Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
Exotics good for birds?
Dear All,
Just to be an agent provocateur.... I am not convinced that Lantana
camara is all that bad, as compared to other exotics. Whilst it does
cover good swathes, it is providing a very secure breeding habitat for
a huge number of native birds, and migrants like it when passing
through. It may have been the saviour for our endemic Hinde's Babbler
which now has a very close association with it, having lost the native
habitat previously found in the area and this has allowed the bird to
hang on in extremely heavily gardened areas where it certainly would
have otherwise died out. At certain times of year the flowers attract
a very great assortment and huge numbers of butterflies, hawk-moths,
beetles and a host of other insects which precious few of the
indigines can compete with, the closest being the Vernonias.
Brown-backed Scrub-Robin is another bird that would have disappeared
from the degraded areas were it not for the cover of Lanana camara.
All Mexican Poppys and of course Eichhornia (Water Hyacinth) and the
likes... have to go.
best to all
Brian Finch
Just to be an agent provocateur.... I am not convinced that Lantana
camara is all that bad, as compared to other exotics. Whilst it does
cover good swathes, it is providing a very secure breeding habitat for
a huge number of native birds, and migrants like it when passing
through. It may have been the saviour for our endemic Hinde's Babbler
which now has a very close association with it, having lost the native
habitat previously found in the area and this has allowed the bird to
hang on in extremely heavily gardened areas where it certainly would
have otherwise died out. At certain times of year the flowers attract
a very great assortment and huge numbers of butterflies, hawk-moths,
beetles and a host of other insects which precious few of the
indigines can compete with, the closest being the Vernonias.
Brown-backed Scrub-Robin is another bird that would have disappeared
from the degraded areas were it not for the cover of Lanana camara.
All Mexican Poppys and of course Eichhornia (Water Hyacinth) and the
likes... have to go.
best to all
Brian Finch
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Mystery Bird Sound from Dar
http://www.xeno-canto.org/africa/discussion.php?snd_nr=1203
Do you know what bird this is? Go to xeno-canto and listen!
Please comment!
Stein
Do you know what bird this is? Go to xeno-canto and listen!
Please comment!
Stein
Saturday, October 30, 2010
This one are we waiting for!!
This DVD-R features high quality MP3 recordings of more than 1350 species of birds in East Africa (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi). Both songs and calls are given where relevant, together with notes on the recordings and illustrations from the Helm Field Guide: Birds of East Africa.
Once the recordings have been loaded onto your PC or laptop, they can be downloaded onto an iPod or MP3 player for use in the field. The recordings are a companion to the field guide and can be used in conjunction with it.
Almost every species ever recorded in the region is featured in this extraordinary collection and it will be a magnificent resource for all birders and ornithologists visiting the region.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Yellow-legged Gull - New for Tanzania!
Hi all,
I can't wait to show you my today's sighting! Photos here.
http://www.valeryschollaert.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1082&Itemid=387
Of course, any comment are welcome. First answers I got from european gull specialists confirm it is a Yellow-legged (red eye-ring, yellow legs, pale mantle, red of bill extending to upper mandible...).
I also hope Neil will confirm it is well the first in Tanzania (even East Africa?).
Cheers
Valéry
Mobiles: +255 776-360876 and +255 776-360864.
I can't wait to show you my today's sighting! Photos here.
http://www.valeryschollaert.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1082&Itemid=387
Of course, any comment are welcome. First answers I got from european gull specialists confirm it is a Yellow-legged (red eye-ring, yellow legs, pale mantle, red of bill extending to upper mandible...).
I also hope Neil will confirm it is well the first in Tanzania (even East Africa?).
Cheers
Valéry
All
This is quite a wow and totally unexpected, it was not on my wish list of country additions. I got to know these birds quite well in Libya in the late 70s but for one to turn up in Tanzania, what to say. Pushes us ever closer to 1150 species.
Valery, please prepare a note for the EARC, all the usual information and your excellent photos.
Cheers and many congratulations. If you are revisting Lukuba in the next few months do look out for Slender-bills, only two previous records for TZ, the first was from Victoria. There is also a pending claim of a Pallas' (Greater Black-headed) but the image quality from a video clip was poor.
The Ugandans and Kenyans now need to be aware of Yellow-legs to add this bird to their country lists.
Neil
Neil and Liz Baker, Tanzania Bird Atlas, P.O. Box 1605, Iringa, Tanzania.Mobiles: +255 776-360876 and +255 776-360864.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Save the Serengeti
Please sign the petition not to build a highway through Serengeti!
See more at:
Save the Serengeti
http://www.savetheserengeti.org/issues/stop-the-serengeti-highway/#axzz10nwret70
See more at:
http://www.savetheserengeti.org/issues/stop-the-serengeti-highway/#axzz10nwret70
Friday, September 24, 2010
Blue Swallow report
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