. As I approached the dam, Green-winged Pytilia and Grey-capped Warbler in the bushes. Down on the (already) flooded fields were Cape Wagtail and Common Sandpiper.

Black-headed Heron (photo by Marcell Claassen on previous trip to Abudada dam)

Abudada Dam was as teeming with birds as Nyarutarama Lake in Kigali had been on Saturday. Healthy numbers of White-faced Whistling-Ducks were dozing on the lake. More were roosting on the far shore, and several were diving in the shallows (I get the feeling that the ducks don't get disturbed here). My best count came up with 186 individuals. A lone Yellow-billed Duck and 2 Common Moorhen were also visible, along with at least 7 African Jacanas including one male with 2 juveniles.

Then things started to get exciting. In the bushes on the near lake edge, a juvenile Little Bittern was clumsily clambering around. It stayed in good view for about 15 minutes; not sure what it was looking for. Beautiful. Then over the other side of the lake I caught view of something moving around on the fringes. I focussed my scope in quickly, and was delighted to see my first ever Lesser Moorhen. The small size and yellow bill were easily diagnostic; Common Moorhen were nearby for comparison. Also noticed only a little white on the flanks and vent, and olive yellow legs, right up to the body, when it clambered over the hyacinths. It stayed in fairly good view for 10 minutes, even coming out and punting onto the lake for a few minutes. Black Crake, Purple Swamphen, Woodland and Pied Kingfishers all tried to distract me at this time, but I was rather smitten with the Lesser Moorhen. Smashing.

A smattering of rain fell, and I noticed that the local kids had gotten bored with me and drifted off (Am I the only muzungu who can bore Rwandan children?), so I moved on. As I moved to the lower end of the dam, Golden-breasted Bunting and Brimstone Canary were seen. Augur Buzzard overhead and White-headed Saw-wing and White-rumped Swift over the lake. No migrant hirundines today. At the bottom of the lake, the acacia trees turned up some interesting birds. A lone Purple-crested Turaco bounded across the branches of one tree, crest aloft, then I spotted an African Goshawk (my first confirmed record for E. Rwanda) gliding off casually beneath the dam, showing nice views of the white spots on the upper tail, yellow eye and cere.

Augur Buzzard - dark morph (archive photo by Marcell Claassen. Note - not same location)

Down beneath the dam, a male Red-chested Sunbird looked bloody marvellous on the leonotis in his freshly moulted plumage, his iridescence so strong it almost hurt my eyes when he caught the sun. Black-headed Gonolek calling nearby. It was still cool and overcast, so the birds were still very active. Here I took the left fork in the road towards a small valley that I'd spotted on a previous trip that seemed to harbour a lot of mature fig trees. Straight away I bumped into a very active feeding party that were taking great interest in the flowers of an exotic Silky Oak. They included both Black-necked and Spectacled Weavers, African Yellow White-eye and Pardise-Flycatcher. Blue-spotted Wood Dove soon after. The calls of a pair of Eastern Grey Plantain-eater alerted me to another fruiting fig tree, behind which the usual scavengers of the rice paddies were gorging on the spoils of the fresh rainfall. Sacred Ibis, Hamerkop, Hadada Ibis, Black Kite and… what the…? Palm-nut Vulture; one adult and one subadult, the former of which was feeding on something presumed to be animal, but I couldn't make it out. Pic here: http://kilnsey.tripod.com/palm-nut_vulture.jpg

Just after a pair of Wahlberg's Eagles were nice and low, allowing reasonable pics, my first confirmed records for Rwanda this autumn: http://kilnsey.tripod.com/wahlbergs.jpg

Snowy-crowned Robin-chat (photo by Marcell Claassen on previous visit to same location)

By now I was level with my favourite little forest in the world (I've blogged about it before – Mashoza/ Parike; I've called it), but across the valley, so I was surprised to see Olive-bellied Sunbird across here (to date this forest is the only place where I've seen this species in Rwanda), and then a Snowy-crowned Robin-Chat on the path ahead of me, making do with nearby lantana bushes for cover whenever cyclists came along. Not sure what he was doing: http://kilnsey.tripod.com/snowy-crowned.jpg

A mixed party of non-breeding widowbirds, weavers and Red-billed Queleas were on the path a bit further on, presumably feeding on spilt grain. Managed to ID Northern Brown-throated Weaver and Black-headed (melanocephalus) Weaver. Left a few LBJs unidentified, but there was probably Red-collared Widowbird and a couple of non-breeding bishops in there too. Soon I turned left up a fairly narrow valley where the aforementioned figs were located. Ross's Turaco made it's first appearance of the day; a party of 3 along with 3 Purple-crested Turacos and a lone Crested Barbet (only my second record outside of the Akagera area). Some local kids had tagged onto me and cottoned onto what I was doing. For 15 minutes I had eagle-eyed spotters helping me out: Yellow Bishop, Red-headed Weaver, Compact Weaver (only my second record for Rwanda), Village Weaver, and then Brown-crowned Tchagra, which showed well for nice photos:http://kilnsey.tripod.com/brown-crowned_tchagra.jpg

It's interesting to note that the easiest separation feature of Brown-crowned and Black-crowned Tchagra here is the clear orangey wash to the back part of the crisp white supercilium and face on the Black-crowned, compared with the creamy super of the Brown-crowned that shows no wash (this is often much easier to see than the crown itself).

I exhausted the figs and the kids soon after and thunder was rumbling overhead, so I decided to head for my little forest. The rice paddies stood in the way, but I was willing to risk a dunking rather than walk a good kilometre back upstream to the bridge. On the paddies I added Yellow-billed Stork to the previous species. A couple of farmers pointed out the best route across to me, and I made the forest just as the rain was starting. I donned my poncho, crawled into the undergrowth and sat it out on a log. It was a long rainstorm. A respite after about 20 minutes brought me a feeding party including Grey Apalis, a lone Ludher's Bush-Shrike making a sweet 2-note call, nothing like I've ever heard from this species, and a Collared Sunbird. Then the rain came on again, and I dined on a soggy lunch.

After another 40 minutes it began to ease off and the birds all came out as if it were dawn again. Red-capped Robin-Chat, then Grey-winged Robin-Chat, one of the gems of this little woodland, both honoured me with brief appearances. This was followed by Grey-backed Camaroptera and Yellow-whiskered Greenbul. An attack of weird little black biting insects crawling on my legs set me off again and I took a trail east, where I spotted Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird, then European Bee-eaters (at least 4 above the forest moving south). As I came to the forest edge, my last feeding party turned up White-chinned Prinia, Brown-throated Wattle-eye (incl. 1 juv.) and a handsome male Black-billed Weaver. Here's a stitched photo of Mashoza Parike `Forest' from across the valley: http://kilnsey.tripod.com/mashoza_parike.jpg

Common Waxbill (archive photo by Marcell Claassen; note - not at this location)

On the forest edge, I was surprised to find a pair of Red-capped Robin-Chats who led me across some overgrown fields past a Tambourine Dove to a Pygmy Kingfisher hiding under a small tree. I was now heading back towards my pick-up point, with plenty of time to linger. I added Common Waxbill, African Firefinch (feeding with Red-billed Firefinch, interestingly), Fan-tailed Widowbird (non-breeding) and a rare treat: Marsh Tchagra. All in overgrown fields alongside the paddies. Violet-backed Starling were in one of the fig trees. Back at the lake the (presumed same) Purple Swamphen was showing quite well, but the Lesser Moorhen had disappeared. Yellow-fronted Canary stopped off briefly. A lone female Cardinal Woodpecker flitted between the trees and the rotting sorghum stems. My last species of the afternoon: Little Rush Warbler in the marsh just before I met my moto driver. A second bout of rain clobbered us on the way home, but I didn't care.

Jason

A Morning's Birding in Kigali (4 Sept 2010)

2010-09-09T08:51:00.004+02:00

Posted by Jason on the Rwanda_BurundiBirds group on 6 September 2010

Bird junkie that I am, I scored a free morning on my trip to Kigali this weekend. I headed straight to the Nyarutarama Lake, where Bram had recorded a lot of ducks a month or so ago. I was there by 6am, hangover seemed to be following… at a distance.

When I arrived the lake was covered in wildfowl; really good numbers. First of all I counted 24 Yellow-billed Ducks, then made a quick estimate of the White-faced Whistling Ducks (photo at http://kilnsey.tripod.com/whistling-ducks.jpg ) – well over 100 (the most accurate count I could make produced 170 birds). Hottentot Teal (at least 5), and Red-billed Teal (at least 8) were also present. A single African Spoonbill, then a pair flew over, moving south. 11 Spur-winged Geese flew in and landed among the Whistlers. Little Grebe, Common Moorhen, Hadada Ibis, Black Crake, Cattle Egret, and a juvenile Black-headed Heron made up the waterbirds.

In the overgrown vegetation by the lake edges I picked up Grey-capped Warbler, Tawny-flanked Prinia, Winding Cisticola and a mischievous-looking pair of White-browed Coucal loitering on a lantana bush. A distant African Harrier Hawk, a single African Fish Eagle and the usual Black (Yellow-billed) Kites hanging overhead were the only raptors present. I walked south-west into the acacia grove, where I found Chubb's Cisticola, several Paradise-Flycatchers and at least 4 Black Cuckoo-Shrikes (3 female/imm, 1 male). The two big surprises here were a lone Pygmy Kingfisher in the undergrowth, and a male Greater Honeyguide, calling from a Silky Oak tree (usually there's a Lesser Honeyguide calling here, but this is my first record of Greater in Rwanda outside of Akagera).

Above the acacias there was a sizeable party of swallows and swifts, however I struggled to get good views, as the birds were silhouetted against the sky. Eventually I confirmed Lesser Striped Swallow, Wire-tailed Swallow, Barn Swallow (at least 1), White-rumped Swift, and a pair of birds that looked good for European/Common Swift. Also a possible Plain Martin or two, but again not confirmed. One stiff neck later and my hangover had caught up with me, so I headed back to the lake. On the way a nice little feeding party included Brimstone Canary and Western Citril, Scarlet-chested Sunbird, Pin-tailed Whydah and Green-winged Pytilia.

When I got back to the lake, it was nearly 11am, and I could see a group of kids swimming, screaming and having fun on the far side. It was good to see that the wildfowl had not been spooked, and all remained pretty much in tact, and much closer to my side of the lake, allowing some nice photos:

Red-billed Teal

http://kilnsey.tripod.com/red-billed_teal.jpg

Hottentot Teal

http://kilnsey.tripod.com/hottentot_teal.jpg

There were at least 8 of the dark-faced juveniles among the White-faced Whistling-Ducks.
A Great White Egret took off in front of me as I approached, and Northern Brown-throated Weavers in non-breeding passed in front of me. As I walked back to Chez Lando, a lone Red-headed Weaver (female or non-breeding male) flew up from under the trees by the tennis court.

A nice morning's birding. I wonder how many of Africa's capitals can boast Pygmy Kingfisher, Greater Honeyguide and 170 Whistling-Ducks in their heart?

Jason

Quiet Day's birding at Rusumo Falls

2010-09-01T08:47:00.002+02:00

Posted by Jason on the Rwanda_BurundiBirds group on 31 August 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

Forbes's Plover in Kageyo, Eastern Rwanda

2010-09-01T07:48:00.004+02:00

Posted by Jason on the Rwanda_BurundiBirds group on 27 August 2010

On Sunday I headed out to Kageyo (1°50'37.40"S+30°39'36.30"E), a village on the edge of Akagera National Park, where there are 2 good dams and lots of habitat (albeit being degraded, deforested and burnt with alarming rapidity). I wanted to see if there was any sign of the Madagascar Squacco Herons I had seen back in June. There hasn't been a drop of rain in E. Rwanda since mid-June, and birds may be flocking to the wetlands.

On arrival I was delighted to see 5 Greater Painted-Snipe on the first dam, 3 females and 2 males: http://kilnsey.tripod.com/painted.jpg (photo above) This was my first record for this species in Rwanda. Huge numbers of finches and doves were flocking for early morning drinks, including Crimson-rumped Waxbill, Bronze Mannikin, Yellow-fronted Canary, Red-billed Firefinch, Pin-tailed Whydah, Red-billed Quelea and Green-winged Pytilia, all in very good numbers. Among the Red-eyed and Ring-necked Doves I spotted a much rarer species, an African Mourning Dove – my first record for Rwanda. I wonder if the dry season is pulling some species westwards? Several firsts for my Akagera list in the vicinity included Purple-crested Turaco and Pink-backed Pelican (strange I hadn't seen this species before in Akagera). Migrants were beginning to arrive. A total of 6 Wood Sandpipers on both dams (some could have been repeats), 1 Green Sandpiper on the 1st dam (uncommon in E. Rwanda), and `several' Barn Swallows refuelling above the 1st dam. (I say several; I definitely identified 3 thanks to tail streamers or good views of throat. Others may have been Angola.)

An excursion into nearby acacia woodland unearthed a smashing feeding party, with the following: Red-faced Crombec, Sulphur-breasted and Grey-headed Bush-Shrikes (the latter practising his eerie call for reasonable photos: http://kilnsey.tripod.com/grey-bush.jpg ), Yellow-breasted Apalis, Greater Blue-eared and Ruppell's Starlings, Black-lored and Arrow-marked Babblers, Black-faced Waxbill (in very good numbers today everywhere I went – usually uncommon) among several of the previously mentioned finch species, White-browed and Red-capped Robin-Chats, African Paradise-Flycatcher, Black-headed Gonolek and Slate-coloured Boubou, Yellow-throated Greenbul, Grey-backed Camaroptera, Bare-faced Go-away Bird, Southern Black Flycatcher, Trilling Cisticola, Pale Wren-warbler, Brown-throated Wattle-eye (incl. juvenile). Eventually this party seemed to disperse in 3 different directions, leaving the Grey-headed Bush-Shrike still calling in bare branches above. I came back into the open to spot a Black-shouldered Kite on a distant treetop.

Grey-headed Bush-shrike

I headed for the 2nd dam to find water levels low, but still populated by a good range of species. 5 Yellow-billed Stork (1 juvenile), 2 Spur-winged Lapwing, 3 African Wattled Lapwing, 25 (min.) Red-billed Teal, 2 Grey Heron (both juvenile), 1 Intermediate Egret among many Cattle and 2 Little Egret, singles of Spur-winged Goose, Knob-billed Duck (fem.) and Black-headed Heron. Something that might have been Rufous-bellied Heron bounced across my bins and disappeared into reeds – not sure. Then 2 small plovers: 3-banded and… well, it's bigger than 3-banded, and darker throat. No white on forehead… Could it be? Quickly I got my scope out and confirmed it: Forbes's Plover. It was fairly close, and for a while even hung out with the 3-banded, so I could compare them directly. As well as the dark forehead, I noticed dark cheeks and throat. The upper black band on the chest blending more with the grey throat than on 3-banded, giving a different jizz altogether, even at distance. I checked S&F: Only one `x' for Rwanda! Tried to get a few photos using the innovative `put-your-camera-to-your-scope-and-fanny-around-for-10-minutes-till-the-bird-has-gone' digiscoping technique. Luckily, the bird was very patient, and allowed a few rotten shots to come out, which I think confirm ID:

http://kilnsey.tripod.com/forbes1.jpg , http://kilnsey.tripod.com/forbes2.jpg , http://kilnsey.tripod.com/forbes3.jpg , http://kilnsey.tripod.com/forbes4.jpg .

By now about 30 kids from the village had congregated for a spot of muzungu watching. I tried explaining that the Forbes's Plover was more interesting, but they didn't seem to agree. I looked for more birds, but found only Little Grebe (my first record for Akagera), and 2 White-rumped Swifts. White-browed Coucal flapping across the dead yellow reeds. Notable in their absence on this trip: Sacred Ibis, Great White Egret and Hadada Ibis (4 birds only seen today). I walked up to the village, had a Fanta and continued towards the Akagera fringes, where I managed to shake off the train of kids that was still following. After a spot of lunch I wandered listlessly in the afternoon heat. After an hour of nothing but Common Bulbuls and hunters' snares (2 of which I tripped, and then destroyed), I hit upon a very loose feeding party, which produced some of the acacia specialists: Green-capped Eremomela, Brubru, Pale Flycatcher, Pale Wren-warbler and Buff-bellied Warbler. On the ground nearby Plain-backed Pipit and Golden-breasted Bunting. A pair of Yellow-throated Greenbuls were the only birds making any noise apart from the Ruppell's Starlings until a male Black-backed Puffback started kicking up a fuss. I approached to find him serenading a female. He allowed me to get some nice shots: http://kilnsey.tripod.com/bl-ba_puffback2.jpg I was surprised to see him courting at this time of year, or was he defending territory? Anyway, he'd led me in the right direction, because on the bush behind was a party of White-crested Helmet-Shrikes, at least 5. I'd recorded this species yesterday, which was only my second record for Rwanda, today was the 3rd. They led me towards a patient Tabora Cisticola (photo below) feeding on the ground, who eventually allowed me to get some nice photos after he flew up into a tree:

It was mid afternoon by now, the ground was hotter than the sunshine and the birds had gone into hiding. I concluded that my species meter must be empty, so I started heading back to the 1st dam for my rendezvous with my moto driver. On the way, Marico Sunbird, Chinspot Batis, another bloody snare, Crested Barbet, African Marsh Harrier and Malachite Kingfisher… Finally a Lilac-breasted Roller parading over his territory, and then my moto driver appeared. Up on the hillside, smoke was rising from at least 3 copses; another bit of Rwanda's nature razed. Above, the Lilac-breasted Roller roded, called a few times, and gave up. So sad to think this place is disappearing as the plantain and sorghum blanket is pulled further east to engulf the last bits of unprotected habitat.

Birdwise, another fantastic afternoon; 93 species within 5 square kilometres. As well as the Forbes's Plover (I'll send the record on to ABC), it was interesting to see what species are becoming more common as the weather dries up: Noticeably high numbers of Black-faced Waxbill, small flocks of non-breeding Pin-tailed Whydah and Red-billed Quelea, and possible movement of White-crested Helmet-Shrikes.

Wish I lived there. Wish I could buy it and protect it.

Jason

Presumed first record of Amethyst Sunbird for Rwanda

2010-09-01T07:22:00.006+02:00

Posted by Jason on the Rwanda_BurundiBirds group on 26 August 2010

On Saturday afternoon, I went to investigate a small area of open mixed eucalypt / pine plantation just east of Kibungo, SE Rwanda (GPS 2° 9'6.40"S+ 30°34'49.40"E). I wasn't expecting much, perhaps a few FT Drongos, Cinnamon-chested Bee-eaters, perhaps? Was I in for a surprise… several delightful surprises in fact. Although I didn't see much, I got some real gems!

On arrival I was quickly alerted to the call of a juvenile bird, which turned out to be a young Black-backed Puffback eagerly in pursuit of its much dishevelled father, who was so busy trying to keep his offspring fed, that he allowed me to get some nice pics:

This was quickly followed by Black-crowned Tchagra. Only my second confirmed record in Rwanda – Brown-crowned tends to be the more common species here. One bird showed well early afternoon, probably one of a pair seen later in the same area closer to dusk.

I continued into the plantation, where I disturbed a roosting nightjar from the ground. It flew only 5 metres and resettled, so I was easily able to relocate and stalk it to within a few metres, where it afforded wonderful photos:

(Note by Marcell: Subsequently has been identified by Adam Kennedy & Nigel Cleere as Fiery-necked Nightjar)

My nightjar IDing skills are very poor, due to little experience, but the square white tail spots, and white wing patches across 2-4 of primaries indicate (given habitat and range) Black-shouldered, although I'm far from sure. Any opinions would be greatly appreciated. This would be my second record for Rwanda if confirmed.

Several records of Familiar Chat today (a fairly uncommon species outside of Akagera), made this a key location for the species. Open woodland with ungrazed grassland beneath and a few rocks seem to be perfect habitat for it. A little further on I was alerted to a weird churring contact call, which turned out to be only my second Rwandan record of White-crested Helmet-Shrike. A party of at least 7 birds was moving quickly through the trees, including one juvenile; wing shivering and begging from parents. Smashing.

Then a few minutes later I spotted a large black Chalcomitra sunbird picking its way across the dry Leonotis flowers. When it turned to face me, I nearly dropped my bins: A small pinky-purply throat patch, similar tiny shoulder patches and the green crown of Amethyst Sunbird. I was pretty sure that this species hadn't been recorded in Rwanda, so I kept watching, slowly moving closer. The female was nearby, but I kept my bins on the male to ensure I got plenty of good views to be 100% sure of what I was seeing. Despite the fact that they moved pretty quick through the woodland – sometimes on undergrowth, sometimes up in the eucalypts – I managed to keep up, and as soon as I was sure of the ID, I endeavoured to get photos of what proved to be a rather flighty male. He led me up and down the escarpment for about 20 minutes (much to the amusement of a curious local farmer) before he finally relaxed and allowed a few distant ID shots.

As I wiped the sweat off my brow, I looked up to see sitting about 10 metres away from me a female Souza's Shrike (!!!). After a year in E. Rwanda, this is only my second record, and boy was I surprised to find it in this habitat. My camera was still in my hand (I wasn't sure if I'd got adequate shots of the sunbird, which I was still following), so I took a few quick pics and moved on. Little time to enjoy a connoisseur species at it's most northerly within its African range:

I continued after the Amethyst Sunbirds, but didn't get any closer, allowing them eventually to get away for some peace as they flew down the hill.

More Familiar Chats on the way back. But what an afternoon - a (presumed) new species for Rwanda and 3 second records (for me in Rwanda). It just goes to show; whilst eucalypt plantations can be dead zones, add in a little sunshine, and some ground cover and they turn up real surprises (as Marcell and Andy know only too well!).

This combined with Narcisse's sighting of Spotted Creeper on Lake Kivu (a very good Nyungwe guide – report hopefully soon to follow), and a report of a White-headed Barbet from Akagera (if all accepted) pushes the country total up by another 3 species in as many weeks!

Jason

Trip to Akagera River Bridge & Southern Bugesera

2010-07-18T12:42:00.002+02:00

Posted by Jason on the Rwanda_BurundiBirds group on 19 June 2010

On Saturday I met up with Bram Piot and we took a car down to the wetlands on the border between Bugesera and Ngoma Districts in SE Rwanda (2°12'20.70"S+ 30°16'7.04"E). I wrote a blog on my first very productive trip there a month ago, and Bram fancied paying a visit so we went there for the morning, had lunch at La Palais, Gashora, and visited the remnants of acacia woodland in the south of Bugesera in the afternoon. It turned out to be a very productive trip.

We got to the papyrus swamps by about 8:00. Due to slightly overcast weather, the birds were still very active. As soon as we arrived we picked up some of the local specialities; Blue-headed Coucal, Little Rush Warbler, Wire-tailed Swallow, Swamp Flycatcher, Openbill Stork, Slender-billed Weaver and Fawn-breasted Waxbill were all around. Calls from Papyrus Gonolek, White-winged Warbler, African Reed Warbler and Little Rush Warbler echoed across the swamps.

As Bram wanted to see White-winged Warbler and Papyrus Gonolek, we tried calling them up. The gonoleks did not materialise, but a White-winged Warbler responded fairly quickly and gave very good views as he came closer to investigate. Soon after Bram spotted what was probably the highlight of the day; several otters feeding among the papyrus, very close by. My views were limited, but Bram got close enough views to identify them as Clawless Otters, a very interesting record, and a good indicator of the health of the ecosystem.

A Buff-bellied Warbler and an unusual sunbird drew me to the acacias by the road. The former gave fairly good views, and the latter turned out to be a non-breeding or possibly young Red-chested Sunbird, after my originally suspecting Purple-banded, due to the bill which seemed very short and the fairly dull breast markings.

Great White and Intermediate Egrets seemed to be all around, and Yellow-billed Stork, Spur-winged Geese and White-faced Whistling Duck passed overhead. Unfortunately, no Fulvous Whistling Duck, as on the last trip. Blue-spotted Wood-Dove, Laughing Dove and Tambourine Dove were present along the road, and Bram spotted a pair of African Wattled Lapwings that flew in.

The next highlight turned out to be a Little Bittern that flew fairly close over the papyrus. A second bird, probably juvenile confirmed that this may be a fairly common species here, although I haven't seen it anywhere else in Rwanda, yet. Didric Cuckoo, Little Bee-eater, African Pygmy Kingfisher, Yellow Bishop and Fan-tailed Widowbird were all spotted, and Bram also saw a surprising species given the habitat, Yellow-throated Greenbul/Leaf-love among the eucalypts by the road.

Although distant calls of Papyrus Gonolek rang out intermittently over the marshes, I didn't succeed in attracting any with playback, until a pair of Black-headed Gonoleks responded enthusiastically to my playback. They, in turn, attracted a lone Papyrus Gonolek (I wonder if this is non-breeding season, which would account for the lone bird and the fairly unenthusiastic response to callback?) who gave good views at distance, calling from the top of the papyrus reeds. It's interesting that the two species clearly defend territory from each other and respond to each others' calls: Useful information for attracting Papyrus Gonoleks if you don't have the call.

We observed, both Bram and I, some new bird behaviour for the first time on this trip: A Common Fiscal skewering an insect on an acacia thorn. It's behaviour that you often read about among European shrikes, but this was the first time that either of us had seen it in real life. The last highlight from the bridge was a low-flying Black-shouldered Kite, before we headed north along the new access road into the papyrus swamps to try to track down the Allen's Gallinule I had seen last month. On the way we saw Black-headed Heron, Woodland Kingfisher, African Jacana and two grassland specialists, surprisingly, on the drier parts of the marsh: African Stonechat and Grassland Pipit. We got to the lake where I'd seen Allen's Gallinule and waited patiently. Lots of other Common Moorhens and African Jacanas indicated that there was a lot of food on this lake, and after about 5 minutes, we were treated to good views of Allen's Gallinule out on the lily pads. He stayed out long enough to view through the scope, proving to be a very pretty little bird, much like a small Purple Swamphen/Gallinule, with the light blue frontal shield the only obvious distinguishing feature, along with the smaller size and the lighter, more graceful build. Suddenly it seemed to catch sight of us and scampered off back into the papyrus. http://kilnsey.tripod.com/allens_gallinule_3.jpg

The papyrus comes fairly close to the road at this point, so we left the car and continued on foot, in the hope of a glimpse of the rarer papyrus endemics, but none appeared. However, we did get Hottentot Teal, Long-toed Lapwing and Three-banded Plover (only my 2nd record for this species in Rwanda). A pair of Cape Wagtails and a distant Purple Heron, only my 4th record for Rwanda, were the last records for the swamps. It was past midday and the sun was getting hot, so we decided to head for La Palais Gashora for lunch.

Having stayed at La Palais (2°11'34.86"S+30°14'22.47"E) before, I knew that the birds can be very good there, so as soon as we had ordered our food we popped off for a bit of birding along the front of the lake. Most of the birds were as expected. The only notables were a Black Kite nest with a young bird present, Yellow-throated Greenbul and a burst of Greater Swamp Warbler coming from the reeds. Interestingly, next to the kite nest was a bird on a branch which showed a dark end to the bill, as per the migrating nominate race. Bram reckoned this would be a first year bird that hadn't migrated north. It showed little grey on the head and a very dark eye; which I think would all be consistent with this diagnosis. http://kilnsey.tripod.com/black_kite_5.jpg

Then we headed the other way, and quickly Bram noticed a disturbance, with babblers, bulbuls and sunbirds all mobbing something. As we got closer, we couldn't see what they were mobbing, probably a snake on the ground. However, the mobbing party included a lot of species: Red-headed Weaver, Bronzy, Scarlet-chested and Red-chested Sunbirds, Tawny-flanked Prinia, Common Bulbul, and then we spotted something atypical. It bore initial resemblance to a plain flycatcher species, but then revealed white outer tail feathers, so we quickly suspected a honeyguide / honeybird species. Fairly good views for about 30 seconds revealed all pale grey underparts, darker grey upperparts, a very slim bill, and slightly raised crest, probably due to the presence of whatever they were mobbing. The white outertail feathers stretched right to the tail tip, and the outer two feathers were slightly fanned. I managed to get a few reasonable photos before it disappeared. When we checked in the guides, it was clear that this could only be Produtiscus regulus – Brown-backed Honeybird (or Wahlberg's/Sharp-billed if you prefer), which the photos confirmed. We suspect a young bird due to the white right along the tail feathers. This was a smashing record, and completely unexpected. http://kilnsey.tripod.com/brown-backed_honeybird.jpg

After lunch we headed to the remnant tracts of acacia woodland still remaining in southern Bugesera. We spent about 1 hour wandering in one spot and another ten minutes in another. The woodland was somewhat degraded, and a smouldering charcoal kiln and freshly felled trees indicated that this forest would soon be gone, alas. However there was still plenty of it left and it produced some good records: Sulphur-breasted Bush-shrike were frequent, Ring-necked Dove (rare outside Akagera in Rwanda), Tropical Boubou, probable Red-capped Robin-Chat, Yellow-breasted Apalis, Chinspot Batis, Red-headed Weaver, Collared Sunbird, White-browed Scrub-Robin, Greater Blue-eared Starling; all species of open acacia woodland. The highlights of this part of the trip were two cuckoo species; first an African Emerald Cuckoo, my first for Rwanda. Probably a young male or female, it showed fairly well as it gleaned for caterpillars in the low bushes. It showed no white spot behind the eye, but clear barring of green on white underneath, much denser on the throat than the belly, copper barring on green wings, pale eye ring and dark eye: http://kilnsey.tripod.com/emerald_cuckoo.jpg And the second was a juvenile Red-chested Cuckoo who alerted us to its presence as it called endlessly (a thin, fairly high `seep') to its foster parent, a White-browed Robin-Chat. Early views were frustrating, showing white on the underparts and all dark uppers in flight. Eventually Brad flushed it from one patch of scrub and it sat for a few seconds. I saw it well enough to see the slate-grey uppers, and distinctive black barring on the white belly. A good, confirmed breeding record after many records of calling Red-chested Cuckoos earlier in the year, and interesting to confirm the foster species. This was pretty much our last throw of the dice, as the afternoon light began to flatten. A quick stop further along produced African Paradise-Flycatcher to add to all the above, and a Red-necked Spurfowl was calling in the halflight, but that was it.

(Bram has just informed me that I missed a few birds on my complete list, some of which are quite notable: Little Egret, Long-tailed Cormorant, Lilac-breasted Roller being the most interesting.)

It was a great day's birding by any accounts.

Jason

Trip to Akagera Bridge Papyrus Swamps

2010-06-25T09:41:00.004+02:00

Posted by Jason on the Rwanda_BurundiBirds group on 19 June 2010

The furthest downstream bridge across the Akagera River in S.E. Rwanda is between Ngoma and Bugesera Districts at 2°12'20.70"S+ 30°16'7.04"E. There is lots of pristine papyrus swamp, interspersed with small lakes and some flooded fields. The bridge cuts across 2.5km of the swamp and is lined by eucalypt and acacia trees. There are also 2 roads, heading upstream among the papyrus and providing very good access to the wetlands. I booked out a moto for the whole day and headed down there last Sunday, and had another excellent day's birding.

As soon as I arrived at 7am I found Pied Kingfishers nesting in the road escarpment bank, and Angola Swallows nesting under the bridge. See habitat pic here: http://kilnsey.tripod.com/akagerabridge.jpg

As I explored around, I could hear good numbers of White-winged Warblers chirping and burring in the papyrus and the occasional Papyrus Gonoleks. Overhead, large numbers of wildfowl were moving about, moving mainly upstream, but a few also going downstream. White-faced Whistling Duck, Spur-winged Goose, Pink-backed Pelican, Great White Egret, Black-headed Heron were some of the first species noticed. Then a flock of approx. 30 Fulvous Whistling Ducks suddenly passed upstream flying quite low overhead, showing their distinctive white undertail coverts and tail flanks. This may be a common bird in East Africa, but this was my first record for Rwanda and, as Marcell confirmed, it turned out to be the first record for the Atlas: http://kilnsey.tripod.com/ful.jpg

A short diversion into some flooded fields/grassland produced a glot of Little Rush Warblers, with at least 6 birds calling and displaying in an area about half the size of a football pitch. Good views and reasonable photos followed, but the call is so high-pitched that it doesn't register well on my Olympus Voice Recorder, unfortunately. It recalls an trainee White-winged Warbler, with a similar, but much higher pitched accelerating cadence followed by a miserly wing burr, during which it hardly takes off from its perch. When I noticed that I was beginning to sink into the mud, I headed back to the road to be confronted by a 4-foot catfish in the hands of a local fisherman. He offered me it for 5000 Francs. I declined!

A little further on I got my second Dwarf Kingfisher for Rwanda, which along with the Pied, the Woodland and the ubiquitous Malachites made 4 species. A pair of Spectacled Weavers, after Slender-billed, Black-headed and Baglafecht proved good diversity for this genera, as well. This was added to with Northern Brown-throated Weaver later in the day. Great Reed Warbler and Swamp Flycatcher were common along the edges of the papyrus. A pair of Yellow-billed Duck flew north, followed by a Goliath Heron, only my 3rd record for Rwanda. By 9am the mozzies had begun to hide, and I was able to relax in the shade of the trees along the roadside. Up ahead I heard the distinctive `sonic machine-gun' calls of the Papyrus Gonolek, and I rushed to see what was happening. A pair of Black-headed Gonolek were in the roadside lantana bushes, and the local pair of Papyrus Gonoleks were clearly objecting to their presence. They all provided excellent views, although not together, unfortunately. On several occasions, one of the Papyrus Gs came out of the papyrus to shoo the intruders away. Nice photos followed: http://kilnsey.tripod.com/papyrus_gonolek7.jpg As well as the usual calls, the (presumed) male also produced an unfamiliar call for me, a rapid, almost Kingfisher-like churr, with the female responding with the machine gun. A local Grey-capped Warbler joined in for a while.

A little further along I got my first confirmed sightings of African Reed Warbler. No previous knowledge of this species had meant that I wasn't able to ID it by call, but 1 obliging bird gave very good views as it gleaned swampside weeds, singing its endless refrain, slightly softer and less grating than the European Reed Warbler (which should all be in Europe by now!).

By now I was about half way across the bridge and I came to a drainage canal where the mud banks had been extended a little further into the swamp. A pair of Water Thick-knees (my first outside of Akagera) posed for excellent photos, and then I saw a Yellow Warbler, perhaps Papyrus, in the bushes. I scrambled for my camera (I've never confirmed this species) and got some reasonable photos. As I approached it dived into the papyrus and allowed a few more pics. Five minutes of watching didn't provide any conclusive views, before it came back across the path and into acacia bushes, where I got a few more pictures. It looked good for Papyrus, although the eye seemed a little darker than I'd expected. There was no suggestion of a pale supercilium or darkish bill that would be more typical for juv African Yellow Warbler. Overall it showed warm orangey-yellow tones, rather than olive yellow, and the bill was long and pinkish. The tail end seems fairly rounded, but none of the pics are conclusive on this. I've put the photos up here. If anybody would like to offer an opinion, I'd appreciate it.
http://kilnsey.tripod.com/y1.jpg http://kilnsey.tripod.com/y2.jpg http://kilnsey.tripod.com/y3.jpg http://kilnsey.tripod.com/y4.jpg http://kilnsey.tripod.com/y5.jpg http://kilnsey.tripod.com/y6.jpg http://kilnsey.tripod.com/y7.jpg http://kilnsey.tripod.com/y8.jpg http://kilnsey.tripod.com/y9.jpg
http://kilnsey.tripod.com/y10.jpg

A little further on I heard a Golden-tailed Woodpecker in the roadside trees. It was a male and he seemed to be heading east, searching for food both on the acacia and the eucalypts. A male Klaas's Cuckoo was a pleasant surprise in one of the acacia trees. My second record for Rwanda.

Palm Nut Vulture, Wire-tailed Swallow and Southern Red Bishop were the next 3 notables. By 11am I'd made it to the other side of the bridge, and I called my moto driver to come and pick me up. We tried a road that wasn't on Google Earth, heading from the west side of the bridge directly upstream into the papyrus, and it turned out to be an excellent choice. As we headed along, new species began to appear. Long-toed Lapwing, Hottentot Teal, Squacco Heron, Grey Heron, Little Egret and many of the above already-mentioned. The water had broken through the road and was busy washing it away. We managed to get the moto across, and then as soon as we did a large number of egrets/herons flushed from the reeds. Among them a Little Bittern, unmistakable in flight was my first record of this species for Rwanda. Scanning the lake edge nearby produced Long-tailed Cormorant and Striated Heron - after last week my second record for this species in Rwanda. A little further along, the road had been completely washed out, so we had to turn back. As we drove back, I spotted some movement a way off on the edge of a pond that had been invaded by water hyacinth. As soon as I could get off the bike, I had my binoculars up and spotted Allen's Gallinule perching on the edge of the papyrus, but not going any further. It was a long way away, but the light blue frontal shield showed well through the scope, and I managed a few confirmation photos using the scope and camera together: http://kilnsey.tripod.com/ag1.jpg http://kilnsey.tripod.com/ag2.jpg This bird was a real treat to finish the day, and a lifer for me. We tried another road following the river upstream, but this proved to be much less productive. By now it was mid-afternoon, the sun was beating down and the birds were taking a siesta. We tried to get to some light scrub I'd seen on the east side of the river, but the roads seemed to be taking us in the wrong direction. Given I'd got well over 90 species and 500 photos, I decided to call it a day and we headed back to Kibungo.

Jason

Kageyo - south of Akagera NP

2010-06-25T09:40:00.002+02:00

Posted by Jason on the Rwanda_BurundiBirds group on 10 June 2010

I apologise in advance for the length of this blog… but I'm rather proud of this one.

Following Neil Baker's alert to keep an eye out for Madagascar Squacco Herons, last Sunday I decided to visit a small wetland on the fringes of Akagera that had been recommended to me by Eric Rusini, one of the Akagera guides. The wetland, which is next to a village called Kageyo, just 5km north of the south entrance to Akagera Park (at grid reference 1°50'55.83"S+30°40'1.45"E), provided me with possibly the best day's birding I've ever had in my life. 100 species within only 3 square kilometres, including 8 new ones for me in Rwanda, 5 of which proved to be lifers. Given how much birding I've done in this part of the country, this was an unbelievable tally. Around the village there is good acacia and miombo mixed woodland, and there are several dams, reedbeds, flooded grasslands, drier grasslands and small areas of agriculture. This variety of habitat proved to be the key to the diversity of species.

The day started with me being dropped off by a moto taxi just before 7am. A light mist was clearing from the valley, and the mozzies were still peckish. Perfect birding time. The first dam proved to be typical of E. Rwanda: Black Crake, Black-headed, Village and Lesser Masked Weavers breeding. Little more. Brief calls from what was probably a Lesser Swamp Warbler went unconfirmed. All around were the ubiquitous Common Bulbuls, Red-eyed and Ring-necked Doves. Other species here included Lesser Striped Swallow, Common Waxbill and Ruppell's Starling; all very common. A Woodland Kingfisher was the first notable. As I moved away from the dam into open woodland I came across a massive feeding party. Birds were almost falling over each other: Apart from the above mentioned starlings and weavers, Slate-coloured Boubou, Red-cheeked Cordon Bleu and Green-winged Pytilia were most evident. Then came the first treat of the day, one of my all-time personal favourites, a pair of Crested Barbets, splendid in the early morning light, showing well for photos – strange for a species that in my previous experience is normally very wary of people. Pic at http://kilnsey.tripod.com/crested_barbet.jpg This was followed quickly by Black-backed Puffback, Green-backed Woodpecker, Brown-throated Wattle-eye (including the strangely coloured juvenile), Sharpe's Pied Babbler (Black-lored if you prefer), Arrow-marked Babbler, Golden-breasted Bunting, Sulphur-breasted Bush-Shrike and Chinspot Batis. Tons of birds. I didn't know where to point my bins. Wonderful activity. As I paused to get photos of some of these gems, I heard several birds put out a `predator call' and saw a Little Sparrowhawk fly over closely followed by a Lilac-breasted Roller sounding the alarm.

Other species quickly followed (was this a feeding party, or just sh*t-loads of birds – not sure?) including Cardinal Woodpecker, Meyer's Parrot, Marico Sunbird, Yellow-fronted Canary, African Grey Hornbill and Southern Black Flycatcher.

A local boy stopped to watch what I was doing. Kids have been a very lucky omen to me here in Rwanda, and today's spectator didn't let me down. A small LBJ that flew over towards this boy turned out on closer scrutiny to be my first Pale Wren-warbler (Miombo Wren-warbler by some taxonomies). Smashing views as I chatted to the lad and tried in vain to explain that the bird was far more interesting than the muzungu. Soon after, in an area where intense grazing had reduced the tree cover to dense clumps I found E. Black-headed Oriole, Violet-backed Starling, Red-headed Weaver, White-browed Robin-chat and Red-capped Robin-chat; my first ever record for this species, which is not common in Rwanda. Given the time of year, this bird may be migrating somewhere; the habitat was hardly typical for the species. I climbed up to a local ridge top where the birds were having another party. As well as many of the above I added Tropical Boubou, Yellow-breasted Apalis, Green-backed Camaroptera and a fleeting glimpse of what might have been only my 2nd record of Splendid Starling for Rwanda, but not confirmed. From the ridge top I spotted the shallow lake that Eric had mentioned. Several trees among the reeds, heavy with Sacred Ibis and egrets told me that this was going to be a good-un. I descended towards the lake, passing an alarming number of villagers deforesting the acacia on the way, and a pair of Long-crested Eagles that seemed very tame.

When I came to the lake, I was flabbergasted. So far in Rwanda I've been very disappointed by the lack of volume and diversity of waterbirds on and around bodies of water, but here it was the opposite. Within a few minutes I counted 80 Sacred Ibis, 20 Cattle Egret, 30 Hadada Ibis and lots of Openbill Storks, Great White and Intermediate Egrets. Closer scans revealed Grey and Black-headed Herons. Pic at http://kilnsey.tripod.com/kageyo.jpg Behind me Laughing Doves and Bare-faced Go-away Birds were perched on the acacia scraps. I moved slowly closer towards the trees, my ankles already immersed in the mud, and flushed African Wattled Lapwings and then the `star' of the day: Madagascar Squacco/Pond Heron. One bird took off 10m in front of me with a tasteful `squark' to settle in the first Sacred Ibis tree. I nearly wet myself, then I did wet myself. I managed to get poor, but ID-able photos and settled down to enjoyed this precious rarity through my bins. Pic at http://kilnsey.tripod.com/madagascar_squacco_heron.jpg I lost myself in this bird for a few minutes, until I was distracted by something spooking all the birds; I think it was just an African Fish Eagle flying over, but it sent up a good 200 birds, including large flocks of White-faced Whistling Ducks, Red-billed Teals and smaller numbers of Knob-billed Ducks, Spur-winged Geese and Egyptian Geese as well as many egret and heron species. By now I had 65 species and it wasn't even 9am!

Seeing nice ungrazed grasslands upstream of this wetland, I began to squidge my way along the edge of the reeds. Black Kite loped over, as he does, and Malachite Kingfishers squabbled among the reeds. Then, bloody hell, Rufous-bellied Heron… up and off; followed by Dwarf Bittern… up and off; different direction. Then another 2 Madagascar Squaccos… up and off. Couldn't they space themselves out a bit more? My eyes were hurting by now… No let up: My first 3-banded Plover for Rwanda (surprisingly not at all common here), Zitting Cisticola up above, another Madagascar Squacco and then a Long-tailed Cormorant overhead and I needed a rest to get a grip. I think my fingers were trembling (I don't get out enough). I crossed over the valley – luckily the marsh was fairly shallow - and sat down under a tree to enjoy a litre of water and a pair of Tawny-flanked Prinias who helped to calm me down. I checked what I'd seen. I'd already had 3 good days' birding in 1 day.

I stood up, ready for a pterodactyl, which I didn't get, but the birds kept coming on, almost in display: African Marsh Harrier, African Jacana, Fan-tailed Widowbird, Squacco Heron, Bateleur overhead. By now I'd reached the edge of the village where I had a quick chat with some of the locals about the birds. They also seemed to be quite fond of them. I showed pics in Stevenson & Fanshawe and they pointed at everything between pages 18 and 46 and nodded. Yes, that's all here. All of them? Yep! Names for a lot of them too. Didn't have a pic of a pterodactyl to show, unfortunately, however, I'd guess they'd probably confirm that one too. After the village the birds began to slow down a bit as the warmth began to take hold. Just below the dam I got my first Striated Heron for Rwanda. A little further along Blue-naped Mousebirds in the acacias and Grey Crowned Cranes in the valley. I stumbled upon a mid-day luncheon party including Red-face Crombec, Buff-bellied Warbler, juvenile E. Black-headed Oriole and several of the species mentioned above. Quick harsh cries alerted me to the presence of a Grey-headed Kingfisher, which turned out to be a juvenile before it disappeared: another first for me in Rwanda. As I moved downstream of the dam, I noticed more sedge and less grass in the valley, so I popped back to renew the squelch in my boots. Little Rush Warbler, Bronze Mannikin and Red-billed Firefinch were all added to the list down here. Feet cooled, I headed back into the acacia to stumble upon a Pearl-spotted Owlet with a massive rat-thing (that's not an official species) that seemed to be almost as big as the owl. Not wanting to spook it from its hard-earned prey, I took a couple of quick photos and left it alone with the 30 or so birds that were giving it aggro. Who'd want to be a Pearl-spotted Owlet? It must feel like it's David Beckham sometimes. Pic at http://kilnsey.tripod.com/owlet.jpg

Better start a new paragraph. Anyway I was completely knackered by now. It was after 1pm and I was at over 80 species. I found a thick tree to sit under to have lunch. I fell asleep for a nap afterwards and was woken by alarm cries above. A dark morph Gabar Goshawk was in a nearby tree and gave good views when I finally found my bins just in time to enjoy the mad dash of its hunting flight; back and forth through the trees, first on the trail of a Sulphur-breasted Bush Shrike, then a Green-winged Pytilia. However, it didn't manage to get either of these and it eventually stopped in a high tree for a rest.

It was past 2 and I had to start back to make my rendezvous with the moto driver at 4. The way back, as always, seemed less eventful. A lot of birds for the heat of the afternoon but little new, except a lone Village Indigobird looking for firefinches. An hour later I was approaching the rendezvous site in fairly open, well-grazed savannah when I saw it…

OK. For many people Magagascar Squacco would be the highlight of this trip, but at this point my weird little world stood still. A bird I'd only ever seen in books, incredulous, never really expected to see, took off in front of me. It was one of my dream species. And the sighting was more than I could ever hope for. A male Pennant-winged Nightjar in full breeding plumage took flight from the ground 10 metres in front of me. Like a gigantic moth; not graceful, but as ungainly in flight as I was on my feet at this moment. I could even hear the wind through its swollen primaries as it tried to fly off in its remarkable baroque garb and find another place to settle. I don't mind admitting my eyes watered at this point. Only a few seconds, but utterly unmistakable, impossible to ever forget. Pennant-winged Nightjar. I was in the club. Wonderful. How can nature or Darwin or God do that? How could it exist? It really does exist. Really. I doubled back round the bush where it had disappeared and flushed it again. This time I got it in my bins in flight. It even flew like a moth; flap, flap, glide, so buoyant on the wing it appeared to flap up as much as down. To the right, then back to the left and it was gone. Down the hill another child was watching me… lucky charms for sure.

My moto driver was a good 90 minutes late, allowing me to add a few species I had somehow missed to my list; Emerald-spotted Wood Dove, Rock Martin, Spot-flanked Barbet, Grey-headed Sparrow and Yellow-billed Stork coming in to roost over the dam where I'd started my day 10 hours earlier. Exactly 100 species, and all within a few square kilometres. My moto arrived just as the mozzies were starting to attack, and off we went. I can't think of a better day's birding in my life. Smashing.

If anyone's still reading, you know what I mean.

Jason Anderson

Akagera National Park (Part 2) (29 April - 1 May)

2010-05-13T11:29:00.004+02:00

African Wattled Lapwing was our last species as we decided to continue to Lake Birengero and hoping the rain would hold out for awhile. Splashing and weaving our way around and through puddles to mini lakes along the way, Hildebrandt's Francolin and Red-necked Spurfowl popped out in short succession.

Closer to Lake Birengero we came across a couple of Little Bee-eaters one of which oddly had distinctly more yellow-ish underparts. This part of the transition to adult from the green underparts to cinnamon-orange? Just as we stopped at the lake Jon spotted a Spur-winged Goose with 6 tiny youngsters seemingly fleeing the shoreline on our arrival. Thick-billed Weavers were nesting while the lapwings made up for a lack of sightings earlier with Long-toed, Spur-winged and Senegal Lapwings in our immediate vicinity. The area was oddly quiet other than a small number of the usual suspects around and we were soon to find out why - it started raining again, rather pouring should I say.

The return in the pouring rain was more reminiscent of an off-road vehicle trial as negotiated the road, now a small river, back to the lodge. Along the way we did get brief sightings of wet Great Cormorant, Yellow-throated Longclaw and White-winged Black Tit. The rain slowed down to a drizzle and we had the treat of a perched Bateleur as we approached the park HQ.

Pale Wren-warbler

The late afternoon at the lodge and a short walk down the road produced few new birds but with brilliant sightings, recording and photos of Pale Wren-warbler. A couple of African Black Swifts were also about.

Following morning Anne and I went for a walk around the lodge area and down the entrance road. This proved to be a good call and although misty, the sporadic sunny moments resulted in similarly sporadic flurries of birds. An awesome scoop (and lifer for me) was the Copper Sunbird - Jason had been right, what an absolute little stunner this was and once a bit of sunlight hits the plumage, one can only gape at the colours.

African Moustached Warbler

An African Moustached Warbler was most obliging while I had a brain-dead moment not being able to identify this lovely bird with its robin-like song. Others seen include Green-capped Eremomela, Yellow-breasted Apalis, Red-faced Crombec, Black-backed Puffback, Pale Flycatcher, Greater Blue-eared Starling, Yellow-throated Greenbul and Western Citril.

The departure back to Kigali was not a lesson in quick exits; we were well and truly distracted all the way along the park exit road. Starting with cracking views of Ross' Turaco, Black-crowned Tchagra and we only heard the Red-chested Cuckoo calling near park HQ. A very vocal Striped Kingfisher entertained us for a short while before Slate-coloured Boubou, Violet-backed Starling and Blue-naped Mousebirds claimed more of our time. Olivaceous Warbler (when are these guys planning to go north?) showed lovely before we came across an attitude-filled Lizard Buzzard (photo on left) posing on the powerlines. As we officially left the park bounderies, a Grey Kestrel was seemingly working on its camouflage at a powerline metal pole.

Lake Muhazi was on the agenda for a short stop to see what was around but we were met by a number of large parties in progress, not exactly ideal birding environment although a Rufous-bellied Heron did do a frantic fly-by and adding a new record for the Atlas. An uneventful drive to Kigali ended a splendid 2 and a half days of birding.

Akagera National Park (Part 1) (29 April - 1 May)

2010-05-13T10:03:00.004+02:00

Pink-backed Pelican
End of April I had the opportunity to visit Akagera National Park again with 3 clients, Anne, Lucy and Jon. There was a bit of concern about the possibility of rain but we set out not planning on letting that get us under. The first day turned out to be great albeit cloudy weather, also good for some roadside birding along the way to Akagera.

Our first stop was Rugende, a little roadside village with shops and a filling station and some huge Eucalyptus trees where pelicans, herons, storks and ibis often breed. We weren't disappointed; the Pink-backed Pelicans had already started congregating with their richer breeding colours and at least 10 could be seen and photographed. A few Black-headed Herons were around and showing their pronounced breeding plumage in addition to quite a number of Yellow-billed Storks with the beginnings of a pink tinge in their plumage.

Rwamagana town provided a roadside pair of Common Kestrel on the powerlines before heading off further to our main intended pre-Akagera stop - Rwinkavu bridge. A few birds like Brimstone Canary, Sooty Chat, Village Indigobird, Southern Red Bishop, immature African Harrier-hawk and a colony of Village Weavers with over 20 nests prompted some more stops.

Vieillot's Black Weaver

Rwinkavu once again delivered with some brilliant views of nesting Yellow-backed and Vieillot's Black Weavers, Red-chested Sunbird, Grey-crowned Crane flying over and a Blue-headed Coucal. Further on toward the park we encountered a few Lilac-breasted Rollers, the regional endemic race of White-headed Black Chat (soon to be the Ruaha Chat) and numerous Grey-backed Fiscals.

Once inside Akagera, the species number escalated with Trilling Cisticola, Violet-backed and Ruppell's Long-tailed Starlings, a lone Long-tailed Cormorant, Grey Hornbill, Paradise Flycatcher and Mourning Dove. At the lodge, swallows and swifts abounded and Lesser-striped, Angola and Red-rumped Swallows were swooping and playing in the afternoon air in large numbers. White-rumped Swifts weren't to be outdone and appeared to be winning the unofficial aerobatics competition.

Soaring high above us a Martial Eagle was a great sighting as one of our 1st large raptors. Smaller birds around whilst having lunch included Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu, Marico Sunbird, Yellow-fronted Canary, Bronze Mannikin and excellent views of an individual Mocking Cliff Chat.

Levaillant's Cuckoo

We set out for a very productive 3hr game drive (including wars with the horse-flies) that had our heads spinning a wee bit in order to keep up with the flurry of birds. Yellow-throated Longclaw, Laughing (very common) and Ring-necked Doves, Red-necked Spurfowl, Spot-flanked Barbet, Long-crested Eagle, Hamerkop and a Great Egret (in breeding plumage) started it all off followed by Red-headed, Yellow-backed and Village Weavers in close proximity to each other. A pair of Green-winged Pytilia on the roadside briefly had our attention before a Levaillant's Cuckoo gave splendid views and a photo opportunity. A male Bateleur was enjoying the late afternoon thermals.

Close encounters with giraffe and zebra added Red-billed Oxpeckers to our list before some brief views of Common Scimitarbill and Bare-faced Go-away Bird. The weavers weren't done with us and Holub's Golden Weaver popped in to say 'Hi' followed by Sulphur-breasted Bush-shrike and Fork-tailed Drongo. All too soon we were back at the lodge where I heard later a Black-shouldered Nightjar calling.

The next morning the weather looked rather dismal and as we were finishing breakfast a steady rain started and continued till after 9am. At intervals before and during the rain Southern Black Flycatcher, Scarlet-chested Sunbird and African Thrush put in an appearance. Eventually going out on a drive toward Lakes Ihema and Birengero the birds didn't seem convinced the rain had stopped for long, they were later proved correct unfortunately.

Toward Lake Ihema we came across a few Black-headed Orioles, Sulphur-breasted Bush-shrike and Trilling Cisticola. Once there, a few Blue-naped Mousebirds teased us with very brief views as opposed to excellent views of a pair of Fish Eagles, including one grabbing a fish from the other in mid-flight causing one to drop into the water from their aerial scuffle (the one moment I did not have my camera with me of course!). The 1st of a few flocks of Openbill Storks (18) followed by another two of 14 and 16 respectively, were up in the sky, Greater Swamp Warbler was busy building a nest and a Swamp Flycatcher was seen with an immature.

The usual Marabou Stork was at the fishing village plus two Great Egrets in breeding plumage, Cattle Egret, Spur-winged Lapwing, Pied Kingfisher and Squacco Heron. A bit further on at Lake Shakani the odd foursome of Common Sandpiper, Squacco Heron, Water Thick-knee and African Jacana was working the shoreline. As predicted by Charles our guide, White-faced Whistling-Duck were there, although in flight only as was the Darter and Intermediate Egret. Grey-headed Sparrows were nesting in an acacia tree close to the campsite where we also got Plain-backed Pipit plus another pipit with what seemed a rather long-ish bill (will be detailed in separate post).

Water Thick-knee

SW Lake Ruhondo & Mukungwa River (March 2010)

2010-05-11T11:28:00.004+02:00

On 21st March, Jason Anderson and I made our way from Ruhengeri town along the Mukungwa River to a South-western corner of Lake Ruhondo. The day was quite productive with many breeding records to boot and a reasonable morning list of 57 species.

The initial section of road passes along the river and at times is separated from the river by areas of agriculture. The latter are also watered by shallow dug-out channels leading from the river. As can be expected, the agricultural areas host a number of seed-eaters with a seemingly limited number of insect-eaters. Great & Intermediate Herons, Little & Cattle Egrets and Sacred Ibis were not uncommon near the water with some isolated sightings of Yellow-billed Storks and Pink-backed Pelicans, the latter especially on the areas of lakeshore visited. Singular but fairly good sightings were had of an African Spoonbill and a Purple Heron, the latter being a new Atlas record for the area.

Sacred Ibis (immature)

There was no shortage of weavers along the river and lakeshore and we got records of Slender-billed, Holub's Golden, Northern Brown-throated, Village and the more numerous Black-headed Weavers.

The Winding Cisticolas abounded and were also heard at most places along the river and also in some fallow cultivated areas. Most seen were sporting their breeding plumage which includes a ruffled and/or puffed up grey mantle and upper flanks. The browns in the plumage are also very rich.

Winding Cisticola in breeding plumage

Lesser Swamp Warbler was recorded along the river with nesting material and entering a spot of dense reeds where it was presumably building its nest. Black Crakes were heard and both Pied and Malachite Kingfishers were often seen. Once at the lake itself, Common Fiscal did justice to its name and was very common not to mention the Bronze Sunbirds that abounded plus a pair of Variable Sunbirds where the female was removing faecal sac from the nest, and a brilliant close views of a Green-headed Sunbird.

Probably the winning spot of the day was a pair of raptor chicks high up in a Eucalyptus tree for which we finally got ID from the bird & raptor forums as Black Sparrowhawk chicks. They were fairly large already and appeared to be close to fledging. It took a scope to get really good views but certainly worth the stop on our way down to the lake. Other raptors included the African Harrier-hawk and also the migrant Common Buzzard - a large group of raptors were riding the thermals, some which were suspected to be buzzards as well but the distance hazy light made it difficult to confirm.

Migrant species:

Common Buzzard - at least 1

Common Sandpiper - x1

Breeding records for the day are as follows;

Grey Heron - immature
Great Egret - breeding plumage
Sacred Ibis - immature
Lesser Swamp Warbler - nesting
Variable Sunbird - presumed chicks in nest (female removing faecal sac)
Fan-tailed Widow-bird - breeding plumage and mating display
Bronze Sunbird - nesting
Yellow-billed Stork - showing signs of breeding plumage
Village Weaver - nesting
Black-headed Weaver - nesting
Northern Brown-throated Weaver - nesting
African Pied Wagtail - immature
Pin-tailed Whydah - breeding plumage and mating display
Black Sparrowhawk - 2x chicks in nest
Brimstone Canary - immature

Trip to Akagera Fringes (8 May 2010)

2010-05-10T21:03:00.004+02:00

Posted by Jason on the Rwanda_BurundiBirds group on 10 May 2010

On Sunday I had a splendid time wading through flooded meadows on the western fringes of south Akagera. Just south and east of the main entrance to the South Park there is a small river valley (1°54'7.69"S+30°41'3.38"E), where the agricultural fringes slowly blend into the park buffer zone, and the whole area is fantastically rich in birds. Just the density of otherwise uncommon species there is truly surprising.

Within five minutes of arrival at just before 7am I had enjoyed a party of Green Wood-hoopoes, 3 Lilac-breasted Rollers, Black-headed Gonoleks galore, Greater Honeyguide (my first record for Rwanda, surprisingly) and my first record for Akagera of Siffling Cisticola. While trying to make a toilet stop, a Bearded Woodpecker began his triffid-like drumming on a tree above me, and a pair of Slate-coloured Boubous started calling and bouncing about in the bushes below. Good job my bins are light enough to hold one-handed.

The Slate-coloured Boubou is a good case in point of how many birds there were in this spot. I've had two previous records in Rwanda. Eric, one of Akagera's best birding guide has only seen it once, and other guides have never seen it. I recorded at least 8 pairs during the day. Buff-bellied Warbler were common; 3 parties sighted, and only 1 previous record for Rwanda. Other very common species were White-browed Scrub-Robin, Meyer's Parrot, Red-necked Spurfowl, E. Black-headed Oriole, Red-faced Crombec, Bare-faced Go-away Bird, African Grey Hornbill, Violet-backed Starling (see Marcell's blog about this species' numbers increasing at this time of year), Green Wood-hoopoe, Common Scimitarbill, Green-backed Camaropteras and more Green-winged Pytilias than you could shake a tripod at. Playback of Pearl-spotted Owlet, strangely, produced only… a Pearl-spotted Owlet. Serves me right. The rest of the birds seemed too busy to take interest in either my playback or the real Pearl-spotted Owlet! Notable other records included Copper Sunbird, Woodland Kingfisher and a pair of Didric, or Diedrick Cuckoos, the male looking as dandy as Robin Hood in tights:
http://kilnsey.tripod.com/didric.jpg

Intermediate Egret and Great White Egret were common in the flooded meadow, posing co-operatively for comparison. A flock of 32 Openbill Storks circled overhead at 9:00am.

The weavers were interesting. A mixed colony of Village and Lesser Masked Weavers overhanging a small lake provided interesting viewing. I was very interested by several birds I saw, that I presume were females of the Lesser Masked, but had very pale, horn-coloured bills. They were entering nests with nesting material, so I doubt that they were juvenile birds. I've put a picture up for opinions: (link to full photo http://kilnsey.tripod.com/weaver2.jpg )

The highlight of the day was a smashing raptor: Ayres's Hawk Eagle. The bird took off fairly close to me and struggled to gain height at 10am in the morning heat. It circled around and around, allowing me to get good views of the upperparts and lowerparts. On each lap I was able to eliminate species, until the combination of very streaky underparts, plain dark grey upperwings and tail, and fairly distinct white on face and `landing lights' confirmed what is a rare migrant in Rwanda. This is our first record for the Atlas.

After lunch the birds did quieten down a bit, so I sat down under a tree to watch a herd of impala that had strayed out of the park graze on the drier grass at the edge of the meadows and listen to a male Greater Honeyguide singing in the tree overhead. I fell asleep in the heat and woke up an hour later!

Here's a pic of one of the mischievous Green Wood-hoopoes that kept peeking out sheepishly from behind trees:
http://kilnsey.tripod.com/wood-hoopoe.jpg

Wonderful day. Can't wait to get back there.

Jason

World Migratory Bird Day: Migrant Birds in Rwanda

2010-05-09T08:28:00.007+02:00

8-9 May is World Migratory Bird Day and Rwanda hosts quite a few of these migrants either on passage or as 'summer' visitors. Summer is a relative term in Rwanda as seasons mainly consist of the dry seasons and 2 rainy seasons - granted changes in the weather are blurring these lines as well. On the Rwanda Bird Atlas we have c.55 migrant species including the intra-African migrants.

Given that the Atlas is still 'young', patterns have already started emerging for some species showing the Palearctic visitors' seasons from September to April. As the number of records and the time frame covered increases, movement patterns of migrants will become clearer. In some cases there are records from June and or July either indicating 1st year birds remaining till the next season and/or in some we think, are/have become resident birds.

Looking at some examples from the Rwanda Bird Atlas, the European Bee-eaters and Common Sandpipers have the most records and show clear seasons from September to April. There are isolated records for Common Sandpiper during July.

European Bee-eater: The latter part of September appears to be when the 1st birds start arriving or passing through with 50% recording percentage per visit. This peaks to 75% at the start of October and oddly no records for the latter part of the month. November to December shows an average of 37% recording precentage with a peak to 75% early January and dropping off to the last sightings end of April.

Common Sandpiper: The early part of September shows sightings at 75% of visits to existing sites on the database followed by a slight drop and then peaking to 75% again in the latter part of October and beginning of November. Early January again shows the same peak again with the last records in the latter part of April.

Common Sandpiper

Spotted Flycatcher appears to arrive later but also leave later with the first records in November and the last at the end of May. In the case of Barn Swallows we have quite a few records from July although all are from Akagera NP - are these birds resident? But the general September to April pattern is clear.

Willow Warbler also arrives only in October, according to Atlas records to date, but last records are also April. Early November shows a small peak in sightings. Sedge Warbler sightings are at 50% of visits during November and December peaking to 75% early January. March & April only have isolated records.

A notable intra-African migrant is the African Pitta arriving from the south and thought to be the longipennis race. 1st sghting commence mid-May from central Rwanda and culminate in the last week of May in Buhanga Forest in the north-west. There may of course be other individuals around the country during this time but we have no records of that to date.

In Akagera NP the resident Violet-backed Starling numbers are boosted substantially by the intra-Africa migrants from Southern Africa during June and July when literally hundreds of these birds can be seen and outnumber their cousins, the Greater Blue-eared and Rueppell's Starlings by far.

2011 should be showing even better patterns with more records, so please submit your sightings of the migrants (and other species) to Atlas project. Remember you can also visit us on our Facebook page

Lake Bulera (North-west) - March 2010

2010-05-07T12:56:00.004+02:00

At the north-west corner of Lake Bulera is a small locally run restaurant on the edge of the lake. The location lends itself to grand views and almost immediate relaxation plus; some brilliant and fairly easy birding. Once again also visited on 20, 24 & 25 March with Jason and some clients respectively.

Malachite Kingfisher

The shoreline provided great photo opportunities for Pied and Malachite Kingfishers and low swooping Black and Yellow-billed Kites, even the Pied Crows for those so inclined. The 20th Jason and I had some not-so-bad views of a distant Grey-headed Gull which might have been an immature - thanks to Jason constantly scoping the distant waters, also a first record for the Atlas in this region.

Red-chested Cuckoo

The trees near the shore gave us excellent views of Red-chested Cuckoo and even better photo opportunities.

Toward a ridge on the northern end of the area and just on the other side of it, is where the birds abound. Northern Brown-throated, Holub's Golden and Black-headed Weavers (the latter abundant) are among the reeds and bits of papyrus including the skulking but very audible Greater Swamp Warbler, referred to by Jason as the R2D2 bird due to its distinctive volley of calls. The Victoria Basin endemic Red-chested Sunbird is also seen here often and I once got a Spot-flanked Barbet here too.

Pied Kingfishers

Fan-tailed Widowbirds are very visible on the northern rise from the latter area in addition to the 1-2 Dark-capped Yellow Warblers around. Smaller seed-eaters are also common on both sides of this ridge including Common, Fawn-breasted and Black-crowned Waxbills, Bronze and Black & White Mannikins, Red-billed Fire-finch, Yellow-fronted Canary, Western Citril and Streaky Seed-eaters.

A stroll up the entrance road can get you Red-throated Wryneck, Black-crowned Tchagra, African Paradise Flycatcher and Common Fiscal. Oh! And do keep an eye out for a jackal that makes its appearance now and then.

Ikoro site - March 2010

2010-05-07T12:01:00.007+02:00

March and April have been quite a busy birding-wise, so I'll be doing a few location summaries of sightings etc.

20, 24 & 25 March I visited Ikoro with Jason and 2 sets of clients respectively and there was productive birding to be had. On all 3 occasions we went about 7am till around 11am before going to Lake Bulera.

The Collared Flycatcher made a regular appearance with and additional sighting of a bird in moult on the 20th. This day we also had a pair of suspected Gambaga Flycatchers and tried to record the call, only Jason partially succeeded in this.

Breeding was in progress as well with both Scarlet-chested Sunbirds, Streaky Seed-eater, Bronze and Black & White Mannikin nesting, the latter at the top of a 15-20m high Eucapytus tree. Common Stonechat, Variable Sunbird, Streaky Seed-eater, Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater (4x young), Brown-crowned Tchagra and Baglafecht Weavers all had immatures around whilst the Yellow Bishop (on the 24th we found a nesting pair) and Pin-tailed Whydah was in breeding plumage.

Unusually, a Pied Crow made its appearance on the 24th at the site instead of just the normal flyovers or the sound of their distant squawking. The visit didn't last too long due to the aggressive mobbing by an African Paradise Flycatcher.

The 25th also produced a new first for the site in the form of Black Cuckoo, gambonensis race. The bird was perched quietly fairly up in one of the trees but good enough views were had in order to confirm the ID. This brings the cuckoo list on the site to 3 with Red-chested and Klaas' cuckoos also previously recorded here.

The only migrants around were 4 European Bee-eaters on the 20th and a Spotted Flycatcher on the 25th.

Lesser Grey Shrike - new garden visitor

2010-04-15T09:06:00.003+02:00

This morning, Andy Rwigema called me to come and see the shrike in the back garden. Interesting birds turning up in weather like we're having at present is certainly not normal - it's been raining non-stop from early last evening. Anyway, grabbing camera and binoculars I went out and lo and behold a Lesser Grey Shrike on one of the banana trees, albeit wet and a bit bedraggled.

The smaller birds sounded like they weren't happy with this new visitor and were flying to trees in opposite sides of the garden from where the shrike was. Having a quick look through the binoculars, I switched optics and took some photos for the record.

Broad eye mask not extending down into the neck, short-ish tail and the white wing patch confirmed the ID. The forehead wasn't solid black and seemed more 'spotty' which indicates that this is possibly a female, it could of course be a 1st winter adult.

I haven't got any other records for the species in this area so this is probably one of the 1st if not the ist record for Ruhengeri (Musanze). There have been some storms and strong winds lately which may account for it turning up in this neck of the woods. They are more commonly (a fairly relative term here) seen in the South-east of Rwanda and Jason Anderson reports seeing 2 in Akagera NP last week.

Trip to Akagera (01-04-2010)

2010-04-13T10:51:00.002+02:00

Posted 3 April 2010 on rwanda_burundiBirds@yahoogroups.com by Jason Anderson

One thing I can't resist is a free trip to Akagera. Two colleagues showed up in town last week, and offered a place in their car, which I was very happy to accept. We visited the north park first and then the south park. There turned out to be a shed-load of migrants passing through.

First in the north park, at the headquarters (entrance 16 – called `Nyungwe') I noticed that in among the Village Weaver nests were a few different nests. I kept an eye on them while we were paying and collecting our guide, and eventually a Lesser Masked Weaver showed up to tend one of the nests; the guides at the lodge hadn't noticed them, even though they were right under their noses! I wonder if this species is expanding its range into Rwanda? But is it coming from Uganda or Tanzania? As I was watching them, I noticed a party of raptors passing north overhead; mixed Black Kite and at least 4 Common Buzzards on migration.

We stopped off at a small dammed lake, just west of Kilala on the edge of the park so that my colleagues could see the hippos that are resident there at this time of year, and were rather alarmed to hear shooting. It turned out to be soldiers scaring buffalo off nearby agricultural land, but it also scared a huge number of wildfowl and heron species from the lake. As well as the usuals, came the highlight of the day: a pair of Rufous-bellied Herons, unmistakable as they alighted briefly on the top of a bush, before disappearing with the next gunshot. The orange inner wing was clearly visible in the morning light, as was the very yellow bill. A lifer for me!

After this, we drove up to the Kilala Plains, where there is still a good range of game species, and also plenty of birds. 4 Grey Crowned Cranes, followed by a mature, lone White-backed Vulture wrestling to gain height on the weak morning thermals. Yellow-billed Ox-pecker were in attendance, as always, on the buffalo and plenty of swallows were working the grassland; Barn Swallow, Common Sand Martin, and possibly Angola Swallow too. For the first time at Kilala I noticed Zitting Cisticola (2) doing their display flights over the grass; interestingly not a common species in Rwanda, and this was my first confirmed record for the country. This was followed by two lapwing species that I had failed to spot on my last trip at the end of February: Crowned Lapwing and Senegal Lapwing, along with the more commonly present Wattled Lapwing/Plover. As we were leaving the plain an (African) Hoopoe flew across behind the car, and soon after two European Roller passed in front of the car; this was a first for our guide, who had originally presumed they would be Lilac-breasted, the common species here.

Two hours later, in the south park, there was lots of activity at the lodge. The allegedly resident Mocking Cliff Chat finally showed on this my 5th visit to the lodge. He was singing enthusiastically from the radar tower, and interestingly the song was very different to that of birds in Eritrea, where this species was very common (even nesting in my garden there). A Copper Sunbird (only my 2nd record for Rwanda) put in a brief appearance at the lodge, before being chased off by a Scarlet-chested. As we had lunch, a steady stream of raptors was moving north along the ridge thermals. Many were too distant to identify, but one group of Aquila eagles that came closer turned out to include at least 4 Steppe Eagles, all adults. This combined with the number of Common Buzzard that I'd also seen moving north during the day led me to wonder whether these hills, which naturally fault north-south might constitute the main migration route for raptors this side of Lake Victoria, as the land east of the Akagera River appears (from a distance) to be flatter, without the north-south fault to the hills. I wonder if Neil Baker has information on these migration routes?

On our way back to the car, a feeding party was present in the trees in the car park, and was accompanied by the other significant record of the day; a single Red-faced Barbet that gave good views for a minute before flying off. A Red-headed Weaver was building its scruffy nest in one of the larger acacias there.

Down by Lake Ihema more migrants were present, including a Wood Sandpiper, at least 5 Yellow Wagtails (including definite flavia race and possibly thunbergi too). A party of 8 Common Sandpipers flew across the tops of the hippos that were starting to stir as the sun disappeared behind the hill. The final treat was a party of 6 Water Thick-knees on one of the beaches, another new species for me in Rwanda.

Each trip to Akagera seems to turn up new species almost effortlessly – sometimes it seems as if the pages are just falling out of God's well-thumbed copy of Stevenson & Fanshawe and falling into the park! This coming week, Marcell and I will be spending 4 days camping in the centre of the park: Bring on the nightjars - I can't wait!

Jason

When is a papyrus gonolek not a Papyrus Gonolek? Nyaborongo (27-03-2010)

2010-04-13T10:35:00.002+02:00

Posted 2 April 2010 on rwanda_burundiBirds@yahoogroups.com by Jason Anderson

Last Saturday I followed the Nyagatare Road out of Kigali down to where it cuts across the Nyaborongo River (12km South of Kigali: 2° 3'44.74"S 30° 5'11.38"E). There is a very wide valley there, and although a significant amount of the wetlands has been converted to sugarcane plantation, there is still plenty of papyrus, elephant grass and sedge to keep the birds very happy. Just in terms of quantity, it is quite impressive. All day long, Spur-winged Geese, Great White Egret, Cattle Egret, Little Egret, Squacco Heron, Openbill Stork, Yellow-billed Stork, Grey Heron, Black-headed Heron and more were passing overhead, to the extent that it's difficult to estimate numbers.

The day started at some papyrus on the northern edge of the wetland. A pair of Little Bee-eaters, unexpected in marsh habitat, turned out to be… Little Bee-eaters (not Blue-breasted as I had hoped). This was followed by some Gonolek-type calls from the papyrus, that I had hoped would be Papyrus Gonolek, but they didn't respond to call back, so I resisted logging them (see caution later!). Much more co-operatively, a White-winged Warbler showed as well as can be expected for such a recluse, and began singing. This inspired a Greater Swamp Warbler to start gurgling, and we were off to a promising start.

Thanks to Umuganda (a Rwandan tradition – all the locals must volunteer to work for the community on Saturday morning), I had the wetlands to myself, and could birdwatch along the road without cars and minibuses hammering past at 100km/h. A Sedge Warbler showed briefly, followed by what appeared to be a lutea Yellow Wagtail and then a pair of Long-toed Lapwings posed for photos. This was followed by Blue-headed Coucal and very good views of a single African Marsh Harrier, loping along buoyantly on those invisible winds they seem to command so well. I decided to take a diversion along a dirt track that headed west parallel with the river through the sugarcane plantation to see what might be about, and I wasn't disappointed. Whilst the mature sugarcane didn't appear to harbour much, where it had been cleared was rich with Openbill Storks, Hamerkops (Is that the plural? Or is it Hamerkoppen?), and other bits and bobs. 3 Common Snipe flushed well enough to be IDed, winding up zig-zag over the marshes, presumably on their way back north to Eurasia. This turned out to be my first record for this species in Rwanda. Very soon after, the most notable record of the day was a Black Heron/Egret flying over. Although it was fairly distant and brief, the all-dark plumage and orangey feet were diagnostic; a lifer for me! Further up into the plantation I came upon a colony of Red-billed Quelea busy building nests and making babies like… queleas. The track eventually petered out, so, after trying in vain to call up Papyrus Gonolek from the papyrus on the edge of the plantation I headed back and crossed to the south side of the wetlands.

Wire-tailed Swallow and African Jacana were two notables at a small lake on the southern side of the wetlands, that, disappointingly harboured no wildfowl. I noticed a nice little dairy farm nearby with plenty of mature acacia so I popped in for a nose around. It didn't disappoint, with Grey-backed Fiscal, Spotted Flycatcher, Willow Warbler, Black-headed Gonolek, Lesser Honeyguide, Black-lored Babbler and many others. I stopped for lunch and noticed a small sunbird feeding actively on the tips of the acacia trees. A quick glance with the bins suggested Marico, but it seemed too small. I kept watching, and noticed there were two, male and female, and that the call was different to Marico, too. Eventually the male gave good views of his bill, short and fairly straight, and I realised I'd found my first ever Purple-banded Sunbird! I was collecting a few dodgy photos of this species when simultaneously a Great Reed Warbler and a White-collared Oliveback began singing, the former from the bushes, the latter from the acacia. I managed to record both. This was the first time ever that I'd heard the Oliveback sing (only my 4th record for this species), and it's song turned out to be a treat; varied and fruity – not at all like the cursory description given in S&F.

It was soon time to start back, but there were a few more highlights on the way. Crimson-rumped Waxbill and Goliath Heron were the first two. Then I noticed a nice raised pylon-path heading east into some papyrus. I followed it and spent the next 10 minutes in the afternoon sun trying to tempt Papyrus Gonolek to respond to playback, but to no avail. A second White-winged Warbler was heard and brief glimpses of a rather dowdy cisticola in the papyrus may have been Carruther's, but it was too brief to tell, and the upper tail appeared to be more brown than black, so I left it unconfirmed. Eventually, after 10 minutes a gonolek suddenly appeared from the papyrus in response to my requests. Given that I was 500m into some of the thickest papyrus I'd ever seen, I hardly expected a bloody Black-headed Gonolek (no disrespect to this stunningly beautiful bird), but that's what I got! He didn't call back, just kept bouncing around curiously. Perhaps he was babysitting for absent cousins? It just goes to show: not all papyrus gonoleks are Papyrus Gonoleks, if you see what I mean.

Suddenly it began raining, and absolutely pissed it down, so I donned my poncho, called it a day and headed back for Kigali, 80 species logged for Nyaborongo, the best marsh I've yet visited in Rwanda.

Jason

Good birds in Bugesera

2010-04-13T10:25:00.002+02:00

Posted 30 March 2010 on rwanda_burundiBirds@yahoogroups.com by Jason Anderson

I've been unusually quiet recently, on account of work, but luckily work turns up some surprisingly good opportunities. So it was that I was sent to a far-flung corner of Bugesera last week to train Rwandan teacher trainers. Luckily we were being put up in a nice hotel, in Gashora Sector on the shores of Lake Rumira (2°11'34.86"S 30°14'22.47"E). On all four days I was there I got up early to do a bit of dawn birding, and was very well rewarded. There is quite a lot of good habitat along the lake shores, some overgrown fields, and plenty of native trees around. The following notables were recorded:

Giant Kingfisher – possibly breeding. Seen on 3 of the 4 days, my first records for Rwanda. Got good photos.
Barn Owl – roosting and maybe breeding in the eaves of the roof of the hotel. 2 adults were seen at dawn on 3 days, but never carrying food. No young were heard inside after the parents entered.
Icterine Warbler – 1 bird seen and photographed at the hotel. My first record for Rwanda.
Buff-bellied Warbler – 1 rain-sodden, rather lonely little soldier feeding his way diligently through soggy acacia leaves. Showed all typical markings including white outer tail; a bird I know well from Eritrea. Another first for me in Rwanda.
Lilac-breasted Roller – 1 bird on the first day. Very notable record, as I've never seen this species outside of Akagera. However, nearby there is a large forest, called Gako, which is next to the road on the right as you head south from Kigali to Burundi. Apparently it is military land, so probably out of bounds for birding. However, the presence of this bird here was a real treat.

Raptors were very good: Common Kestrels breeding at the hotel (seen copulating), Grey Kestrel (1), Red-necked Falcon (pair), Black-shouldered Kite (1), African Fish Eagle, Long-crested Eagle, Black (Yellow-billed) Kite and African Harrier Hawk (carrying nesting material).

Black-headed Gonolek were two-a-penny, and as well as the Giant Kingfisher, there were Pied, Woodland and Malachite Kingfishers present. Also along the lake front were Greater Swamp Warbler, Southern Red Bishop, Swamp Flycatcher, and all the more common weaver species (Black-headed/Yellow-backed [breeding], Spectacled, Village, N. Brown-throated [breeding], Slender-billed). Didn't do so well with heron species, confirming only Black-headed Heron, Cattle Egret and a probable Goliath Heron flying over was just too distant to be sure. 2 parties of White-faced Whistling Duck flew over, with 5 in the larger party. Unfortunately I couldn't get close to any papyrus to check out the swampys. As well as the Icterine Warbler, other migrants included Willow Warbler, Common Sand Martin and Common Sandpiper. Cisticolas included Trilling, Winding and Red-faced. Chubb's were notable by their absence, with the altitude being probably a little low for them.

Looking on Google Earth, as well as the Gako Forest (2°16'2.93"S 30°12'30.80"E ) there is also plenty more native forest at 2°16'19.68"S 30°14'31.41"E. Does anybody know about these woodlands? They appear to be good quality acacia/broadleaf woodland, possibly miombo too. Have they been surveyed? I'll be heading back there as soon as possible! They could turn up some very interesting birds.

Here's the Giant Kingfisher looking rather splendid on the edge of a cesspit. Beauty and poo. What more do you need?
http://kilnsey.tripod.com/giant_kingfisher.jpg

Jason

Afternoon birding can be very rewarding

2010-03-14T15:28:00.002+02:00

Brown-crowned Tchagra

Yesterday (Saturday, 13 March) I tried some early afternoon birding at Ikoro. partly cloudy with a light wind but fairly warm, I wasn't sure whether the visit would turnout worth-while. Driving into the site I was rather happy with the 1st bird being the male Collared Flycatcher followed shortly by Brown-crowned Tchagra - and I wasn't even out of the vehicle yet!

Although the area where I parked wasn't very busy there, the White-eyed Slaty Flycatchers with 2 immatures seemed to be having a feast with the Spotted Flycatcher and some Cinnamon-chested Bee-eaters. Yellow White-eyes, a Scarlet-chested Sunbird male and Chubb's Cisticola were well active in the canopies of the eucalyptus trees. Western Citril, Yellow-fronted Canary and Bronze Mannikin were working their way through some vegetation.

African Paradise Flycatcher (male)

I moved up further north into the site where there was more shady areas and wasn't disappointed, this was where it was all happening. This hive of activity turned up the 'old' newbies, a pair of Miombo Rock Thrush, giving me a chance to see the female and get some photos. Collared Flycatcher male was about and as energetic as ever and African Paradise Flycatcher males were chasing each other about every now and then. Others in the area included Common Stonechat, Streaky Seed-eater, Bronze Sunbird, Tawny-flanked Prinia, White-browed Robin-chat and a very quiet Common Bulbul individual.

Miombo Rock Thrush (male)

The 'mystery' flycatcher was about again and gave me more opportunity for photos and spend some time observing behaviour. I've written about this 2nd day's sighting of the flycatcher on Variety in Birds and added some photos.

I finished a quality afternoon with pairs of Common Waxbills and Brown-throated Wattle-eyes, the male of the latter doing some brief posing for photos. The Variable Sunbird males were less obliging. The afternoon produced a reunion of 'new' species seen at Ikoro lately with only the Collared Flycatchers still stubbornly refusing to be photographed.

Brown-throated Wattle-eye (male)

Late morning heralds 'mystery' flycatcher

2010-03-14T13:09:00.003+02:00

Around 10am on the 11th (March) I went to Ikoro to see if I could get better photos of the Collared Flycatcher, and obviously anything else interesting. The weather wasn't too bad considering all the rain we've had recently, being warm and only partly cloudy.

It started with 2 usual suspects in the air i.e. Pied Crow and Black Kite which for some reason, doesn't spend any time that I know of, actually on the site. Breeding was certainly on the agenda for a few species again (still?) with a pair of Common Waxbills, one with nesting material, Black-and-white Mannikins busy building nest in a creeper, and an Augur Buzzard adult flying around with an immature.

Collared Flycatcher (female)

The Collared Flycatcher was right on cue and where I'd seen it a few days before, only this time the missus was with and I was able to get a couple of poor record shots of her. Photographing the Collareds is certainly not easy, perching for more than a few seconds appears not to be an option for them - forcing me to work hard for a decent photo is the norm though. No better shots of the male though.

Insect-eaters were out in force with Bronze and Variable Sunbirds foraging along branches and under loose bits of bark, 8 Cinnamon-chested Bee-eaters (incl. at least 1 immature) having fun with their aerial manoeuvres, Common Stonechat (pair), White-eyed Slaty Flycatcher (with 2 immatures), Dusky and African Paradise Flycatchers (female of the latter on nest too), Brown-crowned Tchagra and a couple of White-browed Robin-chats all joining in the warmth instigated appearance of food.

Chinspot Batis made brief appearances in addition to the frequent calls of the Chubb's Cisticola which remained hidden, very unusually so. I came across a pair of Common Bulbuls quietly sneaking through some undergrowth - nest nearby?

Seed-eaters were less visible and in addition to the Waxbills and Mannikins, only the Western Citril was out.

In the northern section I saw a little brown flycatcher doing some hawking and initially thought it was a Dusky Flycatcher but when it got closer, noticed light malar stripes and underside marking as well a very light base to lower mandible. The hawking was also a bit different with it not apparently liking to use the same perch twice. The ID for this is still under discussion and the options at the moment are Dusky or Gambaga Flycatcher (the latter which shares many of these features). For a detailed report on this, see the blog at Variety in Birds. (no editing other than crop was performed on the photos of this flycatcher)

The visit didn't much as in quantity of species but certainly delivered in quality.

"Mystery" flycatcher

New Species confirmed for Ikoro

2010-03-07T17:34:00.005+02:00

Leaving the Mukungwa River, I decided to go to the Ikoro Tented Camp site and see what birds were around after the last week of constant rain. There was a hint that the sun might be peeking out behind the clouds so I was hoping for some good sightings.

Once again Ikoro didn't disappoint and kept me busy juggling binoculars and camera with the variety of species around. The Cinnamon-chested Bee-eaters (Photo on right) were everywhere and I later came across an adult perched with 2 immatures of which I managed to get a fair photo. The food seemed plentiful as all were hawking and gleaning, well those that weren't more concerned about getting breeding started like the Paradise Flycatcher, Brown-crowned Tchagra and Yellow Bishop displaying - the latter was also energetically pursuing a female all over the place.

Between all this, I saw a brown flycatcher-like bird with a fair amount of white on the wings and immediately bring to mind one of the Ficedula flycatchers. There was also a lighter brown and narrow collar visible with a hint of the same colour supercilium. Unfortunately it didn't hang around and left very promptly - leaving me with sketchy notes and wondering if indeed it was a Ficedula flycatcher and whether it was a female or immature.

The African Harrier-hawk seemed interested in all the commotion but quickly got dive bombed by a variety of very small albeit brave (or silly?) birds. All the activity at this stage also included Dusky Flycatcher, Brown-throated Wattle-eye, Bronze and Variable Sunbirds, White-browed Robin-chat, Thick-billed Seed-eater (pair), Tawny-flanked Prinia, Chubb's Cisticola (very vocal as usual with some doing serious territory defence), Fawn-breasted Waxbill, Western Citril and Baglafecht Weaver.

Fawn-breasted Waxbill

As these things come about, something drew my attention behind me (no idea what) and I saw a bird perched about 20m away - massive white spot on the forehead and a lot of white on the wings. I froze, well except my hands pinning the binoculars to my face - Yes, it was a Collared Flycatcher (Ficedula albicollis) male in breeding plumage - but I needed better views to be sure and at least one photo for the record. In the end I got 3 ID-able photos showing the distinct features of the species including a 'patch' of white on the lower down the primaries, full wide and white collar. The rump was whitish. To say I was pleased no end is an understatement.

Collared Flycatcher (male) Ficedula albicollis

Interestingly I came across the Collared Flycatcher again about 40min later and 200m away from the original sighting - was it the same bird? Who knows but I'll be back at Ikoro to try and find it before it sets off on its long journey north. To see the other 2 photos, click on these links: rear and side views

The rest of the morning didn't produce more excitement but there were good sightings of Red-billed Fire-finches with nesting material, Augur Buzzard, couple of Yellow White-eyes, White-tailed Blue Flycatcher (always a pleasure to see them), Red-chested Cuckoo (also being very vocal) and ending with a displaying Pin-tailed Whydah male.

Certainly a very worthwhile morning for birding with the sun having made its appearance for a short while. Late afternoon produced a massive hailstorm leaving my lawn all white and the air rather chilly. Just another day at the office!

Mukungwa River in Ruhengeri

2010-03-07T16:55:00.003+02:00

This morning I set out for a brief spot of birding at the edge of Ruhengeri where the road from Kigali crosses the Mukungwa River. On the western side of the road the river runs into a large wetland meandering north-west on between the hills. Luckily it was reasonably early so not much traffic and/or spectators.

Mukungwa River & Wetland

First up was a Common Sandpiper as I got out the car and a lone Sacred Ibis in a tree. Further off into the wetland were a couple of Fan-tailed Widowbirds flitting around in what appeared to be mating displays.

Fan-tailed Widowbird (female)

The more numerous Yellow-backed Weavers were all involved with nest building and one nest had a female going in and out regularly. The 4 Village Weavers looked lost among all their cousins and didn't hang around where I was.

Yellow-backed Weaver (Male in breeding plumage)

Suddenly out of the distant reeds 3 Yellow-billed Ducks flew up and over me and toward somewhere much further upstream. They flew back and forth about 3 times. At one stage a Great Egret followed them back from upstream. A surprise came in the form of a Pink-backed Pelican flying out from behind some vegetation upstream and away in a southerly direction. The air show was participated in by a couple of Augur Buzzards calling constantly and the Angola and Red-rumped Swallows doing fly-bys. White-rumped Swifts made an early appearance before setting off downstream. Only 1 Black Kite passed overhead - about 1km back toward town later there were about 30 odd circling and rising in early thermals and another 15 Hooded Vultures about 500m further following suit.

In the trees next to the road the Speckled Mousebirds kept busy although at a seemingly snail's pace compared to the gleaning speed of the Bronze and Variable Sunbirds. The latter also had a nest in a Eucalyptus tree about 3m above and right next to the water. Both Pied and Cape Wagtails were present as was the ever energetic Swamp Flycatcher.

Western Citril

Other species seen include Western Citril, Hadada Ibis, Pied Kingfisher and Common Waxbill. I didn't venture into or along the wetland today but certainly will be returning to see what hidden treasures it holds.

Visit to Southern Akagera Fringe (28 Feb 2010)

2010-03-05T07:19:00.002+02:00

Posted 4 March 2010 on rwanda_burundiBirds@yahoogroups.com by Jason Anderson

With the help of Google Earth I managed to plot a walking route from the village of Nyankora (1°56'16.86"S+30°40'9.40"E) due east to the south eastern corner of Akagera National Park (1°56'32.75"S+30°41'51.22"E) about 5 kilometres east of the village, and on Sunday I tried it out. Although a fairly large hill stood in the way, the top of the hill marked the edge of the cultivation, and from there on down it was acacia-dominated savannah with wooded copses gradually thickening into forest by the bottom of the hill near the edge of Lake Ihema. Despite numerous tsetse files, tics and sweltering temperatures, I had a really good day's birding, and luckily I didn't bump into any of the buffalo or snakes that the local kids had warned me about as I descended into the woodland!

On the way up the hill, I had already bagged two new species for me in Rwanda; Common Whitethroat (an easily identifiable male feeding low in a bush – although Stevenson & Fanshawe [hereafter S&F] don't mark it as present in Rwanda, ABC list it as recorded here) and, finally, confirmation of Black-crowned Tchagra, after numerous Brown-crowned Tchagras. 3 sightings of the former today indicated that it might be more suited to the drier, more natural habitat on the park fringes than the Brown-crowned. Separating them was much easier than I'd expected. The Black-crowned has a clear orangey wash to the back of the supercilium and white face that is absent on the Brown-crowned (S&F show this well), and the photos showed up several other more subtle differences, too.

Both these birds were before I reached the park fringes, and as I started descending I was rewarded by a party (although only 1 seen) of Green Wood-hoopoe. 20 minutes later, further down the hill, a mixed feeding flock produced some smashing birds; African Moustached Warbler, Sulphur-breasted Bush-Shrike, and 2 migrant species - a pair of Common Redstart (male in breeding plumage) and a party of 3 Wood Warblers, one of my favourite birds ever since I found an early migrant on my local patch in the UK in my teenage years.

The highlight of the day was a pair of Black-collared Barbets (a first for me), which turned out to be breeding in a tree hole about 2.5m off the ground. One of the pair, and the nest hole, showed well for reasonable photos – a very handsome species. About 20 minutes later, a pair of Sooty Chats were hanging around a tree where a Red-headed Weaver male was building a nest about 3.5m off the ground. He paid no attention to my arrival, and allowed me to get some lovely photos of him lining the inside of the nest with the cottony seeds that were common in the long grass. On two occasions when he flew off to collect nesting material, a single Bronze Mannikin raided the nest (presumably for materials), and then another first for my Rwandan list – African (or Grey if you prefer) Penduline-Tit. A single bird moving busily through the canopy of medium-size acacia bushes, showing a more yellow forehead than the illustration of the roccatii subspecies in S&F. The Sooty Chats were the first of a stream of black birds in a short space of time, with Black Cuckoo-Shrike, a pair of Slate-coloured Boubous producing their R2-D2 type calls, and then a party of 3 White-winged Black Tits. I wonder if there is some significance here – several species all with black (and white) plumage in the same habitat. It definitely wasn't to keep warm. By this time it was 11am and even the Cuckoo-Shrikes were panting to keep cool!

The next good bird was a single Broad-billed Roller, who flew in close and posed for photos on a branch fairly nearby, my first record for Rwanda. I spotted it while I was trying to pin down a couple of apalises that I could hear in the top of an acacia tree, but not see. I suspect that they were Yellow-breasted, given the galloping horse-type call, but they didn't respond to playback by coming closer, so I left them unconfirmed.

Other birds of interest included Crowned Hornbill, Bateleur, Emerald-spotted Wood Dove, Lesser Masked Weaver, Violet-backed Starling, Trilling Cisticola (everywhere) , White-browed Scrub-Robin, Meyer's Parrot, Blue-naped Mousebird (fairly common), Cinnamon-breasted Bunting, Helmeted Guineafowl, Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird and Pale Flycatcher. The only `unconfirmed' was a high-soaring raptor that was probably a Black-chested Snake Eagle, but too far off to be sure. There was also a species of lark that I flushed several times from the long grass of the park fringes, but was never able to get even reasonable views of… next time perhaps. Wildlife, fortunately didn't include any buffalo, but I flushed two bohor reedbuck from bushes and I also came across two parties of Olive Baboons.

A late afternoon rainstorm sent me back to Nyankora and home by moto taxi. Akagera all-in for $10, 6 free tics included! A definite location for a return trip in a month or two.

Jason

RDB in drive to change ‘mind-set’ on bird watching

2010-03-01T16:09:00.003+02:00

Some good news for birding in Rwanda in an article in today's New Times newspaper in Rwanda;

By Gertrude Majyambere

Rwanda Development Board (RDB) tourism department has said it is embarking on a campaign to preserve the newly established tourist attraction, bird watching, by changing, people who destruct bird habitats into bird watchers.

In partnership with the Rwanda Birding Association, educational programs are being organized on birding habitats and the value of preserving birds for Rwanda.

The programms are also aimed at encouraging people to enjoy and participate in birding.

According to RDB/Tourism and Conservation, there have not been any recorded incidences of bird hunters and poachers so far. However, the biggest threat to the industry is the destruction of their habitats.

In Rwanda, most of the breeding grounds for majority of the birds are wet lands, swampy areas which are being encroached for agricultural purposes.

One of the cases cited is the destruction of the habitat at the Nyarutarama Lake where a few birds were found dead.
Rwanda’s Birding Areas (IBAs) are found in the National parks of Volcanoes, Akagera and Nyungwe.

Others include Mukura and Gishwati Forests, Rugezi Swamp, Akanyaru, Nyabarongo, Cyamudongo, Nyarutarama and the plains of Bugesera and its associated wetlands.

Available information indicates that out of the 700 bird species in the country over 138 are migratory species and 44 species are regional endemic species.

Information also indicates that 4 species are pure endemics. The whole lot of bird species earns Rwanda the repute of having the ‘Highest Concentration of Bird Species in Africa.’

“It has been proven that 1/3 of Africa’s bird species can be found in Rwanda,” a statement from RDB reads in part.

In a move to lure bird watchers, RDB /tourism is working on how to enhance the birding experience with priority put towards equipping these areas with infrastructure such as bird blinds, and bird watching towers at these sites.

They also intend to purchase bird watching equipments such as binoculars, bird ringing equipments and Bird Guide books.

Apart from the efforts by RDB/Tourism to protect birds and their habitants, Law also plays a role, and both the rules and the convention have become stricter.

Rwanda Bird Atlas - UPDATE

2010-02-26T16:34:00.002+02:00

Here's an update on where we are with records and numbers of species etc since we kicked off (albeit slowly) in August 2009.

I also want to use this opportunity to thank the small band of people who have and continue to provide records – and to encourage those haven’t provided any yet to send them through please. If you don’t have the Proforma spreadsheets for observer submission, let me know and I’ll send them through.

Below follows a breakdown of the records received and processed to date;

Total Records: 4,479

Total Species: 450 (this is fantastic! – about 2/3rds of the country list)

Included in these records, we also have breeding records;

Total Breeding Records: 375 In respect of species: 138

Breeding records consist of:

1. Mating/display (incl. Species in breeding plumage): 58 records i.r.o. 26 species

2. Nesting Activity: 81 records i.r.o. 47 species

3. Eggs in Nest: 4 records i.r.o. 4 species

4. Chicks in Nest: 38 records i.r.o. 19 species

5. Fledgling/immature (has left the nest): 202 records i.r.o. 103 species

As for country coverage we’re unfortunately not doing that well yet with the majority of records from the North-west, South-east and South-west of the country. Kigali records pretty much account for most central records.

If this is what we find with such low coverage, I can’t wait to see what we’ll get from wider coverage.

Thanks again all

Bird Survey in Kinigi

2010-02-15T12:31:00.005+02:00

Saturday and Sunday (13-14th Feb) mornings I was out doing a survey at a lodge in Kinigi. It's a massive property of approximately 8ha and incorporating a golf course. The main vegetation is very small patches (more like spots) of heath and shrubbery and then Eucalyptus trees lining the fairways and surrounding the main public areas. The gardens do have an exceptional amount of flowers including a lot of areas of Leonotis flowers - a firm sunbird favourite.

The weather unfortunately didn't play with so well and from what looked promising early mornings, turned into very overcast and on and off rain or drizzle weather. Especially on Saturday it appeared to affect the amount of birds around, Sunday was much more productive although still similar but slightly warmer weather.

Northern Double-collared Sunbird (Photo by Marcell Claassen)

The huge areas of flowers were very productive for sunbirds as I initially thought and produced exorbitant amounts of Bronzy Sunbirds (more than I've ever seen in a single spot - totalling at least 8-10 pairs) followed by Northern Double-collared (plus immatures), Variable (with some immatures) and a pair of Scarlet-chested Sunbirds. A big surprise on Saturday came in the form of a Ruwenzori Double-collared Sunbird in a tiny spot of heath. This was great though for comparison purposes with the smaller Northern DC Sunbird though.

Dusky Flycatchers were a dime a dozen followed by White-eyed Slaty Flycatchers. Singles each of Common Fiscal and a MacKinnon's Shrike was seen too. The Common Fiscal looked really odd with its plumage phase smack in the middle between the 2 illustrations in S&F of an immature and an adult. A couple of Cinnamon-chested Bee-eaters were out now and then as well as a pair of Rock Martins looking for the elusive wet weather insects.

Holub's Golden Weaver (Photos by Marcell Claassen)

Breeding records were not limited to the above with Red-eyed Dove incubating, Holub's Golden Weaver nesting with African Paradise Flycatcher,Pin-tailed Whydah and Yellow Bishop in breeding plumage.

Pied Crows as usual were very common except on Sunday morning at one stage when they all went quiet (and none in the air) and 4 White-necked Ravens were cruising around in the air. I've not come across the latter so 'low' down (approx. 2300m) before in Kinigi, only higher over the national park where the Pied Crows don't seem to venture so much. Other species in the air included Hooded Vultures doing the 'Top Gun' flight and flying low over and along the fairways, Augur Buzzard and an African Harrier Hawk.

Western Citril (Photo by Marcell Claassen)

Seed-eaters were represented by the very common Streaky Seed-eater plus Brimstone and Yellow-crowned Canaries and Western Citril. Common Waxbill was the only species from the fiches side. A single Golden-breasted Bunting was patrolling the lodge parking area.

Other species seen on these 2 mornings include; African Pipit, African Pied Wagtail, African Stonechat, Chubb's Cisticola (very common), Yellow White-eye and a pair of Red-chested Cuckoos were heard calling.

Solving Riddles in Gahini (06-07 Feb 2010)

2010-02-15T12:00:00.006+02:00

Posted 14 Feb 2010 on rwanda_burundiBirds@yahoogroups.com by Jason Anderson (all photos below copyright of Jason Anderson)

Sometimes splitting two sister species conclusively can be immensely rewarding, especially if you've spent countless hours trying to separate individuals that, it turned out, belonged to one and the same species all along (see previous Scrub-Robin blog). A weekend trip to Gahini on the eastern edge of Lake Muhazi proved to be the `Eureka' moment for 3 tricky pairs that I had been hitherto rather unsure about: Chubb's vs. Singing Cisticola; Southern Red vs. Black-winged Bishop and White-browed vs. Brown-backed Scrub-Robin.

I arrived on the Saturday afternoon (it was `officially' a social trip; a farewell do with a `muzungu' colleague who was leaving Rwanda), and found a couple of hours to sneak away along the lakefront. I was well rewarded with a Lesser Swamp Warbler that posed patiently for photos, a pair of Bronzy Sunbirds who did likewise, and, one of those uncommon little gems;

White-collared Oliveback (Photo by Jason Anderson)

White-collared Oliveback (only my 2nd record for Rwanda) on the reeds at the lakefront. The same foray produced a few more nice records, including, interestingly, my first African Green Pigeon for Rwanda, who I caught pilfering from sorghum fields along with the ubiquitous Red-eyed Doves, and was kind enough to show well for a few photos. Very pretty bird. As one of my colleagues commented looking at photos later that evening (imagine New York accent); `Are you sure that's a pigeon?' Just after, I got my first Osprey for Rwanda, loitering with intent above Lake Muhazi as the sun was going down.

The next morning I woke up rather hungover, but managed to make it out by about 7ish. Along the lakefront I met a very bold White-browed Scrub-Robin (good photos), several nests of Thick-billed/Grosbeak Weaver, several Swamp Flycatchers, and an interesting juvenile male Slender-billed Weaver that showed very similar characteristics to a mystery bird I'd seen in Rwinkavu several months ago: orangey-brown face, dark bill, abraded tail feathers (why a juvenile would have abraded tail feathers, I'm not sure, but it did!). A little further along I found some Arrow-marked Babblers making a commotion in an acacia tree. Upon investigating I found a Spotted Eagle-Owl snoozing on a branch. It flew off, and I relocated it for distant photos. Given that my previous Eritrean sightings of this (super)species are now usually split off as Greyish Eagle-Owl, this was a lifer for me! After breakfast, all my friends buggered off leaving me to the important task of building a proper bird list for Gahini, and I had a smashing time. A Great White Pelican did a flyby overhead, and 3 Yellow-throated Longclaws displayed in the field opposite the bus stop where I had just parted with my friends.

Black-winged Bishop (Photo by Jason Anderson)

As my hangover began to lift, I came across an overgrown field with tons of Leonotis flowers. As well as Red-faced Weaver, Western Citril and others, I came across a lovely red Euplectes species that turned out to be my first confirmed Black-winged (Red) Bishop (E. hordeaceus) for Rwanda. Southern Red Bishop (E. orix) is quite common here, both in marshy areas, and nearby cultivated areas, so I was surprised to find this bird so close to where I had, 5 minutes before, observed a typical S. Red Bishop. It showed pretty much all the key features shown in Stevenson & Fanshawe; facial mask lower, covering throat, but not above bill, pale vent, not orange, and little contrast between nape and mantle, unlike S. Red here. Interestingly, the folded wing did show slightly paler feather edges across coverts and primaries, but nowhere near as much as the S. Red, which gives the impression of grey wings (S&F illustrations show S. Red Bishop with too little pale on the wings, and Black-winged with not enough - at least for Rwandan birds). The most interesting difference was the fact that the bill was notably stouter, not commented on in S&F, but it gave a different jizz in the field, and an indication as to how divergence in diet had possibly separated these two very similar species. It showed very well for photos, which I've uploaded to the ABID (African Bird Image Database). Less than 10 minutes later, a little cisticola popped up on a milkbush (my name for the leafless plant [possibly euphorbia sp?] that is used to make hedges here), initially giving the impression of Winding Cisticola, but with no streaking on the back. Closer analysis revealed a plain mantle, grey on the flanks and too little black on the lores for Chubb's. The brown patch on the wings was very evident, and the bird was alone, producing occasional `chip' calls. The overall jizz was different to any of the 3 commoner species; Trilling Cisticola, Red-faced Cisticola and Chubb's Cisticola, which also can show some brown on the wings. I felt confident that it was Singing Cisticola, my second confirmed record for Rwanda (a previous brief bird in similar habitat in NE Ngoma District had been my first). Just to check, I played the call of Chubb's to see how it would react. It disappeared and, I think, flew off with a 2nd bird just before a party of 4 typical Chubb's showed up to protest at my intrusion. It was really nice to get this comparison and see how the two species were subtly different, both in appearance and calls. It's also interesting that they can be found in the same habitat.

I continued along the valley away from the lake, and was rewarded with several good birds, including Red-collared Widowbird, which, like previous birds at Bare, was clearly tropicus subspecies, not concolor as impled in S&F (got photos to prove), a little party of Slender-billed Weavers among ripe sorghum (one male showed well for a photo that I uploaded to ABID), and, interestingly, another S. Red Bishop. The overgrown scrub just up the valley side produced my second African Moustached Warbler (Melocichla mentalis) for Rwanda, to which I was first attracted by its call, which ended in a flourish quite similar to that of the White-browed Robin-Chat, albeit proceeded by a different prelude. I got good recordings of the call, but didn't need to play it back, as the bird was calling and showing very well all around me, possibly indicating that a nest might be nearby. I got some great photos (now on ABID) and some wonderful views of this rather unique bird, slimmer than shown in S&F, and rather `unwarbler-like'. Nearby was a Red-throated Wryneck, and further along brief glimpses of what appeared to be a Brown-backed Scrub-Robin, but it disappeared too fast to confirm. I spotted a distant lake, and continued up the valley. Part-way there I came across a small reedbed, where a pair of White-colllared Olivebacks posed for photos (on ABID) briefly, after, presumably having bathed in the water (note ruffled breast/belly feathers showing much black on photos). Smashing birds. By the lake itself there was little birdlife, save a single Long-tailed Cormorant and a lonely Black-headed Gonolek. Just upstream, however, I spotted a female Western (European) Marsh Harrier with very pale head and shoulders. My second record for Rwanda.

Mid-afternoon I headed back to Gahini to catch a bus back home. I had to walk quite quickly, so I didn't spot much on the way, but suddenly, on a distant bush, I spotted (close to where I'd suspected it before) a Brown-backed Scrub-Robin (C. hartlaubi), much greyer and plainer than the White-browed Scrub-Robins (C. leucophrys) that I'd seen all over Rwanda. I knew instantly that this was `the other species', and that all my previous records were of White-browed. I got some reasonable photos (on ABID) and recordings of the call (see previous blog entry for how I separated the two species – Terry Oatley has seen the photos of this bird and confirmed it as Brown-backed). I got back to `Seeds of Peace' to pick up my bag before the last bus, and spotted down by the lakeside a pair of Grey Crowned Cranes right next to a pair of African Wattled Lapwing/Plover. I was immediately worried that the former might be captive birds, but my fears evaporated when I saw them take off lankily and cross low over the lake surface to the other side. My 3rd best day's birding in Rwanda. Is anyone still reading? Perhaps not, but I've enjoyed recollecting such a day!

Jason Anderson

Here are some of the links. The Brown-backed Scrub-Robin hasn't gone up yet. I suspect they're double checking it, so here's an external link to that one:

White-collared Oliveback
http://www.birdquest.net/afbid/latestimages.php?func=latestview&totalimages=20&pageno=2&pagesize=1
http://www.birdquest.net/afbid/latestimages.php?func=latestview&totalimages=20&pageno=3&pagesize=1

Black-winged Bishop
http://www.birdquest.net/afbid/latestimages.php?func=latestview&totalimages=20&pageno=4&pagesize=1

African Moustached Warbler
http://www.birdquest.net/afbid/latestimages.php?func=latestview&totalimages=20&pageno=6&pagesize=1

Brown-backed Scrub-Robin
http://kilnsey.tripod.com/brown-backed_scrub-robin.jpg

Miombo Rock Thrush - wrong habitat?

2010-02-12T14:41:00.003+02:00

This morning my manager, Andy Rwigema called me to our site, Eucalyptus plantation forest with fairly dense but short undergrowth and very rocky (volcanic), to see a rock thrush pair which he had seen earlier the week which was present at the site.

On arrival, it was a Miombo Rock Thrush male next to a busy road in a eucalypt tree fairly high before flying back across to our site and posed for a few minutes on some iron sheeting for me to get pretty good photos.

Miombo Rock Thrush (male) Photo by Marcell Claassen

The back and head (including throat) was a gun metal grey and the top of the head and into the neck showed dark speckling with scaling from the lower mantle down onto the wings. The only lighter colour was the vent which was almost white but the rest of the underside was a rich rufous/orange and slightly lighter right at the bottom of the belly before the vent. Tail was the same colour with dark centre feather(s). S&F show a white belly and vent although the AFBID photo of a male north of Lubumbashi are more similar to this male.

Miombo Rock Thrush (male) Photo by Marcell Claassen

Andy had managed to get a couple of photos of the female which I wasn’t able to track down when I got there. These photos show the very strong malar stripes and then surprising an underside completely orange/rufous – this is in strong contrast to Stevenson & Fanshawe which show only a patch of orange below the throat as well as photos on AFBID from the DRC showing only a flush of light orange on the chest.

Miombo Rock Thrush (female) Photo by Andy Rwigema

Now, habitat! This is a miombo bird which Britton (1980) refers to as “virtually endemic to miombo woodland and associated cultivation...” – there is no hint of miombo anywhere remotely near Ruhengeri. The locals watching me take photos whilst the bird was next to the road commented that they had never seen this bird before.

Interestingly the male had also appeared to distract Andy away from the female, who flew in the opposite direction when he got closer to her. Possible breeding behaviour? All online sources indicate the bird is resident in Rwanda although I don’t seem to be finding any record of sightings – they do note though that breeding has not been confirmed. Britton (1980) refers to possible wandering in NE and W Tanzania – maybe the same in Rwanda? (S&F doesn’t show any distribution of this species in Rwanda)

The pair appear well settled in (3^rd day of sightings this week now) and from my experience with the male today he also seems fairly relaxed and not in a rush anywhere.

I managed to record the call which sounds very “robin-chat-ish” albeit short phrases from a robin-chat song but miles softer and certainly not something you’ll hear at a distance. Will try and get the calls onto Xeno-canto later.

Calls now available online; Call 1, Call 2,

Anybody have any further info on the distribution and/or wanderings of this species?

Here are some photos (the links) of the male from various angles (he was very obliging) and a couple of photos Andy got of the female;

Female (1) http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4030/4351218632_8bb12dd22d.jpg

Female (2) http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4057/4350474797_fc7590f679.jpg

Male (front/side view) http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4021/4351223914_aeee4f37ec.jpg

Male (Bottom/rear side view) http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4009/4351225836_df2aec4073.jpg

Male (View of back and head) http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2781/4350482099_03947e0f7c.jpg

Male (side view) http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4038/4350486795_1e1945bb6d.jpg

New Babes on the Block

2010-02-10T11:26:00.005+02:00

Yes, there are a few new youngsters on the block here in Musanze (Ruhengeri) in my garden and in particular I got some photographs of the Red-billed Firefinch and Baglafecht's Weaver youngsters.

The Red-billed Firefinches have 3 youngsters who have all fledged but are still being fed by the mother. I managed to get a mediocre shot of the feeding - photos were a bit difficult as the feeding was not only quick and frenzied, but also underneath a fairly dark shrub.

I did manage to get a nice portrait of the kids huddling up on a rock in the sun between feeds. Although not on this photo unfortunately, the one at the back left was nodding off every few seconds only to be bumped awake by its siblings.

The Baglafecht's Weavers have only one youngster and it was moving around with 'Dad' yesterday. The difference between the two birds was quite substantial. Other than the lack of a black head which arrives with adulthood, the juvenile sported a very pale bill and the eye was still dark-ish.

In the sun, as with this photo below, one can see a hint of yellow in the eye. Excluding the still visible (although not that visible in this photo) yellow gape of a newly fledged bird, this picture could lead to some hard ID work - yellow weaver, dark yellow eyes and pale bill. Hmmmm even the field guide doesn't show (or mention) this as the juvenile of a Baglafecht's Weaver.

Garage owners in wetland face eviction ultimatum

2010-02-05T07:25:00.000+02:00

These wetlands are being seriously threatened – I happened to drive past the area yesterday referred to in the article. The water running into the wetland from points along the road where the garages are, can hardly be referred to as water anymore – this is serious oil/fuel/grease sludge in addition to loads of other litter. These garages were given warning ages ago - at least there appears to be some action in the pipeline now though. How long will it take the wetland to recover (most birds have for obvious reasons left this area)?

Article appeared in the New Times on 4 February 2010

By Tony Barigye & Bob .C. Rutarindwa

Automobile garage operators in Nyabugogo wetland have castigated the 30-day ultimatum given to them by the Rwanda Environment Management Agency (REMA) to vacate the area.

There are more than 20 workshops in the wetland.
The workshop operators who The New Times spoke to say the ultimatum came at a very short notice. Others say the area is very accessible by their clients.

The representative of workshop owners, Seyid Mazimpaka, said that the ultimatum doesn’t provide enough time for them to move and has left them speculating about their future.

“We are all confused, we don’t know where to go” said Mazimpaka who has been operating in the area since 2003.

The ultimatum follows a 2006 study conducted by REMA that says effluents from the workshops are hazardous to human life when washed into the surrounding wetland.

Rose Mukankomeje, the Director General of REMA, said that besides the relocation, they should build garages that are up to standard.

“We want them to move and build garages that are up to standards,” she said.

“REMA did not even hold any meetings with us before telling us to move,” a garage owner who required anonymity explained.

Israel Dufatanye, an Environment Inspection Officer who was involved in carrying out the study, said that the effluents released into the wetland contain heavy metals like mercury, lead, arsenic, cadmium and others which are hazardous to human lives.

Singling out lead, he explained that beyond 0.05micro gram per litre, it becomes detrimental to the human brain, foetus, is cancerous and living organisms in the wetland can’t thrive.

“Once the chemicals are ingested by pregnant mothers they affect the growth of the,” he said.

The same garage owners were told to relocate in 2006 but adamantly refused.

Mukankomeje said that,” we are regulators so let other departments like the Ministry of Infrastructure or that of commerce play their part.”

A similar relocation exercise is already ongoing in the same proximity in Gikondo wetland where the Ministry of Commerce is conducting an evaluation exercise to compensate 98 industries which will have to move to a new industrial area in Nyandungu in Gasabo district.

But Dufatanye said that the garages are not eligible for compensation because they are illegally located.
“They can’t be compensated when they are illegally operating in designated areas,” he said.

According to the law, no one is allowed to construct or operate within 20m of the wetland.

Since its formation in 2005, REMA has designated 22 wetlands across the country.

Minister calls for increased wetland protection

2010-02-05T07:07:00.003+02:00

(Above photo not published with article)

The New Times on 4 February 2009 carried this good news for Wetlands - somebody at last speaking up for their fate;

By Tony Barigye

The Minster of Natural Resources, Stanislas Kamanzi has called on the population to take much interest in conserving wetlands to realise their environmental benefits.

He made the call yesterday while officiating at the celebrations to mark the world wetlands day.

“We want to call upon Rwandans to protect the environment and understand the benefits,” he said.

However, he said that despite improvement in the conservation following the formation of Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA) some sections of the population continue to encroach on the wetlands.

“With 90 percent of the population depending on agriculture and using rudimentary methods of farming, in the dry season crop growing is shifted from the slopes to wet lands,” Kamanzi revealed.

Kamanzi stated that due to indiscriminate activities some wetlands have been phased out.

Since the inception of REMA, 22 wetlands have been successfully designated.

Citing a recent flood in Nyandungu in Remera, he warned that the consistent floods across the country mean that wetlands need to be better protected.

“Last week there was more rain that was to have fallen in the previous months. It rained for 3 hours. It means we have to be responsible for wetlands. It is to their (inhabitants) benefit when there are floods and it means losses,” he said.

Ikoro Delivers Again!

2010-01-31T17:43:00.005+02:00

Yes, another morning at the Ikoro site and unfailingly it produced a surprise once again. This morning I was there around 8am with the skies all clear and the weather looking set for another warm day - get there too early and the birds are either still hiding away or they couldn't care less about moving around until there's more light inside the forest.

Getting out of the car, I had to be ready as the action was thick and fast with African Yellow White-eyes and African Dusky Flycatchers (the most common of the flycatchers for the day) flitting around and Cinnamon-chested Bee-eaters swooping through the air for their early morning bee breakfast. Streaky Seed-eaters were everywhere and certainly the most numerous today - you couldn't turn anywhere without bumping into at least 2-3 of them. The Brown-crowned Tchagras weren't as active as yesterday but provided good views again.

But it was a day for flycatchers - with one under the belt already, the others clocking in White-eyed Slaty and White-tailed Blue Flycatchers, Brown-throated Wattle-eyes with African Paradise Flycatchers and Chinspot Batis the northern side of the site. The surprise for the morning came in the form of a flycatcher as well but later about that. The early part was still busy and an immature Baglafecht Weaver checked in and a Klaas' Cuckoo gave stunning views. Red-chested Cuckoo male and female were heard calling but made no appearance.

White-eyed Slaty Flycatcher

Progressing up north on the site the sunbirds were out in force too with two pairs each of Bronzy and Scarlet-chested Sunbirds, Variable and Collared Sunbirds were just one pair each. Chubb's Cisticolas were being their noisy self and the African Stonechat pair being the opposite and rather quiet.

African Stonechat (female)

It was up here in the north that a black and white bird flew past me and perched about 15-20m away. The large white patches of white on the primaries against the otherwise black back immediately caught my attention, the underparts were all white. Initially it looked from the side like it had a white collar all the way around the neck, so the ID went down very excitedly as a Collared Flycatcher as it flew away. It was my lucky day as this bird returned (if the same bird) and perched closer for a bit longer (probably about 45s this time) and with a clear sunlit view it was clear the collar did not go all the way around and I was able to finalise the ID on Semi-collared Flycatcher. Another new species for the site and a great first for me - oddly enough I've not heard of any other recent records in Rwanda for both Collared or Semi-collared.

Happy bunny I went on and the little seed-eaters came to celebrate including Common and Fawn-breasted Waxbills and getting a good recording of the chattering of the latter. Bronze Mannikins showed of their 4 youngsters as well. The morning ended with a couple of Tawny-flanked Prinias gleaning insects off the bushes and a Black Kite flying over. What a great morning!

A Rewarding Photo excursion

2010-01-30T18:32:00.006+02:00

This morning I decided to got to the site where Ikoro Tented Camp is under construction, here in Musanze (Ruhengeri). I haven't been there for birding or photography for quite some time and the Eucalyptus forest always has one or two surprises - today was no exception. Today my main aim was to get some bird photos and not a thorough birding trip.

Arriving just after 9am I knew I had only a couple of maximum before it got too hot. Right in front of where I'd stopped, a pair of African Paradise Flycatchers were working hard - the reason would be apparent shortly. As I tried to get closer for a photo, slightly ahead on a higher were two juvenile Paradise Flycatchers sort of preening themselves and just generally looking nervous. This was a first for me seeing fledglings for this species. The backs and tails (which was fairly dense with feathers) were already almost the colour of the parents. The yellow gape was still very apparent. Just before the parents called and they flew away, I managed to get a few shots.

African Paradise Flycatcher fledglings

Nearby a bird was calling which sounded out of place here (as in not heard here before) and I recorded the call and in came the Brown-throated Wattle-eyes. Surprise number two and a new species for the site - excellent! I managed some fair shots of the two males who were defending territory after the playback of their call, and I also managed very good recordings of the defending calls where one bird does a 5-6 note grating call and the other does the 2-3 note 'normal' call - the latter 'duet' is done repeatedly at speed.

The Cinnamon-chested Bee-eaters were all over in the area I covered with numbers only exceeded by Brown-crowned Tchagras all displaying and calling constantly - some of the latter was also mimicked by a nearby White-browed Robin-chat. About 6 Chubb's Cisticolas came out fiercely displaying and calling (totally out of the blue) only to have a Tchagra jump right in between them - that was the end of that Chubb's party.

One of the Brown-crowned Tchagras

Other species this morning included Yellow Bishop, Common and Yellow-bellied Waxbills, African Stonechat, Scarlet-chested & Bronze Sunbirds, Baglafecht's Weaver, White-browed Robin-chat and White-eye Slaty Flycatcher.

Not bad at all for 2hours in a very small area of the site.

Photo focus on some 'Common' garden species

2010-01-28T09:19:00.003+02:00

Thought I'll put up some photos of the more 'common' species which one would encounter in Ruhengeri (Musanze) - these photos were taken in my garden where I now have a list of almost 60 species that have/do visit.

Presently, a few have also recently bred and have youngsters in tow and include Baglafecht's Weaver (2x immature), Bronze Sunbird (1x juvenile - see photo below), Grey-headed Sparrows (1-2 young), Scarlet-chested Sunbird (immature male yesterday in garden), Red-billed Firefinches (1x youngster), Speckled Mousebirds (at least 1 youngster) and Common Bulbul (1-2 young). It appears the Spot-flanked Barbets have a nest somewhere but I've yet to locate it. The African Thrush pair is being auspicious in their absence - they breeding AGAIN? (they seem to be able to breed on an almost continuous basis)

Grey-headed Sparrow

Common Bulbul

Black-crowned Waxbill

Bronze Sunbird (juvenile)

Grey-capped Warbler

Trip to the Papyrus Beds between Bare and the Kabaya Valley 17/01/2010

2010-01-27T14:02:00.003+02:00

Posted 19 Jan 2010 on rwanda_burundiBirds@yahoogroups.com by Jason Anderson (all photos below copyright of Jason Anderson)

On Sunday for my weekly birding trip I went back to Bare, where a few weeks ago I'd found some good papyrus, a few bits of woodland, but still not seen any of the papyrus endemics. This time I walked upstream along the Kabaya Valley, back towards the road to Kirihe and I was very much rewarded.

The papyrus was much thicker along this stretch of the river, regularly over 3 metres high, and I finally got my first sightings of some of the endemics and specialist species. First of all, a Lesser Swamp Warbler, which both gave good views and sang quite well to separate it from Greater. Then, for good contrast, a Greater Swamp Warbler showed up a few hundred metres further on. It also sang, and through use of playback, I brought it to the edge of papyrus where it posed for some good photos (see link below). Then, finally, after a combined total of 18 hours watching papyrus, my first Papyrus Gonoleks. A pair on the edge of the papyrus for a couple of seconds, and they called. I managed to tape them and play it back and they came up very close for some good photos (see below). This patch of papyrus was very productive.

Soon after I heard and recorded White-winged Warbler, which also gave good views and photos as soon as I played its call back to it (see below). I also found lots of other good birds, including at least 2 Gabar Goshawks, a Great Reed Warbler (also sang well and appeared briefly), probable Purple Swamp Hen (too distant to separate from Allen's Gallinule), Compact Weaver, Pale Flycatcher, tons of Woodland Kingfishers, Ross's Turaco, and despite an embarrassing incident crossing one valley of rice paddies in which I went up to my crotch in mud (I was saved by the log that I ended up straddling painfully, much to the amusement of the locals!) I also found Green Sandpiper and Blue-cheeked Bee-eater in the vicinity of these rice paddies.

Further up the valley I tried playing back the calls of Papyrus Gonolek and White-winged Warbler, and successfully brought both species into view, indicating that the swamps here have healthy populations of both these papyrus endemics.

I put 4 of the best photos on ABID (African Birding Image Database), and am in the process of uploading many of the calls to Xeno-canto. My Papyrus Gonolek and White-winged Warbler are the first for these two species, and very useful for bringing the birds to the edge of the swamp. Links are:

ABID pics:
http://www.birdquest.net/afbid/search.php?func=searchresult&af_bs_id=2039
http://www.birdquest.net/afbid/search.php?func=searchresult&af_bs_id=1471
http://www.birdquest.net/afbid/search.php?func=searchresult&af_bs_id=1506

Xeno-canto:
http://www.xeno-canto.org/browse.php?query=papyrus+gonolek
http://www.xeno-canto.org/browse.php?query=white-winged+warbler
I'll also put the Swamp Warbler calls up on Xeno-canto when I get a moment, although they are much more brief.

Jason

Blue Monkeys Hunted in Kabaya Valley

2010-01-21T11:42:00.003+02:00

Posted 19 Jan 2010 on rwanda_burundiBirds@yahoogroups.com by Jason Anderson

Blue Monkeys Hunted in Kabaya Valley, S. of Kibungo

On my trip to the Kabaya Valley, as well as lots of lovely wildlife I came across a disturbing sight. A blue monkey had been killed (they live in the trees among the papyrus beds) and its skin was displayed on a long stick of bamboo, presumably to ward off other monkeys from coming towards the crops.

I took a photo of the skin, which can be seen through this link: http://kilnsey.tripod.com/dead_blue_monkey.jpg

It is definitive proof that the people there are hunting the monkeys (see my previous blog on this). The fact that they were quite happy to put this skin onto display quite close to a communal grazing area, where many villagers saw it is a fairly good indication that nobody locally is stopping them. The location (approx. to 500m) is 2°17'13.09"S+30°32'13.99"E The hunting of these monkeys is illegal. I wonder if the picture could be used as evidence to caution the umudugudu/cell/sector in question to ensure that the hunting stops?

As well as posting this blog, I’ve copied Claudien and Djuma in as an email. Can either of you guys do anything about this? I work at the relevant District office; Ngoma. If there is a REMA contact in the office there, and you could provide me with his/her contact details, I could talk to them and show the photo.

Jason Anderson

Note by Marcell Claassen: REMA is the Rwanda Environmental Management Authority