Tanzania days 3 & 4 - Tarangire National Park

On November 7th we drove from Arusha to the wonderful Tarangire NP. Already at the entrance gate area we were overwhelmed by the abundance, diversity and quality of birds. The two tiny water pools attracted so many birds coming in to drink. The endemic Yellow-collared Lovebird is very beautiful - it was a pleasure to observe them from so close:

The drinking pools attracted many finches and other seedeaters - mainly both Cordon-Bleu species - Red-cheeked and Blue-capped, here with a female Cut-throat:

Here with a Red-billed Firefinch

With female Pin-tailed Whydahs (PTW), Speke's Weaver and Northern Gray-headed Sparrow (NGS)

From L to R: PTW, NGS, Chestnut Sparrow and Cut-throat

When the mighty White-bellied Go-away-bird comes in, all the other birds bugger off!

The woodland at the park gate was busy with birds too. Noisy, endemic Ashy Starlings were everywhere:

A lovely Pearl-spotted Owlet was hooting in the trees

Several stunning Black-headed Orioles were singing

We drove into the national park birding along the way. There are so many elephants in Tarangire! Over our two-night stay in the national park we must have seen in excess of 800 different individuals. Mindblowing. 60 here, another 40 there, more and more parades. We drove up to a small waterhole by Public Campsite No. 1. Hundreds of animals came in for a drink, bath and play.

From our perspective, all the large animals were dwarfed by one small bird on the floating vegetation - a rare rufous-bellied heron was wrestling with a large frog. Excellent bird.

The classic landscape of Tarangire consists of open acacia savanna, dotted with enormous and impressive baobab trees. Those trees are a dominant feature in Tarangire's skyline. Baobas are huge, each one a mini-ecosystem. Under them, on top of them, around them, there's so much life.

So many animals depend on Tarangire River during the dry season

Our first Cheetah was (self!) spotted at a distance drinking from the river, then it sat down in the shade. Amazing animal.

Lots of super birds too - we saw over 130 bird species each day.

Black-faced Sandgrouse

Coqui Francolin

African Hoopoe

Green Woodhoopoes

East African classic - Lilac-breasted Roller

Red-bellied Parrot

Red-and-yellow Barbet

D'Arnaud's Barbet

Red-throated Tit

A highlight of our visit to Tarangire was the magnificent Silale Wetland. After a prolific rainy season, the huge wetland still held plenty of water, and attracted enormous numbers of Elephants, as well as other mammals and of course many birds. 

We met there Lions, doing what lions usually do - sleep. Here they are sleeping next to the rear half of a Wildebeest.

Another lion, actually awake, resting by the wetland

Big numbers of White-faced Whistling-Ducks present

With fewer Fulvous among them

And a few Knob-billed Ducks too

Plenty of Long-toed Lapwings

Another East African classic - Gray-headed Kingfisher

The picnic site there was beautifully-positioned and as always attracted lots of birds.

A little water spilled on the table brought in this D'Arnaud's Barbet

Another special section of Tarangire is Little Serengeti. This area of grasslands was appropriately full of grassland birds, including many bustards:

Black-bellied Bustard

Buff-crested Bustard

White-bellied Bustard being magnificent

Double-banded Coursers are lovely birds

Pangani Longclaw - another East African specialty

Yellow-throated Sandgrouse

We stayed at Tarangire Safari Lodge, that held lots of cool birds:

Mountain Gray Woodpecker

The resident African Scops Owl

Eye-burning Scarlet-chested Sunbird

Yellow-bellied Greenbul

Tanzania days 1&2 - Lark Plains and Arusha NP

It took me while to process all the hundreds of images I took during the recent Rockjumper Birding tour I led in Tanzania. Eventually I caught up with the backlog. In the next few days I will post here about the fantastic trip.

In the first two days of the tour we did day-trips out of Arusha. The first day was spent in the semi-arid zone north of Arusha, in the rain-shadow of Mt. Meru, near the town of Oldonyo-Sambu. The first drive out of Arusha was very exciting - all birds were new to my clients. We did stop for many roadside birds, including quality birds like Abyssinian Wheatear and White-fronted Bee-eater.

We arrived in good time to the Lark Plains, where we were greeted by our local hosts, the Maasai caretakers of the Critically Endangered Beesley's Lark.

The landscape is unique, kept clear of shrubs thanks to the Maasai herds grazing there:

Quickly we connected with our target bird - the Beesley's Lark. With a global population estimated at 60 birds, it was a real privilege to spend quality time with nine (!) individuals. They showed very well,  down to few meters - shame that the light was very harsh. It was fascinating to watch the larks associating with the herd and the herders.

Other cool birds seen on the plains were Somali Short-toed Lark, Temminck's Coursers, and Red-fronted Prinia. It was especially sweet to find this nest of a Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse - we left it in peace very quickly.

We continued to bird that area, and checked the nearby Engikaret Woodland, where we also had our picnic lunch. Quality birds in that area included Scaly Chatterer, Somali Bunting, African Bare-eyed Thrush, Fischer's Starlings and many more.

Fischer's Starling

Somali Bunting

In the afternoon we went for a stroll outside our accommodation, towards Arusha Gulley. The scenery was stunning and we enjoyed nice views of Brown-chested Barbet and Peter's Twinspot.

Peters's Twinspot

Brown-chested Barbet - who on earth named this red-headed bird 'brown-chested'?!?

What a wonderful first day! The second day was spent in Arusha NP - it was equally thrilling! Of course, we couldn't drive into the national park without stopping en route. One main target was the endemic Taveta Golden-Weaver, which we saw very well at Kiboko Lodge. Other cool birds we saw before entering the NP were Mountain Wagtail, Lesser Moorhen and African Green Pigeon.

Taveta Golden-Weaver

Arusha NP was incredible. It was our first taste of safari birding, with large herds of mammals and lots of birds. We had Palm-nut Vultures, African Cuckoo and African Stonechat as we birded our way up the slope of Mt. Meru. 

The high-elevation forest gods were kind to us - quality birds kept coming. The list of species seen around the famous Fig Arch included Hartlaub's Turacos, Bar-tailed Trogons, White-eared Barbet, Kilimanjaro White-eye, White-starred Robin, Black-headed Mountain and Stripe-cheeked Greenbuls - simply wow.

Hartlaub's Turaco

Bar-tailed Trogon

Black-headed Mountain Greenbul

The closest we got to see the cloud-covered Kilimanjaro was Kilimanjaro White-eye (endemic)

Mantled Guereza

Picnic lunch at Fig Arch

Before leaving the national park we checked Momela Lakes that were full of waterbirds - many flamingos, ducks, shorebirds etc. 

Greater and Lesser Flamingos (and Plain Martins, Black-winged Stilt, Little Grebe and Cape Teal)

Southern Pochards and Cape Teals