Michael´s Fourth Year

[Zim Girl]

Wonderful set of kingfishers, Michael.

[michael-ibk]

Thanks everybody!

 

432/G66.) Black Bee-Eater (Merops gularis) / Purpurspint

 

One bird seen at Gorilla HQs in Loango NP. Top 5 of my wishlist, so I was ecstatic to see it - even if it was not too accommodating for me, a pretty distant shot. Found at the edges of rainforest, from Western Uganda to Sierra Leone. Spoiler: @Kitsafari will stun you with this bird in her BY.

 

[michael-ibk]

433/G67.) Blue-Breasted Bee-Eater (Merops variegauts) / Blaubrustspint

 

Taking the place of the Little Bee-Eater in Gabon, a bird of drier grasslands. Quite common in Lope,but also popped up in the wetlands of Loango and even around Libreville. The "Ethiopian Bee-Eater" is sometimes treated as a species in its own right but mostly as this bird.

 

[michael-ibk]

434/G68.) Rosy Bee-Eater (Merops malimbicus) / Rosenspint

 

Delightfully common in all wetter areas. Very restricted in its range, one population occurs in Gabon and Congo, a separate one in Nigeria to Ghana mostly. Only a few colonies are known but these may be very large, with estimated nest counts of 8,000 to 27,300 or more, and a density of about two nesting holes per square met.

 

 

 

 

 

[TonyQ]

The Rosy Bee-eater is stunning!

[PeterHG]

46 minutes ago, TonyQ said:

The Rosy Bee-eater is stunning!

I couldn't agree more!

[inyathi]

@michael-ibk I’m really enjoying the joint Gabon report and I’ve just caught up with some of these great bird photos, I’m very envious of that shining blue kingfisher, I missed seeing it in Lope at least it’s not on my Gabon list, we did look for it and checking my Africa list it is one of only two kingfishers I’ve not seen in Africa, and the other one the collared or white-collared, In Africa only occurs in Eritrea and Djibouti, but I have seen it in Asia.  So really, it’s my last kingfisher that I need to find in Africa someday.  

 

I’m also envious of your great shots of rosy bee-eaters, you saw them better than I did, I only recall seeing one flock roosting in a tree, I created an entry in the African bird identification forum posting my very poor shot, in anticipation that someone would add a better shot. Your travelling companion @Kitsafari correctly predicted that you would be the one, so I hope when you have time, you’ll add those two bee-eater shots to this thread.

 

 

Of course, feel free to update more bee-eaters or any other ID threads.   

[offshorebirder]

Wow - just catching up with this topic after a while.

 

Too many great photos to comment on individually @michael-ibk but the Bates’s Swift is a really impressive photo.    I can even see the tail spines.   I know how frustrating it can be trying to get a good photo of a flying Swift so kudos on that one.

 

i am jealous of the Black Bee-eater and the Shining-blue Kingfisher in particular and it looks like y’all had nice shorebirding as well in Gabon.

[michael-ibk]

@inyathiThanks, will be happy to update the ID thread (and some others as well) once I´m through with this here and the report. Wow, just two Kingfishers missing, birding really gets tough at your very advanced level! I still "need" White-Bellied, Dwarf, Mangrove (hopefully next February), White-Collared and Chocolate-Backed myself. And Black-Headed (always looked out for that one in Gabon to no avail), Somali and Madagascar for Bee-Eater. And while I´ve seen White-Throated I never managed a photo - a flock also popped up in Lope but was too distant.

 

Thanks @offshorebirder, the Loango and Akanda areas were interesting for shorebirds, and also on our way from Loango to Port Gentil by car we passed many suitable places. I´m sure with a focus on them we could have found many more, and obviously it must be way better from autumn on.

[michael-ibk]

435/G69.) African Pied Hornbill (Tockus fasciatus) / Elstertoko

 

No Rollers or Hoopoes in Gabon for us, few of them occur there. The specialty would have been the Blue-Throated Roller but that one remained elusive. So moving on to Hornbills, a family which has completely different representatives in Gabon than in Eastern and Southern Africa. No Grey, Yellow- or Red-Billeds in the country. The most common one was this species which was especially numerous in the garden of Loango Lodge. But all Gabonese Hornbills were pretty shy.

 

[michael-ibk]

436/G70.) Piping Hornbill (Bycanistes fistulator) / West-Schreihornvogel

 

Occassionally seen flying over but a pretty cautious bird not that easy to get. I often wondered if a distant click was this species or maybe a White-Crested or White-Thighed Hornbill but they all were Pipings. The smallest of the Bycanistes genus which includes huge birds like the familiar Trumpeter or Silvery-Cheeked.

 

 

Edited September 20, 2019 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

437/G71.) Black-Casqued Hornbill (Ceratogymna atrata) / Schwarzhelm-Hornvogel

 

A brutal ebc, one female seen flying over a lagoon in Loango. Also saw this bird deep inside the rainforest in Ivindo but impossible to get a photo there. A huge Hornbill, a very impressive bird and I would have loved to get a better look at them.

 

 

[michael-ibk]

438/G72.) Grey-Throated Barbet (Gymnobucco bonapartei) / Trauerbartvogel

 

There are wonderfully splashy and colourful Barbets in Gabon, Yellow-Billed, Yellow-Spotted or Double-Toothed. So let´s just say I wasn´t exactly thrilled that the only representative of the family I found was this one. Distant shot on a very gloomy afternoon.

 

[michael-ibk]

439/G73.) Yellow-Throated Tinkerbird (Pogoniulus bilienatus) / Gelbkehlbartvogel

 

OTOH, this one is technically a Barbet as well so I should not complain. An extremely cooperative individual seen in the garden of Lope Lodge.

 

 

440/G74.) Yellow-Rumped Tinkerbird (Pogoniulus bilineatus) / Goldbürzelbartvogel

 

 

Extremely similar but the thraot and face is pure white, no yellow at all. Seen close to Libreville.

 

 

[michael-ibk]

441/G75.) Yellow-Crested Woodpecker (Chloropicus xantholophus) / Scheitelfleckspecht

 

A female (hence no yellow crest) seen at the very start and the very end of this trip on the beach outside our place in Libreville. Used the same tree both times.

 

[michael-ibk]

442/G76.) Gabon Woodpecker (Dendropicos gabonensis) / Gabunspecht

 

It paid off that I refused to go without my big lens to our Bwiti ceremony - found this bird right next to the village.  A small species with a strictly Central African range.

 

 

443/G77.) Cardinal Woodpecker (Dendropicos fuscescens) / Kardinalspecht

 

Time to position myself for the "ebc of the year" race. Proudly submitting this one. But be warned - I have even "better" ones coming up!

 

[michael-ibk]

LBJ haters can rejoice - there are absolutely no Larks in Gabon, at least not in the areas we visited (Flappet and Rufous-Naped occur in the South-East) so one ID nightmare less to worry about. But the ebc-saga continues with Swallows.

 

444/G78.) African River Martin (Pseudochelidon eurystomina) / Rotaugenschwalbe

 

A few individuals in the Akanda area. For some reason I admittedly cannot quite fathom this is THE bird to get in Gabon. All the birding trips advertise the chance to see this species, and the excitement about spotting it is palpable in all reports I read. The fascination must stem from the fact that this is an extremely localised bird, only occurring in Gabon and Congo and is therefore not easy to get. This species possesses a number of features which distinguish them from other swallows and martins, including their robust legs and feet, stout bills, large syrinxes (vocal organs) and different bronchial structure. Sadly, African river martins and Rosy Bee-eaters with which they share their colonies are dug out of the breeding burrows for food in the DRC according to Wiki.

 

 

445/G79.) Square-Tailed Saw-Wing (Psalidoprocne nitens) / Grünglanzschwalbe

 

A few birds seen around Lope Lodge.

 

 

Edited September 20, 2019 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

446/G80.) Lesser Striped Swallow (Cecropis abyssinica) / Zwergrötelschwalbe

 

Probably the Swallow we saw the most, these ones were seen in Boué, a small town outside Lope NP. A very smart-looking bird which apparently occurs over almost all of Subsaharan Africa. I´m pretty sure I have never seen it before though - although the arduous job of creating my life list, going through my photos from the last six years or so might surprise me.

 

 

 

-/G81.) Red-Breasted Swallow (Cecropis semirufa) / Rostbrust-Rötelschwalbe

 

ASIB. One bird seen in Libreville while we were waiting and waiting and waiting for our Akanda tour.

 

 

 

Edited September 20, 2019 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

447/G82.) White-Bibbed aka White-Throated Blue Swallow (Hirundo nigrita) / Medaillonschwalbe

 

Quite common on all rivers. Found from Congo to Guinea.

 

 

Around Loango Lodge:

 

 

448/G83.) Forest Swallow (Petrochelidon fuliginosa) / Bronzeschwalbe

 

Common at Langoué Bai, but almost impossible to get with their extremely fast, dashing flights under the difficult conditions we had there.

 

 

449/G84.) Grey-Rumped Swallow (Pseudhirundo griseopyga) / Graubürzelschwalbe

 

One bird seen at Ogoué river. (Probably many more but since we were not stopping there it was impossible to say what was what.) An ID mystery to me for quite a while, I even started wondering if there were subspecies of Banded Martins without a band since I was looking at brownish Swallows. But the blue back simply is not visible on this individual.

 

Edited September 20, 2019 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

450/G85.) Yellow-Throated Longclaw (Macronys croceus) / Gelbkehlpieper

 

Driving around the savanna parts of Lope was not very productive birding-wise, seeing this familiar species was a bit of a saving grace. Quite easy to see in the Serengeti/Mara ecosystem.

 

[michael-ibk]

451/G86.) Long-Legged Pipit (Anthus pallidiventris) / Stelzenpieper

 

A very common bird in all grassland areas, and also in gardens. The only proper Pipit in Gabon, so no ID problems there.

 

 

-/G87.) African Pied Wagtail (Motacilla aguimp) / Witwenstelze

 

ASIB. A few birds in Lope and Loango. A very widespread bird in Africa.

 

[pedro maia]

It seems that you had some challenging conditions to take photos in Gabon, but as expected you know how to deal with that.

 

I’m afraid you don’t stand a chance in the EBC of the year contest, contrary to mine and @Galana‘s nightjars one can see birds in all your pictures😀.

 

Congrats on reaching 450, impressive number, you are getting closer to the 700 mark😎.

 

 

[TonyQ]

The Yellow-throated Tinkerbird is lovely, and you collection of swallows is very impressive.

Well done on reaching 450.

[Galana]

On 9/17/2019 at 5:39 PM, michael-ibk said:

We missed the Chocolate-Backed Kingfisher, a bird I had really wanted to see.

Congratulations on 450. An impressive total with some impressive birds. LOved the Rosy B Eater. ONe of my personal targets too.

Please keep the birds coming. EBC and all.

At the risk of sounding like  a one man Advocate for Uganda I will just say that all your kingfishers occur in Uganda and are relatively easy to find with the possible exception of Shining Blue which took me several visits even though it eventually showed up in exactly the same spot as we looked every time..Chocolate-backed and Pygmy in Budongo too. NB. We cannot guarantee a Giant every 50 metres as I don't do Metric.

Good selection of Hornbills in Semuliki too.

[xelas]

Glad to see that also an expert like you does not refrain from posting an EBC candidate occasionally !