Vietnam Report

Well, there were many jobs competing for my time besides the report on the Vietnam trip, but the report is finally available. See https://goo.gl/ZdhirL

Report on Cambodia Portion of Recent Trip

The PDF version of our trip report is available online: https://goo.gl/q8JDq7. Linda still hasn't reviewed it, so changes are possible. Comments are welcome.

Vietnam Laughing Thrushes

We have a rare afternoon off today, which is a good thing as there is a torrential rain going on, despite this being the dry season.

We are finding the birding in V difficult. Many of the species are shy and skulking. Yesterday, we focused attention on two species of Laughing Thrushes. We saw our first LT in Bhutan years ago, the spectacular White-crested LT. This turns out to be the easy one to see. All the others have proved either impossible (Orange-bellied) or difficult (the others).

We saw the first of the pair, Black-collared Laughing Thrush as we watched 10 of them fly across the road one at a time. We did have good looks at some of them as they neared one side of the road before taking off.

That was a prelude to the main event, the search for the Chestnut-eared. Our guide, Bao, heard the bird and played a recording to lure it closer. Eventually, we saw one zip across a trail in the forest from right to left. Then, we saw it zip across the trail from left to right.

This bit of teasing lasted for about an hour, during which we saw one, or probably two, birds repeatedly. I was beginning to wonder if we would ever see them well. Bao put some meal worms on the trail as an additional lure. That worked. One bird stopped for about a second during the zip to snatch a treat.

We continued watching, catching tantalizing glimpses of the birds at the edge of the trail. Finally, one bird stopped for a few seconds at the meal worm spot, long enough to provide everyone in our group a "countable tick."

High fives all around.

Nguyen Bao, our guide for the trip, was one of the people to rediscover this bird in 1998, and his photo from 2010 is the gold standard for this species. Needless to say, we did not get a good shot of either of these two Laughing Thrushes.

We did get a wonderful photo of two Crested Treeswifts as the female preened the male. Photos in Vietnam have been few. I'll try posting some later.

Joining the Women's March in Oakland

Here's what the Oakland Police had to say about the March:

About 60,000 people in #Oakland. Ogawa Plaza near capacity. Pedestrians should consider using 14th and 20th to reach Broadway. Pedestrian and vehicle traffic heavy #womensmarchoakland Later they added: The large Women’s March in downtown Oakland has stepped off. Motorists are advised that traffic along & near the March route will be impacted as the group makes its way to Frank H. Ogawa Plaza. Map below shows the planned route. Five of us from the neighborhood (3 women, 2 other) joined the throng.  Started by driving to the Rockridge BART. Realized the size of the crowd immediately. All cars heading in the direction of the March were overfull. This is the scene at the Lake Merritt BART station. We were all trying to get out. We got to the starting point in plenty of time. Milled around until everyone seemed to be ready to set off. No way! The crowd simply exceeded the capacity of the streets. We couldn't march. I commented, "I've seen better organized riots." At least everyone was in a good mood. Here's a shot of the crowd: In 2 hours, we had moved from the start to the OMCA museum. If you check back on the map you'll see that we weren't very far along the route. Fortunately, we were able to pop into the museum for a quick potty stop, then we headed home. The crowd in the Lake Merritt BART was still immense. BART responded to the circumstances by putting on special trains that bracketed the Lake Merritt stop by two stops in each direction. That seemed to work well, but everything was still crowded. We went to eat at someplace in the Rockridge area. Almost everything was jammed. Finally settled on Jules Thin Crust, a great choice. Pink pussy hats were everywhere. Best Sign of the Day: "My Grandma already did this!" Glad we added our voice to the clamour.

Another special birthday

My 72nd birthday falls on Thanksgiving Day this year, as it does every six or so. I have taken to celebrating all week, along with everyone else. This year is particularly interesting from a mathematical POV. Its prime decomposition is

72 = 8*9 = 2³ x 3²,

a pattern that won't occur again in my lifetime, at least if m,n > 1 and prime. The next candidate would be

2⁵ x 5² = 32 x 25 = 800.

Moreover, this birthday comes between two twin primes (71 and 73), so we have a nice series of interesting birthdays before we hit the doldrums at 74.

Birding milestones

Linda and I just returned from a trip to #Japan, a private tour with #MarkBrazil and some friends. In #Hokkaido, we both saw our 5000th world bird. Mine was a typical brown bird that I seem to have for milestones: several Eurasian Woodcocks displaying overhead while we waited for the Blakiston's Fish Owl to show up. (That would have been a spectacular bird for a milestone, and my companions suggested I fudge the numbers. I prefer my brown nondescripts.)

Linda hit 5000 on a stunning view of a singing male Siberian Rubythroat that used a nearby post as a perch for the display.

I have posted some photos at https://goo.gl/photos/EyhEvUGDRXzuZrf57, including the owl and rubythroat.

Coincidentally, Mark Brazil showed me my 4000th world bird on a trip to India a few years ago, a delightfully nondescript Blyth's Reed Warbler.

Comments are welcome.

Another Milestone

No, not a birding milestone this time. That we can expect later this year as we [finally] tally our 5000th species. We have 4915 species on our shared sightings list.

No, this is somewhat more mundane: Today Linda and I have been married for an amazing 50 years!

Claire, our daughter, who has some skin in the game, figured it out sometime ago, "It's lucky that you two found each other. No one else would put up with either one of you."

Au contraire, I think that almost everyone loves Linda, with the possible exception of her two sisters.

After thinking it over, I have come to the conclusion that there is only one good explanation: good sex.

Well, maybe birding figures in there somewhere. We've been doing it together for most of those 50 years. 

2015 Annual Report

This year's Annual Report is available early!
Check it out online at hargrove.org/2015.

As usual, any comments and corrections are welcome. You can also comment on facebook or twitter (@Neoscona).

Twin Prime Birthday

After last year's Triple Prime Birthday, this year we have another somewhat unique birthday, a Twin Prime. We have many of these when young, but they get scarce as we age. After the pair (41,43) we have to wait for (71,73) to have another one. After 73, we have to live to be 101 before we hit another.

The real big event will be on January 31, 2016, when I turn 26000 days old.

I have a K-day calculator on my web site, hargrove.org, if you want to find out about yours.

Thanks for your patience

I have finally written up a summary of our trip to Tanzania. A PDF file with the report and pictures can be found at

http://hargrove.org/2015/PDF/Tanzania%20Trip%20Summary.pdf

Note: Linda is still planning to edit it, so there may be some changes or additions.

February 28-March 1: Ndutu

We left the Serengeti for the Ndutu area at the end of February, finally catching up to the Wildebeest migration. There is more rain in the area, and the herds are moving back to take advantage. We watched huge lines of the beasts moving, mostly single file, across the plains. The estimate of 1 million animals did not seem inflated. The total in the entire area is thought to be over twice that.

One of the highlights of the area for us was several Cheetahs. One was on a kill, a young Wildebeest. Cheetahs are unable to defend their kill against scavengers, so they gorge on as much as they can, then abandon it. This cheetah moved into the the grass nearby and took a snooze.

We found a dead Zebra, whose corpse had not yet been discovered by vultures, but did have a Yellow-billed Oxpecker devouring insects and ticks on the skin. Despite the red on the tip of the bill, this is not a Red-billed Oxpecker, which has an all red bill.

At the Ndutu Lodge, we were treated to a view of several Genets that patrol the rafters and thatch, eliminating rodent pests. They are very tame and used to being photographed. 

Have to run now. More later

Several Days on the Serengeti: Catting Around

We spent three days at Seronera Wildlife Lodge on the edge of the Serengeti. The days were similar: breakfast, head out onto the plains, drive around, eat a box lunch, back for dinner and bed.

We had many great bird sightings, but the main draw was the huge herds of Wildebeest. Normally, the area would have received enough rains for the animals to begin migrating north. This year, the rains are late, and many have stayed put. At least we don't have to contend with mud, which we have been told in the normal state of affairs.

Some photos:

This male Kori Bustard is displaying to a female who couldn't care less. The white at the rear is actually the underside of the tail. You can just make out the tail feathers behind the bird's neck. With this set up, the bird strutted across the plains, to no avail.

This is Linda's New Favorite Bird.

This Pygmy Falcon is the smallest falcon in the world, even smaller than the Bat Falcon in Central and South America. Like that bird, it frequently sits still at the top of a tree allowing easy photos. That was the case with this bird, which completely ignored us.

At the opposite end of the size scale, this Goliath Heron is the largest heron on earth. We don't have anything lying around to give scale, but it is much bigger than our Great Blue Heron in the US.

We set out with the explicit goal of seeing as many cats as we could. This leopard had found himself a nice place for a nap in the crook of a tree near a Kopje, pronounced Copy, a large stone outcropping in the middle of the plains. We saw another leopard, a mother, who carried her small cub to a safer den after we (and many others) spotted her. We had only about a second to watch her before she disappeared, but Kevin managed to get a photo with his professional grade camera. We had to be satisfied with this photo.

Apparently, these two lions had left the rest of the pride for a bit of quality time. The female is wearing a radio collar that is hard to see in this picture. The male had a hitch in his getalong, so he is not exactly young. Apparently, though, he is still the dominant male in the area. There are lots of lions on the plains.

These two Dwarf Mongooses provided X-rated entertainment during out lunch break.

This spectacular lizard, a Mwanza Flat-headed Rock Agama, was also at the lunch spot.

This Woodland Kingfisher, identified by the two tone bill, was a new bird for us, and a very handsome one at that.

I'll try to catch up some more if time permits.

Quick note from Ngorongoro

We are about to leave the most luxurious lodge so far, one with pretty good access to the internet.

Here's why you haven't heard from me:

We start birding early and go all day, generally arriving at the lodge about 6:00 in the evening. We have a little time to freshen up before doing the list at 7:00. That takes an hour, which is much longer than usual. (Lots to go thru, and VERY thorough.) Then, dinner at 8:00. By the time that is done, I am exhausted, ready for bed.

We have had a nice trip thus far, with 335 bird species, 78 of them lifers and 95 new for Africa. (Linda has a couple more, which for some reason is typical for Africa.)

Yesterday, we each tallied our 900th African bird species before breakfast. Linda's was a Tree Pipit, a classic Little Brown Job that we had seen in India, but not Africa. Mine was a stunning new sunbird, Tacazza Sunbird. This is the opposite of our usual pattern.

We also saw two new mammals yesterday: Slender Mongoose and Tree Hyrax.

Got to go. Birding is starting.

Photo album from Tanzania

I have uploaded an album of some photos from our trip to Tanzania. More to come.

See https://plus.google.com/photos/+JimHargrove/albums/6122040165069738881

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.