Kasanka MORE THAN JUST BATS Well known for its staggering roost of fruit bats and obliging sitatungas, Kasanka National Park in northern Zambia also supports an incredible diversity of birds, including most of the region’s specials. It’s not surprising, then, that it’s regarded as one of the country’s best birding destinations. TEXT BY FRANK WILLEMS & ROB LITTLE PHOTOGRAPHS BY FRANK WILLEMS THE KASANKA TRUST During the 1970s and ’80s, wildlife in Zambia was heavily poached, to the extent that the once numerous black rhinos completely disappeared. Kasanka was not spared, and when Kasanka the late David Lloyd visited the park in 1985 he was shocked to see how wildlife numbers NP had dwindled in comparison to those of the early 1960s, mainly as a result of intensive 8 poaching, widespread bush fires and encroaching cultivation. Having decided to invest Mulembo Luwombwa9 money and energy in protecting the park, he founded the Kasanka Trust and Kasanka Kasanka 2 became the first national park in Zambia to be privately managed. It is still operated by the 7 6 5 trust, in partnership with what is now the Zambia Wildlife Authority, and it and its large 4 3 mammal populations have shown an incredible recovery. Musola 1 If you plan to visit Kasanka, the Bangweulu Wetlands (where the trust operates Shoebill The staggering 10 million straw- ZAMBIA Island Camp) or any of the other birding gems in northern Zambia, go to www.kasanka. coloured fruit bats that gather in com or contact the trust at [email protected] or Frank Willems at [email protected]. Kasanka’s Fibwe Forest every year All revenue derived from tourism is reinvested into the protection of the park. are thought to constitute the largest 1 Mpululwe Hill mammal migration on earth. 2 Wasa Lodge 3 Fibwe Forest more forest specials, including Ross’s and 4 Pontoon Campsite Schalow’s turacos, Black-throated Wattle- 5 Kasanka Floodplains eye, Red-throated Twinspot and various 6 Kabwe Campsite honeyguides. Interspersed among these 7 Chikufwe Plain you’re likely to see species typical of forest- 8 Luwombwa Lodge edge, thicket and long-grass habitats, such as 9 Musande Forest White-winged Black Tit, Short-winged Cis- ticola, Fawn-breasted Waxbill, Moustached mushitu tropical forest that is typical of Grass-Warbler, Hartlaub’s Babbler and a the high-rainfall areas of Zambia and is range of sunbirds, as well as the pink-legged dominated by marsh fig, red mahogany northern race of Speckled Mousebird. and waterberry trees. The forest is best A platform high in a mahogany tree known for its aggregation of 8–10 million overlooking the adjacent marsh is an giant straw-coloured fruit bats that roost excellent vantage point from which to here between mid-October and the end of look for sitatunga, the secretive swamp December, when the first rains result in a antelope best seen at dawn and dusk. Of bounty of fruit in the surrounding miom- the many wetland bird species, Greater bo woodland. As one of the largest animal Swamp-Warbler and Coppery-tailed Cou- concentrations in the world, the roost is cal are probably of most interest. Large ranked among the top wildlife spectacles. and often mixed flocks of Miombo Blue- But for hard-core birders the wealth of eared and Sharp-tailed starlings move Zambian and Central African species will through at sunset and sunrise en route to be of greater interest. You will probably their roosts. have ticked Böhm’s Bee-eater even before It is well worth spending a full morn- you’ve switched off your vehicle’s engine ing exploring the trails and many tree in the car park at the forest edge. Black- platforms in the forest. An armed guide PETER RYAN backed Barbets are also relatively easy is compulsory as elephants and hippos Arjun Amar descends the ladder t only some 400 square kilo- to see; just scan the tree-tops bordering are present, but you are more likely to be from the viewing platform in metres in extent, Kasanka is the forest in the early mornings and late startled by a bushpig, sitatunga or blue Fibwe Forest that overlooks one of the smallest national afternoons. Equally common but less con- monkey. This is where you can practise prime sitatunga habitat. parks in Zambia, but despite spicuous is the localised Purple-throated identifying greenbuls, with Grey-olive, its size, lack of altitudinal Cuckooshrike, but take care not to con- Cabanis’s, Little and Yellow-bellied on Avariation and the limited attention it has fuse the male with a Black Cuckooshrike, offer, as well as Yellow-throated Leaf- received from birders, an astonishing 457 which is often seen in the adjacent wood- love. Narina Trogon, African Broadbill, bird species have been recorded there to land. To make identification more difficult, Dark-backed Weaver and Yellow-rumped date. Most of these are residents or fre- the local form of Black Cuckooshrike has Tinkerbird will present fewer identification quent visitors, and a good day’s birding at an orange gape and black shoulders, but problems. Find the nest of the resident pair the right time of year will easily produce the call and glossy plumage of the male of African Crowned Eagles and there’s a 200 species, including many Zambian and Purple-throated are distinctive, as are the good chance that you’ll see not only the Central African specials. unbarred underparts of the female. eagles but also Brown-headed Apalis, which The focal point of any visit should be An hour spent birding around the edge is common nearby but tricky to make out Fibwe Forest, a 40-hectare block of wet of the mushitu usually provides many as it forages high in the canopy. DAVID ROGERS 62 KASANKA AFRICA – BIRDS & BIRDING OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2011 KASANKA 63 The further you move into the forest, During the bat season the platforms a good chance that you’ll be able to tick WHEN TO GO the more apparent will be the impact of provide excellent views of the roosting Black-fronted Bush-Shrike and Green- Although birding at Kasanka is excellent the weight of millions of roosting bats. bats and the many raptors hunting them. headed Sunbird here, in addition to the throughout the year, the best period is Tall trees collapse and are rapidly replaced African Fish-Eagles, Martial, African common forest species seen at Fibwe. from October to December – and it’s no by young growth that, also stunted by the Crowned, Steppe and Lesser Spotted coincidence that this is the bat season. bats, creates a dense canopy at a height eagles and African and Ayres’s hawk-eagles ownstream of Fibwe Forest, where The early rains create an explosion of of about five metres. Scattered half-dead all enjoy the bounty, and there are regular the Musola joins the Kasanka new vegetation, including fruits, and trees rising above the canopy provide reports of White-backed and Palm-nut DRiver, extensive reedbeds are bor- insects, which attract large numbers of perches for turacos, Mosque Swallows, vultures taking live bats. Smaller species dered by grasslands dotted with large ter- Palearctic and intra-African migrants. bee-eaters, large and noisy flocks of Trum- like Yellow-billed Kite, Steppe Buzzard mite mounds bearing minuscule forest Flying termites provide a feast for a peter Hornbills, and sometimes White- and even Eurasian Hobby are also seen patches. When the grasslands flood in the spectacular range of species – from headed Saw-wings, while Green-backed targeting the bats, but they are seldom rainy season, species such as Black Coucal, sunbirds to Bateleurs – and are a magnet and Olive woodpeckers forage on the successful. Anchieta’s Tchagra, Red-chested Flufftail, for wanderers and migrants like Woolly- dead wood. Bocage’s Akalats and Green Fibwe aside, forest lines many of the Broad-tailed Warbler, Black-winged Bishop necked Storks and Lesser Spotted Eagles. Twinspots breed in the dark understorey, rivers in Kasanka. The most extensive and and Yellow-mantled Widowbird, as well Low water levels attract large numbers but you’ll need determination and luck to accessible stretches are found along the as Palearctic warblers, join the cisticolas of fish-eating species and waders, and find them. One of the trails ends at a plat- largest river, the Luwombwa in the west. and swamp-warblers that are present year- many of the resident species are more form on the Musola stream, where African Nightly boat rides are almost guaranteed round. Hundreds of thousands of Barn conspicuous as they prepare to breed. Finfoot and Half-collared Kingfishers are to produce foraging Pel’s Fishing-Owls Swallows roost in the reedbeds in summer, January to April, when large sections of often seen. and White-backed Night-Herons. There’s along with good numbers of Blue-cheeked the park become flooded, is still good for Bee-eaters. During the early dry season, many of the migrants. High water levels make for productive birding, but can com- grazing and controlled burning transform plicate logistics. The birds are fairly quiet in the grasslands into suitable habitat for large the cool winter months (April to July), but flocks of non-breeding Cuckoo Finches, this is when the nearby Bangweulu Wet- among other granivores. On plains where lands are at their most spectacular and there are high densities of small termite sightings of Shoebills are almost guaran- mounds, look out for breeding Senegal teed (see overleaf). August and September Lapwings, Temminck’s Coursers and Grey- see the return of increasing numbers of rumped Swallows. migrants, and resident birds begin to sing Further downstream, between the Pon- in anticipation of the approaching rains.