2005 Tour Narrative
This was Sunbird’s first trip into Zambia and it proved to be very successful with a number of great highlights, including extended views of one of Africa’s most enigmatic species the African Pitta. The tour began as soon as customs had been cleared in Lusaka with a drive north to the town of Chingola, with large numbers of Abdim’s Stork and Marabous along the way.
Over the next few days birding west from the Copperbelt to Hillwood farm and the source of the Zambezi produced fantastic birds in several pristine habitats. These included Black-faced Canary, Red-throated Cliff-Swallow, Blue-spotted Dove, Blue-breasted Bee-eater, and White-chinned Prinia on the Mutanda River; Bar-winged Weaver and Black-collared Eremomela in the prime Miombo woodlands west of Solwezi; Fulleborns, Rosy-breasted, and the enigmatic Grimwood’s Longclaws on the Chitunta plains; Forbes Plover at the Zambezi rapids; Blue-breasted Kingfisher, Laura’s Woodland Warbler, Narina Trogon, Angola Lark, Black-rumped Buttonquail, Denham’s Bustard, Bannerman’s Sunbird, Locust Finch, and Swamp Nightjar near the lodge at Hillwood.
The Hillwood airstrip produced Black-collared Bulbul, and Miombo Rock-Thrush while the roadside birds from Solwezi and back included Dickenson’s and Grey Kestrels, Mosque Swallows and Coppery-tailed Coucal.
After leaving the western corner of Zambia we drove east via Chingola and a small patch of forest and wetland near Kitwe, where we added Western Banded Snake-Eagle and Lesser Jacana to the list. At the fabulous Mutinondo wilderness we had our very best of Miombo birding, adding several great birds to the growing list, Cabanis’ Bunting, Reichard’s Seed-eater, Bohm’s Flycatcher, Red-capped Crombec, Pale Wren-Warbler, Retz’s Helmets-Shrike, Miombo Bearded Scrub-Robin, Green-capped Eremomela, Rufous-bellied Tit, Grey-rumped Swallow, Miombo Grey Tit, Pale-billed Hornbill, African Scops-Owl and Black-backed Barbet.
The drive across country to Victoria Falls via Lusaka was not without its own exciting birds, including Chestnut-mantled Sparrow-Weaver and Schalow’s Turaco at the Forest Inn lunch stop, Rufous-bellied and Goliath Herons, and African Pygmy Geese at the Kafue River. While the evening sun-downer cruise on the Zambezi produced Rock Pratincole, White-crowned Plovers, Half-collared Kingfisher, African Finfoot, White fronted Bee-eaters, Wire-tailed Swallow to mention a few.
A morning’s birding along the banks of the Zambezi River, followed by a trip to see the amazing Victoria Falls, and another evening on the water produced several more goodies for the list including Collared Palm Thrush, Crested Barbet, more views of African Finfoot, and Collared Pratincole. We had a little extra entertainment on the way to the Falls when we were delayed by a herd of elephants actually sleeping in the track.
The expedition to look for the Black-faced Lovebird proved successful, not only for great scope views of this extremely rare and endangered species but also adding species like Red-billed Buffalo-Weaver, White-browed Sparrow-Weaver, Burchell’s Starling, African Harrier and Little Sparrowhawk, Black-bellied Bustard, Southern-black Tit, Capped Wheatear, Yellow-bellied Eremomela, and Magpie Shrike. After lunch the drive to our next destination near Choma passed uneventfully but we were welcomed at our lodgings by a pair of Arnot’s Chats nesting under the eves of the dining room. An evening walk produced a spectacle of raptors and other birds feeding on Alates which were hatching in their millions. Lesser-spotted and Tawny Eagles, a few Lesser Kestrels, Red-footed Falcons, and large numbers of Amur Falcons competing with Raquet-tailed Rollers, numerous swallows, bee-eaters and a large variety of passerines were all competing for this food source.
The morning quest for the vulnerable Chaplin’s Barbet also proved highly successful though not without some effort when finally two birds were found perched high on a fig tree far from any of the known nest sites. While a lone Secretary Bird caused more excitement, we added Shelley’s Francolin, Senegal Coucal, Red-faced Mousebird, Groundscraper Thrush, and a group of stunning Pennant-winged Nightjars flushed in the woodland. The trip down to the Zambezi valley added a few more gems like Coppery Sunbird, White Helmetshrikes and Bohm’s Spinetail.
The next day was the highlight of the trip with a single bird being the target, and anything else as a bonus. We set out before dawn for the pitta site, and arriving in the dark we worked our way upriver to listening to the dawn chorus, African Broadbills started the calling, followed by Natal Francolins, a Barred Cuckoo, White-browed Robinchat, and suddenly the ‘boink’ of the African Pitta in the distance. All this in the dark! We crept closer to the sound and waited for dawn. Looking in the direction of the calling bird we found the bird against the twilight sky and watched it display as a silhouette for around 20 minutes. The group all stood in dead silence before it became light enough to see any colour on this amazing bird. Still in shock at finding this bird so easily and seeing it so well we all found it quite difficult to concentrate on birding but we did manage to add Livingstone’s Flycatcher, Bennet’s Woodpecker, Dark-backed Weaver, and a few others to the growing list.
On our final morning we returned to the pitta site in the hope of getting to see a few of the birds we were still missing but once again were distracted by the pitta, and this time in the scope briefly for all and in excellent light. The drive back to Harare was uneventful but our final evening was spent exploring the wetlands and woodlands near our lodge and produced some real excitement with several African Skimmers, our first Hammerkop for the trip, Yellow-billed and Saddle-billed Storks, Grey-headed Kingfisher and Green-backed Honeybird.
With all the great birds, and the superb accommodation this trip was thoroughly enjoyed by both the participants and the leader.
Rod Cassidy
Updated: June 2006