David & Glen, leaders for this tour.
Both guys proved to be pleasant company
& great birders.
Both guys proved to be pleasant company
& great birders.
Arrived in Libreville on 5th
August, met up with David & Glen
& after a nights rest, enjoyed a couple of hours birding the next morning
in an urban environment around the hotel. It was a mixture of large gardens
& patches of forest on vacant lots. However, it was very birdy, recording
39 species, best were:
2 Palm Nut Vulture; 6 Red-headed Lovebird; 10 Swamp Palm Bulbul; 2
Chattering Cisticola; 8 Reichanbach’s Sunbird; 5 Carmelite Sunbird; 1 Copper
Sunbird & 2 Orange cheeked Waxbill. I didn’t take my camera because of
security issues in this area.
Took an afternoon flight to Sao
Tome which was uneventful. Just had time to get a couple of endemics before
dark: Sao Tome Prinia & Newton’s Sunbird.
The area around the hotel.
secondary forest. Breeding in the hills?
Glen; Jean Marc & Keith.
Read the sign!
Sao Tome Spinetail.
Photo courtesy of Glen Valentine
Blue Waxbill
Photo courtesy of Glen Valentine.
Sao Tome Speirops
Flighty & difficult to photograph.
Birding around the hotel & village on the 6th August was quite productive with a nice Sao Tome Kingfisher on the beach, Sao Tome Speirops were around, but
very flighty. It was a relaxed introduction to the island.
The way into the forest.
Photo courtesy of Keith Wiggers.
On 7th we walked
the Amelia Track which proved to be
good. A wonderful Sao Tome Olive Pigeon sat quietly above the
trail. Sao Tome Green Pigeon & Island Bronze - naped Pigeon were welcome
additions to the list.
Sao Tome Scops Owl.
What a brilliant bird!
Sao Tome Paradise Flycatcher male.
Female.
Sao Tome Thrush.
Photo courtesy of Glen Valentine.
Sao Tome Speriops
Black capped Speirops.
Photo courtesy of Glen Valentine.
After much searching, David found us a wonderful Sao Tome Scops Owl roosting in the daytime, while Sao Tome
Spinetails flew overhead. Sao Tome Orioles called overhead but were tough to
see, but Sao Tome Paradise Flycatchers
were a little easier. Sao Tome White-eyes flitted through the high canopy &
Sao Tome Thrush was in the mid story.
Sao Tome Oriole
Photo courtesy of Glen Valentine.
Principe Seedeater of the Sao Tome race.
Giant Sunbird
A great bird to see.
Photo courtesy of Glen Valentine.
We were lucky to see a couple of Giant
Sunbirds on the forest edge while Sao Tome Weavers were quite common.
It was a good day out & we all enjoyed a pleasant meal back at our
hotel.
Photo courtesy of Keith Wiggers.
Principe Island
Photo courtesy of Keith Wiggers.
Beautiful old buildings, unfortunately in decay.
A sleepy, laid back kind of a place.
An amazing introduced
Madagascar Palm.
Photo courtesy of Keith Wiggers
The next day we took the short flight to Principe & the wonderful Bon
Bon Resort.
The boat to Playa Sao Tome.
Photo courtesy of Keith Wiggers.
Photo courtesy of Keith Wiggers.
Our supply boat, which shadowed us.
This is beautiful but rugged & difficult terrain.
Photo courtesy of Keith Wiggers.
Photo courtesy of Keith Wiggers.
Photo courtesy of Keith Wiggers.
Our landing spot.
Reuben, David & Keith.
Home for the night!
Home for the night!
Wading across the river.
Photo courtesy of Keith Wiggers.
Photo courtesy of Keith Wiggers.
Photo courtesy of Keith Wiggers.
The only problem being we left & took a boat ride to Playa
Sao Tome, where we camped in uncomfortable conditions. Some of the walking was
quite tough, trails being narrow, slippy & treacherous. We heard the newly
describe Principe Scops Owl, but couldn’t coax it into view.
Blue-breasted Kingfisher.
Species diversity
was poor but we saw a few tough species: Blue-breasted & White-bellied Kingfishers
(both ripe for splitting) & Principe Starling.
The 10th was a
tough hike up into the hills, the trail being a bit of a nightmare. We hiked up
looking for Principe Thrush, but yet again only heard it. We did see the rare
Principe White-eye though.
Leaving this rugged part of the island.
Jean Marc stayed behind & was looking smug!
Photo courtesy of Keith Wiggers.
Timneh Parrot.
Photo courtesy of Glen Valentine.
It was a relief to be back on the boat going back to
the luxurious Bon Bon Resort & we all enjoyed a shower & then a walk
around the grounds seeing Timneh Parrots
& lots of Principe Weavers. The
resort was a joy & I would like to come back to enjoy the facilities.
Our camp in the forest.
Mona Monkey
Photo courtesy of Glen Valentine.
Sao Tome Weaver
Very active gleaners.
Immature Sao Tome Fiscal.
Photo courtesy of Glen Valentine
A terrible photo of one of the rarest birds in the world!
Sao Tome Grosbeak!
Male Giant Weaver
Photo courtesy of Glen Valentine.
Photo courtesy of Glen Valentine.
Photo courtesy of Glen Valentine
Sao Tome Grosbeak!
Photo courtesy of Glen Valentine.
On the 11th we
were once more back on Sao Tome &
we drove to the Obo National Park
& hiked up to the camp on the Monte
Carro Trail. Once again birding conditions were difficult but we managed to
get all the big five wanted species: Dwarf Olive Ibis; Sao Tome Fiscal; Sao
Tome Grosbeak; Shortail & Giant Weaver.
Look at the state of us after the trail!
However, the best was at night looking for the species of Storm Petrel
which breeds in the forested mountains! It is undoubtedly a new species &
we did hear it calling across the night sky! A bizarre but wonderful
experience.
We all had a day off around the hotel on 13th August, but went out at dusk & manage to see the local race of Barn Owl, which looks very different. This is yet another species which may be split in the future. And so ended our time on the Gulf of Guinea Islands. We had done wonderfully well, but had some tough days in the field. A great start to this trip.
Blurred but you get the idea!
