Tanzania Day 16 - PEMBA ISLAND. THE END!

With all 4 endemics done and dusted we just had a few more personal targets for the group today, so we set off towards Msuka Beach after breakfast. A quick pre-brekky look around the gardens produced the endemic race of African Goshawk, Brown-headed Parrots, many Broad-billed Rollers and a White-browed Coucal. 

African Goshawk - phonescoped

Along the way we had much, much better views of Dickinson’s Kestrel than yesterday and spent quite a while admiring a pair loitering on telegraph wires and a post in some fields. 

The stunning Dickinson's Kestrel

Moving on we had our first Black-winged Red Bishop of the trip and the male certainly looked stunning in the scope and a brief African Pipit as well. Once at the coast it was a little disappointing to see the tide was already way out but within a few seconds of setting up the scope we were on the hoped for Crab-Plover, well there were quite a few once we started scanning. 

Crab-Plover

They were a bit distant so the only thing to do was take off our shoes and socks and head out across the mudflats and we had further views although the tide was receding quicker than we could walk! We also found a pair of Black Herons, Common Greenshank, Grey Plover, Western Reef Herons and other padders. 

Happy with this we walked back to the car and set off in search of our next target, which we duly found at a small wetland and pool. At least 7 impressive Madagascar (Olive) Bee-eaters were sallying forth from a leafless tree after insects and flew quite close to us. Out on the pool were many White-faced Whistling-Ducks and I counted an impressive tally of 22 White-backed Ducks. And that left us just one more target, which was a lifer for most of us – Mangrove Kingfisher. And this didn’t take long to track down either and we had a very impressive individual parading around us, calling all the while and perching on prominent bare branches in a small patch of woodland. 

Mangrove Kingfisher

And so we were done. Back to the lodge at 1.30pm for lunch and we had a restful afternoon, celebrating with some ice-cold beer, swimming in the sea and enjoying a siesta. Most unusual…!!! And that was our birding in Tanzania over! What an epic trip!