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Northern Tanzania Birding & Wildlife in the Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater & Beyond

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Northern Tanzania Birding & Wildlife in the Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater & Beyond NORTHERN TANZANIA BIRDING & WILDLIFE IN THE SERENGETI, NGORONGORO CRATER & BEYOND FEBRUARY 16–MARCH 4, 2020 Red-and-yellow Barbet (© Kevin J. Zimmer) LEADERS: KEVIN ZIMMER & ANTHONY RAFAEL LIST COMPILED BY: KEVIN ZIMMER VICTOR EMANUEL NATURE TOURS INC. 2525 WALLINGWOOD DRIVE, SUITE 1003 AUSTIN, TEXAS 78746 WWW.VENTBIRD.COM NORTHERN TANZANIA February 16–March 4, 2020 By Kevin Zimmer Retz’s Helmetshrike, Ngare Sero, February 2020 (© Kevin J. Zimmer) As has become the routine, the entire group arrived in Tanzania at least a day early to recover from the international flights and enjoy some relaxing birding on the lovely grounds of Ngare Sero Mountain Lodge, an old estate converted to an intimate tourist lodge. Here, amidst the spectacular gardens and remnant forest bordering a lily-covered pond and trout stream, we gained an introduction to African birds, including several species that we would not see elsewhere on the trip. Noteworthy among our many prizes were a group of bizarre Retz’s Helmetshrikes, wildly duetting Rüppell’s Robin-Chats, and stunning views of Collared, Amethyst, and Olive sunbirds. More expected, but no less welcome, were such ‘regulars’ as Hamerkop, a trio of African Black Ducks, loads of bickering Little Grebes, Black Crake, unusually confiding Tambourine Doves, numbers of White-eared Barbets, Kenrick’s Starling, Brown-hooded and Giant kingfishers, prehistoric looking Silvery-cheeked Hornbills, dapper Mountain Wagtails, Black-backed Puffbacks, attractive male and female Black-throated Wattle-eyes, and actively nesting Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 2 Northern Tanzania, 2020 Taveta Golden-Weavers (a regional specialty with a highly restricted range) and Grosbeak Weavers. We topped it off with nice views of a pair of lovely African Wood- Owls and some extended studies of two special primates—Guereza Colobus and Blue (Syke’s) Monkey. African Wood-Owl, Ngare Sero, Feb 2020 (© Kevin J. Zimmer) Our first “official” day on safari took us to nearby Arusha National Park, lying in the shadow of Mt. Meru. This park is small, but has many different habitats and offers a wonderful variety of birds and big game. In the lovely highland forest near the Fig Tree Arch, we were treated to an elegant pair of Bar-tailed Trogons, some vociferous but stunning Hartlaub’s Turacos (endemic to east Africa), Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater, Moustached Tinkerbird, Stripe-cheeked and Eastern Mountain greenbuls, Eurasian Blackcap, Gray Wagtail, and Thick-billed Seedeater, as well as a couple of very special species of small forest antelope, the impressively reddish Harvey’s Duiker, and the even smaller, and rarely seen, Suni. After an exceptionally rainy last five months (October– February), the water levels in the Momela Lakes were higher than I had ever seen them, leaving precious little exposed mud or shoreline habitat for shorebirds. But, happily, the salinity levels of the alkaline lakes did not appear to be adversely impacted, as evidenced by good concentrations of Lesser (1200+) and Greater (200+) flamingos, and 100+ Cape Teal. The circuits through the mosaic of lowland habitats (grassland, bush, woodland, and lake edge) were birdy as always, with a soaring juvenile Martial Eagle; Horus Swift; Pied Cuckoo; a lone Madagascar Bee-eater; some gorgeous White-fronted Bee-eaters; Spot-flanked and Brown-breasted barbets; Moustached Grass-Warbler; a pair of Black Cuckooshrikes; Long-billed Pipit; Pangani Longclaw; and many more, including great studies of six species (Red-faced, Trilling, Singing, Winding, Rattling, and Siffling) of cisticolas, which were destined to become a group favorite. Mammalian highlights Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 3 Northern Tanzania, 2020 included some nice “Masai” Giraffes; troops of Olive Baboons; impressive Guereza Colobus monkeys; and loads of Bushbucks and Defassa (Common) Waterbucks, with a sprinkling of Common Warthogs, Common Zebras, and African Buffalo mixed in. Lesser Flamingos, Arusha NP, February 2020 (© Kevin J. Zimmer) Guereza Colobus, Arusha NP, Feb 2020 (© Kevin J. Zimmer) Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 4 Northern Tanzania, 2020 Early the next morning we drove to the Kilimanjaro airport, where we caught our commercial flight to Mwanza (Tanzania’s second largest city), in the Lake Victoria region of western Tanzania. There, we met up with Vincent and Edson, our two excellent safari drivers, who would be with us for the remainder of the trip. After lunch in Mwanza, it was about a two-and-a-half-hour drive to our next lodge at Speke Bay, an attractive and intimate lodge nestled on the very shores of the vast inland sea that is Lake Victoria. After a short break to settle in to our rooms, we ventured forth on a late afternoon bird walk around the lodge grounds. Although late afternoon bird activity was somewhat slower than normal, we still found plenty to occupy our attention, from a cryptically plumaged day-roosting Square-tailed Nightjar, to incandescent Black-headed Gonoleks, Red-chested Sunbirds, Black-billed Barbets, and an unusually cooperative male Green-winged Pytilia. The resident Pearl-spotted Owlet appeared right on cue, although its presence failed to produce the usual hyper-aggressive swarm of smaller birds intent on driving it away. We did turn up an unusually confiding Red-chested Cuckoo, which posed for an extended period, and a lovely Gray-headed Kingfisher, which also sat nicely for scope-filling views. In addition to the Black-billed Barbets, our primary target of this walk was the Three-banded (Heuglin’s) Courser, a cryptically patterned, largely nocturnal shorebird that spends its days resting quietly in the shade, relying on the complexity of its plumage, combined with near total inactivity, to spare it from potential predators. But, on this afternoon, the coursers were nowhere to be found, nor were their crepuscular partners-in-crime, the Spotted Thick-knees, and both species would have to wait for at least another day. Black-headed Gonolek, Speke Bay, Feb 2019 (© Kevin J. Zimmer) Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 5 Northern Tanzania, 2020 The next day we picked up right where we left off, spending most of the morning birding on foot around the lodge, a venture highlighted by four species of kingfishers, ranging from the abundant and impossible-to-miss Pied Kingfishers (We saw over 200 at this one spot!), to the diminutive and retiring but drop-dead-gorgeous Malachite and African Pygmy kingfishers. Weavers were also well-represented, including Slender-billed, Northern Brown-throated, Village, Golden-backed (Jackson’s), and Black-headed (Yellow-backed), many of which were well into nest-building and courtship activities. Sunbirds (Scarlet-chested and Red-chested) and Black-headed Gonoleks were again conspicuous; a pair of Dideric Cuckoos proved hyper-responsive; Blue-naped Mousebirds and D’Arnaud’s Barbets (of the distinctive “Usambiro” type) showed nicely; and two fierce little Pearl-spotted Owlets succeeded in attracting the usual ‘mob scene’ of little passerines (among them, Buff-bellied Warbler, Swamp Flycatcher, Blue-capped Cordonbleu, Green-winged Pytilia, and Silverbird) when they responded to playback. Least expected of our many finds was a perched and very handsome Red-necked Falcon, followed an hour later by a perched adult Palm-nut Vulture (Only the 2nd time I’ve recorded the species at Speke Bay, after having first photographed an immature bird here on our 2019 tour.) Anthony located the resident pair of massive Verreaux’s Eagle-Owls on their daytime roost, and followed that up with a nice spot of a cryptic quartet of Three- banded Coursers (our missed target from the previous afternoon), which, as usual, opted to “freeze” in place, allowing us superb studies. The reed beds and papyrus fringing the lake were largely inaccessible to us this year due to the higher-than-normal water levels, so, we ended up getting completely “skunked” on the usual assortment of reed-loving Acrocephalus warblers, and the Blue-headed Coucals (here at the extreme eastern limit of their range), although heard several times, could not be coaxed out of the papyrus and into view. After lunch, we checked out and made the short drive to the western entrance gate to Serengeti National Park. While Vincent and Edson handled the inevitable paperwork at the entrance gate, the rest of us managed to secure exceptional studies of a Greater Honeyguide. Documents in hand, we then set off on our long transect of the western corridor of the Serengeti. Given that at this early juncture in the tour nearly everything was new, frequent stops were inevitable. Most noteworthy was finding a rare Karamoja Apalis, a gnatcatcher-like bird known primarily from a restricted range in northern Uganda, but here part of a highly localized and isolated population. The apalis was preceded by an exceptionally confiding pair of Wattled Lapwings and followed by a couple of locally uncommon Eastern Plantain-eaters. I was particularly happy to get the plantain-eaters, because our usual “go-to spot” for finding them was inaccessible due to muddy road conditions. In fact, the unusually prolonged and heavy rains of the previous five months had transformed the landscape of the entire Western Corridor from its normal late-February condition. Gone was the usual road dust, replaced by mud and numerous puddles, with a couple of dicey spots requiring off-track circumnavigation by our Land Cruisers. The Grumeti River, typically (in this season) a nearly stagnant ribbon of fetid water choked with throngs of Hippopotami and Nile Crocodiles, was, instead, a raging torrent of white- water. The grasslands were tall and lush, making for unusually verdant vistas, but Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 6 Northern Tanzania, 2020 simultaneously providing an abundance of concealing cover for terrestrial birds and felines, increasing, almost exponentially, the degree of difficulty of spotting any of these from our moving vehicles. None of these factors could explain the apparent dearth of raptors, shrikes, and rollers, numbers of which were a far cry from what I was conditioned to seeing on this drive through the western Serengeti.
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