Tanzania Day 11 - BIRDING MIOMBO HABITAT NEAR MIKUMI NP

After a fine buffet breakfast at one of those typical safari lodges we birded the miombo habitat at the edge of Mikumi National Park. Bur first of all we had a date with a pair of Peter’s (red-throated) Twinspots that inhabit the gardens and these deliciously superb little gems didn’t disappoint. 

Peter's (Red-throated) Twinspot

We also found a Collared Palm-Thrush, as well as Grey-olive Greenbul, Spotted Mourning-Thrush, Eastern Black-headed Batis and a few others before driving around 20 minutes and began birding. 

Collared Palm-Thrush

At first the forest seemed a little quiet, apart from a calling immature Eastern Chanting-Goshawk from a nearby tree. Then we hit a run of new birds starting with a Yellow-throated Bush-Sparrow calling away from the top a tree, followed by the first of several superb-looking Arnot’s Chats. 

Arnot's Chat

Abdul then spotted a Stierling’s Wren-Warbler feeding close to the forest floor, with a Piping Cisticola (Neddicky) nearby. Peter picked up a Black-hooded Oriole, and we scoped a Miombo Starling (just a Lesser Blue-eared Starling if you follow Clements!). 

Miombo Starling

Our first Cinnamon-chested Tit (or just a Rufous-bellied Tit if you follow Clements) then appeared, and some delightful Green-capped Eremomelas were picked up feeding at the top of a tree right in front of us. As we were watching them, Abdul saw a Yellow-bellied Hyliota next to the eremomelas, but only a few in the group were lucky enough to get on it. Suddenly a Speckle-throated (Reichenow’s) Woodpecker began calling and it eventually showed pretty well. 

Reichenow's Woodpecker

New birds kept appearing and we were on a roll….. Next up was a flock of Pale-billed Hornbills flying over the road and a couple of them lingered at the top of a close tree and showed incredibly well, allowing great views in the scope and time for plenty of photos to be taken.

Pale-billed Hornbill

The next stop a few kilometres further along the road was notable for flyover White-backed Vulture and Bataleur, or should I say the awesome views of a displaying pair of Racket-tailed Rollers we watched for ages. At one stage they alighted on the top of a near tree, unfortunately right into the sun but nevertheless still looking awesome in the Swarovski scope. 

Racket-tailed Roller

A pair of Speckle-throated Woodpeckers showed at the same spot and allowed much better views than the previous sighting, with some reasonable photos being taken of this localised miombo specialist. A flock of White-crested Helmetshrikes had a Common Scimitarbill following them and once they’d crossed the road a fantastic White-breasted Cuckooshrike was picked up in the flock as well. Wow! We also had better views of Cinnamon-chested Tit, had a Red-faced Crombec, Little Bee-eater, another Arnot’s Chat, Amethyst and Scarlet-chested Sunbirds, Golden-breasted Bunting and eventually found the localised Hofmann’s Sunbird too. 

 

The third stop produced better Hofmann’s Sunbird views in the scope, as well as Pale Batis and a non-breeding Southern Red-headed Weaver – look at the yellow primaries… And our last stop before lunch gave us a delightful Livingstone’s Flycatcher feeding quietly in a nearby tree, followed by Crowned Eagle, Cardinal Woodpecker, as well as a distinctive female Purple-throated Cuckooshrike. After our picnic lunch we drove about an hour and a half to the wonderful Hondo Hondo Tented Camp, located at the base of the foothills of the Udzungwa Mountains. 

 

We had the luxury of an hour off after lunch before checking out the nearby ricefields where large flocks of Bronze Mannikins were accompanied by several Black-and-white Mannikins and some huge Magpie Mannikins. A few Brown-hooded Kingfishers were seen, along with Little Bee-eaters, Blue-spotted Wood-Dove, and an Ayres’s Hawk-Eagle flew over. We then drove a short distance and checked more ricefields where we found at least four Lesser Seedcrackers being rather surreptitious in the long grass. There was also Blue Waxbill, Grosbeak Weaver, and Yellow-fronted Canary. Then we drove to a different forested area and along the way found a few delightful Orange-breasted (Zebra) Waxbills. 

African Openbill

Driving further we saw flocks of African Openbills and a few herons and egrets, Brown-headed Parrot and some Crimson-rumped Waxbills. Our destination was a patch of forest where, after a bit if a wait, after sunset we located a pair of totally awesome Pel’s Fishing Owls perched right at the top of a tall tree beside the railway track we’d been walking along! 

Staking out the Pel's Fishing Owl site

Pel's Fishing Owl

It’s a pretty special bird and they weren’t bothered by us at all and I can tell you, the scope views were awesome! 

Tanzania Day 10: ULUGURU MOUNTAINS

Breakfast at 5.30am followed by beginning our trek at 6.10am up to the forest on the ridge for some very special birds. It only took 80 minutes to get to the forest edge but it was seriously steep most of the way and required a lot of physical exertion and isn’t for the unfit. Saying that we made it! But it was touch and go whether that would be the case and then it was another kilometre up an ever increasingly steep trail inside the forest, but we didn't really notice just how steep the trail was inside the forest as we were birding all the way up. We found our first target, Uluguru Mountain Greenbul quite quickly and watched it feeding on a nearby tree. We then had a couple groups of birds comprised mainly of Loveridge’s Sunbirds, but also the endemic race of Bar-throated Apalis as well. It then took a while to find Mrs Moreau’s Warbler and as we walked along a narrow trail an Olive-flanked Ground-Robin showed for a couple people. The first attempt at the warbler was blank but our second try at an open area covered in secondary scrub was extremely fruitful and we watched two birds creeping inside the dense bushes, only showing occasionally but giving decent glimpses of their red heads. After a while they came in right next to us and we eye-balled them creeping furtively right beside us. Once everyone was satisfied with the view we made another attempt at the ground-robin and did get some more brief glimpses. As we returned to the main trail an Orange Ground-Thrush began singing and eventually we all got on it. 

Livingstone's Turaco

At the same spot we also saw a pair of Livingstone’s Turaco’s and a Bar-tailed Trogon. And that was us pretty much done, but we had a 4 kilometre steep downhill descent to make and it was tough beyond reason. But we did it and once down near the river we saw Red-capped Forest Warbler, a different race to the one we’d previously seen in Amani. After a swim in the river we packed up camp and after a late lunch we drove back to Morogoro and dropped off our excellent camp cook Emmanuelle before driving 2 hours to our lodge near Mikumi.

Tanzania Day 9: TEGETERO - BUNDUKI (STILL IN THE ULUGURU MOUNTAINS)

What a night that had been, with Fraser’s Eagle-Owl starting to call at 10:20pm but despite an hour’s attempt I couldn’t locate it in the dense forest. Following that, and between the excessively loud snoring there was some crazy animal calls all through the night. When we met for coffee at 6.30pm the forest was just waking up and we heard Uluguru Bushshrike again but didn’t see it. We had a short walk and tried calling in White-chested Alethe and Orange Ground-Robin but we only heard a distant robin and no sign of the alethe. So after breakfast we packed up camp and started the hike back down to the football pitch in Tegtero Village where we had parked the vehicle. 

Bertram's Weaver

It was a very steep descent until we reached the small stream, after which the trail became undulating and far more manageable. An African Yellow Warbler was seen on the way down and we more importantly had excellent views of a pair of Bertram’s Weavers before reaching the vehicle. A long drive back to Morogoro followed where we enjoyed lunch before driving around to the other side of the Uluguru Mountains to Bunduki village, along a torturously rough road, but we had fun pitching out own tents beside the fast-flowing river. There's something about sipping beer in front of a camp fire, with a bit of banter and musings about what tomorrow would bring...

Tanzania Day 8: ULUGURU MOUNTAINS (TEGETERO CAMP)

Up at 6.30am for a nice hot coffee, interrupted by an Uluguru Bushshrike calling at 6:50am and we raced off down the trail in search of this very rare beast and our main reason for coming up here. However, despite hearing it from several different areas we failed to catch a glimpse of it and it would take another 9 hours before we eventually nailed it. So we returned to camp for breakfast and then spent the rest of the day walking the trails either side of camp, which couldn’t have been more than around 400m either way! We quickly had nice views of several Loveridge’s Sunbirds in an open area, followed by a Sharpe’s Akalat – here with the white supercilium as opposed to the grey supercilium type we had seen at Amani Reserve in the East Usambaras. 

Loveridge's Sunbird

Perseverance, tenacity and a great deal of patience were required throughout the day but we plugged away and were rewarded with a nice close Chapin’s Apalis, brief Livingstone’s Turaco (but we’d see that one better elsewhere), a pair of Dark Batis, Tambourine Dove, Green Barbet, Fulleborn’s Boubou, African Tailorbird (Red-capped Forest Warbler), Shelley’s and Stripe-faced Greenbuls, Yellow-throated Woodland Warbler, and both Forest and Usambara Weavers. 

Dark Batis

Finally after brief views high in the treetops, we had a White-winged Apalis at head height in a dense area of secondary growth and we were very pleased to get this rare bird as it was our only chance as they are much easier after a really tough hike in the Udzungwa Mountains – an opportunity we decided to pass on!!! So we kept walking, listening, and walked more until an Uluguru Bushshrike started to call again around 3pm. It wasn’t easy to get on, in fact a pair were damn elusive and circled us a few times before everyone had reasonably tickable views, but they were lower than mid-canopy but always hidden in the foliage. 

Uluguru Bushshrike.... Honest!

Yet we had nailed it. Oh yes! After this, Peter and I went for Spot-throat along the stream and managed brief views much to Peter’s delight, whilst the rest of the crew headed further along the trail and found an Evergreen Forest Warbler. 

Our camp

So by 5.30pm we returned to camp and celebrated our Bushshrike success with some beer and another great meal.

Tanzania Day 7 - HEADING TO THE ULUGURU MOUNTAINS

We left the lodge in the East Usambaras at 6.20am and drove all day to reach Tegtero village in the Uluguru Mountains. Our journey was broken up with a stop for breakfast in a local restaurant and then at around 10am we reached Wami Bridge, the famous site for Bohm’s Bee-eater. It was hot when we arrived but shortly after walking down to the river we had several Bohm’s Bee-eaters performing in front of us – and what a stunning bird it is! 

Bohm's Bee-eater

We also had a Three-banded Plover, Giant Kingfisher, a pair of Black-collared Barbets, Red-fronted Tinkerbird and Black-throated Wattle-eye in the same area. We then set off to Morogoro for a late lunch and a visit to the supermarket to top up our supplies for camping in the Uluguru Mountains. In the town we picked up Emmanuel our cook and set off on what turned out to be a very lengthy drive to Tegetero village. The road became increasingly bad as we started heading up into the mountains and by the time we reached the parking site it was 5pm and we were way behind schedule, so had to make a decision whether to camp here or hike up to our intended camping site. It was a unanimous agreement we should go for it and just get it done. Most of the village had come out to greet us it seemed and we were surrounded by the villagers all interested in what we were doing. Abdul arranged porters to take our bags, camping gear and kitchen stuff up and you may find it no surprise whatsoever that they literally ran up the mountain whilst we crawled, sweated and moaned about our lack of fitness!

Me with some of the villagers...

But it was a tough, undulating walk for us, with the last stage particularly steep and by then we had to negotiate the trail in darkness. It was such a relief to finally reach the camp site set in magnificent forest, with a welcoming camp fire and most of the tents already set up. Emmanuel did a fine job preparing vegetable soup and spaghetti Bolognese for us, which we washed down with a few cans of beer of course!  

Tanzania Day 6 - EAST USAMBARA MOUNTAINS

Headed down to the Zigi Gate entrance of Amani Reserve and birded the dirt road and despite the numerous motorbikes and other traffic this proved to be a good move. We’d come here early doors to try and find Usambara Hyliota, a very difficult endemic indeed. Well, we spent several hours craning our necks up at the canopy of these massively tall trees and began feeling the temperature start to soar. However, eventually Abdul spotted a hyliota in display flight and we all got our bins on this tiny speck in the sky disappearing into the distance. Was that it? We continued to stake out the same spot and eventually we were rewarded with 4 Usambara Hyliota feeding frantically way above our heads. I even managed to get a scope on one bird as it lingered on a bare branch long enough for almost everyone to get on it. What a result!  

We also tinkered with a group of Tanzanian Illadopsis that once again proved very difficult to see, and then we hit a run of new species for the trip. We had a few decent views of a Green Malkoha (formerly Yellowbill), Little Greenbul, Fischer’s Greenbul, African Crested Flycatcher, African Paradise-Flycatcher, and a delightful Little Yellow Flycatcher. 

Other species seen included a Grey Cuckooshrike, Black-and-white Shrike-Flycatcher, many more Silvery-cheeked Hornbills, a pair of Trumpeter Hornbills, White-eared Barbet, and a displaying African Broadbill. Walking down the road a little way didn’t initially look promising but our persistence in the heat paid off with a group of Chestnut-fronted Helmetshrikes and a superb Mombasa Woodpecker.

Crowned Eagle

Brown-hooded Kingfisher

The rest of the day was rather bitty, with plenty of previously seen species and we tried once again in vain for Kretschmer’s Longbill. Yet we still added Crowned Eagle to our list, and enjoyed nice views of Purple-banded Sunbird, Half-collared and Brown-hooded Kingfishers, Moustached Tinkerbird, Black-fronted Bushshrike, Olive Sunbird and even managed to find Kenrick’s Starling to round off another great day in Tanzania. It hasn't been the easiest day to take photos with a lot of neck-craning high into the canopy but that's not what we are here for. Yet the birding is fantastic and we are killing it at the moment!

Tanzania Day 5 - EAST USAMBARA MOUNTAINS

Up early of course and targeting some really tough, skulking species. We drove just over an hour to a tea plantation and pretty quickly found a Long-billed Forest Warbler which showed very well, even allowing us some decent record shots. 

Long-billed Forest Warbler

But that only served to lull us into a false sense of security as we toiled for another 6 hours, making repeated attempts at finding a Sharpe’s Akalat. But first we added Long-crested Eagle, Black Cuckooshrike, Pale Batis, Violet-backed Starling and Mountain Wagtail to our growing trip list. At the forest warbler spot we also had prolonged views of White-browed Robin-Chat, as well as Moustached Tinkerbird, Uluguru Violet-backed Sunbird, Olive Sunbird, Green-headed Oriole and a White-tailed Crested Flycatcher. 

White-browed Robin-chat

Sadly, Kretschmer’s Longbill didn’t play ball today! Moving on, we had a really long walk to get to the Sharpe’s Akalat spot as the forest road was blocked by a couple of fallen trees and as I’ve already stated we made numerous attempts at calling one in – maybe around 20 tries! Eventually, one appeared when we had all but given up on our walk back to the vehicle. I even managed to scope it perched on a fallen tree for some of the group, but this individual hung around for ages and we were treated to repeated views. Oh yes! 

Sharpe's Akalat

A Grey Cuckooshrike was also new for the trip along this road, as was Lowland Tiny Greenbul, Square-tailed Drongo and Yellow-streaked Greenbul.

 

I think it was something like 2.30pm when we arrived back at the digs for lunch and we were out again at 3.30pm, to a new spot for Kretschmer’s Longbill. A Palm-nut Vulture and Long-crested Eagle soared over the lodge shortly after lunch and Abdul took us to his spot for Green Tinkerbird that gave mind-blowing views.  

Green Tinkerbird

Again, we didn’t find the longbill, but did have a few African Green-Pigeons, a spectacular Fischer’s Turaco, Red-tailed Ant-Thrush, African Broadbill for myself & David, and several Black-bellied Starlings. This evening Aidan and I took a walk to look for the elusive eagle-owl without any luck, but we met up with Abdul & some local guys and were treated to six different species of chameleon. Amazing!

TANZANIA DAY 4 - Heading to the East Usambara Mountains

We had a 6am breakfast and then descended the West Usambara Mountains, driving for about an hour and a half to an area of steep hills and small rocky cliffs with a stream. We had two targets here – Grey-olive Greenbul and East Coast (Zanzibar) Boubou and both duly showed relatively easily. 

East Coast (Zanzibar) Boubou

A Sombre Greenbul caused a little confusion initially but in the end we had point-blank views of this rather distinctive greenbul with pale eyes, bill and legs. We spent a while scanning for Mocking Cliff-Chat without success, but did see Augur Buzzard, Brown-breasted Barbet, Moustached Tinkerbird, Rock Kestrel, Rock Martin, and a couple Collared Sunbirds. About a couple of hours later we stopped at a small marsh where a pair of Coastal Cisticolas showed quite well after a bit of a wait, and we also had an Ayres’s Hawk-Eagle fly over, some African Palm Swifts and a Hamerkop. 

Ayres's Hawk-Eagle

But it was rather hot and sultry here and a total contrast to the cool mountain weather we’d just left! After another hour we had reached the base of the East Usambara Mountains, stopping to see our first African Harrier Hawk of the trip on the way up. We stopped amidst splendid forest for lunch, but first birded along the road where Green-headed Oriole and Black-and-white Shrike-Flycatcher were seen. As we ate our picnic lunch, Abdul pointed out a Little Sparrowhawk perched nearby and boy did it look stunning in the scope. You can see the views we had through the scope in the video below.....

 

Leaving here we headed ever upwards until we entered Amani Forest Reserve and birded along a side track overlooking a deep valley. Many Silver-cheeked Hornbills were present, in fact none of us had seen so many hornbills in one place before. 

Silvery-cheeked Hornbill is ultra common here....

It was amazing. But we were here for rarer birds and sure enough, thanks to Abdul’s skill we nailed Purple-banded Sunbird first, and then the endemic Banded Green Sunbird. A pair of the latter were scoped for ages as they lingered around a tall, dead branch right at the edge of the canopy. Nice! 

We also enjoyed scope views of White-eared Barbets, saw our first Scarlet-chested Sunbird and several Black Saw-wings as well. Continuing the drive to the Park HQ we had a Brown-hooded Kingfisher perched on telegraph wires, and better still a Half-collared Kingfisher perched on a rock in the tumbling stream. 

Half-collared Kingfisher

Once we reached the Park HQ we birded the vicinity and found a superb pair of Uluguru Violet-backed Sunbirds, scoped a Green Barbet and then a Little Spotted (Green-backed) Woodpecker flew in and gave mind-blowing views. 

Uluguru Violet-backed Sunbird

Little Spotted (Green-backed) Woodpecker

We also had our best views of Olive Sunbird to date, saw another Amethyst Sunbird, and a mixed group of birds feeding in the verges held Yellow-bellied Waxbill, African Citril and several Black-and-white Mannikins of the red-backed morph. Our base for the next 2 nights was the accommodation next to the Park HQ, which was a little ‘rustic’ and basic but the food wasn’t too bad at all, they had nice cold beers and you can have a hot shower. So it ticks a lot of boxes and negates the need for camping.

TANZANIA DAY 3 - West Usambara Mountains

We had a full day in Magamba Forest Reserve in the West Usambara Mountains, and boy were we looking forward to it. There’s a whole bunch of key species to target and if I’m being honest, everyone felt a little daunted at our chances of nailing them all. I mean, it took 10 attempts at seeing Spot-throat and it wasn’t until nearly 5pm that we finally succeeded, but you simply have to persevere with these birds. Anyway, our day started with a 5.30am breakfast followed by a 35 minute drive back up towards the Old Sawmill Trail, stopping along the way to bird a good section of forest and we were rewarded with a Black Sparrowhawk, African Goshawk, great views of African Tailorbird (although I much prefer the alternative name of Red-capped Forest Warbler), Yellow-streaked Greenbul, White-starred Robin, Olive Sunbird and several Usambara Double-collared Sunbirds. 

 

Once we reached the trail a quick scan of the lake revealed a pair of African Black Ducks, but we didn’t stop too long to admire the not-so-delightful qualities of them! Once inside the forest we quickly picked up a pair of Usambara Akalats, belying their skulking reputation by showing rather well and higher up the conifers than everyone was expecting. The trail started to climb steadily and we continued with a Fulleborn’s Boubou for a couple of us, Black-headed Apalis, Forest (Dark-backed) Weaver, and a couple Black-fronted Bushshrikes in the canopy. Our first of 11 attempts at Spot-throat resulted in a bird calling back at us but never showing. So we tried a couple more times along the trail (well three more actually) before retracing our steps and seeing White-tailed Crested Flycatcher and Yellow-throated Woodland Warbler. 

Yellow-throated Woodland Warbler

Once out on the main track we spent a while scanning for Usambara Weaver and when Abdul heard one we managed great views of female perched in a tall conifer before being enticed to fly into the tree right next to us. 

I managed a phonescoped image of Usambara Weaver

This was a major target and one that can leave you hanging with no guarantees of catching a sighting. What a result!  The session before our picnic lunch turned up another Fulleborn’s Bushshrike, another Usambara Akalat, Eastern Mountain Greenbul, Stripe-faced Greenbul, several Red-faced Crimsonwings and best of all, a superb Usambara Thrush that flew in and perched over the track right in front of us. 

Usambara Thrush

 Lunch at the picnic site was enlivened by a pair of White-necked Ravens waiting eagerly for any scraps. From here we drove back down the road, stopping to scope a Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater. The same spot also held several Southern Citrils, and yet more Usambara Double-collared Sunbirds. By now it was mid-afternoon and we drove to a different section of Magamba Forest that had several great trails leading into this superb forest.  A Tambourine Dove was spotted on the main track as we pulled up at the first trail, and this led to another bunch of decent sightings beginning with an Olive Woodpecker, Shelley’s and Cabanis’s (Placid) Greenbuls, and better yet a diminutive Mountain Tiny Greenbul – a very difficult bird to find. We spent a while trying to get photos of a Forest (Short-tailed) Batis, which we duly did, saw another White-tailed Crested Flycatcher and another Forest (Dark-backed ) Weaver. 

Forest (Short-tailed) Batis

Several more futile attempts were made at seeing a Spot-throat, and despite us hearing a few they never came in to playback. So we headed to another trail that led steeply downhill and on this, our 10^th attempt at Spot-throat, we were treated to one fully out in the open next to and then on a large fallen tree for maybe 30 seconds before it disappeared. Wow, what simply stunning bird! Unfortunately, one of our group spectacularly failed to see it and we did make an 11^thattempt at seeing one in a different location but nothing showed. And that was our day, oh apart from spotlighting a pair of African Wood Owls in the lodge gardens before dinner and then enjoying some Safari beers. What a great day!