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!

TANZANIA - EASTERN ARC MOUNTAINS TOUR DAY 2 - WEST USAMBARA MOUNTAINS

We birded the road towards Mkomazi NP before breakfast, once again popping the roof open and using the vehicle to view from resulting in a fantastic selection of species. In fact we recorded 62 species in a very pleasant two and a half hours as we worked a track through brush country and small settlements. I can’t believe how many new trip species we had, but it was an impressive 25! Undoubtedly the best one was an immature Golden Pipit found by David and which lingered around our vehicle for ages. 

Golden Pipit

Aidan was pleased to nail his lifer Red-fronted Prinia and again, this showed superbly well. 

Red-fronted Prinia

The same spot also had White-browed Bush-Chat, Black-faced Waxbill, Black-bellied Sunbird, Variable Sunbird, Eastern Violet-backed Sunbird, and a pair of Red-faced Crombecs that all appeared in a flurry of activity around an acacia tree that also held both cordon-bleu’s, Brubru, Slate-coloured Boubou, Spotted Palm-Thrush, Green-winged Pytilia, Red-billed Firefinches and a pair of Red-billed Oxpeckers. 

Eastern Black-headed Batis

Green-winged Pytilia

Spotted Palm-Thrush

A close White-bellied Go-Away-Bird looked superb in the early morning sunshine, Peter found a White-browed Coucal, several Von der Decken’s Hornbills were around, and both Red-fronted Tinkerbird and Spot-flanked Barbet lingered long enough to give us every opportunity for great photos. 

This was the slightly more distant White-bellied Go-Away-Bird that caused some confusion

Spot-flanked Barbet

A couple of Eastern Black-headed Batis were also new, as were Tiny and Rattling Cisticolas, Amethyst Sunbird, and a few Red-billed Buffalo-Weavers. We then drove along the NP entry road and had a little walk, adding a flock of White-crested Helmet-Shrikes, Abyssinian Scimitarbill, Lesser Striped Swallow, Northern Red-billed Hornbill, Von der Decker's Hornbill and Hildebrandt’s Starling to our growing list. 

White-crested Helmetshrike

Von der Decken's Hornbill

We were back at th lodge for breakfast by 9am and added Verreaux’s Eagle, African Silverbill and Bronze Mannikinto the list before setting out on the 4+ hours drive to the West Usambara Mountains. We made one biding stop along the way, to look for Taveta Golden Weaver. Fortunately, we found a couple in a flock of Village Weavers feeding on some spilt grain beside a river. 

Spot the Taveta Golden Weaver....

In fact, the flock we going back and forth from there to a huge baobab tree that was fruiting. It was a feeding frenzy with Village and Taveta Golden Weaver mixing with Spectacled and a Golden-backed Weaver, joining groups of white-eyes, bulbuls and a Black-backed Puffback.

Black-backed Puffback

We also saw Grey-headed and Pied Kingfishers, many White-necked Ravens, a stunning male Black-bellied Sunbird, Sombre Greenbul, and a superb pair of Brown-breasted Barbets. Leaving here we saw our only Long-crested Eagle to-date beside the highway.

Not exactly what we were expecting to stay a couple of nights in.....

We reached Lesotho and started the climb up to our excellent lodge in the West Usambara Mountains situated at 1620m. A group of Black-and-white Mannikins were feeding in a tall tree beside the car park as we arrived, and they were of the red-backed variety. Lunch was ready and waiting for us, as by now it was 2pm and I have to say it was a very, very good meal. We left at 3.30pm and drove half an hour to the Old Sawmill Track where we parked up and walked along the dirt road. The first of several Eastern Mountain Greenbuls seen this afternoon got the ball rolling. Then a whole bunch of species came in to Abdul’s iPhone, mainly Usambara Double-collared Sunbirds, but with a bit of patience we nailed Red-faced Crimsonwing, Moustached Tinkerbird and a typically skulking Bar-throated Apalis. 

Moustached Tinkerbird

Just around the corner we had a brief African Tailorbird (Red-capped Forest Warbler) and a Fulleborn’s Boubou crossed the road. A Cinnamon-bracken Warbler eventually showed very well right in front of us, A Hartlaub’s Turaco was scoped, and in a large tree we saw several Eastern Mountain & Shelley’s Greenbuls, an African Dusky Flycatcher, whilst Jeff and I had an African Hill Babbler. We also scoped the undescribed race of Fork-tailed Drongo, that may well be split as Usambara Drongo in the future…?  After a few false starts we scoped some perched Waller’s Starlings in a dead tree, and followed this a little later with a perched Sharpe’s Starling in the scope. Some Black Saw-wings then appeared before Abdul spotted some Yellow-bellied Waxbills, and a Streaky Seedeater was the last bird of the day.

Tanzania - Eastern Arc Mountains Tour Day 1

 Well, here I am in a nice little hotel at Same, at the base of the Pare Mountains. It's been one hell of a ride to get here, starting on Friday back home in the UK when I woke up to the news of a global IT meltdown. Airports were closed, flights cancelled, banking systems down.... Somehow, we dodged the bullet and flew to Dar-es-Salaam without a hitch and took a domestic flight up to Kilimanjaro Airport, seeing a flock of Mottled Spinetails & Little Swifts over the airport.. 

Pre-tour drinks in Dar-Es-Salaam

Our local guide Abdul was there to meet us and we arrived at our hotel in Arusha around 9.30pm, absolutely knackered I have to admit!

So today (Sunday 21st July 2024) we left after breakfast and drove to Nyumba Ya Munga to bird the dry thorn scrub habitat. it took around 3 hours to reach the site, but this is Africa and roadside birding is brilliant! I don't particularly like drive-by birding but it was quite pleasant seeing Trumpeter & Silvery-cheeked Hornbills, African Palm Swifts, Northern and Long-tailed Fiscals, Hammerkop, Black-winged Kite, a Crowned Hornbill for Peter, and quite a few Superb Starlings. 

Our main roadside stop for a quick pee then turned into an excellent session as we had Rock Kestrel and Gabar Goshawk perched up on trees across the road. Our first Grey Wren-Warbler then appeared, along with African Grey Flycatcher, a pair of Tawny-flanked Prinias and a Variable Sunbird. A confiding Spotted Palm-Thrush was stunning, and certainly overshadowed the Red-cheeked Cordon-bleus, non-breeding Vitelline Masked Weavers, and White-browed Sparrow-Weavers! Driving further we screeched to a halt for a Rufous-crowned (Purple) Roller and our first Northern Grey-headed Sparrow in a large tree right beside the road. 

it was around 10.30am by the time we reached Nyumba Ya Munga and turning off the tarmac road onto dirt road suddenly turned the heat up birdwise, despite the cool, overcast conditions. We were targeting Pringle's Puffback and Scaly Chatterer, so drove slowly with the roof up and side windows fully out as well. So we used the safari vehicle as a hide and turned up a feast of great birds, with a group of 7 Scaly Chatterers eventually coming in very close and hanging around for the most brilliant views and certainly the best ever view i've had of this species. 

Scaly Chatterer

At our first stop we also had a pair of gorgeous Green-winged Pytilias, Pin-tailed Whydah, White-browed Scrub-Robin, a group of Blue-capped Cordon-bleus, a lifer Tsavo Sunbird for everyone, a pair of Red-billed Quelea, several Purple Grenadiers, Yellow-spotted Bush-Sparrow,  a few Fischer's Starlings, D'Arnaud's Barbet, White-bellied Canary and a Northern Crombec. 

Tsavo Sunbird

The next stop overlooking some old corn fields was another fab stop, with African Grey Hornbill, Brubru, another D'Arnaud's Barbet, Red-and-yellow Barbet, Slate-coloured Boubou, Rosy-patched Bushshrike, African Bare-eyed Thrush, Black-necked Weaver, Chestnut Weaver, Reichenow's Seedeater, a pair of huge Southern Grosbeak-Canaries, Black-faced Waxbill, another Tsavo Sunbird and a superb pair of Somali Buntings. 

Rosy-patched Bushshrike

Somali Bunting

We also came across a pair of much-wanted White-headed Mousebirds that lingered beside our vehicle, a Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle flew overhead and a few Northern White-crowned Shrikes were seen in a field.

Purple Grenadier

We also walked along a side track after the ever elusive Pringle's Puffback - a bird that would continue to elude us. But we enjoyed fine views of many Southern Grosbeak-Canaries, another Grey Wren-Warbler, Klaas's Cuckoo, Namaqua Dove, Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove, singing Pink-breasted Lark, a confiding Slate-coloured Boubou, and at least 2 pairs of Pygmy Batis. Wow!

Southern Grosbeak-Canary

We eventually reached the lodge at Same at nearly 2pm, so we scoffed fish & chips or Chicken & chips quickly and had a little look around before leaving at 3.15pm. We had nice views of Wire-tailed Swallow, many Reichenow's Seedeaters, African Pied Wagtail, Hunter's Sunbird and surprisingly a group of Pale White-eyes. And then we were off on the hour long drive up into the South Pare Mountains for the endemic and very localised South Pare White-eye. We made one stop on the way up for a Striped Kingfisher and a pair of Trumpeter Hornbills but didn't hang around as time was ticking....

Looking up to the South Pare Mountains...

Well the South Pare White-eye duly obliged, despite the group of Southern Yellow White-eyes that caused a distraction to begin with, but the broad white eye-ring and grey bellies really stood out amongst the all yellow of the 'other' white-eye! If you get my meaning? The forest if really degraded and only remnant patches of what was once a magnificent forest remained and boy was it quiet up here. There wasn't one bird singing.... 

Great forest, or what is left...

Until a Bar-throated Apalis began calling and this skulker only gave glimpses to a couple of us. A Hartlaub's Turaco showed a little better, as did African Dusky Flycatcher, African Stonechat and Baglafecht Weaver. A pair of White-necked Ravens flew over and just before we left, a pair of Usambara Double-collared Sunbirds appeared. 

African Goshawk

Driving back down the mountain, an African Goshawk was perched beside the road and a Brown-hooded Kingfisher posed nicely on a bare branch to round off a really, really good first day's birding in Tanzania. We celebrated with quite a few bottles of the local brew... Kilimanjaro beer.... Cheers!

HOKKAIDO - THE END

For my last day on Hokkaido  i went in search of Sakhalin Grasshopper Warbler and after checking suitable habitats on Google Earth and looking at eBird reports I had a few sites I thought worth checking. Sure enough I found a cooperative bird and heard another in a different area, so I understood the habitat requirements..... it likes tall grass, possibly wet areas adjacent to woodlands and even in the forest itself as long as the vegetation is tall and makes seeing it near impossible. Anyway, hearing it is no problem. Seeing it is another matter and it requires a great deal of patience. The bird I saw took maybe 45 minutes to actually get a tickable view of. I could see the grass and small bushes moving as it came in to playback, but it certainly didn't want to be seen easily. Yet I managed numerous brief views, with the last one a belter as it perched for maybe 3 seconds in a tiny bush amidst the tall grass. 

The track i'd drove along went into nice woodland and bordered a marsh, where several Middendorff's Grasshopper Warblers proved to be quite obliging. 

Middendorff's Grasshopper Warbler

Japanese Bush Warbler

There was also White-bellied Green-Pigeon, Japanese Bush Warbler feeding young, Eurasian Wren, another Masked Bunting and a pair of Amur Stonechats. nearby, another Red-crowned Crane patrolled the shoreline. I was particularly pleased with the views of this Latham's Snipe perched on a telegraph pole beside the road....

Latham's Snipe

So we headed over to the harbour. Once again I couldn't get on to a boat trip and felt pretty stupid I had failed to book in advance. The nearby bay held 8 Stejneger's Scoters, 2 Black Scoter and a pair of White-tailed Eagles. 

So I decided to drive an hour up to Cape Nosappu and did some seawatching. Thee was plenty going on with numerous Rhinoceros Auklets flying by, and I also picked up Tufted Puffin too. Result! A few Black-tailed Gulls were around, along with Japanese & Pelagic Cormorants, Japanese Wagtail and some commoner species.

The drive back to Furen Lodge was fruitful as we had our closest Red-crowned Crane in a field close to the road.

Red-crowned Crane

And what a stunning bird. But there was still a few hours of daylight left, so I swung by another area. And this was a great move as this long track we drove along took us through woodland and out onto some marshes, and provided a really good list of species. There were several Middendorff's Grasshopper Warblers singing away, Siberian Long-tailed Rosefinch, Amur Stonechats, Latham's Snipe, a few Black-browed Reed Warblers, and more common species. It was a really good site. 

Middendorff's Grasshopper Warbler

And that was my birding finished in Hokkaido and Japan. The next day we drove to Kushiro and flew back to Tokyo and overnighted in a nice hotel. We'd had our flight with BA cancelled again and had to buy new tickets with Etihad to get back to the UK, so we're not Ba's greatest fans! 

Anyway, i'm writing this last Japan post sat in Dubai waiting for my flight to Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania. And another adventure awaits.

HOKKAIDO DAY 2

Even though I'd returned to the hotel after the owl experience at a really good time last night, I still had a lie in this morning before waltzing down to breakfast at a sterling 8am. The kitchen staff had done us proud with a great dinner last night and this morning's breakfast didn't disappoint either - NO FISH AT ALL!! Result! A short while later we were on the road up to Shiretoko Pass, another site for Japanese Accentor if needed (which I didn't), but I was more interested in Grey Bunting. I spent quite a while either side of the pass without hearing one at all, but seeing several Masked Buntings, and not a lot else apart from a Coal Tit, an Eurasian Nuthatch, hearing a few Japanese Bush Warblers and an incessantly calling Oriental Cuckoo - and that was it. The habitat was superb and i'd imagine at first light would be choc full of birds and a lot less annoying traffic too! 

Masked Bunting - split from Black-faced Bunting

On the return journey I stopped when I heard an odd call and sure enough it proved to be a Grey Bunting singing, but it was in such a dense area of dwarf bamboo that I couldn't see it. And it didn't respond to my payback either. And on top of that it never sang again after the first few times I heard it. Bugger! So I drove back down to Rausu and tried to get on a boat trip, but everything was full (serves me right), then we decided to head south to Kiritappu, as that's where my last chance of a lifer was. 

It's only a 2 hour drive and the road pretty much follows the coast and passes through some really nice habitat. After an hour I stopped beside a lagoon where a few Greater Scaups were present. A bit of scanning of the area produced a pair of Amur Stonechats beside a track on the other side of the road. On further investigation I found a Siberian Long-tailed Rosefinch, several Masked Buntings and after a little wait, a cracking Siberian Rubythroat popped up and began singing. 

Siberian Rubythroat

I watched it for a while and managed to get some decent photos. It's a fabulous bird and one you just cannot get enough of or ever tire of seeing and it was thoroughly enjoyable to spend some time with it. Just then, something began singing out in the vast grassland and it took my brain a little while to recognise the song as a Middendorff's Grasshopper Warbler. This would prove to be a reasonably common bird in this part of Hokkaido and I had several decent views of two individuals that were attracted to my iPod. I also saw a Black-browed Reed Warbler, Japanese Wagtail, and had a close Japanese Bush Warbler. Not a bad little haul eh?

By 5pm we had reached Furen Lodge, quite a famous place to stay amongst birders and is in a prime location on the edge of Lake Furen and the adjacent Shunkunitai Nature Reserve. As we approached the lodge, 4 Red-crowned Cranes flew behind the lodge, so once we had introduced ourselves to the lodge owner I hot-footed it up to the nearby bridge and relocated the crane family feeding in a marsh. I spent a good hour watching them feeding, firstly through the scope and then I crept closer and closer until I dared not get any closer. A large bush was between myself and the marsh they were feeding in, so I sat on the floor and fired off loads of photos. 

Red-crowned Crane

I even managed to ignore the singing Middendorff's Grasshopper Warbler right next to me! Eventually they made their way down to the beach and continued to feed along the tide line before I crept back to my car and drove back to the lodge, with the light fading fast. But not before getting my closest views of Japanese Wagtail....

Japanese Wagtail