8 Nov 2019: Nyungwe – The Kamiranzovu Trail

Hime and myself met up with Claude, a park ranger, at the Nyungwe National Park’s office, and then proceeded further into the park to the trail head of the Kamiranzovu trail into the forest. Heavily armed and well-disciplined soldiers of the Rwanda Defence Force were deployed every few hundred meters along the tarmacked road leading through the park, carrying AK 47s, RPG 7s and PKM light machine guns. When asked for the reason for this show of force Claude became very evasive – I think that the rangers don’t want to frighten away the tourists. I later found out that rebels from Burundi had crossed the border into Rwanda and held up a bus, killing some passengers who resisted.

The Albertine Rift is the western branch of the Great Rift Valley and its volcanic mountains hosts a great diversity of plants and animals that have evolved in this specialised habitat. Nyungwe protects one of the largest remaining stretches of Albertine Rift forest and I was hoping to find at least 20 of the 27 Albertine endemics present in the park.

The birding kicked off with a muddy slip-and-slide exercise as the Kamiranzovu trail descended steeply through dense forest. The first Albertine Rift endemics started showing up with Ruwenzori Apalis and Ruwenzori Batis ticked in quick succession. A Black-billed Turaco played hide-and-seek in the canopy while Regal- and Blue-headed Sunbirds delighted us with their colourful attire. Mountain Masked Apalis and Great Blue Turacos called all along the trail and some spishing brought good views of Chubb’s Cisticola, Olive-breasted Mountain Greenbul and Black-crowned Waxbill. Near Kamiranzovu marsh we worked hard to lure a calling Albertine Bushshrike (Lagden’s Bushshrike if lumped) out into the open and eventually only had a fleeting glimpse as it disappeared into the forest. Better views were obtained of a far-off Yellow-eyed Black Flycatcher.

The highlight of the morning was finding the very rare Grauer’s Swamp Warbler in the Kamiranzovu marsh. It can be tricky to see as it tends to hop out of the swamp grass and fall right back in without perching anywhere. Our bird did however perch for a photo opportunity. A skulking Red-chested Flufftail called from the swamp but could not be cajoled into showing itself.

The long climb back up the forest pathway delivered six new Albertine specials for my Big Year list. Numerous Red-faced Woodland Warblers showed well in the mid canopy and understorey and an Archer’s Robin Chat gave us some good views while pottering about in the leaf litter. A pair of Dusky Crimsonwings showed well in the pathway before disappearing into some forest shrub. White-bellied Crested Flycatcher perched in a tangle of vines while a fugitive White-browed Crombec tried to disappear amongst the giant leaves of a forest fern. Short-tailed Warblers (Neumann's Bush Warbler) remained well hidden while we unsuccessfully tried to entice them out into the open. A group of inquisitive Grey-cheeked Mangabey monkeys then gave us the once-over before also vanishing into the forest.

Grey-cheeked Mangabey, Nyungwe Forest

The afternoon’s session ended abruptly when the heavens opened up with a deluge of tropical rain. I did, however, manage to add the beautiful Many-coloured Bushshrike to my Big Year list before surviving the onslaught of water became the number one priority. All in all, 16 new birds were added to the year list – not a bad day of birding in deepest Africa!