São Tomé and Príncipe; Day 4 - Bella Vista & Praia de Evora

   Having found all the endemic target birds the previous day, we had a full day on Principe with nothing to specifically target. However, there were still a couple of new birds and a couple of trip ticks we had not seen, so we concentrated on trying to find those. We did not wake up super early, but after a 07:00 breakfast, we set off out at 08:00. 

  We did not have a car so walked to the village of Bella Vista, the road to which passes through some cultivated habitat and some nice forest. We managed to find most of our targets along this walk, with the Olive Sunbird and Little Heron both being new for the trip. We tried hard to find the rare Chestnut-breasted Nigrita but did not succeed in this endveour. 

  We also spent a bit of time looking at the mud off the city where we had found many interesting waders the previous day. Today all of yesterdays goodies were still lingering, as well as another new Curlew Sandpiper and a Little Stint, which was another good species for the island. There was a spectacular show when up to three Black Kites tried to hunt down one of the Curlew Sandpipers, but in the end the bird managed to get away. Additionally we found a male House Sparrow, which is yet another rare bird for the island, and had presumably just jumped off a ship. 

  After lunch we walked in the opposite direction away from town, down to the nearby Praia de Evora beach. Along the way we failed to find any new birds in any capacity, but enjoyed nice views of Blue-banded Kingfisher displaying. However, we had our first natural mammal for the island with Straw-coloured Fruit Bat, with several of this large species flying around at dusk.

  Thus our final full day on the island of Principe came to an end. In the morning, we will depart for Sao Tome to continue the rest of the trip. 

-Malachite Kingfisher

-Black Kite & Curlew Sandpiper

-Little Stint & Curlew Sandpiper

-Little Stint

-Curlew Sandpiper

-Principe Golden Weaver

-Olive Sunbird

-Straw-coloured Fruit Bat

São Tomé and Príncipe; Day 3 - PN Obo do Principe & Bombon Resort

   Today was a very important day, as for the first time we were trying for a species that, should we fail to find, we would be leaving on the island. There would be no second chances. To see the Principe Thrush, we needed to set off by boat from the main town, go anticlockwise halfway around the island, a distance of nearly 30 kilometres, and then explore the forest there. Once again we had our guide, Ayres, with us, to help show us the locations to best check for the target species. 

  It was quite the journey. The boat was small and the sea on the western side of the island was choppy. We got very wet thanks to ample spray coming off the waves, and there were a couple of occasions where the boat took on water, but it was never dangerous and after two hours we reached the beach from where we would access the forest.

  And fortunately it did not take long for us to complete our birding here. Despite the constant drizzle, we quickly found two Principe White-eyes in a tree on the beach, before two more just after our hike started. The first location we checked for the thrush came up blank, but not long after starting our ascent to our next spot we spotted one in the vegetation, and had fabulous views of the bird before it took off. Since we were wet and had no more birds we needed to find here, we set off back!

  In addition to our two main targets, there were a few other bits we saw here. The Principe race of both Blue-banded Kingfisher and Malachite Kingfisher were nice to see, and we also enjoyed a few Brown Boobies and another wader with a Turnstone that flew past. Deep in the forest we saw our first Mona Monkeys, which are not native here, but they did not linger for us. Once we returned to the town, there was a Curlew Sandpiper and a Greenshank on the mud there to greet us. 

  After lunch, we searched the north end of the island, on the road to the Bombon resort. This forest was more disturbed but was still pleasant birding. We saw the Principe race of Velvet-mantled Drongo and I had a new species with Splendid Starling, which we finally managed to separate from the endemic Principe Starling. Otherwise it was a similar selection of birds with the addition of more Mona Monkeys. Once we got back to the hotel at the end of the afternoon there was another new wader for us in front of the town in the form of a Grey Plover, apparently the second record for the island.

  It was an exhausting day, but extremely rewarding and with all the endemics wrapped up for Principe, we can spend the following day doing more relaxed birding around the town, to see what we can find. This was also our last day with Ayres, leaving us to explore along tomorrow.  

-Principe Thrush

-Principe White-Eye

-Principe Sunbird

-Blue-breasted Kingfisher

-Western Reef Heron

-Principe Starling

-Splendid Starling

-Velvet-mantled Drongo

-Curlew Sandpiper

-Grey Plover

-Ruddy Turnstone

São Tomé and Príncipe; Day 2 - Fernão Dias & Pico Príncipe lower slopes

   For our first full day, we decided to spend the morning birding the lowland grasslands at the north end of the island near the town of Fernão Dias. Here there were a few targets we wanted to get out of the way so we could concentrate on more specialist species when we returned to the island in a few days.

  The grasses had been recently burned, but we found several of the islands introduced finch species with Golden-backed Bishop and Black-winged Red Bishop. However, they were not in breeding plumage so identifying them was a nightmare and we could not draw accurate conclusions for most of the birds we saw. The main target of the morning was Harlequin Quail, but after not hearing any we started to worry a bit. Fortunately, we accidentally flushed an individual from an area of burnt scrub adjacent to the road, which we managed to tape back for phenomenal views.

  Also during the morning we birded along the beach. Here we found the endemic subspecies of Malachite Kingfisher, although it did not pose well. We wanted to find some migrant waders, and on that front we absolutely succeeded. First we found a few Whimbrel and Common Sandpipers, both expected but nice. Then we had a flock of eight Greenshanks and 10 Sanderling roosting together, both rare for the island. But not as rare as the two Curlew Sandpipers and two Little Stints we found on a dirty pond next to a village! Our wader mission was a phenomenal success!

  It was now late morning and warm. After an ice cream we did a bit more birding near the airport, where we added the introduced White-shouldered Widowbird to our trip list, before returning the car and taking a short flight to the other island of Principe. Once there we were collected by our hotel before having lunch. From the hotel restaurant we had our first Principe endemic with the Principe Weaver, whilst we also enjoyed African Green Pigeon and African Grey Parrot feeding on a fruiting tree.

  At 15:30 we met with out guide for two days, Ayers, and we set off to try track down the Principe Scops Owl! We had no idea what was to come! We started with some nice birding adding Principe Sunbird, Principe Starling, Principe Spierops and the very attractive Dorhns Thrush-Babbler, a type of Sylvia warbler. However, we kept walking deeper and deeper into the forest, and we soon realized that this was what was going to be necessary to find the owl.

  After almost five kilometres we finally stopped. By now it was 18:00, but already dark. No sooner had we started the tape than the owl stopped by, extremely close. Sadly it was very cautious of the light, so it took some time for us to get prolonged views of the bird. A pair was around us the whole time, and eventually we got amazing photos to go with our views. We then returned back five kilometres to the car, where we finally arrived at 20:00, absolutely exhausted. We had a bite to eat then crashed into bed, very satisfied with another fabulous day! 

-Harlequin Quail

-Curlew Sandpiper & Little Stint

-Grey Plover

-Greenshank & Sanderling

-Greenshank & Whimbrel

-Sanderling

-Golden-backed Bishop

-Black-winged Red Bishop

-São Tomé Skink

-White-winged Widowbird

-African Grey Parrot

-Principe Speirops

-Dohrn's Warbler

-Principe Scops Owl

-Jodutta Acraea

São Tomé and Príncipe; Day 1 - Arrival & Bom Successo

   My next personal trip was another with my friend Max Baumgarten from Germany, and was a short 12 day trip to the Atlantic Ocean islands of Sao Tome and Principe, just off the west African coast in the Gulf of Guinea. Although there are no spectacular species here, there are several endemics and a short trip is all that is required to clean up on the island specialties.

  We arrived from our overnight TAPortugal flight from Lisbon at 05:20, although we then had a setback as the hire car we arranged for 06:10 we did not get until 07:10 thanks to the driver sleeping in. Once we collected the car, and dropped the driver off back in the city, we drove an hour up the mountain to the village of Bom Successo, from where we could walk into the forest to start working our way through the island endemics.

  The road was not too bad surprisingly, and we managed to start our birding at around 08:30. After we paid the small donation to be allowed access we got started. We very quickly started picking up endemic species as we walked through cultivated habitat, with Sao Tome Paradise-Flycatcher, Sao Tome Spinetail, Black-capped Spierops and Sao Tome Prinia all falling very quickly. We also picked up our first potentially tricky species, with Sao Tome White-Eye, which showed nicely.

  As we approached the forest we added Sao Tome Weaver, Sao Tome Oriole and Principe Seedeater to our ever growing list. The birding was very lively and very enjoyable. Once we entered the forest it did start to slow down somewhat, but we had what will be a strong contender for bird of the trip with a fantastic showing from Sao Tome Scops Owl in the middle of the morning.

  The first stage of the trail was absolutely brutal, with steep climbs and descents with extremely slippery mud underfoot. Both of us were felled multiple times by the conditions. Fortunately the second half was much better and we were able to complete it without too many more issues. We finally returned to the car at around 15:00 and then headed to the hotel to finally relax after our long day. 

Wilgottheim

     This weekend I found myself back in Lauras parents village of Wilgottheim, about half an hours drive from the city of Strasbourg on the French-German border. Situated between the two ranges of the Vosges mountains, nearby VizMig watchpoints have produced some genuinely incredible counts of migrating birds, but I have never had the chance to be in the area during the autumn… until now!

  Thus I spent the weekend getting up early and exploring the hill behind the village, checking the trees and bushes there for grounded migrants and hoping for good numbers of birds flying over. Overhead it turned out was fairly quiet, with very little of note in terms of numbers besides double-figure counts of both Tree Pipit and Yellow Wagtail, although there were also many grounded birds confusing the overall total. I couldn’t wait around too long, but in the two hours I explored the area during the mornings it was pretty clear that no significant movement of birds was taking place.

  In the bushes it was excellent, with regularly Pied Flycatchers, Common Redstarts and Spotted Flycatchers, bulked out by the usual good counts of Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs, with the occasional Willow Warbler also thrown in. There was also a single Whinchat and Wheatear, two species I had not yet found in my explorations around Paris.

  In addition to the migrant birds, it was also a surprise to find both Middle Spotted and Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers here. While there are larger trees, it is hardly a wooded environment and I did not expect to find these birds here. The Lesser Spotted Woodpecker especially showed very nicely! 

-Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

-Tree Pipit & Common Chiffchaff

-Spotted Flycatcher

-Common Redstart

-Pied Flycatcher