Tanzania days 7 - 9 - Serengeti

How can one summarize four days in one of the world's greatest wildlife reserves in one short blogpost? big challenge but I will try. Our next destination during the recent Rockjumper tour I led was the world-famous Serengeti National Park. We arrived in the afternoon of November 10th, spent two full days in the park (November 11th and 12th) and drove out on November 13th. We stayed at Kontiki Tented Camp, located west of central Serengeti. It was wonderful to stay there, and its position also provided easy access to the western corridor of Serengeti. 

I will start with mammals. Heavy rains in the southwest of Serengeti resulted in fresh grass developing there. This brought in large numbers of mammals, and it was fascinating and thrilling to watch those mobile parades of thousands on Wildebeest and Zebra, feasting on the green grass. 

Happy Elephants

And Giraffes

Plenty of Hippos in the Hippo pools

Some served as Black Crake habitat

For most 'normal' tourists visiting the Serengeti, Big Cats are the main target. Despite our focus on birds, we did quite well in that area too. On our second full day, in the central zone of Seronera, we encountered three (!) Leopards, resting in trees. They are such beautiful animals.

Spot the plane in the background, coming in to land on the airstrip

When we watched this Leopard resting up in a tree, a naïve Giraffe approached the tree, unaware of the predator ambushing above its head. We could see the Leopard contemplating what to do with the stupid Giraffe: To jump or not? Eventually it chose not to go for it, perhaps because it was a very large Giraffe, oversized for a Leopard I guess.

Lions were plentiful, normally seen sleeping. 

The Lion King

Sorry for the graphic images. It was a breathtaking encounter, to watch this lioness with four cubs feeding on a fresh Zebra kill.

When we found this Lioness it was obvious she was meaning business. Check the look in her eyes - she was going for a kill. A large herd of Wildebeest and Zebra had just crossed a nearby stream, in a very tight formation. 

She brushed against our jeep - close enough to stroke her. Check her focused look. From so close all her scars, cuts and parasites were evident. Maybe because she was solitary her attack didn't succeed, but it was very exciting to watch, too quick to photograph.

This Spotted Hyena deserves a cuddle doesn't it?

Haartebeest - one of the less familiar antelopes

On the way out of the park we bumped into this African Wolf - a very cool mammal

Many mammals carried passengers - Red-billed Oxpeckers:

Yellow-billed Oxpecker on this Buffalo

Sometimes it was challenging to decide what to look at, birds or mammals. We birded hard, and saw so many great birds. Naabi Hill Gate hosted a battle of giants, two groups of Black-Lored Babblers clashed and it was stunning to watch:

We had there our first Hildebrandt's Starlings as well

Plenty of the iconic (and threatened) Kori Bustards inside the park

Secretarybird is another iconic bird, albeit bizarre

So is Lappet-faced Vulture - prettier from a distance

Early morning sunning for this Ruppell's Vulture, after a cold, wet night

Bateleur - never boring

Hartlaub's Bustard

Gray-breasted Spurfowl - endemic

Check that eye of the Greater Kestrel

Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse after drinking - so beautiful (Black-headed Heron in the background). Check the primary moult in the male

Gray-backed Fiscals

Isabelline Shrike - one of many Palearctic migrants we saw

Usambiro (D'Arnaud's) Barbet

Fischer's Lovebirds were present in good numbers but not easy to photograph

We found the woodland near Kontiki very productive. Right by the camp we found, among the many birds, two very good species - Brown-backed Honeybird, looking and behaving very flycatcher-like:

And Miombo Wren-Warbler

Striped Kingfisher

Gray-crested Helmetshrikes - such charismatic and noisy birds

Pearl-spotted Owlet

A trip out to the western corridor on our first morning was highly successful. We found Black-headed Gonolek at a few spots. Super birds. This pair performed very well but for some reason my camera didn't. Sorry.

One of our main targets was Maasai Apalis, recently split from Karamoja Apalis, endemic to Serengeti/Maasai Mara system, found only in this unique thorny acacia habitat.

It took us some searching but eventually we found a trio of this globally threatened beauty. What a privilege to spend time with these rare birds. 

They performed very well

They even sang to us!

Out in the west we found another good bird - Levant Sparrowhawk. In recent years it has been discovered to be a rare but fairly regular migrant and winter visitor to the Serengeti. This information doesn't appear in the Birds of East Africa book yet - according to my friend Itai Shanni this information will appear in the next edition.

Next destination - Ngorongoro!

Tanzania days 5 & 6 - The Passage to Serengeti

On the fifth day of our Rockjumper tour to Tanzania (November 9th), we left Tarangire NP and started making our way west. We spent a few hours in Manyara NP, and stayed one night in Karatu. Next day we drove along the Ngorongoro crater rim, and visited Olduvai Gorge before reaching Serengeti NP. We visited such amazing places and saw so much, that only this transit is worthy of a blogpost.

Driving out of Tarangire wasn't easy because there were still so many birds to see, but we had a longish trip ahead of us and had to keep pushing on. Still, several stops before we left the national park produced some cool birds.

Lesser Honeyguide

Brubru

After saying goodbye and thank you to Tarangire, we continued towards Lake Manyara NP. It's a beautiful and scenic route and we enjoyed the beautiful landscape. We stopped at Esilalei, a Maasai village where we did the 'Maasai Experience'. Even for a hardcore birder like me it was a fascinating and enriching visit, and our Maasai hosts were very hospitable and friendly.

Of course, my attention was constantly drawn to the birds inside the Maasai village, that included a surprising Little Sparrowhawk, Kenya Sparrow and Rufous-tailed Weaver. Nearby there was a pair of Rosy-patched Bushshrikes.

Little Sparrowhawk

Kenya Sparrow

Rufous-tailed Weaver

Poor photo of a great bird - Rosy-patched Bushshrike

When we reached Manyara it was already pretty hot. The water level of the lake was very high, and there weren't too many birds on the lake itself. However, the forest did produce the goods, with African Pygmy Kingfisher, both Crowned and Silvery-cheeked Hornbills, and good views of Hildebrandt's Francolin among the many birds we saw there.

African Pygmy Kingfisher

Crowned Hornbill

Silvery-cheeked Hornbill

Hildebrandt's Francolin showing interest in elephant poo

Blue Monkey - nice views of this scarce monkey

We stayed overnight in the excellent Bougainvilla Lodge in Karatu, where hybrid Yellow-collared X Fishcer's Lovebirds were plentiful.

On our sixth day of the tour (November 10th) we left Karatu early and entered the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. We had an excellent time driving along the Ngorongoro crater rim, but I will leave this section to a dedicated blogpost about Ngorongoro, that I will post in a few days. Driving down from the crater rim, we chanced upon a Rufous-breasted Sparrowhawk sitting by the road:

Before reaching Serengeti we stopped at Olduvai Gorge. we couldn't resist the birds in the scrub and woodland there before entering the museum itself - it was fantastic there, with our first Purple Roller of the trip, Rufous Chatterer, Red-fronted Tinkerbird, Spotted Thick-Knee and lots more.

Purple Roller

Purple Grenadier - I advocate that the female plumage is even more beautiful than the male

Red-fronted Tinkerbirduo

Rufous Chatterers

Spotted Morning-Thrush

Spotted Thick-knee

White-browed Scrub-Robin

The museum - recommended

Olduvai Gorge

Before leaving Ngorongoro Conservation Area and entering Serengeti Conservation Area we checked some desert tracks off the main road that produced Temminck's Courser among many other desert birds.

Next up - Serengeti! Stay tuned.