Cameroon is an essential destination for any birder serious about sampling
Africa's best birds. Its mind-boggling diversity of habitats stretches
from lowland equatorial forests, through highland forests, grasslands
and Guinea woodlands, to the arid Saharan edge. Most notable of these
habitats are the highland forests, which form the core of one of Africa's
most significant Endemic Bird Areas, the Cameroon Mountains EBA. This
region harbours a staggering 25 endemics, including the critically endangered
Mount Kupe Bush-shrike (described in 1952 and only 25 individuals recorded
since then) and mythical Bannerman's Turaco. Other key African species
that are best searched for in Cameroon include African Piculet, Crossley's
Ground Thrush, Quail Plover, Egyptian Plover, Spotted Thrush Babbler,
Schlegel's Francolin and Cricket Warbler.
This tour is centred on the endemic-filled highlands, with the primary
aim of finding all the Cameroon Mountains endemics (excluding Mount Cameroon
Francolin, which requires three days of single-minded dedication). To
complement this, and to record a representative cross-section of Cameroon's
tremendous bird diversity, we also visit the more arid north and the lowland
forest of Korup National Park.
For the third year running we successfully located all range-restricted
species confined to the Cameroon Mountains, including Mount Kupe Bush-shrike,
Banded Wattle-eye and Bannerman's Turaco. A further two taxa, Cameroon
Pipit and Alexander's Akalat, usually regarded as species endemic to the
Cameroon Mountains EBA, were also recorded. All but one of the EBA species
were seen by all members of our party. This year we also succeeded in
breaking the 600 species mark.
Who could forget the flock of Hartlaub's Duck at the roadside of the very
first morning, elegant African Swallow-tailed Kites circling low overhead,
a pair of Schlegel's Francolin quietly stalking by, saturation views of
the bizarre Quail-plover, the deep, booming call of Nkulengu Rail ringing
through camp at night, an Erythrina tree abuzz with 10 sunbird species,
including Johanna's Sunbird, and the joy of a pair of Mount Cameroon Speirops
after a long, hard slog up West Africa's highest mountain. Other highlights
included repeated perch-views of the tricky Cameroon Olive Pigeon, a Beaudouin's
Snake Eagle soaring nearby, dainty Grey Pratincoles chasing insects along
sandbars, the localized Adamawa Turtle Dove cooing from the gallery forest,
a pair of immaculate Rose-ringed Parakeet at their nest, Bannerman's Turaco
swooping through mossy montane forests, a gorgeous Vermiculated Fishing
Owl scoped in the spotlight, a male Standard-winged Nightjar silhouetted
against the pale dawn sky, a male Bare-cheeked Trogon swallowing air before
calling, a gaudy Blue-headed bee-eater hunting in a small forest glade,
a pair of Blue-bellied Roller, a Black Dwarf Hornbill sitting silently
in the rainforest canopy, a raucous party of White-crested Hornbills,
the swooshing of colossal Black-casqued and Yellow-casqued Hornbill wings
overhead, a pair of minuscule African Piculet feeding young, a pair of
rare Rufous-rumped Lark and little-known Bannerman's Pipit, scolding calls
from Sjostedt's Honeyguide Greenbul, the delicate Alexander's Akalat in
the dark, moist forest under-storey, a crisp male White-fronted Black
Chat calling from its prominent perch, the sweet, fluty call of Crossley's
Ground Thrush, an agitated White-tailed Warbler flitting her stump-tail
and a pair of Banded Wattle-eye.
