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Reviews
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Past Meetings: Masuku Lodge,
Nkanga River Conservation Area, Choma with Pete Leonard, Friday 15 to
Sunday 17 February 2002 Nkanga River Conservation Area near
Choma, one of Zambia's Important Bird Areas (IBAs), was the venue for
a fabulous birding weekend held 16 - 17 February. About 70 bird-watching
enthusiasts joined Pete Leonard in his rural stomping ground of Southern
Province, otherwise known as birder's paradise. By all accounts the weekend was
an unqualified success. Of the many highlights that can no doubt be recounted
about this week, here are a few: For still others, the up-close views of a number of birds during the ringing exercise, including that of a majestic African Goshawk, were a memorable highlight. For the few who had the good fortune to witness it, another highlight of the weekend will ever be the memory of predator Pete racing through the reeds in his gum boots and capturing a purple heron. Before it even dawned on us what in the world Pete was doing, he had captured his hapless prey and was showing it off to us with one hand holding the legs and the other clasping the bird's razor-sharp bill which, as Pete noted, is like a spring-loaded dagger that could, with one lighting strike, poke out the eye of an unwary human. A final highlight for many was the social part of the weekend: getting to spend some relaxing time "in the country" with so many wonderful people, and in particular our magnanimous hosts who provided us with 5-star food in the most comfortable of surroundings. Whatever one's highlight may be, recorded above or not, the weekend will long be remembered as a birding extravaganza par excellence by all who attended it. The force behind the magic of its success was Pete Leonard who very adeptly organised every aspect of it. He made sure that we got to experience birds in a variety of different habitats in the conservancy. For those of us staying at Masuku Lodge, the first habitat was at the dinner table on Friday evening the 15th. After dinner, we saw and handled stuffed specimens of about 20 birds of the area. These study skins had been brought by another of Choma's ornithologists, John Colebrook-Robjent who graciously allowed us to view them on this occasion. Although the colour of the plumage was sometimes faded, we got to observe their relative sizes vis-à-vis each other. But most importantly Pete played the songs or calls of these birds as we were viewing and handling them. Pete had method in this strategy: he announced that tomorrow's birding would require that we listen to sounds because we would not always see the bird that was making them. He predicted, for example, that this would be the case with the elusive Red-Capped Robin that lives in the thickets and rarely shows itself. Real bird viewing started bright and early the following dawn when we gathered on the lawn of Masuku Lodge and, you guessed it, had to listen to bird calls because it was still too dark to see the birds. After the sun appeared above the horizon and the birds became more active, we set out on foot. In this early morning period right around the lodge, we identified, among many others, the Narina Trogon, Didric Cuckoo, Senegal Coucal, Trumpeter Hornbill, Red-breasted Swallow (nesting in a culvert), House Martin, Arnot's Chat, Lesser Blue-eared Starling, Yellow-mantled Whydah and Cabanis's Bunting. In the thickets on the way to the place where Pete had set up a "ringing station" we identified the calls of the Eastern Bearded Scrub Robin and Red-Capped Robin (true to Pete's prediction we failed to see them), then saw Jameson's FireHnch, Melba Finch, Red-throated Twinspot and Long-tailed Paradise Widow. The latter three have us magnificent views while they collected their early morning seed breakfast from a the track ahead of us. A bit later we got very close-up views of both male and female Red-throated Twinspots, as well as an Eastern Bearded Scrub Robin, when Pete's mist-nets produced fine specimens for the ringing exercise. The highlight of the ringing experience will remain for many, however, the very close-up views of an African Goshawk that, miraculously, did not destroy the net before it was bagged by Pete and fellow ringer Lizanne Roxburgh (Choma's third ornithologist - must be a breeding ground.) The near-by miombo woodlands were less vibrant with birdsongs than anticipated but did produce the Miombo Pied Barbet, a beautiful Bennett's Woodpecker, Southern Hyliota, Grey Penduline Tit, Broad-Tailed Paradise Widow and Black-eared Seed-eater. During our walk through this woodland we learned about the parasitising predilection of two paradise widows: the long-tailed victimized the Melba Finch while the broad-tailed goes for the Orange-Winged Pytilia. In the afternoon of Saturday 16th we took in the Ross Hot Spring Dam. This is a lovely area approached by walking across a grassland dotted with and edged by trees. Here we observed some Southern Grey-Headed Sparrows, little LBJs often overlooked in the field. Usually uninteresting and not worth a second look, they came into the spotlight with Pete's explanation that this species, which is an inhabitant of grasslands containing some trees, is a smaller version of the Grey-Headed Sparrow that everyone knows that common sightings in urban settings. The separation of these two into distinct species is a boon for birders who like to increase their number of lifers. In fact, both species call the Nkanga River Conservancy home, but live in different habitats. Some good sightings in the dam area were: Little Bittern, Great White Egret, Purple Heron (the injured captive), African Hawk Eagle, European Hobby, Lesser Moorhen, Common Pratincole, White-winged Black Tern, Malachite Kingfisher, White-fronted Bee-eater, Collared Palm Thrush, Southern Long-tailed Starling (single resident, otherwise rare here) and Zebra Waxbill. On Saturday evening a big braai was held at Masuku Lodge for everyone associated with this birding weekend, including a number of locals and pupils from the school where Pete teaches. The meal was followed by an excellent slide show presented by Pete. Birding initiates and long-time birders learnt many new facts about the amazing birdlife of Zambia through this lovely presentation. Very early on Sunday 17th we met at Muckle Neuk, the homestead at one of the farms in the conservancy. While we waited for a light rain to subside, we enjoyed coffee and tuned into the call of a Senegal Kingfisher from a high branch somewhere as we saw a Coppery Sunbird busily trying to get it breakfast of morning nectar. We then moved on to the game farm where we saw what many had been anxiously anticipating since the beginning of the weekend: the endemic-to- Zambia Chaplin's Barbet. Its white plumage was strikingly iridescent in the early morning sun. Other interesting sightings in this area were Rufous-naped Lark (vocalizing incessantly from the branch of dead tree), Flappet Lark, Sooty Chat, Croaking Cisticola and Red-billed Quelea (unusual at this time of year). We then went on to nearby Lake Meg where we saw, among others, Little Grebe, Common Squacco Heron, White-backed Duck, African Pygmy Goose, African Marsh Harrier (very rare here now), Eastern Red-footed Falcon, African Jacana and Lesser Jacana. By the time our final weekend brunch was finished, most participants were birded out. A few stalwarts, however, kept up the pace at the dam located just below Masuku Lodge. Sightings there included Green-backed Heron, Hamerkop, Water Dikkop, European Grey Cuckoo, Giant Kingfisher, Pied Kingfisher, Crowned Hornbill, Greater Honeyguide, Miombo Grey Tit, Red Bishop and Dusky Indigobird. This marvellous birding weekend was not complete without high levels of suspense occasioned by Pete's mystery bird competition. Pete had posted six photos of mystery birds that required correct identification order to win a wonderful prize. Much scratching of heads and adjusting of magnifying glasses took place around this challenge, especially since one photo seemed to be showing an invisible bird, or a shadow at best. The winners of the contest were Bob Stiemstedt of Livingstone jointly with a team consisting of 3 of Pete's pupils, aged 7-11. Congratulations to the lucky winners!! Congratulations also and a very grand thanks to Pete for organizing this weekend and making it such an educational and enjoyable experience for us all. Knowing that he won't be around to do it next year makes us miss him already!!! |
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