Primates

Chimpanzees

I hear chimps most days at the moment and see them around a couple of times a week.

Other monkeys

 Black and white colobus, blue, red-tailed and l’hoests monkeys all seen regularly, as are baboons. 

Butterflies

The last few months have been special for butterflies.  I am not an expert, but can’t remember a year where I have seen so many different kinds, colours, patterns and so many of them, in all weathers. I reckon, I must have seen a good 300 different kinds in the last 3 months.

Birds

Too many species of note, in the last couple of months, to put them all down here but I will include some of the highlights

• Double-toothed barbet now appears to be a resident
• Yellowbill, also  often seen
•  Many Cuckoos, including African emerald, Black, Dusky long-tailed, Levaillant’s, Red-chested, Diederik and Klaas’.
• Black-throated apalis
• Lots of cuckoo-shrikes, grey, Petit’s and Black
• White-throated greenbull
• Mountain greenbull
• Shelley’s greenbull
• Yellow-throated greenbull seem to be resident
• A pair of Honeyguide greenbulls seem to be resident at the moment
• Blue-headed sunbird
• Purple-bellied sunbird,
• Green throated sunbird
• Green sunbird
• Blue-throated brown sunbird
• Olive Pigeon
• African golden-breasted bunting.
• Grosbeak weaver
• Speckled tinkerbird
• Buff-spotted woodpecker
• Tullberg’s woodpecker
• Elliot’s woodpecker
• Red-headed bluebill
• Doherty’s bush-shrike is now often around and was heard every day for at least 6 weeks
• Brown-capped weaver  seen frequently
• Thick-billed seedeater
• Red-faced crimsonwing
• Dusky Crimsonwing
• Greater honeyguide
• Wilcox Honeyguide
• Black-faced rufous warbler
• Banded Prinia
• African broadbill
• Waller’s starlings
• Slender-billed starlings
• Narrow-tailed starlings
• Western Black-headed Oriole (Montane is common, but this was my first definite sighting of Western)
• White-browed Crombec
• Red-faced Woodland warbler
• And last but not least, a pair of Grey-crowned Cranes seen on the ground, near the garden, yesterday.  We often see them flying overhead, but its rare that they come down to land here.

Fruit of the Land

Plenty of avocados, some guavas, the last of the strawberry guavas and from time to time the fruit of the wild cardamom, an unusual taste.  Planted some naranjilla and one is showing signs of producing fruit.

In the garden, we have leeks, turnips, , welsh onions , pumpkins, amaranthus, cabbages as well as salad veg.

Swimming Pond

Water is unusually clear, which I and the frogs enjoy greatly.

Trees

Planted about 15 more forest trees in last couple of months and updated some of the tree labels

Philip

April 23, 2020