Category: Trip Report

Even if one has very little time when visiting Windhoek, there is an option of a quick guided birding trip around the city. This morning I did a two hour birding walk with a client from the UK. Due to time constraints we decided to bird close to Windhoek and we had a very productive couple of hours. We had fantastic views of no fewer than 4 Rockrunner!! We were lucky with raptors and found Common Buzzard, Black-winged Kite, Rock Kestrel and Gabar Goshawk. Monteiro’s Hornbill is always a highlight being a near endemic.

With lots of flying insects we had lots of swifts and swallows with Greater Striped Swallow, Rock Martin, Little and White-rumped and African Palm Swift. In the grassy areas we found Zitting Cisticola, Southern Red Bishop, Lesser Grey Shrike, Red-backed Shrike, Black-chested Prinia, Helmeted Guineafowl, Red-billed Spurfowl and Scaly-feathered Weaver.

Other interesting scrub, rocky and woodland birds include Brubru, Crimson-breasted Shrike, Mountain Wheatear, Cape Bunting, Rattling Cisticola, Blue, Violet-eared and Black-cheeked Waxbill, Swallow-tailed and European Bee-eater, Diderick Cuckoo, Cardinal Woodpecker, Long-billed Crombec, Rosy-faced Lovebird, Green-winged Pytilia, Marico Flycatcher, Brown-crowned Tchagra, Scarlet-chested Sunbird, Acacia Pied Barbet, Cape Wagtail, Long-tailed Paradise Whydah, Common Scimitarbill, Barred Wren-Warbler, Southern Grey-headed Sparrow, White-backed Mousebird, Chestnut-vented Warbler, Black-throated Canary, Pririt Batis and Yellow-belled Eremomela.

We even managed to see a few mammals: Yellow Mongoose, Rock Hyrax and Dassie Rat. Very productive for a two hour walk and perfect for birders visiting Windhoek with limited time and can be combined with a full day or overnight trip to include more of the endemics.

Malawi (formerly known as Nyasaland)  is a landlocked country in southeast Africa . Lake Malawi is the ninth largest lake in the world and takes up around a third of Malawi’s area.

Visiting Malawi has exceeded all our expectations and more. The breathtaking scenery, friendly people and incredible birding makes this one of the top African destinations for any avid birding enthusiast.

Birding in Malawi is mostly centered around protected areas as there are little natural vegetation outside the national parks and protected pockets of forests. Malawi boasts a bird list of around 650 species, of which our trip ticked 326 off the list. On our short trip the main focus was the two big National Parks of Malawi (Liwonde and Nyika) as well as the Miombo Woodlands at Dzalanyama, the Viphya Plateau and the Zomba Plateau.

Starting off in Blantyre, we headed to the Zomba Plateau.  Excitement all around as we spotted our first birds; Grey-olive Greenbul , Southern Citril and an Olive-headed Greenbul. A troop of Yellow Baboon entertained us while we searched the trees for the Grey-olive Greenbul calling out loud.

Making our way to our overnight accommodation, we were treated to a beautiful sighting of red-throated twinspots, next to the road. Our early morning walk in the garden, delivered some Forest Double-collared Sunbirds as well as Samango monkeys, playing in the trees above us.

Exploring the Zomba Plateau further, we encountered  Red-rumped Swallow, Augur Buzzard, Evergreen Forest Warbler, the endemic  Yellow-throated Apalis, Malawi Batis, Little Greenbul, Placid Greenbul, Black-headed Apalis and the beautiful White-winged Apalis.

After enjoying our packed lunch we travelled to Liwonde National Park. The low-lying park stretches along the Shire River and offers excellent riverine and woodland birding. Arriving at Liwonde, our local guide was waiting for us with a big smile and lots of enthusiasm. As we alighted from the car, we only had to walk a few meters to spot our first bird in Liwonde NP – a breathtaking sighting of a Pel’s Fishing Owl flying across the Shire River. A beautiful Bohm’s Bee-eater rounded off our short walk before we started our river cruise on the Shire River. Another highlight was the Spur-winged Lapwings and trees full of Pied Kingfishers and Black-crowned Night Herons. A MGT (Malawi Gin&Tonic), lots of hippos, crocodiles and around 25 African Skimmers flying past the boat ended off another wonderful day of birding in Malawi.

During our two night stay in Liwonde, we were treated to  wonderful sightings of the localised Brown-breasted Barbet , Livingstone’s Flycatcher, Lilian’s Lovebird, White-backed Night-Heron, Speckle-throated Woodpecker, Racket tailed Roller, Dickinson’s Kestrel, Collared Palm-Thrush and Arnot’s Chat.

The late afternoon boat cruise treated us to a spectacular sighting of around 150 African Skimmers, roosting on a sandbank next to the Shire River. Other highlights included: Eurasian Hobby, Great White Pelican, Goliath Heron and Saddle-billed Stork. Early the next morning, before we made our way to the next destination, we stopped at Lake Malombe where we spotted several waders as well as flocks of Gull-billed Terns. A small group of elephants entertained us on our way back to the lodge.

Our next two night stay was in Dzalanyama Forest Reserve, which one of the prime miombo birding areas in Malawi. Whilst searching for the famous miombo “bird-parties” we were very lucky to see Stierling’s Woodpecker, Reichard’s Seedeater, White-tailed Blue Flycatcher, and in the late afternoon light, an Anchieta’s Sunbird. A Side-striped Jackal and Small-eared dormouse topped off the day’s mammal list.

An early morning start walking through the miombo woodland treated us to sightings of Yellow-bellied and Southern Hyliotas, Rufous-bellied Tit, Red-capped Crombec, Boulder Chat, Western Violet-backed Sunbird, Spotted Creeper, White-breasted Cuckooshrike and African Golden Oriole.  During our afternoon walk we managed to find Bohm’s Flycather, Souza’s Shrike and Schalow’s Turaco.

Our next stop was the Viphya Plateau, where we were had great sightings of Chapin’s Apalis, White-eyed Slaty Flycatcher, Southern Mountain Greenbul, Eurasian Blackcap, the aptly-named White-headed Saw-wing, Trilling Cisticola and an Elephant Shrew.

Our next stop was Nyika National Park, one of the most beautiful parks in the southern half of Africa. The park extends into Zambia and offers grassland and forest birding of note, most of it at an altitude of more than 2000m above sea level. The stunning rolling hills are dotted with herds of Eland, Roan Antelope, Reedbuck and Crawshay’s Zebra. Shortly after entering the park we had incredible views of Ludwig’s Double-collared Sunbird, Yellow-crowned Canary, Mountain Yellow Warbler, Brown Parisoma, Cinnamon Bracken Warbler, Churring Cisticola and Yellow-browed Seedeater.  One of the many highlights of the day was a spectacular display of five Black-lored Cisticolas singing in a bush right next to our vehicle.

We decided to make the best of our time at Nyika and spent two full days exploring and searching for the special birds of the park. Highlights included: Dusky Turtle Dove, Montane Widowbird, Pallid Harrier, Waller’s Starling, Angola Swallow, Sharpe’s Greenbul, Bar-tailed Trogon, White-chested Alethe, Baglafecht Weaver, Moustached Tinkerbird, Slender billed Starling and Scarlet-tufted Sunbird. We had incredible sightings of two Fulleborn’s Boubou calling and interacting as well as Hildebrandt’s Francolin posing for some good photos.

We had an incredible time in Malawi, it is a country of friendly people, spectacular natural beauty and incredibly diverse birdlife. A must for the birding bucket list.

Our 2017 Spain Birding trip started in Madrid, Spain’s capital city. After meeting the clients in the central part of this beautiful city we made our way to Extremadura where we spent the next 3 days.

We decided to take a detour and bird a mountain pass and our first roadside stop produced Great Tit, Blackcap, Western Bonelli’s Warbler, Common Whitethroat, Melodious Warbler, Skylark, Eurasian Hoopoe, Yellow Wagtail and Iberian Grey Shrike.
A picnic lunch stop at a small river produced breeding Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and Eurasian Nuthatch with both Common Cuckoo and Eurasian Golden Oriole. Further along the pass we found Dunnock, Dartford and Subalpine Warbler and Ortolan Bunting.Our lodge was located just outside the spectacular Monfragüe National Park.
The next day we birded the plains around Trujillo and before long we had seen both targets – Great and Little Bustard. This gave us time to look for other grassland specials and we added Pin-tailed and Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Montagu’s and Western Marsh Harrier while Iberian Magpie and Calandra Lark was frequently seen. Common species like European Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Linnet and European Serin was also added. We enjoyed lunch in the famous town of Trujillo where we enjoyed sightings of Lesser Kestrel and Pallid Swift.

Our second full day in Extremadura was spend in Monfragüe National Park. This park is a raptor paradise and we saw Black, Egyptian and Griffon Vulture, Red and Black Kite, Golden Eagle, Black Stork and the highlight a Spanish Imperial Eagle. This Imperial Eagle sighting was particularly rewarding as we had to work hard for this special bird. Other interesting birds that was seen in the park include Blue Rock Thrush, Short-toed Treecreeper, Mistle Thrush, Rock Bunting, Little Owl, Red-rumped Swallow, Eurasian Wren and Great Spotted Woodpecker.

From here we made our way to The Ebro Valley and the plains of Aragon where the main target was Dupont’s Lark. This sought-after special can only be found in a few known spots in Spain and we all had great views on our first early morning visit. This is a hotspot for larks and we also saw Greater and Lesser Short-toed, Calandra and Thekla Lark while Spectacled Warbler and Pin-tailed Sandgrouse was seen as well. We saw our first Red-billed Choughs and a walk along the Ebro River produced European Penduline Tit, Common Cuckoo, Blackcap, Common Kingfisher, Sand Martin, Great and Eurasian Blue Tits, Chaffinch and Linnet. One particular walk in a gorge was one of the highlights of the trip with wonderful views of Subalpine, Sardinian and Western Orphean Warblers, Blue Rock Thrush, Black-eared and Black Wheatear, European Greenfinch, Rock Bunting and a pair of perched Egyptian Vultures.

The coffee in Spain is some of the best I have enjoyed on any birding trip but on a Sunday afternoon during siesta time the only coffee we could find was a small self-service machine (should have been our first clue) at a service station (keep in mind that this is a very rural part of Spain) and this will go down as the worst tasting coffee ever and became a standing joke for the rest of the trip. It was in the valley where we saw our only Northern Goshawk of the trip while several European Turtle Doves were found amongst the hundreds of Collared Doves and Wood Pigeons. A couple of European Hobbies made an appearance.

From here we made our way to the Pyrenees, my favourite birding spot in Spain and we were treated to a couple of days of wonderful weather, spectacular scenery and fantastic birding. The first morning we picked up Yellowhammer, Cirl Bunting and European Bullfinch as we ascended up to the French border where our main targets was the alpine specials. Water Pipit, Ring Ouzel, Alpine accentor, Alpine Chough, Pine Grosbeak were seen pretty quickly and we enjoyed sightings of Chamois, Red Squirrel and Alpine Marmot.

We decided to descend into France to a well-known site for Black Woodpecker and barely 2 minutes into our post picnic lunch walk we saw the unmistakeable shape of a Black Woodpecker flying over. We added 42 species during the couple of hours we were in France and still had time for a quick stop at a coffee bar in a small French village. One of the main targets of the Pyrenees is the Lammergeier and we enjoyed 2 different sightings of this magnificent bird including an eye-level fly-by. We made a concerted effort to find White-backed Woodpecker which is rare in the Pyrenees and we were fortunate to see two birds. European Honey-Buzzard, Goldcrest, Firecrest, Iberian Green Woodpecker, Great-spotted Woodpecker, Marsh, Coal, Long-tailed, Great and Blue Tits were seen while White-throated Dipper is always a highlight and worth stopping at any fast flowing mountain stream. This is also perfect habitat for Grey and White Wagtail and ended up with many sightings. We decided to do a short drive after dinner to look for nocturnal species and were not disappointed as we got Tawny Owl, Red Fox, Pine Martin, Roe Deer and European Badger.

Our last stop was the Ebro Delta and a stop at an inland wetland en route produced Bearded Reedling, Reed Bunting, Water Rail and Little Bittern. Another highlight was seeing a pair of Bonelli’s Eagles soaring above. The Ebro Delta was as always very productive and we enjoyed great views of Mediterranean, Audouin’s, Slender-billed, Lesser Black-backed, Black-headed and Yellow-legged Gulls, Little, Common, Sandwich, Gull-billed and breeding Whiskered Terns. Purple and Grey Heron, Glossy Ibis, Common Moorhen and Purple Swamphen was often seen and although Spain is not the best spot in Europe for waders we still saw Bar-tailed and Black-tailed Godwit, Eurasian Curlew, Eurasian Oystercatcher, Ruddy Turnstone, Dunlin, Sanderling, Kentish Plover, Grey, Little Ringed and Coming Ringed Plover and Common Redshank. Mallard, Gadwall, Common Shelduck, Red-crested Pochard, Little and Great Crested Grebe, European, Great Reed, Savi’s, Ceti’s Warblers and Greater Flamingo were seen as well. We stopped at a well-known spot for passing migrants and got Spotted Flycatcher, Isabilline Warbler, Common Redstart and Willow Warbler.

It was another thoroughly enjoyable birding trip with a great group and we ended up with over 200 species which is great for Spain including most of the key targets. Already looking forward to next year’s trip.

Our trip starting in Harare, which in itself is an excellent birding destination. We only had one afternoon of birding in Marlborough and Monavale Vleis and in a couple of hours we saw Black Coucal, Cuckoo Finch, Orange-breasted Waxbill, Common Waxbill, Little Rush Warbler, Pale-crowned Cisticola, Bronze Mannikin, Pin-tailed Whydah, Yellow-mantled Widowbird, Red-collared Widowbird, Yellow Bishop, Southern Red Bishop, Red-billed Quelea, Zitting Cisticola, Common Fiscal and Black-shouldered Kite. We were a couple of weeks too late and it wasn’t a big birding priority on this specific trip but when the vleis are very wet is an excellent place for Streaky-breasted Flufftail, Corn, Spotted, Striped and African Crakes as well as exciting wetland associated rarities. Variable, White-bellied, Miombo Double-collared and Scarlet-chested Sunbirds were seen in the garden as we made our final preparation for the main part of the trip starting the next morning.

We were up early the next morning and made our way eastwards towards the eastern Highlands but first we stopped at Gosho Park near Marondera about an hour’s drive from the city. Gosho Park consists of beautiful Miombo Woodland with granite outcrops and it is an excellent spot to pick up most of the Miombo specials. During the 2 hours we birded here we managed to see Spotted Creeper, Boulder Chat, Miombo Tit, Green-capped Eremomela, Red-faced Crombec, Miombo Rock-thrush, Black-eared Seedeater, Whyte’s Barbet, Kurrichane Thrush, White-breasted and Black Cuckoo-shrike, Chinspot Batis, Southern Hyliota, Wood Pipit, African Grey Hornbill, Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird, African Golden Oriole, African Yellow White-eye, Grey-headed Bush-shrike and a personal highlight was a beautiful Black Sparrow-hawk.

From here we made our way to the Nyanga area for one night where the main target was the endangered Blue Swallow. We ended up seeing at least 8 Blue Swallows split between 2 different locations. Other interesting birds we say in the area include White-necked Raven, Cape Grassbird, Bronzy Sunbird, Eastern Saw-wing, Singing Cisticola, Robert’s Warbler, Long-crested Eagle, African Black Duck, Cape Robin-chat and Whyte’s Barbet. On the way to Aberfoyle we took a scenic detour to Mutarazi Waterfall (2nd highest in Africa) produced Scarce Swift, Mottled Swift, Stripe-cheeked Greenbul, Lemon Dove, Livingstone’s Turaco and the swynnertoni race of the Red-necked Spurfowl. A Bat Hawk was seen in the last light that afternoon.

From here we spend a couple of nights at Aberfoyle Lodge in the Honde Valley and were treated to some fantastic birding. A few hours at Wamba Marsh and surrounding forest produced Anchieta’s Tchagra, Red-breasted Flufftail, Magpie Mannikin, Dark-capped Yellow Warbler, Burchell’s Coucal, Green-backed Woodpecker, Blue-spotted Wood-dove, Pallid Honeyguide, Black-throated Wattle-eye, Dark-backed Weaver, Dusky Flycatcher, Scaly-throated Honeyguide, Red-throated Twinspot and Grey Waxbill. We did spend quite a bit of time in the Gleneagles Reserve above the lodge which produced Chirinda Apalis, Red-faced Crimsonwing, Barrat’s Warbler, Square-tailed Drongo, White-starred Robin, Pale Batis, Tropical Boubou, Tambourine Dove, Crowned Hornbill, African Golden Oriole, Black-fronted Bush-shrike, Terrestrial Brownbul, Stripe-cheeked Greenbul, Yellow-breasted Apalis and a possible Eleonora’s Falcon was too high for a positive id.

The next morning we spend a few hours birding at the Katiyo Tea Estate on the Mozambique border which produced Moustached Grass-warbler, Short-winged Cisticola, Blue-spotted Wood-dove, Grey Waxbill, Black-winged Red Bishop, Red-winged Warbler, Red-faced Cisticola, Lizzard Buzzard, Amur Falcon, Wahlberg’s Eagle, Steppe Eagle and Black-collared Barbet. From here we made our way to Seldomseen in the Vumba Highlands which would be our last stop. We did see Cinnamon-breasted tit in a patch of Miombo Woodland and Zambezi Indigobird in the valley.

The main targets at Seldomseen was Swynnerton’s Robin and the other forest specials. We were not disappointed and had brilliant sightings of Swynnerton’s Robin, White-starred Robin, Silvery-cheeked Hornbill, Buff-spotted Flufftail, Olive Thrush, Orange Ground-thrush, Yellow-throated Woodland Warbler, African Olive Pigeon, Tambourine Dove, Lemon Dove, Livingstone’s Turaco, Cape Batis, Chirinda Apalis, Bar-throated Apalis, African Yellow White-eye, Olive Sunbird, Red-faced Crimsonwing, Bronzy Sunbird, Cape Canary, Brimstone Canary, Magpie and Red-backed Mannikin. Augur Buzzards and Long-crested Eagle’s was regularly seen flying overhead African Wood Owl was heard every night.