Australia, Darwin to Timber Creek

July 19 I went to Australia for the 5th time. As a pert of the trip I wanted to meet my old friend  Graham Palmer and his wife Liz. These fantastic people have been so generous to my family back in time and seeing them again was great. Graham is suffering from severe Parkinson's but he refuse to give up his birding. Flying in from Cairns, where I had left my wife and daughter they met me at Darwin airport. Without hesitation we started do drive south and made a short stop at Pine Creek and found this lovely Great Bowerbird preparing its bower. Close by a group of Black Fruit Bats made me smile. These gorgeous animals never stops fascinating me. We continued to Katherine for a nights sleep. 

Next morning we began driving early, eager to reach Timber Creek as soon as possible. However, one of my main target birds for this trip, the Red-kneed Dotterel was not far away, at the Katherine wastewater treatment plant. Unfortunately, the gates were closed so I could only witness them through the fence at quite a distant (no use for photos). In the bush, next to it we saw a flock of the stunning Red-shouldered Parrot.

Feeling great to see the red soil and Australian outback, we continued to drive south-west. Next stop was Victoria River Crossing Roadhouse where we had a quick lunch, filled up more petrol and saw some good birds. On the other side of the creek I got some new Honeyeaters on my list but only came close enough for photos to this Australian Kestrel and White-faced Heron.

Continuing towards Timber Creek we made a few more stops looking at spots marked at E-bird. Not so much was seen  but close to the town a group of Black-faced Woodswallows showed well.

Finally, we arrived to the small but quite famous (for birders) little town and checked in at our cabins. I took Graham for a walk in his wheelchair and we saw some of the more common birds here, Brown Honeyeater, White-gaped Honeyeater, Brown Goshawk, Little Corella and the cute Long-tailed Finch.

After a good birding day, sunset finally sets the complete feeling of Australian outback.

Super-target birds for this trip was the Purple-crowned Fairy-wren and the elusive Gouldian Finch. Taking the car by my own as Graham needed to rest I drove out of town to Bradshaw Bridge where the Fairy-wren had been observed. Using my playback, three immediately came in. I had trouble getting focus on these very swift and restless birds trying at the same time to use the speaker. One gorgeous male were among them and one of my most memorable birds for a long time. Not a photo to be proud of but a memory of this event. At the same time I got my first Star Finches.

Back to town I picked Graham and Liz up and we drove to Policeman's Point. This is a stunning place to spend sunset and even if we didn't see any Gouldian's, we had nice views of Black-necked Stork, Paperbark Flycatcher and Double-barred Finch.

Time to go back, we stopped at the Escarpment Walk, next to the Victoria River Roadhouse. Not wanting to let Graham and Liz wait too long, I made the walk in high speed which made me sweat a lot. But worth it no doubt. First I didn't see much but as I moved to the northern side of the flat area at the top I stated to spot many birds. The best highlight was 5 White-quilled Rock-Pigeons. Quite shy, I still managed to get a pick on the edge before it took off. A group of Little Woodswallows also gave me some attention. On the way down something special happened to me. As I started my walk down a big Falcon came out just in front of me 10-15 meters and took speed out from the rock. A Grey Falcon, a very rare bird was on my list. So great to see it also from above at the start.

We returned to Pine Creek, for an other target and lifer for Graham. Around 5 p.m a flock of Hooded Parrots usually show up at the water sprinkler next to Lazy Lizard Motel, where we stayed. Felt great to make Graham get an other lifer sitting in his wheelchair. First the male and secondly a female. This is a rare and difficult bird to see and on many birders wish list. However, if you are at the right spot even rare birds can be easy.

Here also some nice Blue-faced Honeyeaters, Little Friarbird, Yellow Oriole, a few tiny Peaceful Doves and a family of the ever entertaining Grey-crowned Babblers.

Before we took off for Darwin we made a morning visit to the Water Treatment area in Pine Creek. In the dry Outback, these tiny pools attract lots of birds. New bird on my list was the Plumed Whistling-duck. I had hoped to get better views of the Red-kneed Dotterel but no one was present. A group of Black-fronted Dotterels are still a blessing sight. The gates were closed here too but the area is much smaller than the one in Katherine so photos were possible anyway.

On the way towards Darwin we took a detour to the famous Fogg Dam, a wetland area southeast of Darwin on the way to Kakadu N.P. Fogg Dam is a mix of open wetlands and seasonal rainforest. This makes it a spot with many species. The obvious and stunning Rainbow Bee-eater is usually easy to find.

In the forest area, you can find the finest juvel of them all, the Rainbow Pitta. I knew it should be possible and hearing it is usually pretty easy. We we were lucky to have one bird come in decently close to us and in dark forest and 30 meters away it's not easy to get a good photo. I saw this bird in 1997 in Kakadu but this was still a glorious moment to remember. What a cracker!

Other great bird in the forest interior were Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Arafura Fantail, Orange-footed Scrubfowl, and the very small Green-backed Gerygone.

In the open it was easy to spot different types of herons like this Pied Heron and this Sulphur-crested Cockatoo.

The last day before I went back to Cairns I went with a Birding Pal, John Rawsthorne, who had promised to take me to the mangrove and look for some hard birds in this habitat. I don't have a photo of the White-breasted Whistler but it was great fun to walk bare-footed with him in the tidal mangrove and eventually see a stunning male.

Birds seen and which I managed to get photos of were; Red-headed Honeyeater, Northern Fantail, a proud White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike and the local Yellow White-eye.

In the afternoon Graham; Liz and I went to the coast for some birding and a very nice dinner at sunset. Among the waders seen were this lovely Red-capped Plover and a mixed flock of Great Knots and a few Knots and Ruddy Turnstones.

The Gull-billed Tern in Australia is now a split and is now called Australian Tern (though true Gull-billed could probably show up!). Other birds seen at the beach were these relaxing Masked Lapwings, and hungry (white morph) Eastern Reef Egret and Silver Gull.

I end this blog part with a classic photo of the great entertaining and socializing group of White-breasted Wood-Swallows. I have seen this before but it always a happy moment. They just love to warm up together.

Love you Oz, can't wait to go back!!

The Pantanal-18

This blog about Pantanal is the third part of my trip to Brazil (Itatiaia and Chapada d G Jardim Amazonia are the other two). 
So, welcome to the biggest weatland in the world, famous for all its birds but also as the best place to see Jaguars among other wildlife. As you enter the Pantanal the road turns in to a dirt road. During the northern summer and fall the region is dried out which gives high concentrations of animals. During the other half of the year the area is much flooded and many places hard or impossible to reach by car. It was a great feeling to reach this place after the long drive from Jardim da Amazonia. First stop was Piuval Lodge and included in the price was a Jeep-tour which gave us the first looks of this fantastic place.

A good bird during this car trip was the Red-shouldered Macaw. Macaws are great bird and always nice to see, this one not so common. A bird we thought should be a little bit hard to see was the Sunbittern but we saw quite a few of this special bird.

A true symbol of the Pantanal is the huge Jabiru. Though quite common around, still an amazing view everytime you see it. Here on in flight towards the nest and two just resting.

Piuval is a good place for mammals as well and we saw this cute S.A. Coati and the funny 7-banded Armadillo.

On this tour we also saw our first Great Potoo. What a remarkable bird!!

At nest we also saw this Great Horned Owl and close by the special Guira Cuckoo.

At the lodge itself birding is good and we saw many nice species. Here the quite common Cattle Tyrant, Giant Cowbird (on feral cow!) and the brilliant Yellow-billed Cardinal.

Just a short walk out from the lodge I also found this striking Black-collared Hawk.

Happy after our day at Piuval we now drove towards our next lodge a little bit further south, Pouso Alegre. Piuval is an upscale lodge with pool and other nice facilities. On the (quite long) way in from the Tranpantaneira we saw the hardest of the herons, the Capped heron as well as this pecular male Bare-faced Currasow.

Pouso Alegre is a more rustic and basic place know to be very good for spotting Great Ant-eaters. Birding and other wildlife are excellent too. We had heard that a Great Ant-eater comes inmost evenings to look for food around the lodge which it did our night as well. However, we were lucky to see one out on one of the trails which gave a more natural experince.

This walk also gave us the Undulated Tinamou, a bird much easier heard than seen as well as this handsome Red-throated Piping Guan.

Many lizards were around and one favorite was this robust Black & White Tegu. The lodge has a feeding area which attracts many different species but still surprised to find this elegant Plumbeous Ibis on the roof next to it.

Befor we left this nice place we had a stop at a trail together with the owner. Among some other goodies we found this awesome Helmeted Manakin.

Our next stop was SouthWild. Owned by the person who helped us with the planning and booking and also the company which "rented" the car to us. Situated next to the Rio Sararé in Pixaim area this place is great. An upscale place with a small pool, great feeding areas, complimentary boat trip on the river and a photo hide for Ocelot. We stayed here one night on our way south and two more at the end of our trip. There are extensive trails but I guess you need to have good nerves as referred to on this sign just a couple of hundred meters outside the lodge.

Meanwhile we payed a visit further south, the lodge had a Jaguar crossing its property. When we arrived we saw this cute Marsh Deer which hardly scared us. On our first we didn't see any signs of Ocelots but finally in the evening this beautiful animal showed up. First a little bit shy but soon more active looking for food.

The river tour here is excellent for herons and other water birds. The river Piquiri further south is a much bigger one with sand banks and other vegetation. This river in tiny and gives you the opportunity to come up close bothto birds and reptiles. The Yacaré (Caiman) is very common and we probably saw almost a 1000 of them in total all over Pantanal. Not as powerful as the crocodile species, it is still a beauty to watch.

Herons were so plentiful so you could almost imagine beeing in a restricted zoo area. The "white ones" were the most common but we easily saw Black-capped Night Heron, Boat-billed Heron, Rufescent Tiger Heron and the hard and elusive Agami Heron (why hide when you are the most stunning one of them all??).

Other water birds like this Grey-necked Wood-rail and and the very sought after and difficult Sungrebe kept our smiles going on for hours.

In Brazil there are 5 different kingfishers. We saw them all and here you can see the most common one, the enormous Ringed Kingfisher and the most hard one, the Green and rufous Kingfisher. Also here Nick's favorite bird?? the Black-capped Donacobius!

At the feeding place of the lodge you can easily spend some time resting while you enjoy top class birds. What about this stunner, the Orange-backed Trupial and Yellow-chevroned Parakeet together with the most iconic bird of South America, the Toco Tucan. Quite happy I got a pic when it's on its way to swallow a "fruit" it had thrown up in the air.

We now started our drive towards Porto Jofre and our place Jofre Velho. The road became more and more rough in some places and some of the 120!!! wooden bridges you passon the way south did not look completely safe. Her one which was ok and an other which was quite scary to pass.

On the way we stopped at several places and had good moments like this Crane Hawk (the only one we saw) chased by White-rumped Swallows. Our Duster became more and more dusty!! The rather common Roadside Hawk (here a juvenile) looked rather suspiciously at us and our car!

We finally arrived to Jofre Velho (not well signed) and saw the beutiful ground teeming with birds. Jofre Velho used to be a research station and the rooms are in different status. Still a very pleasant (and much much cheaper) than the other options here. The family took very good care of us and the food was simple but still very tasty and well prepared. Even if we had seen the amazing Hyacint Macaw (the worlds biggest parrot) decently before, we here had smashing views and performances of this absolute marvelous bird.

As a nerd shorebird enthusiast I had big hope in seeing the Pied Plover and the Collared Plover. The Wattled Jacana had been seen previously but great looks were given here. I feel priveleged to have seen these star birds so well.

Two boat trips were included in every nights stay (morning/ afternoon) as even the most avid birder's main choise is the chance of seeing a Jaguar. In Pantanal and especially at the Rio Sao Laurenco/ Rio Piquiri the chances are (very) high to lay your eyes on one. I felt pretty sure we would see one but the question was more how well we would see it. Many times when people see them they just lay down in the shadow which makes the sight quite bad. THis is in some way similar to jeep safaris in East Africa when dussins of jeeps (here fast boats) hurries in on or an other direction in hope to give their customers the best. Our boat was a smaller and not as fast as many of the others which actually proved to be a winning concept. Alone on this part of the river (the others were gone further away) we had our first individual after only 20 minutes. It made some slow walks on the river bank and showed pretty well.

Before we went back we had some nice views of a Capybara family. Obviously they rest at these banks as they need to be cautious to the Jaguars which have the Capybaras and the Yacarés and their main food. These cute Proboscis Bats were resting in a tree we passed. Not beeing the most wanted bird it was nice to have good views of the only pipit in the region, the Yellowish Pipit.

Along the river there also some terns (3 species) which are easy to spot from the boat. Here the elegant and specialized Black Skimmer with its scissor like bill and the local Great-billed Tern.

On short walks around the lodge we also had more beauties like this Thick-billed Euphonia, Rufous-tailed Jacamar and the plain but handsome Southern Berdless Tyrannulet.

Next morning was just beautiful and we had good feelings when we entered the boat again. Our guide knew his boat was slower than the others but was calm and polite, knewing what he was doing. Here he is with (from left) Nick (thinking of celebrating with a evening beer?), Jim and Per.

Seeing all the boats we wondered what was happening. It showed up to be a family of Giant Otters. We saw several different groups of these entertaining and special species. They just loved to play with each others.

The other boats took of and again we were alone! Traveling softly I saw something lying on a stretch of beach. Realizing soon what it was I screamed (Yellow) Anaconda! We approached it slowly and had great views of this fantastic creature. After some time the fast boats started to arrive and to my disappointment these people went up on the beach and of course scared it away down to the water. Such rude and bad behaviour both of the boat men and the tourists. This also meant that many people never got the chance to see it.

Well, saving the best till the end of this blog. We had 20 minutes totaly by our own with this male Jaguar (again because the fast boats had chased away again). It came out just in front of our boat and swam just 8-10 meters from the boat. Taking some shorter distances at the edge before going into the water again. We also saw make some attempt to catch a Yacaré. What an absolute wonderful animal it is. So majestic and powerful and yet also proud, relaxed and curious. I've been privileged to see and experince many animals over the world and this really takes a very vey high position.

WE had a safe trip back and some unforgetable memories as well. We saw 415 species of bird of which 337 were new ones for me and also many other excellent animals. What a great trip and place!!

Brazil, Chapada dos Guimaraes and Jardim da Amazonia

Continuing from the Atlantic coast (see that blog) we arrived to the million city of Cuiaba. As fast as possible we were on our way in the rental car towards the small town with the same name as the national park, Chapada dos Guimaraes. This is an arid country with stunning cliffs and superb birds. To make this trip possible financially we had not booked a guide through a company so we were only related to our own skill, pre-resarch on e-bird and other trip reports but also the help of a local guide at the Jardim da Amazonia.The lodge booking/ local guide and boatmen in Pantanal was made by Southwild Pantanal to a very good and competitive price.
Our first stop was at the famous waterfall, Veu de Noiva. The first bird to be spotted was this handsome White-eared Puffbird. At the viewing point we had and absolute awesome sight with this group of Red and Green Macaws and a few of the common Black Vulture.

There are a few fancy lodges around but you can easily stay in a cheaper place in town, like the Hotel Turismo. Here we had some nice views in the evening while having a well deserved beer at the veranda. Pale-breasted Thrush and Red-bellied Thrush having an evening bath.

One of the best place to bird in this area is along the very dirty and dry MT-020 also called Agua Fria Road. Hardly an awesome nature experince with dust flying around when cars come in high speed. However, birding is great and you will put in new bird for every new km you proceed. Some highlights were this Burrowing Owl and Red-pileated Finch. We also saw this Cinnamon Tanager which is not supposed to be here according to the field guide. Last, the quite common Chalk-browed Mockingbird.

Not only arid country, we visited some more grenish places like Vale da Bencao where we had Rufous-tailed Jacamar, Yellow-rumped Cacique. Hardly a good photo but The Sharp-tailed Streamcreeper is not a very easy bird to see and probably the reason why I get so excited about these ground dwelling, skulking juvels. We managed to spot this bird at the bottom of a dark creek.

We were recommended to visit Mirante Morro dos Ventos for nice vistas and good food, which we followed. Here we had som nice and close perched birds as these Crested Black Tyrant and Cliff Flycatcher.

After 2 and a half day we had to continue on our trip. After spending time in more dry and open areas we were now looking forward to experience the Amazonas.

Welcome to "Garden of Eden"
Saved by a true nature lover, named Almor,  Jardim da Amazonia is truly an Amazonian Garden paradise in the middle of logged and farming country. Along this part of a sub-river to the Amazonian complex you will find so many rainforest specialties and still not travel too far north and to a much cheaper cost.
Except for all the wildlife the lodge is unique with all its fish ponds and natural swimming pool. The big fish (over 2 meters) is a Arapayma and the others are Catfish.

On our way in towards the reserve we found this Burrowing Owl. By the look of it, I'm not sure it wanted us around.

In the first evening Almor took us to some lakes just on the outskirt of the property. This paradise has been made by himself to protect the Blue and Yellow Macaws (among other Macaws and Parrots) which use the lake and the cut palms as roosting places each night. Exceptional experince to see all these birds fly in in the evening light "screaming" and calling for each other.

Nick, Jim, me and Almor.

Next to this lake we also had two gorgeous flycatchers, The Vermilion FC and the White-headed Marsh-Tyrant.

The first morning Almor and (South Wild) had helped us to arrange with a local guide. He´s been taken care of by Almor since he was a child and is now educating himself as a professional guide. Already a good birder and of all necessary help to find most of our birds. On your bucket list there's always been to make a boat trip in the Amazonas. Even if Jardim is not in the deepest part of the jungle, the boat trip was still amazing. In first day light we took off in good speed. Our first goal was to look for the rarest of our birds on the trip, the Cone-billed Tanager. This place is maybe the only reliable place in Brazil to see this bird. In a small oxbow lake we found 2 of them together with a beautiful American Pygmy Kingfisher.

At resort area there was a family of Capybaras present every day. Not shy and very proud and integrity looking animals which became a favorite during the trip. Lots of butterflies as well seeking for minerals. This 2 cm Bullet-ant is on of the most fearful animals in this region, known to be the giving the strongest of pains "the pain of a bullet". Not poisonous but with a sting that makes the local people be very careful where they know they can be.

The reserve is of course mostly forestred but there are some open spaces as well, especially where all the different fishponds are. Here we had good and easy observations of Rusty-margined Flycatcher, Straited Heron, Smooth-billed Ani and Southern Lapwing.

There are several trails to walk as well with thick forest/ bush and therefor quite difficult for photos but at the edges of forest (as always) you will find some good stuff. Here a Black-fronted Nunbird, Spotted Puffbird, Blackish Nightjar and a Blue-headed Parrot at nest.

Some of the more memorable birds from this gorgeous place are the Brown Jacamar and the Short-tailed Pygmy-Tyrant. The first with its, compared to the body, huge bill and the latter because it's the worlds smallest passerine.

Everywhere, being a difficult bird to see, Jardim is a reliable spot to see the almost mythical Amazonian Umbrellabird. Again we took off on the river, this time in the afternoon. We headed towards a spot where it sometimes is seen. We fastened the boat to a branch and waited. And waited and waited. The guide blew in a bottle as the sound is just the same as the one you get from a empty bottle. Finally, when it was close to dark, 3 birds appeared in to the big tree on the other side of the river. Even at quite a big distance and in bad light, this was a great event. Here you can also see two very happy twitchers after seeing it.

We also picked up some good woodpeckers, here the handsome Yellow-tufted Woodpecker and also the Ringed Woodpecker.

One of the most funny and spectacular species I saw, was this Monk Sake Monkey in a family of four. Very curiously looking one with its fur a big eyes.

We spent 3 fantastic days here and I really must recommend this oasis of green vegation and great wildlife. From here we drove the long way down to tha Pantanal, the biggest wetland area in the world. Renowned to be the absolute best spot to see  Jaguar and the world largest parrot, The Hyacint Macaw. See this blog.

Itatiaia National Park Brazil July -18

This 3,5 day trip to Itatiaia NP was a part of a longer trip in Brazil (other parts described in other blogs). Itatiaia is Brazils oldest NP and an excellent place to find fantastic birds. In these days we saw 193 species including 18 different Tanagers. We also birded the wetlands just outside the park itself. Our guide Hudson was great! His English needs some improvements but he surely knows his birds. Here the four Gringos (me Örebro, Per Askengren Örebro, Nick Armstrong England, Exeter and Jim Royer USA, California, Los Osos) from a selfie of him.

Hotel Ype where we stay is a very cosy place and highly recommended. The feeders are famous for attracting Tanagers, Hummers, and many others. One of my sought after species was the Frilled Coquette which we only saw briefly once the first hour.

When it comes to Tanagers, this place is just amazing. During the three full days we spent here we saw no less than ... Tanagers. Quite common at the feeders at were these two stunners, Green-headed Tanager and Black-goggled Tanager.

If you are interested in photography, you can easily spend a half day here and just let the birds come to you. Also quite frequent was the Blue Dacnis, here both a male and a female.

Except for the tanagers you will easily find Saffron Finch, Double-colored Seed-eater.

The second day we took the winding Agulhas Negras road towards the top of the mountain at 2400 meters. On the way we stoped for Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture and a group of Red-rumped Warbling-Finch.

Halfway we had a short stop for some shoping and the everywhere excellent Brazilian coffee.The long drive gave us stunning views, crispy air and the endemic Itatiaia Spinetail.

Nick enjoying the great Brazilian coffee.

Me at the top.

One of the starbirds up on these higher levels is the gorgeous Green-crowned Plovercrest. You would probably not find it by yourself but Hudson knew where to stop.

Hotel Ype also has its privileges during evenings and nights. During the last hour of light usually a few Gray-necked Wood-rails emerge from the thickets to feed and stroll at the lawns. Hotel Ype also is a good spot for the Tawny-browed Owl which we had excellent views of in the flashlight. Next to the restaurant I found this great and beautiful Moth Bugmaniac.

Obviously, hummers are a highlight and some of them frequently come in to the feeders. Here a Violet-capped Woodnymph, White-throated Hummingbird and a male and a female Brazilian Ruby constantly observed by the Black Capuchin.

We also explored areas just outside the park as there are plenty of good birding in some of the more open areas around the town and nearby wetlands. We stopped randomly? just in the middle of the small town and I experienced some of the most memorable minutes of the trip. In a tree (which we later called the "crazy tree") we saw Tropical Parula, Southern Beardless Tyrannulet, Purple-throated Euphonia, Narrow-billed Woodcreeper, Hooded Tanager and many more.

Further down close to the wetlands we had these two beautiful hummers, Glittering-throated Emerald  and Glittering-bellied Emerald. As a finish of this fantstic day we experienced super high class birding with the funny performance of a group of Streamer-tailed Tyrants. Something I wish all birders sometimes will be able to see.

Our great birding continued with so many great birds and memories. My number one bird was this Such's Ant-thrush which we waited for about 30 minutes before it arrived. It was at a stake-out and the bird surely knew that Hudson had put out some worms. Unforgettable to hear it coming closer by just walking on the jungle floor!

The last day our great birding continued with so many good birds. What about male and female Surucua Trogon!

If you go here you can also see the "ruins" of the abandoned hotel Simon, which used to be afamous luxury hotel before it was bancrupt. Still it now possible to stroll around and see some good birds like this Variable Antshrike, Sirystes and  White-crested Tyrannulet.

Now we went back to the airport at Sao Paolo for the flight to Cuiaba and more birding at Chapada dos Guimaraes, Jardim da Amazonia and the Pantanal (se these blogs)!!

Selous Game Reserve Nov.-17.

Starting a new school project again for the third time made me again visit Tanzania early November 2017.  This was my 4th trip to this fabulous country and after finishing the agenda concerning the project, we had some holiday before going back. This time I visited Selous Game Reserve, which is the largest game reserve in Africa. Not being a national park means advantages and disadvantages. Good for visitors is the possibility to drive wherever you want and also get out of the car if you want/ need. A large part of the reserve is bushy which means it sometimes could be difficult to see the mammals. One superb thing is that you could do a boat trip on Rufiji River and look for hippos and crocs and of course some birds related to water. I spent 2 1/2 days here, sleeping at the new Selous Mapumziko Lodge which is about 15 min drive outside the park on the eastern side. This means lower prices as prices inside the reserve is high. My guide mentioned a lodge which costs around 2000 dollars/ night!!!!. Not for a teachers salary!

The first afternoon we took a boat ride which was very nice. We saw many hippos and also a few crocs.

I had some hope to find White-crowned Lapwing and Böhm's Bee-eater which both are special birds for this area and not easy to see at other places. White-crowned was easy and the lodge had two pairs of Bee-eaters breeding on its grounds.

The boat trip was also nice for weavers and kingfishers. The Af. Golden Weaver was common and breeding at this time and we also saw both Malachite and A. Pygmy Kingfishers along the river banks.

Selous is famous for the rare Wild Dog, which I unfortunately didn't see but of course we saw some other nice mammals as these Greater Kudus which is one of the biggest antelopes you can see. On its back you can also see Red-billed Oxpeckers.

The most numerous and common animals are the Warthogs, the Impalas and Giraffes which are plentiful all over the park.

I have now been on 5 different safaris but this was the first time we got stuck. We were lucky to have an other jeep just in front of us at this situation otherwise I don't know what had happened. 

There are 6 or 7 lakes which you pass when driving around in Selous. As usual many birds are attracted to this and a good place to spot them. The "umbrella bird" or the Black Egret which is the correct name, was very funny to watch when it walked around and pushing its wings like an umbrella to se the fishes better. The same type of behavior can also be seen by the Hammerkop.

As I said in the beginning, one of the highlights here in Selous is that you can drive wherever you want and get out of the car. Having lunch like this just make you want to get back.

Right next to my table I had some curios White-browed Sparrow-weavers and Lesser Blue-eared Starlings.

Other mammals seen were Spotted Hyena, Waterbuck and families of Baboons.

New birds on my life list included the Dickinson's Kestrel and Retz's Helmet-Shrike, both striking birds in their own way.

Some of the more common birds were Cut-throat Finch (juv), Af. Open-billed Stork and Emerald Spotted-Dove.

There were many of the classic colorful birds like Bee-eaters and Rollers. Here you can see White-throated Bee-eaters, Little Bee-eater and Lilac-breasted Roller

Raptors and Vultures were quite common but not easy to approach for good photos. However, these White-backed Vultures, a single young White-headed Vulture, a young Af. Hawk-eagle and an Af Fish-Eagle were cooperative enough for some decent photos.

When we stopped for some antelopes my eyes fell to this creature inside a bush. First I thought it was a bird but then realized it was a bat. This one,probably common here, is called Yellow-winged Bat and is just so beautiful.

An other new bird for me on this trip was this cute Collared Palm Thrush, which I saw about five times.

Driving around in a park/ reserve like this is just so nice. Usually not far between new birds makes the days go too fast. Here Fisher's Sparrow-Lark, Af. Grey Hornbill, Red-billed Oxpecker on a Giraff and a proud and stunning Saddle-billed Stork.

When I stopped at these birds I got confused as the were mating and in my opinion were different species. Sending this picture down to a member of Tanzania birds (org) and got the answer that the "blackheaded" bird is not a Burchell's Coucal but a hybrid between this and a White-browed Coucal, which is the second one. The crazy thing about this is that I saw one more mating pair at a total different location between the same type of birds.

Down here you can first see the list of the Selous Mapumziko Lodge and further down birds seen in the reserve itself, during 2 1/2 days. I had a great time and really recommend anyone to do the trip.

List for Mapumziko Lodge.

Af. Fisheagle
Egyptian Goose
Af Open-billed Stork
Af. Darter
Little Egret
Striated Heron
Goliat Heron
Trumpeter Hornbil
Af. Crow
Spot-flanked Barbet
Brown-breasted barbet
Af. Skimmer
Common Sandpiper
White-crowned Lapwing
Water Thick-knee
White-browed Coucal
Green Wood-Hoopoe
Square-tailed Drongo
Fork-tailed Drongo
Speckled Mousebird
Ring-necked Dove
Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove
Little Bee-eater
Böhms's Bee-eater
White-fronted Bee-eater
Malachite Kingfisher
Af. Pygmy Kingfisher
Pied Kingfisher
Giant Kingfisher
Mangrove Kingfisher
Lesser Striped Swallow
Barn Swallow
Wire-tailed Swallow
Af. palm Swift
Yellow-bellied Greenbul
Common Bulbul
Zanzibar Sombre Bulbul
Arrow-marked Babbler
Tropical Boubou
Black-backed Puffback
Winding Cisticola
Af. Paradise Flycatcher
Black-throated Wattle-eye
Lesser Blue-eared Starling
Peter´s Twinspot
Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu
Common Waxbill
Olive Sunbird
Collared Sunbird
Purple-banded Sunbird
Af. Golden Weaver
Lesser masked Weaver