EREMOMELA BIRDING

CENTRAL MOZAMBIQUE
JAN 1997

During January of 1997 we set foot into central Mozambique to see what exciting birds this area held for us. Our group consisted of: Scott Ronaldson, Kobus Wentzel and Don English (rangers in the Kruger National Park); Gus Mills (my father and a specialist scientist in the KNP); Mark Norris (a school friend) and myself. Our original plan was to enter Mozambique through the Machipanda border post at Mutare and to visit Mount Gorongosa; then we would head for the forests north-east of Muanza. However, due to our restricted time of five days, we headed straight for Muanza and decided to keep Gorongosa for another trip.

There were no problems at the border, nor did we experience any difficulties with any officials elsewhere. We headed east towards the coast, both our vehicles loaded with water, food, camping equipment and fuel supplies. The first stretch of road (about 150 km) was newly tarred and traveling was comfortable. Thereafter more cautious driving was necessary to avoid potholes. Before we reached Dondo, we made a number of birding stops. The first was to watch firecrowned bishops in the tall grass on the road verge; the other stops were made near Tica at the Pungwe floodplain. Here, on the inundated flats, were hundreds of blackbacked cisticola, many black coucals, bluecheecked and carmine bee-eaters and a variety of waterfowl. We also saw a pair of rednecked falcons in a tall palm tree next to the road.

Just before Dondo we left the tarred road to travel north on a very rough, yet fairly wide, dirt road. The season’s rains had already taken their toll and the heavy logging trucks which use the road, had promoted the erosion. As we travelled northwards, the road became narrower, yet the surface was smoother, probably due to the sandy nature of the soils. The initial 13 kilometres took one hour, but thereafter we managed to average about 25-30 km/h. The first bird we stopped to admire was a sub adult cuckoo hawk - and it would be the last bird on that day too. By this time the heavy weather that was looming to the north had become a reality. We hit the most tremendous rain storm and it became quite evident why there were so many water diversion canals along the road - at a later stage we were told that it was fairly usual to experience such heavy rain . Fortunately the rain stopped to allow us to set up camp next to a logging camp just off the road, before it got dark.

The next morning we were up and off at broadbills (a term preferred to ‘sparrows’ in this part of the world). We thought it best to get to Chinizua forest as quickly as possible, as newly provided information seemed to suggest that we would have greatest success there. Our route continued northwards along the upturned railway line as the sandy road wound through brachestegia forest. First excitement was provided by a flock of chestnufronted helmetshrikes, which we enticed closer with their calls. Unfortunately the light was terrible and we would have to wait another day before obtaining excellent views. Next was a pair of Mozambique batis and a later redfaced crombec, blackeared canary, green twinspot, broadbilled roller, bluespotted dove, Kirk’s francolin (a subspecies of the crested francolin), Bohm’s spinetail, whitebreasted cuckooshrike, Mashona hyliota and yellowbellied bulbul.

Having completed the 86 kilometres to Muanza, we travelled 11 km further and then turned east on a small double track. Here the brachestegia woodland was more open with fairly good grass cover. Only stopping once along this road we tracked down a pair of redwinged warblers, little spotted woodpecker and an excited group of greencapped eremomelas. (Later, on our way back, we also saw violetbacked sunbird). Having completed the forty kilometers to Chinizua forest, we did a quick reckie and located a suitable camp site. We chose a site which had quite evidently been used previously by birders - it was appalling to find cans and old food wrappers concealed under some branches. We would like to appeal to all birders to remove their own rubbish - it is the least we can do to assure that the area, with its birds, remains in pristine condition.

After setting up camp we headed off for the rest of the afternoon to see what species we could track down. The highlight was an African broadbill which enchanted us with its delightful little display - one of the most enjoyable birding experiences I have encountered till now.

The next morning we were up before sunrise. It took a little while get focused and when we finally did, we realised that the bird calling in the distance was a barred cuckoo! We moved to a nearby clearing where we proceeded to try and call the bird up. It kept calling, but didn’t seem to come any closer. After a while we got impatient and decided that there was no use in wasting any more time looking for the barred cuckoo, as there were many other equally exciting species around. Just as we began to move off, my father observed a medium sized bird fly into a tree in the middle of the clearing. Although the it was not yet completely light, the bird allowed us to get good enough views to determine that it was indeed a barred cuckoo. As soon as we finished looking at the barred cuckoo, we turned our attention to a robin calling nearby. We left the road and crept through the forest undergrowth. After a while we managed to pinpoint a Gunning’s robin sitting low down on a creeper. We had to work hard to obtain good views, but were all satisfied before we moved on.

During the rest of the day we walked eastwards along the road until we met the Chinizua river and then returned via the same route. We would have preferred to drive so that we could get to marshes across the Chinizua river which contained blue quails and redheaded queleas, but the seasonal floods had already eroded deep gullies which made the road impossible to negotiate. Yet the day produced little to complain about. In the forests we were treated to bluethroated sunbird, bluemantled flycatcher, forest weaver, chestnutfronted helmetshrike, Woodward’s batis, blackheaded apalis, slender bulbul, white-eared barbet, silverycheecked hornbill, Delegorgue’s pigeon (heard) and barred owl (which attracted the attention of many other birds). The bluethroated sunbird call on "Guy Gibbon’s Bird Calls of Southern Africa" has been questioned by previous visitors to Mozambique. Yet it is indeed correct. In the forest clearings and verges there were redthroated twinspots, grey waxbills, shortwinged cisticola, eastern sawwing swallow and Southern banded snake eagle. Unfortunately some of us missed out on the eagle.

We spent the next morning trying to track down Angola pitta and whitebreasted alethe, which had all been seen two weeks previously. Unfortunately we departed for Beira without seeing either. After a long day in the car we reached Beira and camped next to the Nautical Club.

The following day we headed back to Mutare, but before doing so we birded the marshes towards Savanne, north of Beira. One of the first birds seen was a Southern banded snake eagle perched on one on the telephone poles. Yet the greatest excitement was the result of pairs on small finches flying up from the wet, bare ground in between tufty grass. We consulted all available field guides, which all indicated the absence of quail finches in the area. All that was left to do was to track down the ‘locust finches’. After flushing two or three pairs we finally obtained good views. To our disappointment they were quail finches.

Our short trip revealed many of the secrets of this area. Yet one will need many more visits to this marvelous area to find the remaining species which we missed out on.

Flooding along the Beira - Zimbabwe road

The main road near Muanza

Woodland along the main road north of Dondo  

The railway along the road going north of Dondo

Woodland along the entrance road to Chinizua

Birding in the Chinizua forest

Towards Savanne, north of Beira

[TANZANIA 1993] [ZIMBABWE] [KENYA & N. TANZANIA 1996] [ MOZAMBIQUE 1997] [ARGENTINA 1997] [ MADAGASCAR 1998] [ETHIOPIA 1999] [ECUADOR 2000] [CAMEROON 2002]