We had spent a few hours along the dirt tracks at Muxima in the heat of the previous day, with little success. We had a second chance with a day at Muxima and there were a number of key Angolan species we were hoping to see: specifically, Grey-striped Francolin (endemic), Angola Helmetshrike (endemic), Monteiro's Bushshrike (near endemic), Falkenstein's Greenbul & Golden-backed Bishop (endemic).
We left the Carpe Diem Resort well before dawn as we had a ninety minute drive back to Muxima & we wanted to arrive for dawn. The drive was good for Mammals with an African Wild Cat, Large-spotted Genet & brief views of an unidentified Mongoose on the road. Given we had spent a week in Angola up to that point & only seen a single shy Malbrouck Monkey, a brief view of an Antelope sp., a couple of Squirrel species and a few unidentified Bats, then it was clearly a good day for Mammals. It was even better when we went on to see good views of three more Monkeys: Blue Monkeys, Malbrouck Monkey & Angolan Talapoins late in the day.
We arrived at Muxima just after dawn & tried the river again in the hope of an Egyptian Plover. But we weren't hopeful given our lack of success the previous day and the high water levels: we weren't surprised at the lack of an Egyptian Plover. We carried onto the dirt tracks to the East of Muxima to explore the Miombo woodland. We tried a narrow side track, but quickly retreated after kicking up a lot of Mosquitoes out of the long grass. The current advice is to be wary of Mosquitoes throughout Angola and we were all taking malarial tablets. While Malaria is a problem spread by night flying Mosquitoes, there is always a risk of being bitten by one disturbed during the day. Secondly, day flying Mosquitoes can transmit Dengue Fever which is a nasty & unpleasant illness which can put people in hospital for a few days and which there are no preventative tablets available. Finally, none of us wanted a lot of bites. We returned to Birding along the main track, which was wide enough& sufficiently open to not be a problem with Mosquitoes. We were greeted by a party of four White-crested Helmetshrikes as we rejoined the main track. They are one of my favourite African species and I was pleased to see them again.
We drove a bit further along the track and stopped the 4WD as Niall had heard a calling Grey-striped Francolin. Fairly quickly we saw one run across the track then reappear again. Unfortunately, it was the wrong side of the track for me to easily get a photo from the 4WD. But at least we had all had good views. We got out and tried to get some more views. There were a couple of pairs in the area and they appeared to be having a territorial dispute. I did get some more poor views in the trackside bushes, but still no photos. Just as we were getting ready to move on, an Angola Helmetshrike appeared: our second endemic of the day.
Within minutes, a Monteiro's Bushshrike flew across the track. It was surprising how a large bulky and colourful Bushshrike can disappear into the vegetation. Angola has an endemic subspecies. There is a second subspecies that occurs on Mount Cameroon in Cameroon that was rediscovered in 1992: there are no eBird records of the Cameroon subspecies, so perhaps this is a rare subspecies.
We carried on further along the track. There had been several calling Gabon Boubous during the morning, but as they were a species we had all seen well in the past, we weren't putting any effort into trying to see one. Finally, one popped out of a bush and showed itself for the camera. This was a good little area and we saw a female Golden-backed Bishop, two Little Bee-eaters and three Madagascar Bee-eaters. A skulking Greenbul started calling and turned out to be our first Falkenstein's Greenbul. There were a couple of pairs in the area, but none showed well for more than a short view over the next hour.
It had been a great morning where we had seen the key Angolan species we were hoping to see in the Muxima area with the endemic Grey-striped Francolin & Angola Helmetshrike and endemic subspecies of Monteiro's Bushshrike all being seen in just over an hour. We had the afternoon free to look for Long-legged Pipit & some general coastal species: which I will cover in the next Blog Post.