DOCSLIB.ORG

Bird Survey of South-Eastern Laikipia: Lolldaiga Ranch, Ole Naishu Ranch, Borana Ranch, and Mukogodo Forest Reserve

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Bird Survey of South-Eastern Laikipia: Lolldaiga Ranch, Ole Naishu Ranch, Borana Ranch, and Mukogodo Forest Reserve 8 November 2015 Dear All, Recently Nigel Hunter and I went to stay with Tom Butynski on Lolldaiga Hills Ranch. Whilst there we were joined by Paul Benson, and Eleanor Monbiot for the 31st Oct, Chris Thouless joined us on 1st Nov in Mukogodo, and he and Caroline kindly put the three of us up at their house for the nights of 31st Oct and 1st Nov., and for both these dates we enjoyed the company of Lawrence, the bird-guide at Borana Lodge. For our full day on Lolldaiga on 2nd Nov., Paul spent the entire day with us. The more interesting observations follow, but this is far from the full list which exceeded 200 on Lolldaiga alone in spite of the relatively short time we were there. Best for now Brian BIRD SURVEY OF SOUTH-EASTERN LAIKIPIA: LOLLDAIGA RANCH, OLE NAISHU RANCH, BORANA RANCH, AND MUKOGODO FOREST RESERVE ITINERARY 30th Oct 2015 Drove Nairobi to Lolldaiga, birded as far as old Maize Paddock in late afternoon. 31st Oct Drove from TB house out through Ole Naishu Ranch and across Borana arriving at Mukogodo Forest in early afternoon. 1st Nov All day in Mukogodo Forest, and just 5 kilometres down the main descent road in afternoon. 2nd Nov All day on Borana, back across Ole Naishu to Lolldaiga. 3rd Nov All day outing on Lolldaiga to Black Rock, Ngainitu Kopje (North Gate), Sinyai Lugga, and evening near the Monument. 4th Nov Morning on descent road to Main Gate, Lolldaiga and forest along Timau River, leaving 11.15 AM for Nairobi. On 30th October 2015, Nigel Hunter and myself visited Lolldaiga to stay with Tom Butynski for a few days, with a visit to Mukogodo Forest for two of those days. We returned to Nairobi on late morning on 4th November. During the six days we recorded the birds on Lolldaiga, Ole Naishu, Borana and Mukodogo Forest Reserve. A number of new species were found for the area, and equally importantly some records given in the past for the Forest were found to be erroneous and require correction, before they sneak into historical repetition. Migrants were poor, apart from Wheatears but there were some interesting species. A summary of the more interesting observations are as follows: STONE PARTRIDGE One party called late afternoon from scree slopes on the descent road through Mukogodo Forest, but recorded by multiple observers there in the past. A party calling mid-morning at Black Rock on Lolldaiga was the first confirmed record of the species on that ranch, although TB thought he had heard them there before, which is why we were visiting that site. LESSER KESTREL As we left Borana there were just three birds feeding over the grassland. EURASIAN HOBBY In five days, only four birds were recorded in the area. TAITA FALCON A major surprise whilst we were waiting for Stone Partridge to call at Black Rock on Lolldaiga. There was a small falcon perched on an overhanging bush at quite a distance and attempts were made to get some images (attached). This bird flew off and was replaced by another bird that was entirely white below. Immature Taita Falcons can be white below, but lightly streaked, however this bird was plain white with no markings. The first bird was also pale, but the trousers and belly were cinnamon washed, and this too was otherwise unmarked below. Both the views were distant, and the images not clear, but the features include very short tail, with tail and wings the same length, the tail slightly shorter in length than the width of the wing at the base, and taking the distance between the start of the undertail-coverts at the middle of the tail, and the tip of the centre of the tail, the undertail-coverts account for between 60-65% of that length. All of the regional guides only depict Taita Falcons with deep rufous underparts, but a check on the internet shows images that are almost whitish below, and the underpart colouring is far more variable than the literature would have us believe. The images in the top left area show the small male bird on top of the bush, and the larger and whiter female, under the bush (upper left-most two). The flying bird has just taken off and is flying through the branches, which is why it appears broad-winged at this time. This image is a blow up of the bird flying through the bush, bottom middle of the falcon section, which gives an idea of the distance from us. The three insets of good images are there for comparison. The identification of very pale and a white breasted Taita Falcon has come about by a process of elimination for all other falcon species, accipiters and other small birds of prey. Firstly other falcons with yellow legs, all have tails longer than wing projection with the exceptions of the much larger Sooty and Eleonora’s Falcons, which extend beyond the tail in the first, and are equal length in the latter. Most falcons have prominent dark markings on the underparts. Every Accipiter has the tail projecting well beyond the wing tips. BROWN SNAKE-EAGLE Only a recent addition to the Lolldaiga list, one was perched in the north-east. EURASIAN SPARROWHAWK This very nice individual was soaring over the Monument on Lolldaiga. In the morning one was seen from Tom’s lawn flying south following the valley but very high. So few East African records, only recorded with anything like regularity at Ngulia. LESSER SPOTTED EAGLE Small numbers were mixed with Steppe Eagles flying over Lolldaiga and Mukodogo Forest. A new species for Lolldaiga. STEPPE EAGLE Commonly seen, but fifty sitting together in the early morning near the farm on Lolldaiga. WAHLBERG’S EAGLE One pale-ish bird on the edge of Mukogodo Forest was a bit unexpected there. HARTLAUB’S BUSTARD One seen in the evening, and on the second morning, a bird some kilometres away on Borana not far from the large dam. It’s really beginning to look like Hartlaub’s is the commoner of the two black-bellied type Bustards on Laikipia in spite of past observations. COMMON RINGED PLOVER Three were on the large dam on Borana. COMMON SNIPE Four were on the large dam on Borana. COMMON GREENSHANK One was on the large dam on Borana. GREEN SANDPIPER Scattered in small numbers on various water bodies. WOOD SANDPIPER Five were on the large dam on Borana, and singles elsewhere. COMMON SANDPIPER One was on Lolldaiga, and two were on the large dam on Borana. LITTLE STINT Four were on the large dam on Borana. RUFF One was on the large dam on Borana. COMMON SWIFT Small numbers over Lolldaiga, Borana and Mukogodo Forest. NYANZA SWIFT Flying around the sheer wall at Black Rock on Lolldaiga, in aerial chases with the more numerous African Black Swift, returning again and again. This was a new record for Lolldaiga. AFRICAN BLACK SWIFT Noisy parties at Black Rock on Lolldaiga flying around the cliff. EURASIAN ROLLER One bird in northern Lolldaiga was the only individual. EURASIAN BEE-EATER A party of thirty near the North Gate on Lolldaiga were the only birds recorded there, also heard on Borana. VIOLET WOOD-HOOPOE Whilst this is resident along the lower Ewaso Nyiro in Samburu region, all records on Laikipia appear to list Green Wood-Hoopoe. Personally I have never seen Green on Lolldaiga only Violet, and attached are images to support this, showing that this is not the northern race marwitzi of Green. It would be interesting to see other images of either species for Laikipia, because the Green must be close by. It appears that in the absence of Green, the Violet have not restricted themselves to riverine and are wide ranging right up to the tall Cedar woodland. SPOT-FLANKED BARBET We saw several on the descending road through Mukogodo Forest. Interestingly O’Brien in his study of the area in 2011 failed to record it in twelve days of bird survey in the area, however Coverdale et al 2009 did also record it. RED-THROATED WRYNECK It’s abundance on Lolldaiga after the rain when it becomes very vocal, is impressive. THREE-STREAKED TCHAGRA North Gate on Lolldaiga, is the lowest elevation on the ranch at 1700m (5,577 feet) which is still quite high for many species. Here in a short space of time we had five species not recorded on Lolldaiga before. There is a large granite kopje there called Ngainitu where Acacia mellifera and Commiphora species are the dominant cover. On this hill were a pair of Three-streaked Tchagras, the habitat looked suitable in spite of the altitude. The usual ceiling given for the species is 1,100m, but on NW Laikipia at Sosian they extend much higher than this. This was a new species for Lolldaiga. NORTHERN PUFFBACK A common species from most of Lolldaiga including the Timau River woodland. Numerous in Mukodogo Forest, where mis-identified as Black-backed Puffback in O’Brien et al 2011 (Northern not recorded), but identified correctly as Northern by Turner 1983 & Coverdale et al 2009. Black-backed should not be anywhere near the forest, although with Northern on the Timau River and on Lelwel, and only Black- backed in Mt Kenya forests, this suggests that the two species might indeed meet. BLACK CUCKOO-SHRIKE Widespread but several in Mukodogo Forest where Coverdale 2009 and O’Brien 2011 failed to record it, but both did see Grey Cuckoo-shrike, which we also recorded.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The 55 Species of Larger Mammal Known to Be
    Birds of Lolldaiga Hills Ranch¹ Order and scientific name² Common name² Threat3 Comments Struthionidae Ostrich Struthio camelus Common ostrich LC Two subspecies present. Numididae Guineafowl Numida meleagris Helmeted guineafowl LC Acryllium vulturinum Vulturine guineafowl LC Phasianidae Stone partridge, francolins, spurfowl, quails Ptilopachus petrosus Stone partridge LC Francolinus shelleyi Shelley’s francolin LC Francolinus sephaena Crested francolin LC Francolinus hildebrandti Hildebrandt’s francolin LC Francolinus leucoscepus Yellow-necked spurfowl LC Coturnix coturnix Common quail LC Anatidae Ducks, geese Alopochen aegyptiaca Egyptian goose LC Anas sparsa African black duck LC Anas undulata Yellow-billed duck LC Anas clypeata Northern shoveler LC Anas erythrorhyncha Red-billed teal LC Anas acuta Northern pintail LC Anas querquedula Garganey LC Anas hottentota Hottentot teal LC Netta erythrophthalma Southern pochard LC Oxyura maccoa Maccoa duck NT 1 Order and scientific name² Common name² Threat3 Comments Podicipedidae Grebes Tachybaptus ruficollis20 Little grebe LC Ciconiidae Storks Mycteria ibis Yellow-billed stork LC Anastomus lamelligerus African open-billed stork LC Ciconia nigra Black stork LC Ciconia abdimii Abdim’s stork LC Ciconia ciconia White stork LC Leptoptilos crumeniferus Marabou stork LC Threskiornithidae Ibises, spoonbills Threskiornis aethiopicus Sacred ibis LC Bostrychia hagedash Hadada ibis LC Platalea alba African spoonbill LC Ardeidae Herons, egrets, bitterns Ixobrychus sturmii Dwarf bittern LC Butorides striata
    [Show full text]
  • Species List (Note, There Was a Pre-Tour to Kenya in 2018 As in 2017, but These Species Were Not Recorded
    Tanzania Species List (Note, there was a pre-tour to Kenya in 2018 as in 2017, but these species were not recorded. You can find a Kenya list with the fully annotated 2017 Species List for reference) February 6-18, 2018 Guides: Preston Mutinda and Peg Abbott, Driver/guides William Laiser and John Shoo, and 6 participants: Rob & Anita, Susan and Jan, and Bob and Joan KEYS FOR THIS LIST The # in (#) is the number of days the species was seen on the tour (E) – endemic BIRDS STRUTHIONIDAE: OSTRICHES OSTRICH Struthio camelus massaicus – (8) ANATIDAE: DUCKS & GEESE WHITE-FACED WHISTLING-DUCK Dendrocygna viduata – (2) FULVOUS WHISTLING-DUCK Dendrocygna bicolor – (1) COMB DUCK Sarkidiornis melanotos – (1) EGYPTIAN GOOSE Alopochen aegyptiaca – (12) SPUR-WINGED GOOSE Plectropterus gambensis – (2) RED-BILLED DUCK Anas erythrorhyncha – (4) HOTTENTOT TEAL Anas hottentota – (2) CAPE TEAL Anas capensis – (2) NUMIDIDAE: GUINEAFOWL HELMETED GUINEAFOWL Numida meleagris – (12) PHASIANIDAE: PHEASANTS, GROUSE, AND ALLIES COQUI FRANCOLIN Francolinus coqui – (2) CRESTED FRANCOLIN Francolinus sephaena – (2) HILDEBRANDT'S FRANCOLIN Francolinus hildebrandti – (3) Naturalist Journeys [email protected] 866.900.1146 / Caligo Ventures [email protected] 800.426.7781 naturalistjourneys.com / caligo.com P.O. Box 16545 Portal AZ 85632 FAX: 650.471.7667 YELLOW-NECKED FRANCOLIN Francolinus leucoscepus – (4) [E] GRAY-BREASTED FRANCOLIN Francolinus rufopictus – (4) RED-NECKED FRANCOLIN Francolinus afer – (2) LITTLE GREBE Tachybaptus ruficollis – (1) PHOENICOPTERIDAE:FLAMINGOS
    [Show full text]
  • Species List
    Mozambique: Species List Birds Specie Seen Location Common Quail Harlequin Quail Blue Quail Helmeted Guineafowl Crested Guineafowl Fulvous Whistling-Duck White-faced Whistling-Duck White-backed Duck Egyptian Goose Spur-winged Goose Comb Duck African Pygmy-Goose Cape Teal African Black Duck Yellow-billed Duck Cape Shoveler Red-billed Duck Northern Pintail Hottentot Teal Southern Pochard Small Buttonquail Black-rumped Buttonquail Scaly-throated Honeyguide Greater Honeyguide Lesser Honeyguide Pallid Honeyguide Green-backed Honeyguide Wahlberg's Honeyguide Rufous-necked Wryneck Bennett's Woodpecker Reichenow's Woodpecker Golden-tailed Woodpecker Green-backed Woodpecker Cardinal Woodpecker Stierling's Woodpecker Bearded Woodpecker Olive Woodpecker White-eared Barbet Whyte's Barbet Green Barbet Green Tinkerbird Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird Red-fronted Tinkerbird Pied Barbet Black-collared Barbet Brown-breasted Barbet Crested Barbet Red-billed Hornbill Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill Crowned Hornbill African Grey Hornbill Pale-billed Hornbill Trumpeter Hornbill Silvery-cheeked Hornbill Southern Ground-Hornbill Eurasian Hoopoe African Hoopoe Green Woodhoopoe Violet Woodhoopoe Common Scimitar-bill Narina Trogon Bar-tailed Trogon European Roller Lilac-breasted Roller Racket-tailed Roller Rufous-crowned Roller Broad-billed Roller Half-collared Kingfisher Malachite Kingfisher African Pygmy-Kingfisher Grey-headed Kingfisher Woodland Kingfisher Mangrove Kingfisher Brown-hooded Kingfisher Striped Kingfisher Giant Kingfisher Pied
    [Show full text]
  • Biogeography and Biotic Assembly of Indo-Pacific Corvoid Passerine Birds
    ES48CH11-Jonsson ARI 9 October 2017 7:38 Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics Biogeography and Biotic Assembly of Indo-Pacific Corvoid Passerine Birds Knud Andreas Jønsson,1 Michael Krabbe Borregaard,1 Daniel Wisbech Carstensen,1 Louis A. Hansen,1 Jonathan D. Kennedy,1 Antonin Machac,1 Petter Zahl Marki,1,2 Jon Fjeldsa˚,1 and Carsten Rahbek1,3 1Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark; email: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] 2Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, 0318 Oslo, Norway 3Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot SL5 7PY, United Kingdom Annu. Rev. Ecol. Evol. Syst. 2017. 48:231–53 Keywords First published online as a Review in Advance on Corvides, diversity assembly, evolution, island biogeography, Wallacea August 11, 2017 The Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Abstract Systematics is online at ecolsys.annualreviews.org The archipelagos that form the transition between Asia and Australia were https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-110316- immortalized by Alfred Russel Wallace’s observations on the connections 022813 between geography and animal distributions, which he summarized in Copyright c 2017 by Annual Reviews. what became the first major modern biogeographic synthesis. Wallace All rights reserved traveled the island region for eight years, during which he noted the marked Access provided by Copenhagen University on 11/19/17. For personal use only. faunal discontinuity across what has later become known as Wallace’s Line. Wallace was intrigued by the bewildering diversity and distribution of Annu.
    [Show full text]
  • Hungary & Transylvania
    Although we had many exciting birds, the ‘Bird of the trip’ was Wallcreeper in 2015. (János Oláh) HUNGARY & TRANSYLVANIA 14 – 23 MAY 2015 LEADER: JÁNOS OLÁH Central and Eastern Europe has a great variety of bird species including lots of special ones but at the same time also offers a fantastic variety of different habitats and scenery as well as the long and exciting history of the area. Birdquest has operated tours to Hungary since 1991, being one of the few pioneers to enter the eastern block. The tour itinerary has been changed a few times but nowadays the combination of Hungary and Transylvania seems to be a settled and well established one and offers an amazing list of European birds. This tour is a very good introduction to birders visiting Europe for the first time but also offers some difficult-to-see birds for those who birded the continent before. We had several tour highlights on this recent tour but certainly the displaying Great Bustards, a majestic pair of Eastern Imperial Eagle, the mighty Saker, the handsome Red-footed Falcon, a hunting Peregrine, the shy Capercaillie, the elusive Little Crake and Corncrake, the enigmatic Ural Owl, the declining White-backed Woodpecker, the skulking River and Barred Warblers, a rare Sombre Tit, which was a write-in, the fluty Red-breasted and Collared Flycatchers and the stunning Wallcreeper will be long remembered. We recorded a total of 214 species on this short tour, which is a respectable tally for Europe. Amongst these we had 18 species of raptors, 6 species of owls, 9 species of woodpeckers and 15 species of warblers seen! Our mammal highlight was undoubtedly the superb views of Carpathian Brown Bears of which we saw ten on a single afternoon! 1 BirdQuest Tour Report: Hungary & Transylvania 2015 www.birdquest-tours.com We also had a nice overview of the different habitats of a Carpathian transect from the Great Hungarian Plain through the deciduous woodlands of the Carpathian foothills to the higher conifer-covered mountains.
    [Show full text]
  • Disaggregation of Bird Families Listed on Cms Appendix Ii
    Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals 2nd Meeting of the Sessional Committee of the CMS Scientific Council (ScC-SC2) Bonn, Germany, 10 – 14 July 2017 UNEP/CMS/ScC-SC2/Inf.3 DISAGGREGATION OF BIRD FAMILIES LISTED ON CMS APPENDIX II (Prepared by the Appointed Councillors for Birds) Summary: The first meeting of the Sessional Committee of the Scientific Council identified the adoption of a new standard reference for avian taxonomy as an opportunity to disaggregate the higher-level taxa listed on Appendix II and to identify those that are considered to be migratory species and that have an unfavourable conservation status. The current paper presents an initial analysis of the higher-level disaggregation using the Handbook of the Birds of the World/BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World Volumes 1 and 2 taxonomy, and identifies the challenges in completing the analysis to identify all of the migratory species and the corresponding Range States. The document has been prepared by the COP Appointed Scientific Councilors for Birds. This is a supplementary paper to COP document UNEP/CMS/COP12/Doc.25.3 on Taxonomy and Nomenclature UNEP/CMS/ScC-Sc2/Inf.3 DISAGGREGATION OF BIRD FAMILIES LISTED ON CMS APPENDIX II 1. Through Resolution 11.19, the Conference of Parties adopted as the standard reference for bird taxonomy and nomenclature for Non-Passerine species the Handbook of the Birds of the World/BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World, Volume 1: Non-Passerines, by Josep del Hoyo and Nigel J. Collar (2014); 2.
    [Show full text]
  • True Shrikes), Including 31 Specieswithin Genera Are Coveredin Singlepage Overviews.Line Lanius, Coruinella and Eurocephalus
    Books SHRIKES. Norbert Lefranc. 1997. Yale University Some species have bright rufous or sandy caps Press, New Haven, Connecticut. Hard cover, 192 and backs. A few, such as the Long-tailedShrike, pp. $35.00 U.S. have strikinggeographic plumage variations. Some shrikesare as small as House Sparrows. The recentflood of world-wideidentification guides for specific groups of birds, such as seabirds, In 35 pages of introductorymaterial, the author waterfowl and shorebirds, has now reached presents informationon: taxonomy,overviews of passerine groupings, and the treatment has the genera, and a brief guide to the features of the expanded to include life history information.This species accounts. The overview of the genus is a welcome addition, as many bird enthusiasts Laniuscovers: names; morphology,plumages and have expanded their interests, and wish to learn molts; origins, present distribution,migration 'and more about the birds they see. Many of these wintering areas; habitat; social organization and guides are being written in Europe and cover general behavior;food habits,larders and foraging groupswhich occur primarilyin the Old World. behavior; nests, eggs and breeding behavior; population dynamics; population changes and Shrikes covers the three genera of the family presumedcauses; and conservation.The othertwo Laniidae(true shrikes), including 31 specieswithin genera are coveredin singlepage overviews.Line Lanius, Coruinella and Eurocephalus. Twenty- drawings in the introduction supplerbent the color sevenof thesespecies are in the firstgenus, whose plates. name is the Latin word for butcher, perhaps referringto their habit of hangingprey on spines. Species accounts average three pages (range 1- 9), and include a clear range map (1/4 to 1 page), Scientistsbelieve that the family Laniidae evolved identification details, measurements, distribution in Australia as part of a great radiation that and status, molt, voice, habitat, habits, food, produced the corvids, a number of Australian breeding and references.
    [Show full text]
  • The Birds (Aves) of Oromia, Ethiopia – an Annotated Checklist
    European Journal of Taxonomy 306: 1–69 ISSN 2118-9773 https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2017.306 www.europeanjournaloftaxonomy.eu 2017 · Gedeon K. et al. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Monograph urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:A32EAE51-9051-458A-81DD-8EA921901CDC The birds (Aves) of Oromia, Ethiopia – an annotated checklist Kai GEDEON 1,*, Chemere ZEWDIE 2 & Till TÖPFER 3 1 Saxon Ornithologists’ Society, P.O. Box 1129, 09331 Hohenstein-Ernstthal, Germany. 2 Oromia Forest and Wildlife Enterprise, P.O. Box 1075, Debre Zeit, Ethiopia. 3 Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig, Centre for Taxonomy and Evolutionary Research, Adenauerallee 160, 53113 Bonn, Germany. * Corresponding author: [email protected] 2 Email: [email protected] 3 Email: [email protected] 1 urn:lsid:zoobank.org:author:F46B3F50-41E2-4629-9951-778F69A5BBA2 2 urn:lsid:zoobank.org:author:F59FEDB3-627A-4D52-A6CB-4F26846C0FC5 3 urn:lsid:zoobank.org:author:A87BE9B4-8FC6-4E11-8DB4-BDBB3CFBBEAA Abstract. Oromia is the largest National Regional State of Ethiopia. Here we present the first comprehensive checklist of its birds. A total of 804 bird species has been recorded, 601 of them confirmed (443) or assumed (158) to be breeding birds. At least 561 are all-year residents (and 31 more potentially so), at least 73 are Afrotropical migrants and visitors (and 44 more potentially so), and 184 are Palaearctic migrants and visitors (and eight more potentially so). Three species are endemic to Oromia, 18 to Ethiopia and 43 to the Horn of Africa. 170 Oromia bird species are biome restricted: 57 to the Afrotropical Highlands biome, 95 to the Somali-Masai biome, and 18 to the Sudan-Guinea Savanna biome.
    [Show full text]
  • Tanzania 16 - 27 April 2018 Tour Leader Tertius Gous Photographs by Tertius Gous Taken on This Tour
    Tanzania 16 - 27 April 2018 Tour Leader Tertius Gous Photographs by Tertius Gous taken on this tour www.birdingafrica.com Day 0: The first day was spent birding and relaxing at our lodge near Kilimanjaro International Airport while we waited for everyone to arrive. The open Acacia savanna surrounding the lodge always provides a very productive start to the tour and notable sightings included Speckled and Blue- naped Mousebird, White-browed Coucal, Mourning Collared Dove, Little and African Palm Swift, European Roller, Grey-headed Kingfisher, African Hoopoe, Red-backed Shrike, Long-tailed Fiscal, Dark-capped Bulbul (the first of many!), Northern and Red-faced Crombec, Willow Warbler, Eastern Olivaceous Warbler, Tawny-flanked Prinia, Buff-bellied Warbler, Garden Warbler, Winding Cisticola, Spotted Flycatcher, Spotted Palm Thrush, Superb and Violet-backed Starling, Scarlet- chested and Variable Sunbird, Red-billed Firefinch, Blue-capped Cordon-bleu, Crimson-rumped Waxbill and Reichenow’s Seedeater, while Yellow-winged Bat showed well at the lodge. As a bonus, our lodge was perfectly situated for spectacular views of Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain and the highest free-standing mountain in the world. Days 1- 2: We spent two full days exploring the grasslands, lakes, woodlands and forests of Arusha National Park. Close to the entrance of the Park we found a breeding colony of Taveta Weavers supported by a few Golden-backed Weavers and an obliging Brown-breasted Barbet. Soon after we entered the Park an open grassy meadow produced good numbers of African Buffalo with numerous Red- billed Oxpeckers in attendance, as well as Bushbuck. Other mammals found in the grasslands and woodlands included Common Zebra, Giraffe, Warthog, Waterbuck, Kirk’s Dik-dik and numerous troops of Olive Baboons, while the forests held Harvey’s Duiker and the diminutive Suni.
    [Show full text]
  • Bird Checklists of the World Country Or Region: Ghana
    Avibase Page 1of 24 Col Location Date Start time Duration Distance Avibase - Bird Checklists of the World 1 Country or region: Ghana 2 Number of species: 773 3 Number of endemics: 0 4 Number of breeding endemics: 0 5 Number of globally threatened species: 26 6 Number of extinct species: 0 7 Number of introduced species: 1 8 Date last reviewed: 2019-11-10 9 10 Recommended citation: Lepage, D. 2021. Checklist of the birds of Ghana. Avibase, the world bird database. Retrieved from .https://avibase.bsc-eoc.org/checklist.jsp?lang=EN&region=gh [26/09/2021]. Make your observations count! Submit your data to ebird.
    [Show full text]
  • Avibase Page 1Of 6
    Avibase Page 1of 6 Col Location Date Start time Duration Distance Avibase - Bird Checklists of the World 1 Country or region: Bwindi Impenetrable National Park 2 Number of species: 588 3 Number of endemics: 0 4 Number of breeding endemics: 0 5 Number of introduced species: 1 Recommended citation: Lepage, D. 2021. Checklist of the birds of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Avibase, the world bird database. Retrieved from .https://avibase.bsc- eoc.org/checklist.jsp?lang=EN&region=ug04uu01&list=howardmoore&format=2 [12/05/2021]. Make your observations count! Submit your data to ebird.org - Legend: [x] accidental [ex] extirpated [EX] extinct [EW] extinct in the wild [E] endemic [e] endemic (country/region) Egyptian Goose Tambourine Dove Black Cuckoo Hottentot Teal Namaqua Dove African Cuckoo African Black Duck Montane Nightjar African Crake Red-billed Teal Mottled Spinetailed Swift Black Crake Comb Duck Cassin's Spinetailed Swift White-spotted Flufftail Helmeted Guineafowl Scarce Swift Buff-spotted Flufftail Crested Guineafowl African Palm Swift Red-chested Flufftail Blue Quail Alpine Swift African Finfoot Scaly Francolin Mottled Swift Grey Crowned Crane Red-necked Spurfowl White-rumped Swift Great Blue Turaco Handsome Francolin Horus Swift Eastern Grey Plantain-eater Crested Francolin Little Swift Bare-faced Go-away-bird Ring-necked Francolin African Swift Ruwenzori Turaco Little Grebe Common Swift Black-billed Turaco Speckled Pigeon Blue-headed Coucal Ross's Turaco Afep Pigeon White-browed Coucal Marabou African Olive Pigeon African Black
    [Show full text]
  • Birding Tour to Ghana Specializing on Upper Guinea Forest 12–26 January 2018
    Birding Tour to Ghana Specializing on Upper Guinea Forest 12–26 January 2018 Chocolate-backed Kingfisher, Ankasa Resource Reserve (Dan Casey photo) Participants: Jim Brown (Missoula, MT) Dan Casey (Billings and Somers, MT) Steve Feiner (Portland, OR) Bob & Carolyn Jones (Billings, MT) Diane Kook (Bend, OR) Judy Meredith (Bend, OR) Leaders: Paul Mensah, Jackson Owusu, & Jeff Marks Prepared by Jeff Marks Executive Director, Montana Bird Advocacy Birding Ghana, Montana Bird Advocacy, January 2018, Page 1 Tour Summary Our trip spanned latitudes from about 5° to 9.5°N and longitudes from about 3°W to the prime meridian. Weather was characterized by high cloud cover and haze, in part from Harmattan winds that blow from the northeast and carry particulates from the Sahara Desert. Temperatures were relatively pleasant as a result, and precipitation was almost nonexistent. Everyone stayed healthy, the AC on the bus functioned perfectly, the tropical fruits (i.e., bananas, mangos, papayas, and pineapples) that Paul and Jackson obtained from roadside sellers were exquisite and perfectly ripe, the meals and lodgings were passable, and the jokes from Jeff tolerable, for the most part. We detected 380 species of birds, including some that were heard but not seen. We did especially well with kingfishers, bee-eaters, greenbuls, and sunbirds. We observed 28 species of diurnal raptors, which is not a large number for this part of the world, but everyone was happy with the wonderful looks we obtained of species such as African Harrier-Hawk, African Cuckoo-Hawk, Hooded Vulture, White-headed Vulture, Bat Hawk (pair at nest!), Long-tailed Hawk, Red-chested Goshawk, Grasshopper Buzzard, African Hobby, and Lanner Falcon.
    [Show full text]