24 Jun 23 - Angola - Monkeys & Long Legs

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.

Blue Monkey: There is a Malbrouck Monkey in the background with its dark Vervet Monkey facial pattern

Blue Monkey: Looking for something thrown into the vegetation edge by a driver

Blue Monkey: Eating the bread roll that had been thrown from the car

Blue Monkey

Blue Monkey: Two immatures

Angolan Talapoin: They don't have the dark facial pattern that Malbrouck Monkeys show

Angolan Talapoin

Angolan Talapoin

There was some interesting habitat along the route: We didn't have time to stop & have a look in this habitat

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.

The Long-legged Pipit and Kittlitz's Sandplover were feeding on this short vegetation

Another habitat view

Kittlitz's Sandplover: This monotypic species occurs in Sub-Saharan Africa, North East Egypt & Madagascar

Long-legged Pipit: This is the nominate pallidiventris subspecies which occurs from Cameroon & Equatorial Guinea to Gabon & North West Angola. There is a second subspecies in Central Democratic Republic of the Congo

Long-legged Pipit

Long-legged Pipit

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.

Greater Flamingo: This monotypic species has a wide range from Southern Europe & the Mediterranean Basin to South Africa & the Indian Subcontinent

Caspian Tern with a First Summer Grey Plover

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.

24 Jun 23 - Angola - A Lucky Morning At Muxima

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.

White-crested Helmetshrike: This is the poliocephalus subspecies which occurs from Central Kenya to South Uganda, South East Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Namibia & South Africa

There were some stunning big Baobabs along the dirt tracks

A number of the Baobabs have footholds cut or nailed into them: This allowed the locals to climb them to get to the fruits

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.

Angola Helmetshrike: This monotypic species is restricted to the Gabela escarpment in West Angola

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.

Monteiro's Bushshrike: This is the nominate monteiri subspecies which is restricted to North West Angola

Monteiro's Bushshrike: I can just about make out the broad white eye patch

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.

Little Bee-eater: This is the meridionalis subspecies that occurs from the Congo basin to East Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central Angola, Uganda & West Kenya South to the Eastern part of South Africa

Madagascar Bee-eater: This is the alternans subspecies which occurs in the Arid littoral of West Angola & North West Namibia. The other nominate subspecies occurs in Madagascar, the Comoro Islands & East Africa

Gabon Boubou: This is the guttatus subspecies which occurs in the Lower Congo River basin of West Democratic Republic of the Congo & West Angola

Gabon Boubou

Grey Tit-flycatcher: This is the catoleuca subspecies which occurs from South Democratic Republic of the Congo to the Angola Plateau, Namibia, Botswana, Malawi & Natal in South Africa

Green Crombec: This is the tando subspecies which occurs from North West Angola to the Republic of the Congo & Southern Democratic Republic of the Congo

Holub's Golden Weaver: This monotypic species occurs from Gabon to Angola, Uganda, Kenya, Botswana & Mozambique

Blue Monkey: A wary individual

Blue Monkey: It quickly disappeared from the tree when it realised we had seen it: a clear sign of the hunting pressure from the locals

Niall, Richard & Phil hoping something else good was going to pop into view

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.