SUMMER BIRDING TRIP: Day Three: Victoria Falls

The day started early as we had to get prepared for a drive to the nearby falls. Before eating breakfast, I went down to the terrace to look at birds. A wide variety of species were visible, most of them lifers.  Dark-capped bulbuls, Northern grey-headed sparrows, laughing doves, helmeted guineafowl, village weavers and go-away birds were extremely common around the lodge. Less common were African grey hornbills, Southern red-billed hornbills, red-headed weavers, Southern black tits and yellow-bellied greenbuls, which appeared from the shrubs every so often before flying off. Around the waterhole directly in front of the terrace was a group of play-fighting impala and a family of warthog, along with several distant helmeted guineafowl, Egyptian geese, Swainson's spurfowl, grey herons, little egrets and great egrets.

The go-away bird's call sounds somewhat like the words 'go away'.

The spotted, yellow back of this village weaver male distinguishes it from other weavers

The Victoria Falls area is the Northern grey sparrow's stronghold in Southern Africa

The African grey hornbill was one of 4 hornbill species we were to see on the trip

Southern red-billed hornbills protect their young by imprisoning them in their nest

The sundevalli subspecies of warthog is present in Zimbabwe and Botswana

Dark-capped bulbuls seemed to be the area's most common bird

The red-headed weaver is quite common in the woodland along the Zambezi

White-browed sparrow-weaver nests dotted the trees on the road towards the lodge

After a hearty breakfast, we were driven to Victoria Falls. We walked around the falls and viewed their beauty from several points. We were entirely soaked by spray while doing this, to the point where we should probably have brought bathers. Thankfully, we were given ponchos to protect both ourselves and our cameras. The magnificence of the falls far made up for this small inconvenience. On the birding side, arriving in the early morning allowed us to see several white-browed robin chats in the undergrowth, a small flock of Hadeda ibis flying overhead, a hiding black-collared barbet and many red-winged starlings. Though others briefly saw a terrestrial brownbul, I was not able to get a look at it. As for mammals, we saw several rather tame bushbuck. The early morning arrival also allowed us to avoid most of the crowds.

The view from Danger Point, the viewpoint closest to the Zimbabwe border

This area of the falls is known as Devil's Cataract. The land to the right is Cataract Island.

The spray from this section of the falls rained down on us as we walked through the forest.

You can tell this bushbuck is female as it lacks the male's horns

A red-winged starling poses in front of the cliffs of the falls

Upon arrival back at the lodge, we relaxed for a while before making our way to a hide. Here we were to view the lodge's vulture restaurant: at 1 pm, every day, meat is left out for the local population of vultures to feed on. Almost immediately we could see hundreds of vultures filling the sky above the lodge. Several white-backed and hooded vultures had perched in the trees surrounding the restaurant, waiting hungrily. There were even some yellow-billed kites patiently flying around the restaurant, ready for their chance to try and scavenge whatever the vultures left over. Pieces of impala were laid out on the ground, and immediately hundreds of vultures leapt onto the corpse and started to tear at it.

Hundreds of white-backed and hooded vultures were circling above the restaurant

These two white-backed and hooded vultures sat in a tree just left of the restaurant

As our guide put the corpse down, hundreds of white-backed vultures circled him

There was immediately a throng of white-backed vultures tearing at the kill

The weaker white-backed and hooded vultures were forced to eat the leftovers

We were told that later in the night spotted hyenas would visit the corpse for any leftover bones, but we were too tired to stay up that long and didn't get to see them.
Our next activity was a cruise down the Zambezi River. We left at around 3.30 and boarded the boat. It was less productive than I thought it'd be, but we still saw a good deal of birds. We got good views of a young Nile crocodile and some hippos, along with some bushbuck and distant vervet monkeys on a nearby island. Bird-wise the best sighting was a goliath heron that I didn't get any particularly good photos of. Hammerkop, reed cormorants, African darters, African openbills and pied kingfishers were common along the banks of the river. Dead trees held resting white-backed vultures, hooded vultures and yellow-billed kites. Several pearl-breasted swallows were flying around the boat. Finally, while stopping to look at a large Nile crocodile hidden by some small trees, we got a nice look at an emerald-spotted wood dove. 

The African openbill seemed to be just as common as its Asian cousin

The hippo is another extremely dangerous animal due to how territorial it is

Emerald-spotted wood doves are much smaller than most of the area's other doves

The chestnut stripe on this African darter's throat shows that it is a male

This small Nile crocodile was sunning itself on a hippo trail

This reed cormorant is in its pale non-breeding plumage

We then headed back to the lodge and slept.

SUMMER BIRDING TRIP: Day Two: Johannesburg to Victoria Falls

The next day began in Johannesburg. On the previous night, we'd flown in from Dubai and relaxed in the hotel. Our time in Johannesburg was extremely limited as we had to rush to catch the flight to Victoria Falls, but while eating breakfast I still managed to see some birds.
In the courtyard, a lone male lifer Southern masked weaver was busily working on his nest. Nearby, a laughing dove was cooing loudly. Common swifts were flying regularly overhead, too quick to photograph. Finally, a lifer cape wagtail flew onto the courtyard lawn.

Even in Johannesburg, laughing doves were easy to see

This cape wagtail gave great views as it strutted around the hotel gardens

The green back of the Southern masked weaver differentiates it from similar weavers

We walked around the hotel and saw more of the same, before heading to Johannesburg Airport and flying out to Victoria Falls. On the lawn in front of the airport, I picked up one last lifer: a flock of Cape sparrows were searching through the grass.

This Cape sparrow is much prettier than the house sparrows I'm used to

 Our flight was delayed with no explanation (indeed we were never even told it was delayed until an hour after it was supposed to have boarded) and the formalities at the Zimbabwe Airport took a long time, so we arrived at around 3 pm and were taken straight to the lodge. Immediately upon arriving, a large group of white-backed and hooded vultures were visible in a nearby tree. 2 distant impala had come to the waterhole in front of the lodge to drink. Finally, a young male bushbuck was silently browsing just below the lodge's terrace. All this I admired briefly, before we rushed off to get ready for an evening game drive in a nearby private reserve.
The sightings of new birds began almost immediately upon starting the drive. A fork-tailed drongo stood atop a fallen branch. A beautiful blue waxbill perched briefly below the drongo, then darted off before I could get a picture. A small flock of white-crested helmet shrikes flew across the road. We came to an area of muddy ground. Almost immediately we were surrounded by impala, as a group of kudu grazed peacefully. A few Plains zebras were visible in the distance, along with a lone African elephant. African wattled lapwings were also enjoying the muddy ground. A great taste of the wildlife that would stun us with its beauty for the next 5 nights.

This African wattled lapwing was perched quite close to our jeep

As we continued on, we came across even more birds and wildlife. A herd of female waterbuck fed by the side of a lake. In the shrubs around us were, among others, Jacobin cuckoos, Southern red hornbills, white-browed sparrow-weavers, helmeted guineafowl and Swainson's spurfowl (or suicide birds, as they are also known). At pools of water we saw African openbills, white-faced whistling-ducks, Egyptian geese, hammerkop, African fish eagles, ospreys and African darters. We came across 2 of the black rhinos that had been re-introduced to the park and got crippling views of them, along with a red-billed oxpecker clinging to their backs. Herds of Cape buffalo and African elephant right beside our jeep were amazing sights to see. Though the night-time section of the drive didn't bring much new wildlife, the evening's drive had been absolutely amazing and we went back to the lodge extremely satisfied.

The lack of any horns shows that these Waterbuck are females

African elephants are much bigger and worse-tempered than their Asian cousins

The Osprey is a summer migrant to Africa from further north

A red-billed oxpecker clings to this black rhino as it chews on some grass

This marsh terrapin was lying on the road and almost got run over!

An African openbill feeds behind some white-faced whistling ducks and a cattle egret

The Swainson's spurfowl is also known as the suicide bird as it often runs near cars

The Cape buffalo is one of Africa's most dangerous animals

A red-billed oxpecker used this young black rhino crossing the road as a free ride

The Jacobin cuckoo is quite widespread, found in much of Africa and Asia

SUMMER BIRDING TRIP: Day One: Dubai

For this year's summer holiday my family and I went on a 2-week long trip to Botswana and Zimbabwe. We flew to Victoria Falls via Dubai and Johannesburg, spending a night in each city. We then spent 2 nights in Victoria Falls, travelled across the Botswana border, spent a night in Chobe National Park and finally spent 2 nights in Moremi Game Lodge. We returned to Australia via Sri Lanka, where we stayed for another 6 nights and visited family (though I did manage to squeeze some birding in).
We arrived in Dubai at around 6:30 am. While looking around the hotel we were staying in, I immediately noticed several lifer white-eared bulbuls. The plants surrounding the hotel's pool held many of these small but pretty birds, along with red-vented bulbuls, common mynas, Eurasian collared doves and house sparrows. A small tree held a well-hidden laughing dove sitting on its nest. Several distant black-headed gulls were also flying above the hotel.

The white-eared bulbul is abundant throughout Dubai

Eurasian collared doves have an extremely large range across much of Europe and South Asia

This laughing dove sat perfectly still on its nest, trusting its drab plumage to hide it

At around 9 o'clock we left the hotel and took a taxi to the Ras Al Khor Wildlife Reserve. This reserve consists of a large area of wetlands that attracts various waders and other waterbirds, including flamingoes. We first stopped over at the Mangrove Hide. Almost immediately, I spotted a distant Eurasian marsh harrier soaring high above the reserve. From the hide, many greater flamingoes could be seen feeding in the distance. A group of small waders too distant to identify was feeding next to some black-winged stilts and a large flock of Eurasian spoonbills. Around 20 lifer common teal were resting on the shores of the wetland, along with mallard and garganey. Greater cormorants, grey herons and Western reef egrets were scanning the waters for fish. Finally, several black-headed gulls were perched near the hide. The fog above the wetland made it hard for me to photograph any of the more distant birds, though a very obliging Western reef egret flew near the hide and allowed me to get some decent shots of it.

The Western reef egret is sometimes thought to be a subspecies of the little egret

As we moved onto the second hide, aptly named the Flamingo Hide, the fog over the wetlands began to clear. Several grey francolin were feeding along the road. By the time we reached the second hide, the fog had cleared completely. Some more distant grey francolin could be seen from the carpark. Scanning the trees produced a lone white-eared bulbul. A stunning hoopoe flew next to a tree, showed itself off and then dashed across to a nearby lawn. Close examination of some black-and-white birds on this lawn revealed them to be Asian pied starlings.

The Eurasian hoopoe is quite a common bird in Dubai

The laughing dove was seen many times on our trip: both in Dubai and southern Africa

Upon reaching the hide we were stunned by amazing views of hundreds of greater flamingos. Food left out for the flamingoes was being voraciously pecked at by some birds, while others searched the water with their beaks. A few juvenile flamingoes, their plumage mottled brown instead of the vivid pink and white of the adult birds, were visible around the edge of the flock. Finally, several common redshanks and a Pacific golden plover were also feeding behind the flamingoes.

The greater flamingoes at the reserve are a mix of year-round residents and migrants stopping over

The food provided by the rangers is one of the factors that entices greater flamingoes to the reserve

The dull, brown bird in the foreground is an immature greater flamingo, not yet fully grown

After eating lunch at the hotel, our last birding activity of the day was a walk in the park behind the reserve. Throughout the park Eurasian collared doves, white-eared bulbuls, red-vented bulbuls, Asian pied starlings, house crows and common mynas were extremely common. Many of these birds gave close views. An area of flowering shrubs hid many grey francolins, several of which occasionally ventured out of the shrubs and onto the path. A lone, migrant white wagtail was sitting atop a stone in the middle of the park. Finally, while leaving the park I saw several lifer graceful prinias perched in a tree.

The Asian pied starling was introduced to Dubai and now thrives in the city's parks

This Eurasian collared dove was quite tame, sitting perfectly still right above us

The grey francolin is another widespread bird which can be seen in northern Sri Lanka

The graceful prinia was one of my target birds in Dubai and I was quite happy to see it

We then spent the rest of the day relaxing in the hotel.

BROLGAS AND WADERS AT THE WTP

For the Melbourne Cup long weekend, my father and I decided to visit the Western Treatment Plant once more. Yet another phalarope had been reported from the Kirk Point area, so we decided to investigate this.

Our first stop was at the T-Section Lagoons, where we previously saw a vagrant phalarope. Upon arriving, we were informed that a family of Brolga were foraging on the banks of one of the lagoons. A quick scan of the lagoon's edges with my binoculars showed all 3 birds were feeding just below the road that circled the lagoon. By driving slowly along the road we were able to get great views of all 3 birds, including an adorable juvenile Brolga.

Unfortunately, brolgas are very rare in Victoria due to habitat loss

We also saw a few commoner waterbirds around the lagoon: the usual black swans, purple swamphens, silvergulls and Pacific black ducks were present.
Already amazed by the brolgas, we drove down to Kirk Point to see if we could see what would be the year's second phalarope. We scanned the rocky beaches around Kirk Point with our binoculars. Far off in the distance lay a small peninsula covered in roosting waders. We drove along to the peninsula and spent some time photographing the various birds present. The rocks were covered in red-necked stints and curlew sandpipers. A few Australian pied oystercatchers probed the ground near the rocks, scaring off any other waders that wandered near them. There were also several pied cormorants at the far end of the peninsula, and a lone greater crested tern flew over the area briefly. Finally, while we were inspecting the waders an Australasian gannet flew past the peninsula, looped back around over the beach and headed out to sea!

Red-necked stints and curlew sandpipers are extremely common migrants

This Australian pied oystercatcher hungrily probed clumps of seaweed for food

The waders began to get somewhat restless as we were about to leave, ready to fly off

The Western Treatment Plant is one of 3 mainland pied cormorant colonies in Victoria

All in all it was a great trip and we got spectacular views of some species we hadn't seen for a while.