20-22 Aug 2019: Aberfoyle Lodge

Heading towards Aberfoyle we first birded the miombo woodlands at Cecil Kop outside Mutare. Our birding efforts were hampered by a strong wind and Cecil Kop was a complete bust. The hills and tea plantations of Aberfoyle, some two hours from Cecil Kop, delivered a few Black Saw-wings intermingled with numerous Eastern Saw-wings. Morgan, the local guide at Aberfoyle, showed us various hotspots where to find the specials, as he was busy with other commitments. We soon ticked Red-throated Twinspot, Red-faced Crimson-wing and Green-backed (Little Spotted) Woodpecker. At dusk Morgan found us a few Scarce Swifts – a Southern African lifer for yours truly – and the Blue-mantled Flycatcher, a new bird for the year list. The evening we pitched camp next to a river on the golf course.

Red-throated Twinspot, Aberfoyle

Green-backed (Little Spotted) Woodpecker, Aberfoyle

The soothing sound of the flowing river was augmented by light showers during the night, and this put quite a damper on the next day’s birding as it was an overcast and cold day. We worked very hard to find Anchieta’s Tchagra, Lesser Seedcracker and Pallid Honeyguide, but to no avail. That night Maans made such a serious campfire with some bush-clearing wood that it burnt away the clouds, and we woke up to clear skies. The next morning we again dipped on the Seedcracker and Tchagra, but found two Pallid Honeyguides in the forest canopy. During breakfast at the lodge we had good sightings of low-flying Mottled Swifts. Aberfoyle turned out to be a very pleasant birding experience!

Red-faced Crimsonwings, Aberfoyle