Engadin's wonders

I am just back from a couple of days in Engadin in switzerlan with Laura, Misha (Laura's dog) and Daniele.
We did not do much because of lack of time, actually in the first afternoon was quite cold and Misha's hairs so long that balls of ice were constantly forming under her feet making it impossible for her to walk, therefore we had to cut the walk short and to rive to a seconf area were walking was shorter.
Even in this short chaotic time we managed to see quite nice birds, lot of tits spcifically Coal, Marsh, Great and Crested tit. The last by far the most shy even at the feeding stations in the pine woodland, the shyest but also the most beautiful one.
Together with the tits there was another of my favourites... the Common Nuthatch, little orange thing running up and down the coarse bark of the pines looking for food and caching food in the cracks of the wood.
This frenzy of little birds was always disturbed by the arrival of the much bigger Nutcrackers... a much overlooked bird with a realy elegant brown colour.
The real surprise was a close-quarter view of a Great spotted woodpecker, a big bird with a striking red, white and black pattern.
The little pond close to the Inn river gave us mallards and the smaller Common teal , while the river was home to the incredible Common Dipper, a small bird that feeds in larvae and little insects under the water surface, plunging and swimming in water just above freezing temperature.. such a tough litle one... I LOVE IT
The day after started as  a real Blast, while having breakfast Daniele walked close to the balcony and looking in the sky asked me which bird was that one flying.. I went over to see the most spectacula bird of prey of the alps... the Lammergeier... Same specie I was few days ago on mount Meru.
The bird flew just over the house and in the early morning light we had an amaaaaaziiing view.... It was holding something in the beak, I don't know if it was food or what.
That's definitely asuper lucky start....
Walking in Val Roseg was good as usual, we saw again most of the birds seen the day before but we had another good new one.
Laura spotted a raptor in the sky, this time was a Golden eagle. My best bird as a kid... the one I always was keen to see while hiking with my parents... As soon as it disappeard across the mountains a second one appeared and followed the first across the valley...
Eventually we drove back home but stopping in Val Bregaglia for a bit of food was good to see the last bird of the week end.. the Blue tit...


Total count 330

Home, Milan

I am in holyday but why stop birding?
Just few birds in and around town....

big flocks of European starling migrating, some black headed gull along the canals nice Magpie perching on power cables...

Total count 318

Mombasa airport

On my way home for Xmas holydays... plenty of House crows

Total count  312

Arusha's hatari

I always liked Arusha National Park, I like the lush of the forest, the shades of green, the many bushbucks the breathtaking views, the lakes filled with the pink of flamingoes, the afroalpine vegetation... I like the place a lot...
Took me a while to convince Ethan but eventually we decided to go, just before going to Tarangire we met Jorg and Marliese Gabriel, long time friends that own and run Hatari lodge. They offered us to go and visit and so we did.
I had been there 8 years ago with my parents and sister and the place is as  beautiful as I remembered.
On the road to the lodge we did some good birding... raptors and swift were feeding on something flying up in the sky... Mottled swifts and Alpine swifts were hiding amongst barn swallows and Eurasian swifts... a big peregrine falcon came flying just above the car.
Cinnamon breasted rock bunting were spotted along steep gullies, we saw a Grey wren warbler and even Pied Avocet in a small pond.
The day after we were off early morning and the birding was unreal, we drove as high as possible up the mountain, stopping often to scan into thick bush...
Sooo many nice things... Hartlaub's turaco again.. that is always a treat... but also White starred robin, Spot flanked barbet, Cinnamon beeater, White eared barbet, Eastern double collared sunbird, Dusky fycatcher, Silvery cheeked hornbill, Montane white eye with the broad eye rim ... and these are just some....
There was so much more.... Blackcap, Grey wagtail, Red throated tit,  Mountain wagtail, Striped cheecked greenbul and the super fantastic Abyssinian crimsonwing.... AWESOME
Even the raptors were quite insane... looking up in the sky to our surprise, a Lammergeier was gliding just above the canopy holding something in its talons.... ... and few minutes later, again flying above the trees i spotted my first Ayre's hawk eagle HAPPYNESS
We did not have time to explore the lake properly but we still had fun with both the local flamingoes, Southern pochards and an African moustched warbler singing on top of a dead branch...
Arusha NP.. I will be back

Total count 311 

Brief Ruaha

Another recce, but this time our own, Ethan and I, together with a team of other people, won a tender to train rangers for walking safari in the park.
We headed down to check suitable places to set up the training camp... not much time to bird but is nice to be back with my friend in the place we met first.
Andrew Molinaro joined us and we found a really nice spot...
We had good birds in Sokwe forest as Purple crested turaco and Green pigeon.. good ones late evening as well, like Heuglin's courser and Spotted thicknee....

Total count 270

Tarangire, the first love

Tarangire was the first park I ever saw in Africa, my first lion, my first elephant, my first leopard .. almost my first everything iI saw in Tarangire.
We went along with the Petersons (Daudi, Mika, Dean) and the Simonsons (John, Brenden) to a walking recce along hidden areas of the park.
First we walked that same ridge Ethan ad I were dreaming to walk since the last year guide training we held in the same park.
Big kopjes, wide views, caves with bones scattered around, elephants in the distance... ADVENTURE!
Then we walked Tarangire hill, all the way to the top and eventually we went to Sangaiwe to explore that area as well.
The Tarangire "specials" did not disappoint use, Orange bellied parrot, Silverbird, Secretary bird, Coqui francolin, Rufous tailed weaver were all ready at hand.
We also had some bonus one like Greater painted snipe, Red fronted barbet,  the sweet Purple granadier and the elegant White bellied tit...

Total count 226

Amazing Rubondo island

Very special 5 days, I got a wonderful opportunity to visit one of the national parks I had yet to see in Tz.
Julie Williams asked me if I wanted to go to Rubondo Island with her and Joe Du Plessis to see the place and help out for the visit of some of the investors, the answer was obviously YES.
Man, that place is stunning, Cormorants and Egrets everywhere plus a lots of more elusive forest birds.... Even if we were busy with other duties we still had time to bird a bit.
Joe and I did our best and the list was boosted up when Paul Oliver arrived... birding with good birders is so much easier ...
We spotted many specials: Black and white casqued hornbill in the first walk in the forest, Angola swallows Swamp flycatchers and Slender billed weavers feasting over swarms of lake flies.
A beautiful Brown wattle eye appeared while we were waiting for lunch, Snowy headed robin chat and Red capped robin were seen in the bushes along the paths.... We would not even go ten meters without our binos... Geeks!!! but in the end there were even Easten grey plantain eaters in the staff quarter.....
Forest birding was difficult as usual but boating gave us great satisfaction, I had quite a number of lifers, Red chested sunbird, the amazing Blue headed coucal, Northern brown throated weaver, Blue breasted beeater.....
Viellot's black weaver were nesting above water while African jacanas and Long toed lapwings were busy wandering the water edges.
An osprey caught a big tilapia ten meters from us in a spectacular demonstration of skills.
When the light was already fading we had the last great surprise... Little bittern (my first one) peering through the reeds... we went mad to try to see it properly. Lots of excitement from Paul and me....
I definitely have to thank Julie and Joe for bringing me with... we had so much fun,we worked a lot but we did lot of fishing as well (30 pounds perch with 8 pounds line!!!), we observed stunning mammals (Spot necked otters and Sitatungas), we found a rare snake (Jameson's mamba, first record on the island), we built a friendship and we had great great birding....

Total count 134 

Oldonyio Sambu

Here we are, ready for another birding afternoon.
Is again the three of us: Gina, Ethan and me... we went to church, got a burger in town and left towards the north side of Mt Meru.
We got Schalow's wheatear even before getting out of the car...... I was happy also because E&G saw it the other day and I missed it so..... I NEEDED to see that one.
We first walked a small korongo, vulcanic rocks of every color are scattered everywhere, harsh and beautiful.
We are followed by a little flock of Maasai kids that ask all sort of questions and with their sharp eyes point out birds that we would have probably missed.
Common rock trush hopping amongst the thorns of a small acacia, Lanner falcon gliding off the hills, Banded parisoma calling from the canopy. 
The next stop was the small shrubland between the mountain and the lark plain... we were aiming to the White headed mousebird...
The bird life here was phenomenal, Abyssinian white eye, Short tailed lark, Red fronted warbler, Southern grosbeak canary, Fischer's starling and even one of my favourite birds, Pigmy falcon.
Eventually we even spotted the White headed mousebird, awesome... they were even nesting.

Total count 83

Big year

Friends always drag you in directions that you were not thinking about.
A big year? no, was not in my mind before heading down to Tanzania.
As I arrived there was a bit of surprise, as soon as I landed my friend Ethan Kinsey told me that the job we were supposed to start in days had been postponed.
Therefore we had time, time to enjoy birding, lot of birding
He and Gina Kirkpatrick just enterd a BIG YEAR that is to count how many birds they can see in 365 days, and dragged me into it.
We started our birding and as a consequence my personal big year in Monduli, close to Arusha, coffee plantations bordering a beautiful forest.

Total count 46

In the afternoon we decided to venture even closer to town... in town actually.
we walked the paths in the small forest along burka coffee plantation and even if the mosquitoes outnumbered birds 10 to 1 we had some nice sightings. Grey olive greenbul definitely the special new one, even identification took long time...
"I saw red legs" ... "are you sure?" .... "yes I am".... "did you see the eyes?".... "dark eyes, maybe red"... "mmmm" .... "look the habit, skulking in the undergrowth seems appropriate"... "is distribution right?"   we discussed it over and over again but in the end the three of us agreed..

Total count 49