This is the second post showing a small selection of the birds we saw in Zakouma National Park in mid-March this year. Zakouma’s wildlife is like nothing I had ever seen before. Firstly, Zakouma is in the Sahel which is the gap between the Sahara desert and the tropical rain forests of the Republic of Congo and the Cameroon. Its location dictates you will see both different (to southern Africa) resident and migratory birds. Its location also dictates extreme seasonal changes with flooding in the rainy season and very hot dry conditions in summer.

“Jobs fill your pocket, but adventures fill your soul.” ~ Jamie Lyn Beatty

Being above the equator there are similar species with striking colour and physiological differences to the birds we see in southern Africa. There are also many unique species and many migrants stopping over on their way back to Europe and Asia. Because of our timing in mid-March we did not see many migrants as it was too early.

Besides new species and fascinating variations, Zakouma offered astounding congregations of birds around the drying pans and pools of water remaining in the Salamat river. In my 50 plus years of wandering through the African bush I never seen the size of bird congregations that I saw in Zakouma.

“One’s destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things.” ~ Henry Miller

Birding enriches my wildlife experience in the bush by adding another layer of observation and appreciation for the natural world. This encourages a deeper connection to the ecosystem. The deeper connection and more holistic understanding of wildlife and its habitat creates endless fascination and mystery.

This Abyssinian roller flew back to its hunting perch after having caught an insect. The gorgeous blue colours in the plumage of this species looks like a bright gem in the Sahel’s red/ochre coloured habitat. We had stopped to look at a small pride of Northern lions lying in the shade at the edge of the water in the Salamat river when this roller landed behind us.

The weather was obliging with sunny days though by mid-morning it was getting very hot, above 40 degrees centigrade which created heat haze, affecting photographic long lens focus. My camera’s “procapture” feature allowed me to shoot a sequence of this roller taking off from its perch. I always look for indications that a bird gives when it is about to take off from its perch but rollers and bee-eaters are tricky because their signals vary so much. Procapture solves this problem.

In the previous post I mentioned that Black-headed lapwings were common waders in Zakouma but this was only the second of two individuals we saw the whole trip. This lapwing species tends to be more active at night and in the crepusular hours. This species has a black head and wispy black crest, black bands across its neck and down its throat which make it conspicuous.

A typical scene looking along a long pool of remaining water in the Salamat river with its gallery of Tamarind, Acacia, Jackalberry and occasional Sausage trees. The banks of the river were lined with many waders which were fishing. In this section we saw Great egrets, Yellow-billed, Saddle-billed and Marabou storks, and Grey and Black-headed herons. There were Pied and Giant kingfishers sitting in the branches overhanging the water. There were also many Black-crowned night-herons both on the far bank and in the trees overlooking the pools of water.

While we were waiting for a herd of buffalo to come down to the river to drink, we watched an unusual gathering of Black-headed herons standing in a channel next to a sandbank which seemed to be an ideal place for many West African crocodiles to warm themselves. I have never seen this species of heron lined up like this in the water so assumed there must have been very good fishing in that channel.

“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” ~ Jawaharial Nehru

We saw White-backed vultures in Rigueik pan drinking and bathing and every day we saw several Hooded vultures around the pool of water just below the staff quarters at Zakouma camp. Palm nut vultures can be seen in the southern section of the park where there are many more palm trees.

The Clapperton’s spurfowl is the only species of spurfowl found in Zakouma. Each bird species has a specific ecological niche within an environment. Zakouma’s ecological conditions do not seem optimal for multiple spurfowl species to coexist.

The afternoon we went canoeing, we came across a mixed congregation of White-backed pelicans, Black crowned cranes, Great and Intermediate egrets and Yellow-billed and Marabou storks. The afternoon sun illumed these pelicans beautifully. The pelicans were there because of the concentrations of fish.

On our way down to the southern section of Zakouma, our guide, Doug and driver Torgi, took us off road to a little known pan where there were thousands of White-faced whistling ducks. In amongst theses ducks, there were Spotted redshanks, Grey herons, Great egrets, Saddled billed and Marabou storks.

This was another interesting drying pan which had attracted many ducks and waders. The latter were fishing. The pan was lined with a gallery of large trees which must have hidden many raptors and kingfishers. We saw numerous Yellow-billed kites trawling these pans and pools of water.

“Blessed are the curious for they shall have adventures.” ~ Lovelle Drachman

In the southern section of Zakouma near our “fly camp” we stopped to look at a new section of the Salamat river. On the far side bank Doug pointed out a single Egyptian plover. This was another “lifer” for me. It has striking colouration with a black crown, back, eye-mask and breast band. The rest of the head is white. The remaining upper part plumage is blue-grey, and the underparts are salmon coloured. This species eats invertebrates such as worms, molluscs, aquatic insects and small flies. It picks food from the surface and probes the damp sand with its beak for edibles.

On the same section of the Salamat river I saw an unusual interaction between a Water thick-knee and a pair of Spur-winged lapwings. Initially, it looked like the thick-knee was resting on the cool sand next to the waterline.

The lapwing on the left hand side began to move closer to the thick-knee. The thick-knee must have been judged the move as threatening and so responded causing the second lapwing to come to the aid of the first one. Despite the rucus it did not last long and neither party got hurt. The thick-knee moved away and the lapwings paraded side by side declaring victory.

Another pan filled with waders. There were many Yellow-billed, Marabou and Saddle-billed storks fishing as were Grey herons. In amongst the fishers were White-faced and Knob-billed ducks. It was a very quiet and peaceful scene.

“Live life with no excuses, travel with no regret.” ~ Oscar Wilde

Overlooking the pan from a discrete perch was a Lizard buzzard. It was waiting for sparrow, quelea and waxbill size prey to come down to drink. This is a small, chunky, greyish raptor with a distinctive pale throat spliced by a vertical black throat stripe.

One afternoon on our way to watch the Red-billed queleas return to a large pan to roost and drink, we found a pride of Northern lion lying in the shade on the cool sand. I was intrigued by the diverse mix of waders which were foraging so close to the lions. Great egrets mixed with Openbill and Woolly-necked storks, Black crowned cranes and Hammerkops.

A successful Great egret. It did not seem to fuss about the West African crocodile which was close by. The crocs did not seem too interested in the smaller waders but they did try to go for Great egrets, and Yellow-billed and Marabou storks while they were wading in the water searching for fish. I never saw a croc catch any wading birds.

Further along the gravel road to the queleas we again crossed the meandering Salamat river and judging by the number of Marabou storks there must have been good fishing in this pan.

After spending a night at the “fly camp” on the bank of the Salamat river, the next morning we were given a unique show by Little egrets and Hammerkops. Hundreds of these waders were flying above the water while dragging their feet in the water. Perhaps the dragging of feet in the water caused the fish to scramble and in doing so many swam to the surface.

Both Hammerkops and Little egrets were plucking fish off the water’s surface while flying. I have never seen this behaviour before. These waders were highly successful.

I have never seen so many Black-crowned night-herons as I did in Zakouma. This species is nocturnal but we saw many adults and juveniles sitting at the water’s edge during the day. They were also very active flying up and down the river during the day.

We saw many Pied kingfishers along the Salamat river. They were very successful fishers but with so many fish I was interested to note fewer Pieds along the Salamat than I have seen along the Chobe river in northern Botswana. I am not sure what the reason could be but I surmise it could be the extreme seasonality along the Salamat compared with the perennial flow in the Chobe.

A family tussle over landing rights. The male had a lot to say to his mate. Males have a double band across the breast, while females have a single broken breast band.

We saw a remarkable number of Marabou storks all over Zakouma. Given the numbers we saw very few tussles between them. This was probably because there was enough food for everyone.

On our last afternoon, we at last found a small flock of Northern carmine bee-eaters. This species is as colourful as its southern cousin. Its belly, neck and nape are carmine coloured. Its wings are a mixture of carmine and orange. Its head is blue-green and it has a black eye band.

In flight, the Northern species reveals a blue-green rump, and rosy underwings with black trailing edge. Carmines are usually seen in flocks and they breed in colonies in riverbanks.

It was very hot in the afternoon, well over 40 degrees centigrade. The carmines were hyperactive so needed to cool off by diving into the water. They are strong enough fliers to lift themselves out of the water and fly off with wet wing and body feathers.

On our last afternoon, after watching the carmines for about 45 minutes, we travelled down to another new pan east of the Zakouma Park headquarters. I never noticed at first but Doug, our guide, pointed out that the female Saddle-bill stork in Zakouma had yellow wattles under her lower mandible. The yellow wattles were smaller than those on the male. What was unusual was that female Saddle-billed storks in southern Africa do not have wattles under their lower mandible. The male’s colouring is the same as we see in southern Africa.

“It’s not what you look at that matters. It’s what you see.” ~ Henry David Thoreau

In the same pan in the late afternoon we managed to get reasonably close to a pair of Black crowned cranes without them walking away from us. They are stunningly beautiful cranes.

Again, at the same pan as the sun began to sink we saw more and more Black-crowned night-herons. The next two of images are of a juvenile Black-crowned night-heron. Juveniles’ plumage is very different to the adults and is brown and streaky and it has yellow eyes. Adults are pale grey overall with a black cap and back and their eyes are ruby red in colour.

As it got dark we saw flocks of hundreds of night-herons returning to this pan. It was too dark to photograph them but I have never seen so many. This juvenile managed to catch a relative large catfish. We did not wait to find out whether it managed to swallow it or not as we were distracted by a leopard which came down to the pan to drink.

A juvenile Black-winged stilt foraging in the shallows together with a Wood sandpiper.

We saw a few individual African spoonbills but never large numbers of them. They were also successful fishers. At birth, spoonbills have a short beak which develops into its spoon-like shape.

The African spoonbill forages by swinging its open beak side-to-side through the water. When something touches the beak, it snaps shut usually catching the prey. This species feeds on small fish, molluscs, amphibians, crustaceans, insects and larvae.

A cellphone video of the murmations of Red-billed queleas which returned to the pan to drink and roost for the evening. There was no way to count the numbers of incoming queleas but there were wave after wave of thousand and thousands of queleas coming into the pan over a period of around 90 minutes.

As you can see from the previous images there is a diverse variety of birds most of which are attracted by the abundant food in the drying pans and pools of water in the Salamat river. The numbers of waders in and around these bodies of water were incredible and like nothing I had ever seen before. Beyond their numbers, wonderful variety of shapes and colours there was fascinating physiological intelligence at work.

“Senses that seem paranormal to us only appear this way because we are so limited and so painfully unaware of our limitations.” ~ Ed Yong

The water in the pans and pools in the Salamat river was not particularly clear yet there were waders by the thousands foraging in the water. Waders have a specialised bill-tip organ with dense clusters of mechanoreceptors, called Herbst corpuscles, embedded in sensory pits within the beak bones. These receptors are highly sensitive to vibrations. When waders probe into wet sand or mud, their repeated actions create pressure waves. These waves are distorted by the presence of solid objects, like buried prey. The mechanoreceptors in the bill-tip organ detect these subtle changes in the pressure waves, allowing the bird to sense the location of prey even without directly touching it. This remarkable sensory adaptation called “remote-touch” in their beaks, allows them to detect vibrations in water and mud and in so doing locate prey that is hidden beneath the surface.

“It seems that the more places I see and experience, the bigger I realise the world to be. The more I become aware of, the more I realise how relatively little I know of it, how many places I have still to go, how much more there is to learn.” ~ Anthony Bourdain

There were many birds we saw which I did not get a chance to photograph which is why I will have to go back next year.

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its interconnectedness and let it be.

Have fun, Mike