Tanzania Day 14 - UKAGURU MOUNTAINS

Our destination this morning was the impressively forested Ukaguru Mountains, where we had four specific targets. On the way up we stopped when a Southern Fiscal was spotted beside the road – or, more importantly, it proved to be the Marwitzi race and a really good candidate to be split as Uhehe Fiscal. 

The very distinctive Marwitzi race of Southern Fiscal

So we managed to get some record shots of it and whilst we were here a pair of Angola Swallows were seen perched on wires and an Augur Buzzard also appeared. Not a bad start!

Augur Buzzard

Angola Swallows

Our first main target up in the forest was Yellow-throated Mountain Greenbul, which duly obliged and showed its distinctive yellow throat. 

Yellow-throated Mountain Greenbul

Shortly after we saw the first of many Moreau’s Sunbirds feeding in nearby bushes. Walking along a narrow trail into the forest a pair of Rubeho Warblers gave point-blank views and in a burst of activity we also had Bar-throated and Chapin’s Apalis as well – the latter with a white throat and different to the more orange throats of the birds in the Uluguru Mountains…. 

Bar-throated Apalis

Chapin's Apalis

Our last target was Rubeho Akalat and this took more effort but eventually everyone had decent views as it circled us as we sat on the forest floor. It always stayed low to the ground in the dense understorey but with a bit of patience everyone managed pretty decent views. Along the same trail, an Olive-sided Ground-Chat also performed very well along the trail, but unfortunately only Abdul saw an Oriole Finch. 

Olive-sided Ground-Chat

With all of our targets seen well before 10am, we birded along the road a while, seeing an Evergreen Forest Warbler quite well for a change, saw a Livingstone’s Turaco, heard a Barred Long-tailed Cuckoo and enjoyed further very good views of a pair of Rubeho Warblers. 

Rubeho Warbler

And that was us done. So we then headed to Morogoro, a drive of several hours, where we spent the night in a decent hotel.

Tanzania Day 13 - MIKUMI NATIONAL PARK

Mainly a travelling day as we had 300kms+ to get to our next hotel. Well, saying that…. As we drove along the main road that passes through a section of Mikumi National Park we stopped a few times to look at herds of Impala, Masai Giraffe, Plains Zebra, some Water Buffalo with attendant Yellow-billed Oxpeckers, and best of all, an immature Martial Eagleperched in classic pose on top of an acacia. We called in to the entrance gate to the National Park, where we saw a Tawny Eagle, Lappet-faced & White-backed Vultures, Yellow-throated Bush Sparrow and a few other previously seen species. On a whim I asked if we could do a game drive and maybe see a few birds……? After half an hour of negotiating we were in and setting off into the National Park, with Southern Ground Hornbill high on a few of the group’s wish list. The park itself must have been hit by a major fire as every mile we travelled the grassland was burnt to a crisp and there was very little bird life or even animals at all. 

Yellow-throated Longclaw was the first bid of the game drive

Still, the open ground looked perfect for our quarry. We did see a Yellow-throated Longclaw, a couple African Elephants, more Giraffes, Nile Crocodile and Wildebeest. At a pool we saw 5 Water Thick-knees, a pair of Blacksmith’s Plovers and a Collared Pratincole flew around us for a few minutes. 

Water Thick-knee

Blacksmith's Plover

We searched and searched the burnt savanna, with only Long-tailed Fiscals being anything like numerous, along with some African Green Pigeons, Greater Blue-eared Starlings, Wattled Starlings and Capped Wheatears. Eventually, on our way back towards the entrance we did find 5 Southern Ground-Hornbills walking sedately off to our left, much to everyone’s relief. 

Capped Wheatear

Shortly after we received word of Lions on a kill so sped off and tried to locate a group of jeeps surrounding the kill. Along the way we saw 2 adult and 3 large immature Saddle-billed Storks, as well as a Marabou Stork. 

Saddle-billed Storks are always impressive

However, we passed many jeeps along the way but if it wasn’t for some Hooded Vultures circling we wouldn’t have found the right place, which was thankfully devoid of jeeps with goggling tourists and we came upon the Lions and had the place to ourselves. 

Hooded Vulture

More accurately we discovered 3 Lionesses snoozing in the shade of a couple of acacias, next to their kill – with 8 small cubs in attendance. Wow! 

Loved spending a bit of time with this group of Lions and cubs...

The cubs were sleepy but we watched some of them climbing over the adults, trying to find a comfy position to sleep. One cub looked rather uncomfortable trying to rest its head on the horn of the recently deceased Wildebeest. Driving back to the entrance gate we passed a lagoon with a few not-so-hungry Hippo’s(no Malteser references please!), and at least 3 African Jacanas. There was also a few Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Larks and a brief Fischer’s Sparrow-Lark.  Leaving here we had several hours more driving to reach a small guesthouse not too far away from our next birding site, up in the Ukaguru Mountains.

Tanzania Day 12 - KILOMBERO FLOODPLAIN

After breakfast we headed to the Kilombero floodplain, which was about an hour and a half from Hondo Hondo. We were stopped at the police checkpoint on the approach to the area and scanning from the vehicle gave us a pair of Rufous-bellied Herons, Coppery-tailed Coucal, Long-tailed & Great Cormorants, some flyby White-crowned Lapwings, Wattled Lapwing, White-faced Whistling-Duck, and more importantly, our first views of White-tailed Cisticola that popped up right beside us. 

White-tailed Cisticola

A short drive down to the river then followed and here we had amazingly close views of the rather plain-mantled Kilombero Cisticola and another streaky-backed White-tailed Cisticola. Both species were originally discovered in the 1960’s but not formally described until 2021. There were quite a few largish weavers around in non-breeding plumage that were the other key target species here – Kilombero Weaver. 

Kilombero Cisticola

Kilombero Weaver

Further exploration of the area gave us Malagasy Pond-Heron, several Squacco Herons, Blacksmith Lapwing, Pink-backed and Great White Pelicans, Malachite & Pied kingfishers. There were quite a few flocks of small passerines out in the fields and reed beds, so we spent quite a while searching for Zanzibar Red Bishop, but only found non-breeding bishops that might have been this species, along with Fan-tailed Widowbirds, Red-billed Firefinches, Crimson-rumped Waxbills, and a few more delightful Orange-breasted (Zebra) Waxbills. 

Orange-breasted (Zebra) Waxbill

By 10:30am the heat and humidity started to kick in so we drove back to Hondo Hondo and had some downtime before lunch. At 3pm we drove along some rutted farm tracks to a woodland that was devoid of any bird activity, and any hope of finding Kretschmer’s Longbill faded fast. We’d missed this species at Amani in the East Usambaras but Abdul had this back-up site of what is potentially a future split as it has distinctive red eyes, calls a little differently and inhabits slightly different habitat. But none of that matters when you haven’t seen the bird! Another short, bumpy drive took us to another woodland, where at the edge of a sugarcane plantation our only Arrow-marked Babbler of the trip was found. 

Arrow-marked Babbler

There was also a flock of Eastern Golden Weavers feeding here and further scrutiny revealed a cracking adult Lesser Seedcracker and a stunning Red-throated (Peter’s) Twinspot. With the sun fading fast our time seemed just about over to find the longbill, but lady luck was on our side and amazingly Abdul’s persistence paid off and we secured several views of it skulking in the vine tangles. Result! We also added African Fish-Eagle to our list and saw a few more African Openbills feeding in the fields.

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...