Raphael Mbunda
19 October 2008
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Arusha — I have to admit that I haven't seen this bird before. Having discussed about this bird with Mr. Ndege and comrade Best at Karatu Crater Rim View, I was fascinated and decided to quench my thirst by searching for it.
My first task was therefore to define properly who was this Slate Coloured Boubou. According to C.A.W. Guggisberg, in his book Birds of East Africa, this bird has a deep slate-blue shading into black on head, wing and tail, male utters three or four clear bell - like notes which female answers with a snarling alarm notes.
In the business of bird identification it is important to know sounds or calls of birds otherwise you could easily misidentify your target.
SlateColoured Boubou is a densely thorny thickets and a dry areas bird. With this characteristics my colleague Mr. Njwaba Mwaijibe, a naturalist and very fond of birdlife advised me to go to either Tarangire or Serengeti National Park. He offered to accompany me. I decided to go to Serengeti.
In terms of costs, I mean transport, food and accommodation this was going to be a very expensive venture. But with the assistance of Mr. John Bosco a prominent tour guide/operator and also a keen birdwatcher the trip was on.
Bird watching takes time and demand patience, especially when you are looking for a particular type of bird. They are not just sitting there waiting for you to come and watch them. Like any other creature they have to look for food, water, sometimes they have to dodge birds of prey, snake etc. This demanded us to be always on the lookout. Along the way to Mto wa Mbu from Arusha I saw a number of other birds, Manaqua doves, Superb starlings, Go-away birds, Grey hornbills, Rufous sparrows featured a lot. At Mto wa Mbu there was a big congregation of White Stocks and Great White Pelicans high above the trees.
Around the Ngorongoro Crater the weather was cool. The altitude commanded a great view. Magnificent, wild flowers and different types of fantastic trees grasses not seen or heard before are here, Broaded leaved Crotom (Crotom macrostachyus or Mfurufuru in Chaga), Strangler fig (Fiscus thonnini), Pillarroad (Cassipourea malosana), golden shower (senecio hadience), verbascum all here. Birds like Yellow bishop, little bee-eaters, Black Kite, Augur Buzzards and a number of Sunbirds were seen every where.
We passed through the Olduvai Gorge, we spotted a spectacular Plum nut weavers, Yellow Vented Black Eyed Bulbul and African Fire Finches.
Serengeti is a vast land, at Naabi Hill Gate we amounted a number of Hilderbrand starlings, Superb Starlings and most interesting was Red-Billed-Buffalo Weavers.
Time was running out we decided to proceed to Serengeti Western Corridor and made a stop over at Serena Lodge. Here we met Mr. George the manager. This man is a real hotelier, friendly, humble and charming, he took us around the lodge, the place is a stunning beauty featuring traditional huts with locally crafted furniture's. In fact, I felt I was near to heaven.
We searched for Slate Coloured Boubou around the compound and surroundings but ended in vain. We however managed to see Red-Winged Starling, Glossy Starling, Yellow Billed Hornbill, a lot of wild animals and a corridor where migratory animals pass. But this trip was about birds, in particular Slate Coloured Boubou.
Now I was getting nervous, coming all this far, Serengeti Western Corridor was not my plan, and without a glimpse of Slate-Coloured Boubou, would be a disaster. This was a tremendously long way to go for a common bird.
My colleague Mr. Mwaijibe suggested we go back to Serengeti Information Centre at Seronera. There we met Mr. Shirima, Serengeti Tour Officer; this guy knows every inch of Serengeti and its habitations. We told him of our quest; in search of a Slate-Coloured Boubou "and still not sure were to find one". He cooled us down gave us a general description of Serengeti, ecosystem, climate, vegetation, animal distribution, seasons, birds of the Serengeti and then he took us on a short tour of the animal migratory circle at the center and there it happened!
At a tree known as Euphorbia candelabrum (OI-bobongo in Maasai) as he explained to us about its medicinal administration, underneath the nearby bush/shrub a single bird seemed busy searching for an insect, a grass hopper, Mr. Shirima confidently tapped my shoulder and pointed at a bird with a dark slate, color with red eyes. As if to confirm to us it gave a loud "shhhhhhh" call which was responded by another call coming from the nearby bush. This confirmed what is said in Serengeti you miss nothing, it takes patience time, meeting the right people and above all being lucky to be at the right place at the right moment.
We went to Serengeti Serena Lodge and slaughtered a cork. Outside nearby a rock, hyrax were busy on the gardens eating grass as if tamed. My next quest is in search of a snake by the name "Black Mamba"!
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