Kit & Herman Year 2

[Kitsafari]

467/GN82 : Giant Kingfisher, Loango NP

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

468/GN 83 : White-bibbed Blue Swallow, Loango NP

 

nearly forgot this one.

 

[Kitsafari]

469/GN84 : Congo African Grey Parrot, Loango Lodge

 

[Kitsafari]

That's it for the confirmed identified species for Gabon. 

 

I do have quite a number of photos that I need help with on IDs. So hopefully I can count on the expert birders (like @michael-ibk !!) here to help me please!

 

1. i think this was in Libreville

 

2. i think 2 & 3 are the same birds in Booue

 

4. and 5. are the same sunbirds in Ivindo

 

5. 

 

6. could be the same as 4 & 5 based on the yellow spots on its shoulder

 

7. another sunbird - i think in Langoue Bai

 

8. in Langoue Bai - somehow I think it's a flycatcher

 

9. No idea but it was in Langoue Bai

 

 

10. 11, and 12 I think were the same species at the Ivindo ferry station

 

 

14. in Loango NP on the way to Akaka Camp

 

 

15.  very bad shot in Lope Lodge against the sunlight and I couldn't lighten up the sunbird's colours. 

 

Edited October 28, 2019 by Kitsafari

[Galana]

Phew!Still coming in fast and furious.

Excellent photos too. Love the Shining Blue Kingfisher and the Giant with the Croc.

It won't affect your score but I have two queries on the named ones.

459. First shot has the female with a light eye. Ergo not Village.But the male is.

469. Surely this is 'just' called African Grey Parrot or have the Splitters been at it again?

 

Now to your UFOs.

I will take on the easy ones first if I may and have pause for thought on the others for a while.

1. Green-headed Sunbird.

4 &5. Olive Sunbird. The correct terminology for those "yellow" spots are Epaulettes.

6. Might be the same. Worth a closer look.

9. Blue Cuckoo Shrike.

14. Diderick's Cuckoo.

Edited October 28, 2019 by Galana
Corrected text.

[Kitsafari]

23 minutes ago, Galana said:

Phew!Still coming in fast and furious.

Excellent photos too. Love the Shining Blue Kingfisher and the Giant with the Croc.

It won't affect your score but I have two queries on the named ones.

459. First shot has the female with a light eye. Ergo not Village.But the male is.

469. Surely this is 'just' called African Grey Parrot or have the Splitters been at it again?

 

Now to your UFOs.

I will take on the easy ones first if I may and have pause for thought on the others for a while.

1. Green-headed Sunbird.

2&5. Olive Sunbird. The correct terminology for those "yellow" spots are Epaulettes.

6. Might be the same. Worth a closer look.

9. Blue Cuckoo Shrike.

14. Diderick's Cuckoo.

 

Thanks for the IDs, @Galana - I await your sage pronouncements on the rest.

 

Pardon my ignorance and lack of knowledge in bird speech - Epaulettes - such a charming description which I will very likely promptly forget. 

 

can the number 2 be a sunbird? its beak seems more finch -like? 

 

Wikipedia has alternate names for the African grey as Congo grey parrot, Congo African grey parrot or African grey parrot, and I kinda like the Congo name there. But IUCN simply calls it Grey Parrot, so I suppose you are right in that. 

Edited October 28, 2019 by Kitsafari

[Galana]

4 minutes ago, Kitsafari said:

can the number 2 be a sunbird? its beak seems more finch -like? 

Oops. 4 - 5. Corrected.

Yes, Epaulettes or "Shoulder Tufts" but I like Epaulettes better.

 

One more done. 10-12. Spotted Greenbull.  I think. Everything fits.

[Kitsafari]

You are spot on on the greenbul! i've checked out the images and it seems to fit. 

 

[xelas]

Passing by @Tdgraves and shoulder-to-shoulder with @TonyQ! Congratulations, @Kitsafari, looks like @pedro maia will have to update the current Big Year situation.

Edited October 28, 2019 by xelas

[TonyQ]

What an excellent collection of Kingfishers - the Shining Blue is stunning

[pedro maia]

1 hour ago, xelas said:

Passing by @Tdgraves and shoulder-to-shoulder with @TonyQ! Congratulations, @Kitsafari, looks like @pedro maia will have to update the current Big Year situation.

 

Let´s give it some more time before updating the BY situation .

[michael-ibk]

Agree with everything @Galana said. I had 2 and 3 as Yellow-Mantled Widowbird (which was also the consensus on birdnet and African Birding Club), would also go with Olive Sunbird for 6. 7 looks like my Blue-Throated Brown Sunbird (the topic of much discussion in my thread on page 25), 8 is a Bates´s Paradise Flycatcher. Not really sure about the last Sunbird. It has a very long bill. A Superb Sunbird? That one could possibly look "all black" in bad light like that? Have you tried to boost all colours to the max?

 

Really enjoyed you Gabon collection Kit, and great you got the Wattle-Eye! BTW, the first "Village" Weaver is a female Vieillot´s (as already alluded to by Fred).

Edited October 28, 2019 by michael-ibk

[xelas]

With experts like @Galana and @michael-ibk, who needs a birding book or app !

[Galana]

As @michael-ibk in post 737.

2-3, 7, .

I tried to 'lift' the last Sunbird to get some magic on it but it was impossible. Superb was my  thinking too.

I had discounted 8 as Bates's as I could not see any red back or vent etc., but there is a hint on the tail.

I had looked at Bedford's but it does not come far enough west.  (I know this one well due to confusion for many trips into Maramagambo with similar birds which we now think are all black phases of African.)

So there we go @Kitsafari , job done with thanks for a great vicarious trip to the Gabon which is still on my list.

[Kitsafari]

thanks so much @Galana and @michael-ibk - i can just see the cogs working in your mind as you undertake the detective work on sussing out the IDs of the birds, Galana. just fascinating to hear your reasoning - very logical as well. 

 

oh and yes, once Galana pointed out about the first photo in the village weaver count, I realised i had mistaken the female vieillot weaver for a female village weaver and I did have one of the latter too. 

 

Edited October 29, 2019 by Kitsafari

[Soukous]

On 10/28/2019 at 10:04 AM, Kitsafari said:

Sitting just below the woodlands Kingfisher,I didn't notice the woodpecker until I enlarge it on the PC.

Hah, I didn't see the kingfisher until I read your comment. I only saw the woody

[Kitsafari]

 

Thanks a million to @Galana and @michael-ibk for their valuable help in ID-ing a few mystery birds for me, and adding a handful more to my Gabon count. 

 

470/GN85 : Diederik Cuckoo, Loango NP

 

[Kitsafari]

471/GN86 : Spotted Greenbul, Ivindo River 

 

[Kitsafari]

472/ GN87 : Blue Cuckoo-Shrike, Ivindo River

 

[Kitsafari]

473/ GN88 : Blue-throated Brown Sunbird, Ivindo NP

based on Michael's account of when we shot the bird

 

[Kitsafari]

474/ GN89 : Green-headed Sunbird, Lope Lodge

 

[Kitsafari]

475/ GN90 : Olive Sunbird, Ivindo NP

 

[Kitsafari]

476/ GN91 : Yellow-mantled Widowbird, Booue

 

[Kitsafari]

So there you have it - 91 species of birds from Gabon for me. there were a couple of complete EBCs that would be impossible to ID but I'm very happy with the new species, many of which I've never seen in East or southern Africa, especially the bee eaters and kingfishers, and the hawk. 

[TonyQ]

Lovely additions, and you are getting close to the 500!