FROM THE CUCKOO’S NEST NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018
Primates.
Had a visit from our friend, the lone silverback, again and he ate the flowers at the back of my tent, as he had done the first time.
Chimpanzees
Chimps have been very noisy in the last few days. Have seen them a few times in the last month, but not as often as usual.
Monkeys
Black and white colobus, blue and l’hoest’s monkeys , red-tailed monkeys and baboons all are regular visitors to trees by the boundary, where Cuckooland adjoins the forest. Baboons have now discovered my guava trees and passion fruit vines, which I am not at all happy about.
Birds
Notable sightings in this period include:
White-throated greenbull
Double-toothed barbet
Honeyguide greenbull
African Golden-breasted bunting -now seems to be resident
Yellowbill
Red-headed bluebill
Banded Prinia -first time seen at Cuckooland
Willow warbler
Grosbeak Weaver
Grey Cuckoo-shrike
Equatorial Akalat
Grey-crowned crane
Lots of blue-headed sunbirds
Blue-throated brown sunbird
African Hill Babbler
Yellow-eyed black flycatcher
Dusky tit
Green hylia – I think -It was a brief view.
Dusky Crimsonwing
African Broadbill
Purple-headed starlings
Lesser honeyguide
Blue-headed coucal
Red-headed malimbe
White-starred robin
Narrow-tailed starlings now back from a brief absence
European bee-eaters still patroling the skies on most days.
And lots of Cuckoos-Diederick, Klaas’s, African Emerald, Black whilethe long-tailed Cuckoos -Dusky and Bar-tailed now present at forest edge.
Insects
Had a visit from 6 entomologists, who collected lots of insects, mainly hoverflies, so hoping to have some new species, Cuckoolandia, to go with our 2 species of moth.
Fruit of the Land
Our avocados now finished, but we get from the village. And guavas and passion fruit decimated by baboons. We do get some .strawberry guavas and pineapples from garden.
In the garden, we have salad veg ,leeks, celery, turnips and welsh onions.
.Philip
December 24th, 2018