Monday at Sisiyi

Had several pleasant hours at Sisiyi Falls on the first terrace of Mount Elgon today. Even though we were not there for prime birding during early-morning hours, still there were these highlights (in addition to the stunning scenery around the falls - see pictures at http://safariyetu.blogspot.com):

Fan-tailed raven (Corvus rhipidurus)
African blue flycatcher (Elminia longicauda)
Black-and-white mannikin (Lonchura bicolor)
Mountain wagtail (Motacilla clara)

Mocker swallowtail, citrus swallowtail, and green-banded swallowtail butterflies were also much in evidence. We had a glimpse of what was probably a mother-of-pearl butterfly too.

Mabira, bat hawk, etc.

We took a field trip for the older students in our mission school to Mabira May 26, and spent most of the morning in the trails in both the primary and secondary rain forest. Our guide took us on a route long enough that we had to maintain a quick pace and were not able to stop-look-listen the way one needs to do to observe many forest birds. Nevertheless we did see some fine specimens, especially after returning to the forestry office compound and waiting for lunch to get ready. Some of the species highlights on my list of what we saw:

Common (brown-throated) wattle-eye (Platysteira cyanea)
Olive sunbird (Nectarinia oliivacea)
Yellow-throated tinkerbird (Pogoniulus subsulphureus)
Speckled tinkerbird (Pogoniulus scolopaceus)
White-rumped swift (Apus caffer)
Cardinal quelea (Quelea cardinalis)
Great blue turaco (Corythaeola cristata)
Red-bellied paradise flycatcher (Terpsiphone rufiventer)
Purple-throated cuckoo-shrike (Campephaga quisqualina)
African blue flycatcher (Elminia longicauda)
Black-necked weaver (Ploceus nigricollis)
Common waxbill (Estrilda astrild)
Black-crowned waxbill (Estrilda nonnula)
Grey-headed negrofinch (Nigrita canicapilla)

We heard almost as many kinds of birds as we actually saw, but did not have leisure to wait around for them to appear, or to make detours to find them. Counting species both seen and heard, I wrote down about 70 for the day.

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Bat hawk

"The early bird gets the birder"--I guess that re-wording of the proverb is one way of saying it when one comes across a bat hawk (Macheiramphus alcinus) early of a morning before it goes to roost after its dawn hunting. I was on a pre-breakfast jog a few days ago, somewhere around 6:30 or so, when one of these mysterious raptors flew a semicircle in front of me before alighting in a giant muvule tree.

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Baglafecht nest

My boys showed me a Baglafecht weaver (Ploceus baglafect) nest just a couple of meters outside our dining-room window. We watched the adults coming and going into and out of the nest, which they had attached to overhanging bougainvillea branches above a retaining wall. Here's a picture of the nest; if I get one that includes any of the weavers themselves I'll post it later.

Superb sunbird

I took advantage of having an overnight stay in Entebbe last week to stroll around in the municipal botanical gardens, a several-acre tract of light woodland interspersed with real rain forest, and all fronting on the shore of Lake Victoria (I'm told that the original Tarzan movie was filmed in the rain forest there). It was Saturday and consequently a little crowded with other people out to enjoy the beauty and tranquility of the place. The birding could have been much better otherwise, but even so I did have one of those breath-taking sightings. A dark sunbird turned out, on closer inspection through my binoculars, to be a male superb sunbird (Nectarinia superba). Since male sunbirds in general are gorgeous, to merit a title like "superb" one has to be seriously stunning--and he was. Although his colors are all on the dark side, there's a remarkable richness and lustre in the deep maroon and blue iridescence of this fellow's plumage. He's larger than average for a sunbird, which adds to his impressiveness. And, being a forest dweller, he's harder to get a look at than most others. This was my first encounter with a male of the species, although a few years back I did see a female in the same park area. Sunbirds need to be seen from several angles and in varying light to bring out their best points, but you can see a still of a male superb sunbird at this URL:

http://www.naturbilder.de/portf_bischsunbird/pages/bischoff_sunbirds13.html

Lanner

Yesterday morning around 0700 I was standing in downtown Mbale when I noticed an incoming from the north, looking about crow-size. Turned out to be a lanner falcon (Falco biarmicus), cruising over at only about 50 feet altitude. These are occasional here, and always a particular pleasure to see.

It's been a few days since hearing the liquid contact-calls of Eurasian bee-eaters (Merops apiaster) migrating overhead. The season's rush is more or less over, but we'll probably still have some straggling flocks up into May.

In case anyone's wondered why I have been including scientific/Latin names for bird species, it's because English nomenclature varies so much from book to book and area to area. If you look up a species I mention by its Latin name, your 95% certain to come up with the species that I have referenced, regardless of which English-(or other language)-name it may go by in your fieldguide or website of choice.

Seen on the shoulder

Driving the road from Mbale toward Kampala yesterday we spotted a female Abyssinian ground hornbill (Bucorvus abyssinicus) in statuesque pose on the paved shoulder of the road. At over 40 inches long (105 cm), these turkey-sized mainly black birds with blue and red facial wattles are an impressive sight. I've seen them in that area a few times before, but it had been a couple of years since the last time.

empty nest

A couple of days ago there were a pair of adult palm-nut vultures (Gypohierax angolensis, also called the vulturine fish eagle) soaring in the neighborhood in company with a brown-plumaged immature. The mature birds, with their startling black-and-white color scheme and reddish bare facial skin, cut quite a contrast with most other raptors that are typically decked out in sombre camouflage. One of the roads bordering this subdivision is lined with towering African mahogany trees where the palm-nut vultures roost and, I suppose, nest.

I've been hearing the calls of a red-chested cuckoo (Cuculus solitarius) daily for quite a while, but haven't yet caught a glimpse of it.

This morning I noticed a kettle of about 70 migrating storks, probably Abdim's (Ciconia abdimii), circling together in preparation for the next leg of their journey.

The leisurely song of the African thrush (Turdus pelios) is an early morning fixture these days. Must be time for nest-building and breeding! It sounds much like that of the American robin and others in this large avian family.

Kenya trip, etc.

We spent the last week or so of March in western Kenya on a farm just outside Eldama Ravine town. It's an area where the highlands in that region end in an escarpment that descends to the Rift Valley. The change in elevation makes for an extraordinarily diverse ecosystem, from highland forest and grassland to dry, hot acacia savannah in the valley floor.

I wrote down a hundred or so bird species that I encountered on the trip, and I'm sure could easily have logged over hundred and fifty if I'd made a foray or two into the lower-lying bush areas. Here's a list of several of the ones I found especially notable:

Wahlberg's honeybird (Prodotiscus regulus), alternatively named sharp-billed honeyguide--a rather drab bird, apart from prominent white outer tail feathers, but a new species for me

Hartlaub's turaco (Tauraco hartlaubi)--an altogether splendid bird in violet, green and scarlet, with with dashing white facial markings; had better than usual views of one this time, a particular pleasure since we do not have this species in our Mbale, Uganda area

African crowned eagle (Stephanoaetus coronatus)--Africa's most powerful raptor; son Jonathan's sharp eyes spotted one soaring over the forest as we were starting our return trip to Uganda; we pulled over to the shoulder of the road and enjoyed watching for a little while

Red-fronted parrot (Poicephalus gulielmi)--had flocks flying overhead daily en route to feeding or roosting places

Dusky turtle dove (Streptopelia lugens)--this was a new one for me also; viewed several of the birds while there; they do occur in Uganda, but only in southwestern and far northeastern parts of the country

Common scimitarbill (Rhinopomastus cyanomelas)--it had been years since I'd last seen one of these handsome black birds with white wing and tail spots

Cape robin-chat (Cossypha caffra)--I don't come across these very often, as they tend to be found at higher elevations than where we live, and not in my past experience in the same area as the related white-browed robin-chat (Cossypha heuglini, which we also enjoyed seeing while there)

Cape wagtail (Motacilla capensis)--a pair of them, foraging on the same patch of roadside grass with a couple of the common African pied wagtail (Motacilla aguimp)

Yellow-breasted apalis (Apalis flavida) and chestnut-throated apalis (Apalis porphyrolaema)--both of these were new to me, both observed in acacia trees at or not far from the forest edge

Sulphur-breasted bush-shrike (Malaconotus sulfureopectus)--saw a juvenile of this species that I often enjoyed watching at home in Malawi during growing-up years

Yellow-bellied waxbill (Estrilda quartinia)--I first got acquainted with these lovely, gregarious little birds in the highlands of Malawi, where the field-guides call them East African swees.

Streaky seedeater (Serinus striolatus), thick-billed seedeater (Serinus burtoni) and yellow-rumped seedeater (Serinus reichenowi)--the last of these was a new species for me

African golden-breasted bunting (Emberiza flaviventris)--gorgeous birds that I came across on several walks as they foraged on the ground, then flew up to a branch of a tree or shrub when I got too close

Red-chested cuckoo (Cuculus solitarius)--there were quite a number of these attractive birds drawing attention to themselves by their loud three-note, oft-repeated (even throughout the night!) calls; had some excellent views of a pair of them late one afternoon; sometimes they are called "rain-birds" because of their habit of calling frequently around the time that the rainy season begins

Heard the calls also of the black cuckoo (Cuculus clamosus) and the African emerald cuckoo (Chrysococcyx cupreus); Klaas's cuckoo (Chrysococcyx klaas) both heard and seen while there

Chin-spot batis (Batis molitor)--another bird familiar from our yard in Malawi, but not seen so far in Uganda