The previous Blog Post described the brilliant morning we had enjoyed at Muxima. This gave us a free afternoon as we had seen all the species we were hoping to see. This allowed a new plan for the afternoon of driving about fifty miles North of our accommodation at the Carpe Diem Resort, to the estuary at Saco dos Flamingos. This was a site that Niall & Richard had visited in their long drive from Johannesburg to Luanda to see Long-billed Pipit: which was a Tick for Richard & Phil. Now we had the time, we could add it into the route: albeit with a bit of extra miles being covered. But with diesel at £1.10 a gallon, it wasn't going to add a lot to the cost of the fuel for the trip.
Going North we reached the big bridge over the Rio Kwanza. We pulled over for a short look at the Mangroves edge from the bridge. We had seen a shy Blue Monkey and an even more shy Angolan Talapoin at Muxima. I had only managed to get a photo of the first of the two Monkeys. There were more Blue Monkeys and Angolan Talapoins by the bridge and like Macaques in India and South East Asia, they had adopted a scavenging lifestyle by the bridge. This probably isn't a great option for their diet, but it does show they aren't being hunted in the immediate reserve area along the river edge.
We arrived at the Saco dos Flamingos mudflats to find the tide out and a large number of Greater Flamingos, Cormorants and some Waders feeding on the exposed mud and channel edges. Fortunately, with Niall & Richard having visited before the start of the trip, they knew where to look for the Long-legged Pipits and we very quickly found one feeding in the late afternoon sun. A nice-looking Kittlitz's Sandplover was keeping it company.
We carried onto the mudflats where there were around two hundred Greater Flamingos and the white-breasted African subspecies of Cormorants. There was also a good scattering of Waders. Many looked to be in their First Summer plumages e.g. the Grey Plovers and Sanderlings didn't have their great looking Summer plumages that we see in the late Spring/early Summer in the UK. Being first Summer individuals they were spending the time in Africa rather than expending the energy to fly to the high Arctic. Others had a more local distribution like the White-fronted Sandplovers and Kittlitz's Sandplovers. Unfortunately, most Waders were distant and too far away for photos.
Having had a good look at the mudflats, we left as we still had an hour's drive back to the Carpe Diem Resort. For once, we were back at the accommodation at a reasonable time & had the chance of getting some food reasonably quickly & an early night after our very early start. But frustratingly that didn't happen. It was Saturday evening & there were a number of people staying at the Carpe Diem Resort or the neighbouring Eco Lodge, including a number of European surfers. The very friendly manager & the owner of the Resort, thought it would be good for us all to get together & enjoy a meal together. They were in no hurry to provide the food, so yet again it was well into the evening before it arrived. Probably not a problem if you had got up late & had a day of surfing. But we had been up since five and had another long day in the field. So the chance of getting to bed early failed again.