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Posted by Elsa Alvear on 18:45:38 03/04/12
Mom and I went on a mother/daughter safari for two weeks in Tanzania, and I m still pinching myself that I fulfilled this childhood dream. We spent time in Arusha (city), Arusha National Park, Lake Manyara National Park, Ngorogoro Crater Conservation Area, Serengeti National Park, Olduvai Gorge, and the Lake Eyasi area. We also visited four tribes, the Masai, Datoga, Hadzabe (nomadic hunter and gatherer), and Datoga. Truly spectacular lifetime experiences including seeing lionesses guard their zebra kill against hyenas, two week old cheetah cubs, leopards in trees eating a gazelle, elephant families walking around, zillions of gazelles and wildebeests and zebras, giraffes eating acacia tree leaves, and a hyena right outside our tent at night, staring at me. The birds, of course, were gorgeous and colorful,125 species definitively identified and many more left a mystery (especially swallows and LBJs), and of the 125 species all but three were lifers (Cattle Egret, Barn Swallow and House Sparrow) can you count a lifer if you ve seen it at a zoo but not in the wild? If not, add Ostrich, Grey Crowned Crane, the two flamingos and Marabou Stork to the not-lifer list. I am very grateful for the privilege of having seen this incredible area of the world. I wish I had seen more sunbird species but I do hope one day to go back to beautiful Tanzania and its lovely people. Bird names and plate numbers are from Princeton Field Guides: Birds of East Africa, © 2002 by Terry Stevenson and John Fanshawe, a truly excellent field guide with marvelous illustrations by Brian Small, John Gale, and Norman Arlott. Great trip by Sierra Club International Outings and Unique Safaris. And many thanks to Mom for being a wonderful travel companion and an exceptional spotter.
1 Ostrich (soooo cool to see the world s biggest bird)
7 Little Grebe
7 Pink-backed Pelican
8 African Darter
11 Cattle Egret
12 Grey Heron
12 Black-headed Heron
13 White Stork
14 Abdim s Stork
15 Yellow-billed Stork
15 Marabou Stork
16 Hadada
16 Sacred Ibis
17 African Spoonbill
17 Greater Flamingo (P. roseus not the one from the Americas)
17 Lesser Flamingo
18 Egyptian Goose
19 White-faced Whistling Duck
20 Red-billed Teal
24 Secretary Bird
24 Black Kite
24 Black-shouldered Kite (E. caeruleus, different than the N. Am. Black-shouldered Kite)
25 African Fish Eagle
26 Egyptian Vulture
26 Hooded Vulture
26 White-headed Vulture
27 African White-backed Vulture
27 Lappet-faced Vulture
27 Rupell s Vulture (aka Rupell s Griffon Vulture)
28 Black-chested Snake Eagle
29 Montagu s Harrier
29 Pallid Harrier
30 Pale Chanting Goshawk
35 Augur Buzzard
36 Tawny Eagle
38 African Hawk-Eagle
39 Long-crested Eagle
40 Martial Eagle
41 Greater Kestrel
41 Lesser Kestrel
45 Lanner Falcon
46 Helmeted Guineafowl
50 Hildebrandt s Francolin
54 Black Crake
55 African Jacana
56 Grey Crowned Crane
57 Kori Bustard
59 Black-winged Stilt
59 Pied Avocet
60 Water Thicknee
61 Two-banded Courser
63 Blacksmith Lapwing
63 White-crowned Lapwing
67 Ruff
68 Common Sandpiper
82 Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse
84 Speckled Pigeon
86 African Mourning Dove
86 Red-eyed Dove
86 Ring-necked Dove
87 Dusky Turtle Dove
87 Laughing Dove
88 Brown Parrot
90 Fischer s Lovebird
93 White-bellied Go-Away Bird
98 White-browed Coucal
100 African Scops Owl
104? Nightjar spp. (this one killed me, saw it clearly one night, but forgot the details once I got back to the guidebook note to self ALWAYS CARRY FIELDGUIDE)
107 Little Swift
107 White-rumped Swift
108 Palm Swift
110 Speckled Mousebird (this one has an unbelievably long tail)
111 Pied Kingfisher
111 Striped Kingfisher
112 Woodland Kingfisher
114 Little Bee-eater
118 European Roller
118 Lilac-breasted Roller
118 Rufous-crowned Roller
119 Green Wood-hoopoe
120 African Hoopoe
121 Red-billed Hornbill
121 Von Der Decken s Hornbill
122 African Grey Hornbill
124 Silvery-cheeked Hornbill
140 Red-winged Lark
140 Rufous-naped Lark
144 Fischer s Sparrow Lark
147 Barn Swallow
149 Africa Pied Wagtail
150 Yellow Wagtail
156 Common Bulbul
166 White-browed Robin Chat
173 Stonechat
173 Capped Wheatear
212 African Paradise Flycatcher
212 Silverbird
220 Montane White-eye
220 Yellow White-eye
228 Beautiful Sunbird
229 Variable Sunbird
231 Common Fiscal
234 Tropical Boubou
242 Pied Crow
242 White-naped Raven
244 Yellow-billed Oxpecker
246 Red-winged Starling
250 Superb Starling
250 Wattled Starling
250 Hildebrandt s Starling
251 House Sparrow
251 Speckle-fronted Weaver
253 Rufous-tailed Weaver
254 White-headed Buffalo Weaver
254 Red-billed Buffalo Weaver
255 Vitelline Masked Weaver
256 Black-necked Weaver
256 Spectacled Weaver
257 Baglafecht Weaver
263 Red-headed Weaver
266 Fan-tailed Widowbird
266 Black Bishop
268 Southern Red Bishop
275 Red-billed Firefinch
280 Pin-tailed Whydah (another unbelievably long tail!)
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