Martin met me at our place at dawn, and we went birding while Nicky and Ronnie had a lie in. Birding with hired guides isn't generally my thing, as it's such an odd relationship for both parties, but I had a great time with Martin. It was quickly apparent that round here he surely was The Man. There wasn't a sound he couldn't name, and I barely got onto anything all day that he hadn't already identified from a glimpse of it's shadow.
We first tried the open area he called the botanical gardens, behind some German colonial buildings a few hundred metres back down the road and off to the left from where we were staying. We soon bumped into a female Pale Batis and a Cabanis's Bunting. On seeing a Fork-tailed Drongo, Martin explained that the ones here are more of a forest bird, and could be a future split.
We stopped for a while where a fruiting tree and adjacent spindly tree were pretty busy. Some white-eyes appeared, not only another potential split (from African Yellow White-eye), but a rare oportunity within this report to revisit the concept of zosteropidological upheaval. African Green Pigeons and Silvery-cheeked Hornbills in the fruiting tree were joined by a superb Green-headed Oriole. The second of the sunbird specialities, Green Banded Sunbird, then appeared in the spindly tree. First a couple of rather drab females, then finally a male. Other birds just popped up as we stood there: Little, Yellow-streaked and Shelley's Greenbuls, Black-backed Puffback, Brown-headed Kingfisher, Golden Oriole, Black-bellied Starling, East African Citril etc. Before we'd left this more open area we also saw a perched Southern Banded Snake Eagle, Purple-banded and Uluguru Violet-backed Sunbirds, a pair of Mombasa Woodpeckers, a Garden Warbler, a Kurrichane Thrush, Spectacled Weavers, Black Saw-wings, Rock Martins etc.
We pottered back at 8am, but Nicky and Ronnie were still asleep, so we started birding the forest trail behind our lodge. A Grey Cuckoo-Shrike moved through the canopy, there was a Forest Batis seen well close to the track, then a very clear descending whistle from up the slope to our left was identified by Martin as a White-chested Alethe. A whistled Imitation didn't bring it any closer, so we clambered up the slope through the forest in it's direction. We weren't surprised when it stopped calling and we hadn't seen it. Martin explained that, like many birds round here, it's a hard bird to see at this time of year, and that if we came when most birders come, it's pretty easy with a tape. We were therefore extremely happy when after we'd given up, and moved up to a smaller nearby track, we flushed it, and it stopped somewhere where we ended up having a great view of it. It was about 9am when we returned, and had breakfast with Nicky and Ronnie.
After breakfast we birded the forest edge track that begins just below the milk collecting station. This will make sense if you come here. We soon found ourselves pursuing another descending whistle into the forest, though apparently this was a Red-tailed Ant Thrush, which of course is what materialised. Further down the track Trumpeter Hornbills sounded like crying babies, and we headed down a side track which produced a juvenile Green Twinspot. This led to an area where Martin sometimes sees what's possibly Amani's most sought after bird: Long-billed Tailorbird. This is bird just found in streamside vine-tangles around Amani, and maybe at another pin-***** on the map somewhere in the north of Mozambique. We had no luck, and it was soon time to return, picking up a small party of Placid Greenbuls lurking in the undergrowth on our way back.
It was time for plan B. Martin rang his mate, and arranged to borrow a motorbike, so that he and I could visit a reliable LBT territory about 5km further along the 'main road', while Nicky and Ronnie hung out at base camp. The bike materialised, and off we rode. We arrived at the site at around mid day, and Martin was distressed to discover that the middle of the birds' territory had been flattened, seemingly by a large vehicle. He tried playback but there was no response, and it looked pretty bad for the birds still being there. We did get a response,but it was a Black-headed Apalis, which I didn't bother tracking down, even though it was fairly close, as we'd heard a few that day, and I figured we'd just bump into one at some point. We went back for lunch instead.
After lunch Ronnie went to sleep, giving Nicky a much needed break. This was our window to have another go at the tailorbird, but when Ronnie awoke we'd have to head back. The next nearest site was about 12km away, and Martin was well aware of the urgency, so off we sped. It felt like a very long and bumpy ride in the heat. After what seemed like forever we hit what looked to me like ideal habitat. I mentioned this, and Martin said yes, but they'd surveyed everywhere and they're not there. So we carried on. He finally stopped and said 'There's a territory round here, but no Kretschmer's Longbill. There's a territory a bit further where there's a Kretschmer's Longbill'. We bypassed this one. After another km or so we stopped. I got off the bike and looked at my phone. There was no reception. This meant we had no time. From the bike we walked about 10m to a vine tangle by a stream. Within 5 minutes Martin produced a pair of Long-billed Tailorbirds and a Kretschmer's Longbill in the same vine tangle, and the trip's only East Coast Boubou back at the bike. Back on the bike, we raced back to base camp, bypassing a motorbike that had crashed off the road, and stopping only for the trip's only Kenrick's Starling. We got back just as Ronnie had woken up.
We spent the afternoon mostly trying to see Amani Sunbird around the lodge, and African Broadbill along the forest track behind the lodge, but had no joy with either. Other birds seen that day included African Crowned and Wahlberg's Eagles, Tambourine and Blue-spotted Wood Doves, Common Waxbill, Stripe-cheeked Greenbul, and Olive Sunbird. We also heard Little Rush and Evergreen Forest Warblers, Fischer's Turaco, and also apparently an Amani Sunbird, though I didn't really clock it's call properly.
