Tanzania's special birds

Eagle over Karatu: photo Martin GoodeyAyres's Hawk-Eagle (Aquila ayresii) is essentially a forest bird and, although widespread on the continent of Africa, is "inexplicably scarce and local", and thus can be one of those toughest of birds to see. It is hard to guarantee that any visiting birder 'will get to grips with' this most lovely raptor, even on a three week safari into the wildlife treasure trove of northern Tanzania.

Short-toed Eagle: Photo Tommy Ek

Just back from a very intense nine days birding. Ploughing tracks between the red mud of Mkomazi, the damp Cisticolas of Nanja black cotton, and the dapper undescribed-drongos of a dripping forest-edge in the West Usambaa - a total of 363 bird species recorded.

On Friday morning December 15; after we managed great views of the ‘kuni’ pair of the now near-invisible Beesley’s Larks; they are only to be found these Indian Ocean dipole days by following-up on their shorebird-like “kreek-kreek-kreek” through the knee-high waving grasses; at ten forty a typical adult Short-toed Eagle (very probably a male) came-in low southward from Kenya (and heaven knows where else), swirling round, hovering twice, clearly hunting en route, over the driest area remaining – the acacia commiphora grazed mosaic along the northern fringe of the Angyata Osugat and over the Sinya track.

Typical is - one with a complete soft brownish grey ‘shawl’ and grey-streaked white lower throat, grey-brown covert bar contrasting with darker brown flight feathers of the upper wing, with blackish stippled lines on the underwing coverts and well barred flight feathers, and a white breast very lightly marked with crisp dark brown crescent rows, the belly and undertail coverts appeared an almost immaculate white.

My client - the illustrious ‘Greater Baltic’ conservationist Tommy Ek - managed to fire-off three pretty good, yet distant, pictures of the bird’s underside as it began drifting away toward West Kilimanjaro-Ngare Nanyuki; and then I dropped to kiss the warm yellow earth in euphoric prostration.

Tuesday November 21 really was a Red Data Day.

Returning to Osugat, after an ankle injury enforced my absence for eleven days, Dismus and I discovered many changes out on the desert plain. In eastern Africa we are in the midst of what a climatologist might call - an exceptionally productive "short rains event". On the arena, behind the walls of Meru, occasional showers averaging perhaps a few drops more than one, and on every other day, have thrown a green veil across the ochre yellow soils and tempted the desert steppe into partial bloom. Presumably after loitering in the Horn lands, at long last Palearctic bird migrants are arriving, many local passerines are nesting and some butterfly populations are being bountiful, dispersing downwind and westward in search of habitat new.

Photo:Anabel Harries Dusky Flycatcher:

Muscicapa adusta

Rather plump and short-tailed; some races are greyer above; the breast is smudgy contrasting with the pale throat.

M. adusta has marked intrapopulation (i.e. within the races) and clinal variability (i.e. across the range).

Three species of confusingly similar large greyish - olive coloured warblers are now beginning to arrive in Tanzania at this time of year. Some individuals will continue southwards to Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique and even South Africa whilst many will remain in Tanzania for the duration of the boreal winter.

Until recently these three were placed in the genus Hippolais but in the last year, as a result of recent DNA-DNA hybridization research, they have been moved into the genus Acrocephalus.

During the morning of August 12 2006 Anabel Harries and JW counted no less than 10 Maccoa Ducks at the Eluanata-Nanja wetland.

All but one appeared to be either female or immature, as no really obvious males were present, at least within my 42X scope range from the southern shoreline.

NB: I checked carefully for differences about the head and bill: i.e. shape, pattern, tone and colouration. Only one bird stood out as different and that was at the very beginning and (he?) disappeared almost immediately.

The first shorebirds were ‘coming back from the northlands’

Carefully nonchalant sms msg from JW, Anabel Harries & Frank Christopher on ‘Lark Plains’ - Wednesday morning, March 8, 2006. “Fox Kestrel catching giant dung beetles in flight, magic!”

And those immediately subsequent cell phone exchanges regarding the risk of causing you cardio-vascular irregularity – herewith please find Annabel’s excellent hand-held record shots of the bird and a brief tale of a russet tail.