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Trip Report: Tanzania 12 day tour
in August 2008
Overview
12-day tour (from 31 July to 11 August 2008)
Areas visited: Mikumi, Uluguru South, Kilombero, Usumbaras,
Same and the South Pare Mountains
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Detailed Tour Report
This short Tanzania trip was
custom-designed to maximise the chances of finding the remaining
birds Tom Gullick could find, without launching too major an expedition,
in Tanzania. Of the 15 species Tom was after, we managed to find
fourteen, only Usambara Eagle Owl proving elusive.
Although there was little time for other birding, we managed to
see most of the local specials while concentrating on the main targets.
Below is a brief summary of the trip.
31 July 2008: Dar es Salaam
to Mikumi National Park
We arrived at Dar es Salaam’s International Airport shortly
after midday, and immediately hit the road for Mikumi National Park,
where we arrived at the comfortable Vuma Hills Lodge after dark.
The only bird of note seen en route was Rufous-bellied Heron.
1-2 August 2008: Uluguru South
Leaving our travel companions behind in the comfort of Vuma Hills
Lodge, Tom and I headed back to Morogoro and on to Teketelo Mission
in the South Ulugurus, where our main target was the striking and
very rare Uluguru Bush-Shrike. We arrived at our campsite, well
inside the forest, by the early afternoon, en route notching up
African Citril, Yellow-bellied
Waxbill, Waller’s Starling,
Fullerborn’s Boubou, Evergreen Forest
Warbler, Uluguru Violet-backed Sunbird and
Loveridge’s Sunbird. After setting up camp
we birded nearby, where a large foraging flock held Uluguru
Mountain Greenbul, Shelley’s Greenbul and
Forest Batis. But our attention was quickly pinned
on the nearby calls of Uluguru Bush Shrike. The
bird came in briefly, but was restless and allowed only brief views.
It was getting dark, so we decided to try again the following morning.
Up at first light, we soon located a foraging flock with Uluguru
Bush-Shrike. After some patience and persistence, we enjoyed
fantastic views of the bird, alongside Green Barbet
and White-winged Apalis. In the late morning we
made our way back to the vehicle, seeing Red-throated Twinspot
en route, and back to Mikumi, where we met up with our
travel companions.
3-4 August 2008 Mikumi
to Kilombero
We spent the morning on some leisurely game drives in Mikumi. Interesting
species included Northern Pied Babbler, Taita Fiscal, Von
Decken’s Hornbill, Pale-billed Hornbill, Grey Kestrel, Black-bellied
Bustard, Temminck’s Courser and Fischer’s Sparrow-Lark,
before heading south for Sanje. We paused briefly near Mikumi village
for some Miombo birding, finding Cinnamon-breasted Tit,
Miombo Blue-eared Starling, Pale-billed Hornbill, Red-throated Wryneck
and Arnot’s Chat.
Before sunrise we started the jumpy trip to Ifakara on the edge
of Kilombero swamp. Here we arrived while the air was still cool,
and quickly found the two endemic cisticolas (White-tailed
Cisticola and Kilombero Cisticola), both very vocal, and
some Kilombero Weavers in partial breeding plumage feeding on the
road. Other species seen over the morning included Coppery-tailed
Coucal, right at the northern edge of its range, Black
Coucal, flocks of Pink-backed Pelican, White-headed Lapwing and
a single Madagascar Squacco Heron among the many
Common Squacco Heron. In the afternoon we returned
to Sanje, where some relaxed birding near our accommodation produced
a couple of interesting species, including Narina’s
Trogon, African Broadbill and Blue-mantled Crested
Flycatcher.
5-8 August 2008: The Usambaras
With a long drive ahead of us, we wasted no time in hitting the
road northwards, stopping briefly only to see a pair of Grey-headed
Parrot. With little time to stop we pressed on, with a
brief pause near Amani in the East Usambaras producing Magpie
Mannikin and Yellow Weaver, but not the
hoped-for Coastal Cisticola
Early the next morning saw us birding the lower-latitude forests
below Amani, where we managed to locate an unobtrusive Usambara
Hyliota feeding quietly in the canopy, and Little
Yellow Flycatcher and Red-tailed Ant Thrush nearby.
From here we continued to the coastal plain to find Coastal
Cisticola (a split of the galactotes group), which didn’t
give itself up too easily, and required quite a bit of marching
about in the heat of the day. The late afternoon was spent on some
leisurely birding near our rest house, with the localised Banded
Green Sunbird, Silvery-cheeked Hornbill, Moustached Green Tinkerbird,
White-eared Barbet, Green Barbet, Green-headed Oriole, Black-bellied
Starling, Green Twinspot, Fischer’s Turaco and
Kenrich’s Starling as the highlights.
The following day we headed to slightly higher altitude to find
two localised endemics, Long-billed Forest Warbler (Long-billed
Apalis) and Kretschmer’s Longbill, before heading
for Lushoto in the West Usambaras. We arrived in time for some late
afternoon birding near our accommodation, which produced Usambara
Double-collared Sunbird, Red-capped Forest Warbler, Usambara Mountain
Greenbul and Black-fronted Bush Shrike.
In the evening we enjoyed watching Usambara Nightjar around
our lodge.
The following morning found us at the superb Magamba forest, where
the much-wanted Usambara Weaver showed itself fairly
quickly. Other specials seen during the morning were Red-faced
Crimsonwing, the very rare Usambara Akalat, a smart Oriole Finch,
Bar-tailed Trogon, endemic albigula subspecies of Tiny
Greenbul, Placid Greenbul, White-starred Robin, Bar-throated Apalis,
the unusual and very skulking Spot-throat, Shelley’s
Greenbul and localised Usambara Thrush.
9-11 August: Same and
the South Pare Mountains
From Lushoto we continued our journey westwards into the arid savannas
of the Same district, where we spent the morning in some very productive
habitat. Highlights included Pink-breasted Lark, Eastern
Black-headed Batis, Somali Golden-breasted Starling, White-bellied
Canary, Blue-capped Cordon-Blue, Fischer’s Starling,
a pair of very elegant Golden-breasted Starling, Rosy-patched
Bush-Shrike, Slate-coloured Boubou, Eastern Violet-backed Sunbird,
Northern Grey Tit, Pygmy Batis, Red-fronted Warbler, Ashy Cisticola,
Bare-eyed Thrush, Abyssinian Scimitarbill and Orange-bellied
Parrot.
Early the next morning we found ourselves bumping up the rocky slopes
of the South Pare mountains. Near the summit, a small patch of relatively
intact montane forest quickly revealed our main quarry, the endemic
South Pare White-eye, which we watched at close
quarters. Other birds seen here during our brief visit included
Bar-throated Apalis, Sharpe’s Starling,
Golden-winged Sunbird, Usambara Double-collared
Sunbird and Hartlaub’s Turaco. On
our way back to Same we birded some of the Acacia-lined watercourses
in the lowlands, with highlights including Black-bellied
Sunbird, Taveta Golden Weaver, Tsavo Purple-banded Sunbird
and Southern Grosbeak Canary.
From Same the Gullick group continued to Arusha and Kenya, and I
returned to Dar es Salaam for my flight back to South Africa.
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