February 26, 2015: Speke's Bay to Serengeti National Park

After another morning birding around the lodge at Speke's Bay, we headed into Serengeti National Park, where we drove the "western corridor" to a lodge deep inside the park. We saw lots of great mammals and birds along the way, barely making it to the lodge by the deadling of 6:00 pm. (We were actually a few minutes late, but we weren't the last group to arrive.)

A large group wearing "Texas Exes" name badges were there. None of them sported binoculars or big cameras.

Here are a small sampling of the photos:

This Three-banded Courser is a specialty of the lodge at Speke's Bay. We missed it the first day, but one of the waiters in the dining room knew where to look and took us there.

This White-bellied Bustard was a lifer. This is a male, told from the female by the nice blue color on the neck. The male strutted out from the shade of a tree where we first saw him. The female stayed in the shade. Not sure what the message is there.

A Black-backed Jackal, one of a pair that seemed curious about us. This canid has several names. We have seen the species before on earlier trips to Africa, but still think they are stylish.

February 25, 2015, Speke's Bay

We flew to Mwanza, the second largest city in Tanzania, then drove to Speke's Bay, part of Lake Victoria. Great spot. Here are some photos from that day.

This Swamp Flycatcher was a lifer for both of us. It was common around the lodge. We're not sure what the stuff is on his face, maybe pollen, or seeds, or parasites.

This beautiful Silverbird was also common around the lodge. We had seen it before, but were glad to have another chance.

This Spotted Morning Thrush was also common. One was right around our cabin.

February 24, 2015: Arusha National Park

Some pictures from Arusha National Park. Don't have time to write much. Catching up after several days without internet access.

This Olive Baboon seems to be saying, "Hey! You looking at me?"

Kirk's Dikdik: Notice the semi-prehensile nose and the tuft of fur on his forehead that looks like a horn, but isn't.

We are standing in the middle of Fig Tree Arch, the furtherest we were allowed to drive in the park. Supposedly, this is a natural formation.

We had even closer looks at Gray Crowned Cranes today than yesterday. This extreme close-up shows the fantastic pattern around the head.

February 23, 2015: Wood You Like Owl with That?

The rest of the group arrived during the night, long after Linda and I had retired:

• ·       Linda and Me
• ·       Jenny and Terry Cloudman, our old friends from Rice and frequent travel companions.
• ·       Jan Kelley and Susan Fortunow, from Miami
• ·       Bill Jeffrey and Casey Bayles, from Brooklyn.
• ·       Barbara and Jerry Hoganson, from Arlington, who barely made their connection in Amsterdam due to weather delays at Dulles airport.
• ·       Merrill Lester, from Hickory, NC.

So, after meeting at breakfast, we set off to show the newcomers the birds of the area. Everyone was delighted with two Gray Crowned Cranes around the pond. One of the loveliest birds in the world, the pair foraged in the short vegetation on the other side of the pond. They seemed to be starting nuptials, dancing around and spreading wings. It seems it was still preliminary, but still a great show to watch. Here is a photo of some of the action:

With that as a start, you know the morning had to be a good one. We even managed to finally get a scope view of our nemesis, the Red-chested Cuckoo, and verified that it did indeed have a red chest, or a red throat at least.

We wandered down the now familiar trail along past the trout farm to the dam, picking up all the birds we had seen over the previous two days except the Gray-olive Greenbul, who refused to show themselves.

Linda, Terry, and I got separated from the rest of the group while I tried, with some success, to get a photo of a beautiful Gasteracantha species spider. Linda spotted this right beside the trail. Although it was prettiest when viewed dorsally, we had to be satisfied with the this shot as she tried to repair damage to her web.

We had to search for the group, who turned out to be watching a male Peter’s Twinspot that Kevin turned up near where we had seen it before. Alas, we arrived a bit late for the show, the price you pay for loving spiders.

Most of the group, as you’d expect, were ready to relax after the trip, so we took the afternoon off. We tried out the pool, which would have been great for swimming laps. Instead we lazily let the water cool us off before repairing to the veranda.

After dinner, we set off on an owling expedition, which provided a perfect coda to the day. Kevin called in a pair of African Wood Owls for great looks.

It was 10:00 by that time, and we were all ready for bed. Tomorrow we start in earnest, with a trip to Arusha National Park, about an hour away.

February 22, 2015: Monkey Business

There are several reasons to arrive early for a trip:

• ·       You may have travel interruptions, and you have a chance to recover.
• ·       You have an extra day to get over jet lag.
• ·       You have an extra day for birding.

Today, we took advantage of the opportunity to get used to African birds again. It has been several years since we were here last. After a quick pass along the pond and down to the dam past the trout farm, we set off to explore the area outside the neatly manicured lawns and lush gardens of the lodge.

As soon as we exited the back gate, we came upon a troop of Blue (Sykes) Monkeys. Here is a picture of the alpha male, who watched us closely, unsure whether we represented a threat.

After a bit, he concluded that we were OK, and we settled down to watch as they fed on berries in the trees. One small monkey began calling, a thin, high pitched note.

As we watched, an adult female came running down the road right toward us. Then, she scampered up the tree and hugged her offspring, who quieted down immediately. So, now we know how to say “Mama!” in Blue Monkey.

We walked quite a way down the road, thru small farmsteads. Church music and a loud sermon in a language we don’t know, punctuated the silence. We saw a few birds that weren’t to be found around the lodge, none of the lifers. Eventually, we turned back and sat on the veranda waiting for something interesting to come our way.

What came by was a troop of Guereza Colobus monkeys, an amazing species, black and white with an incredible fluffy white tail. Here is a photo of a mother and child.

Jenny and Terry Cloudman arrived a short time later. They also came thru Doha, but unlike our flight, theirs arrived too late to catch the plane to Dar es Salaam. So they enjoyed the lounge at the airport for several hours before catching an early flight. We had exchanged some text messages, so we knew about when to expect them. Fortunately, the monkey troop was still around.

After lunch, we napped until four in the afternoon. Then Linda and I with Jenny but not Terry set off for some more birding. Along the path to the trout farm, we had two new species, one difficult to identify and one ridiculously easy.

The Gray-olive Greenbul is about as colorful as the name implies. Luckily, we were able to watch a pair of them foraging in the leaf litter for a long time, so we were able to see the pinkish bill and legs, which together with the mucklededun color of the rest of the plumage, was enough to clinch the ID. While we watched them, Linda spotted a Peter’s Twinspot foraging in the same area. This spectacular bird was easy to identify, but virtually impossible to photograph as it skulked around the undergrowth. Thanks to the internet, I found a good photo online.

Bit by bit, our group is assembling. Jan Kelly and Susan Fortunow came late last night. The rest are expected this evening.

We spent the afternoon lazily wandering around looking for more birds and trying in vain to get a good look at the Red-chested Cuckoo that calls often from a large tree near the veranda. We have counted it based on several fly-bys and some sightings of everything except the red chest, but it a frustrating bird.

After dinner, we all retired to bed. About 10:30 pm, my phone rang. This was totally unexpected. I had signed up for an international plan that lasted only a month, and planned to use it mainly for text messages. I scrambled out of bed and saw that the call was from Bay Alarm. I managed to answer in time. Our pet sitter had accidentally set off the alarm and didn’t know the code word. (Stupid of me!) We cleared that up and I sent the code word to her for the future.

Somehow, I managed to fall asleep again.

February 19-20: Routine Travel Day

We left home at 7:30 pm to go to San Francisco airport to catch the first flight on our trip to Tanzania. We left at 10:00 pm on a US Air leg to Philadelphia. I had been watching the weather with trepidation, but there was no snow in the area, so nothing to worry about. Nothing, that is, save the outside temp of -1 Fahrenheit.

We had a four hour layover, which we spent most of in the British Air Lounge courtesy of Qatar Air. The only plug I could find for recharging was near a window, and somehow cold air leaked in. I had to dig my fleece from the rollaboard just to stay reasonably warm. Naturally, we were dressed for our destination, where the only snow is on the top of Kilimanjaro. (See below.)

Finally, we boarded Qatar for a long flight to Doha. We had splurged on Business Class, where Qatar was undercutting the market price by a significant amount. For a flight of 11 hours, it was well worth the extra cost. We had two superb meals (on an airplane!) and seats that reclined to full horizontal for sleeping. I still couldn’t sleep and wound up watching two so-so movies while Linda slept in the next seat.

In Doha, we had about an hour to make a connection to Dar es Salaam. At 5:50 am, I expected no problem. That was until I saw the “transfer security screening” area, which was a mob scene. Why is it that airlines want you to go thru screening when you have just gotten of an 11 hour flight? We opined that they simply don’t trust the screening on the other end.

Fortunately, there was a shortcut for “premium” customers. That got us into the scrum sooner, but we still had to cope with the crowds forcing their way thru an inadequate number of metal detectors.

No problem. We arrived at the gate in time to wait for the announcement, which came after about 20 minutes. “Economy class passengers for flight 1437 should proceed to gate 21 now. Business class passengers, please wait for us to call you.” What? We thought that paying extra meant you got on the plane early, before all the overhead bins were taken. I inquired about the wait and learned that “the coach was not ready.”

This was one of those airports where you take a bus ride to get to the plane. Of course, you don’t want premium customers mixing with the hoi polloi, so we waited for the appropriate vehicle. There was still a small space left for our rollaboards, and even our backpacks, excuse me, our personal items. Then it was time for the five hour trip to Dar es Salaam, with another leg to Kilimanjaro.

Ironically, I slept for about two hours on this flight.

Finally, we had arrived at the last airport, facing only a car trip to the lodge. We got thru immigration and customs and emerged onto a typical tropical climate, where we saw no one holding a sign with our names on it. Alerted to this lack, several people attached themselves to us offering suggestions for alternatives. We refused all these, thinking back to an encounter we had in Caracas once, where we were sorry to accept an offer from a gypsy taxi. We opted to wait, and after about 30 minutes, our driver appeared, very apologetic, and we were off.

We traveled on a two-lane paved road mostly populated by large trucks and motorcycles. The former were much slower than us, and the latter much faster. Passing was an interesting exercise in long range planning.

We turned off onto a dirt track that appeared to go nowhere, but in fact led to the Ngare Sero Mountain Lodge, our final destination. We had arrived. It was about 4:00 in the afternoon. I always get confused when trying to figure out how long we have been gone, due to the big change in time zones. I think the trip took 34 hours door to door, not even close to a record, but long enough that we were a bit tired.

We found Kevin Zimmer, our trip leader, as he headed out for some birding around the grounds. Tired? Not us. We spent the next couple of hours walking around, finding 35 species, 3 lifers, on what was not officially part of the trip. When we returned to the lodge, we were happy to find that the mountain had emerged from the clouds

. Here it is, as seen from the veranda of the lodge.

After a quick shower and dinner, we finally hit the wall. Slept until time for breakfast the next morning.

Packing 101: Batteries

In the video I posted recently, I was overly casual about dealing with batteries. For example, I didn't put tape over the terminals, and I'll bet most people don't think about that.

For the complete set of recommendations for traveling with batteries, see http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-information/safe-travel-batteries-and-devices.

Packing 101: The Video

I have uploaded a video of amateurish quality to
Youtube. It shows me actually packing for a trip to Tanzania.

It's available at http://youtu.be/y_fDBcxwBEY.

BTW, if you are wondering what "Full Dork Mode" is, see http://hargrove.org/2014/displayonephoto.php?PhotoID=1212

2014 Annual Report

Had a lot more work to do this year than I anticipated, but it is finally out. Comments and corrections appreciated as usual.

See http://hargrove.org.

My old laptop, that was set up for web maintenance died before I could record all the settings. What a pain setting everything up again, especially on my new Surface Pro, where everything is just a little different. That added a solid week into the schedule.

After that, I got a nasty surprise right out of the gate. The interface I used from PHP to MySQL was "deprecated," meaning that I had to switch to the new one. Unfortunately, that meant converting all the older annual reports, mostly a boring exercise in global replace.

Along the way, I found several errors in the older reports, especially those for 2006 and 2007.

Then, with three major birding trips of photos to deal with, not to mention four adorable grandchildren, it stretched into February.

This seems harder than it used to be.