Day 1

If you’ve ever heard a Hadada ibis calling you’ll know why you don’t need an alarm clock if one roosts in a tree in your backyard. It wasn’t the best day to start birding because US election results were distracting me, but armed with a cup of coffee I quickly listed the birds in the backyard before catching a ride to a fruiting fig tree with my girlfriend as she headed off to teach.

1	Yellow-vented bulbul
2	Red & Yellow barbet
3	Baglafecht weaver
4	Hadada ibis
5	Grey headed kingfisher
6	Red-eyed dove
7	Jackson's golden-backed weaver
8	Speckled mousebird
9	Arrow-marked babbler
10	Pied crow
11	Amethyst sunbird

I forgot how fun birding alone is and standing under the fig tree I quickly listed the following species.

12	White fronted beeater
13	Green pigeon
14	Black headed oriole
15	Brown-breasted barbet
16	African citril
17	Silvery-cheeked hornbill
18	Red-winged starling
19	African golden oriole
20	White-crested helmet-shrike

Slowly I began the walk back to the house… its so fun when you have the time to stop and be distracted.

21	Lilac breasted roller
22	White headed barbet
23	Auger buzzard
24	White browed coucal
25	Rattling cisticola
26	Crimson rumped waxbill
27	Laughing dove
28	Tawny flanked prinia
29	Variable sunbird
30	Yellow rumped seedeater
31	Abyssinian white-eye
32	Lanner falcon
33	Grey backed cameroptera
34	Tropical boubou
35	Emerald spotted wood dove
36	Barn swallow
37	Red billed firefinch
38	Common drongo
39	Brown crowned tchagra
40	Grey hornbill
41	Blue naped mousebird

With my list struggling a little because of work commitments and a dreaded drive into town I decided to head up to my dad’s house for lunch. I knew I’d get the resident owls and some higher altitude species.  Because of the recent rains the birds weren’t visiting the birdbath so I missed some really common birds… but, hey, I have a whole year to get this list up!

42	Spotted eagle owl
43	Grey headed sparrow
44	Nyanza swift
45	Scarlet chested sunbird
46	Dusky turtle dove
47	Common fiscal
48	Spotted morning thrush
49	Red chested cuckoo

A couple new species in the afternoon.

50	Pied wagtail
51	Crowned plover
52	Black headed heron
53	Superb starling
54	Helmeted guinea fowl