Thursday, September 30, 2010

Ngorongoro

Birds that I photographed during my visit to Ngorongoro crater.

172. Long-crested Eagle (Lophaetus occipitalis)
Saw this one giving us a fishy look while we were driving on the rim of the crater.
Long Crested Eagle

173. Saddle-billed Stork (Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis)
Saddle-billedStork

174. Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus)
This was one of my favorite sights in the entire trip, a soda lake filled with Greater Flamingos.
Flamingoes
180. Grey Crowned Crane (Balearica regulorum)
Crowned Crane

Monday, September 27, 2010

Serengeti

What a haul from Serengeti!
First the marquee birds of Africa.

137. Ostrich (Struthio camelus)
This male was trying to woo his mate. He eventually went on to score.
MaleOstrich

138. Secretary Bird (Sagittarius serpentarius)
The theory is that this bird gets its name from the unique quills that make it look like a secretary of old with quill pens tucked behind his/her ears. Nas has a more sexist explanation, something do with long legs and mini-skirts that I don't completely buy.
SecretaryBird


Starlings

139. Superb Starling (Lamprotornis superbus)
This brightly coloured, gregarious bird doesn't seem to be afraid of people at all. They were present in all the picnic sites inside the national parks.
SuperbStarling

140. Purple Glossy Starling (Lamprotornis purpureus)
Another fairly common member of the starling family.
RuppellsLongTailedStarling

141. Hildebrandt's Starling (Lamprotornis hildebrandti)
Looks similar to the Superb Starling, but the red irises are a giveaway.
HildebrandtsStarling

Bustards

142. Kori Bustard (Ardeotis kori)
Said to be the heaviest bird -average male weighs 12kgs-capable of flight.
KoriBustard

143. White-bellied Bustard (Eupodotis senegalensis)
WhitebelliedBustard_doubtful


Vultures

144. White-backed Vulture (Gyps africanus)
The first bird on this roster that has a "Near Threatened" status.
AfricanWhiteBackedVulture

145. Hooded Vulture (Necrosyrtes monachus)
Yet another old-world vulture. This one was waiting for a hyena to finish his mail so that it could then clean up the scraps.
HoodedVulture


Raptors

146. African Pygmy-falcon (Polihierax semitorquatus)
At a little over 19 cm, this is one of the smallest raptors I've seen.
PygmyFalcon

147. Eastern Chanting Goshawk (Melierax poliopterus)
EasternChantingGoshawk


Hornbills

148. Von der Decken's Hornbill (Tockus deckeni)
VonderDeckensHornbillJPG

149. Southern Ground-hornbills (Bucorvinae leadbeateri)
Wish I could take a better picture of this ground dwelling hornbill. Its mate is blurred in the background.
GroundHornbill


Weavers

150. Rufous-tailed Weaver (Histurgops ruficaudus)
Yet another species that's comfortable around humans. This couple was shot in the Naabi hill inside Serengeti.
RufousTailedWeaver

151. Red-billed Buffalo-weaver (Bubalornis niger)
Seemed to be picking something out of the big pile of elephant dung.
RedBilledBuffaloWeaver

152. White-headed Buffalo-weaver (Dinemellia dinemelli)
This one was competing with the starlings in picking up scraps from the picnic area.
WhiteHeadedBuffaloWeaver


Wader

153. Spotted Thick-knee (Burhinus capensis)
SpottedThickKnee

154. Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea)
One of the few birds I could recognize with any confidence.
GreyHeron

155. Blacksmith Lapwing or Blacksmith Plover (Vanellus armatus)
Gets its name from its call which sounds like a blacksmith striking metal.
BlacksmithLapwing

156. Coqui Francolin (Francolinus coqui)
I'm not very sure of this ID. Waiting for a friend to confirm it.
CoquiFrancolin

157. Egyptian Goose (Alopochen aegyptiacus)
EgyptianGoose

158. Temminck's Courser (Cursorius temminckii)
Extremely doubtful of the ID.
TemmincksCourser_doubtful

159. Crowned Lapwing (Vanellus coronatus)
They inhabit this park in great numbers.
CrownedLapwing2

160. Marabou Stork (Leptoptilos crumeniferus)
MarabouStork

161. African Sacred Ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus)
Venerated in ancient Egypt as the symbol of the god Thoth.
SacredIbis


Other

162. Kenya Rufous Sparrow (Passer rufocinctus)
Distinguishable from the house sparrow by the rufous coloration o its supercilium and around its ears.
RufousSparrow

163. Ring-necked Dove (Streptopelia capicola)
RingNeckedDove

164. Fischer's Lovebird (Agapornis fischeri)
This bird, I think, deserves a better name.
FischersLovebird

165. Fork-tailed Drongo (Dicrurus adsimilis)
Very similar in appearance to the Black Drongo of our country.
Fork-tailedDrongo

166. White-browed Coucal (Centropus superciliosus)
BurchellsCoucal

167. Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse (Pterocles exustus)
ChestnutBelliedSandgrouse

168. Magpie Shrike (Urolestes melanoleucus)
MagpieShrike

169. Lilac-Breasted Roller (Coracias caudatus)
LilacBreastedRoller

170. Little bee-eater (Merops pusillus)
LittleGreenBeeEater

171. Helmeted Guineafowl (Numida meleagris)
A fairly common bird in this part of the world. My guide, Nas, tells me that their meat is very tasty.
HelmetedGuineaFowl

Oldupai Gorge

Oldupai Gorge in Tanzania is famous for the discoveries that furthered our understanding of early hominids. It lies on the Great Rift Valley that runs through East Africa. Here are the birds that I found near the Oldupai Gorge Museum.

134. Great Sparrowhawk (Accipiter melanoleucus)
This had perched on one of the boards near the entrance to Oldupai Gorge.
GreatSparrowHawk_doubtful

135. Common Bulbul (Pycnonotus barbatus)
CommonBulbul

136. Vitelline Masked-weaver (Ploceus vitellinus)
This one is the male of the species. The female is here.
VitellineMaskedWeaverMale

Lake Manyara

Birds photographed from my trip to Lake Manyara in Tanzania.

126. Silvery-cheeked Hornbill (Bycanistes brevis)
Got a fantastic view of this large bird. He was at the entrance of his nest, and feeding his female and/or chicks.
Silvery Cheeked Hornbill

127. Yellow-billed Stork (Mycteria ibis)
Photographed this just outside the park where Storks, Pelicans and Ibises roost and breed on the huge trees.
Yellow Billed Stork

128. African Fishing Eagle (Haliaeetus vocifer)
This one was scanning the lake from his perch by a hippo pool. This was the closest I cold get to him.
African Fishing Eagle

129. Palm-nut Vulture or Vulturine Fish Eagle (Gypohierax angolensis)
One of the biggest birds of prey I've seen (and this one was probably an immature!).
Immature Palm-nut Vulture

130. Hamerkop (Scopus umbrettaHammerkop
Another African special. Gets its name from its hammer-shaped head.

131. Great White Pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus)
Was good to spot a familiar bird so far away from home.
Great White Pelican

132.Emerald-spotted wood dove (Turtur chalcospilos)

Unknown Dove

133. Grey-headed Kingfisher (Halcyon leucocephala)
Grey Headed Kingfisher