Kingfisher Collection

Kingfishers are rare in the UK – I only saw my first Kingfisher back in the UK last summer.

Here in Tanzania they are much more common. Last week I saw a Woodland Kingfisher – thus completing the set of all those which can be seen in this part of Tanzania. All of these have been seen in our garden, apart from the Giant Kingfisher (seen in Kigoma) but resident here. However, not all of the photos were taken in the garden.

So here is the collection…..

Woodland Kingfisher

Grey-headed Kingfisher

Pygmy Kingfisher

Malachite Kingfisher

Pied Kingfisher

Giant Kingfisher

Beautiful Bougainvillea

The rains are imminent – in fact three storms have come and gone – nothing on the scale that is to come, but a sign things are changing.

Even so the ground remains parched and yellow, dusty and dry – the exception being the Bougainvillea which is in bloom at this time and throughout the dryest time of the year and provides a welcome splash of colour to the garden.

 

Weekly Photo Challenge: Morning (on the Road)

A contribution to this week’s photo challenge  on the theme Morning.

A year ago we had just completed a month long tour through from Lake Victoria to Victoria Falls via Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and Botswana (including a brief excursion into Zimbabwe and a travel through Mozambique waters). All the photos below were taken during the mornings as we travelled across the continent. You can find out more by checking the link

Day 1- Mwanza Airport

Day 2 – Early Departure -Dar Coach Station

Day 3 – South of Songea

Day 4 – Mbamba Bay Morning

Day 5 – Mbamba Bay

Day 6 -Sunrise over Mozambique

Day 7 – Mango Drift – Likoma Island

Day 8 – Likoma Sunrise

Day 9 – Lake Malawi Morning

Day 10 – Monkey Bay Sunrise

Day 11 – Monkey Bay – Morning Monkey

Day 12 – Arrival at Chilmba Village (Chief’s House)

Day 13 – Zomba Plateau

Day 14 – Zomba Morning Departure

Day 15 – Dedza Pottery

Day 16- Lilongwe Bus Station – Keeping Warm

Day 17- Lusaka Coach Station

Day 18 – Victoria Falls

Day 19 – Chobe Trio

Day 20 – Zip Wire over the Gorge

Day 21 – Coach from Livingstone to Lusaka

Day 22 – Kapiri Mposhi Station

Day 23 – Tazara Train – Breakfast?

Day 24 – Tazara Train & Tunnels

Day 25- Kipepeo Beach

Day 26- Sunrise over the Indian Ocean

Day 27 – Union Cafe – Moshi

Day 28 – Coffee Plantation on Kilamanjaro

Day 29 – Return to Mwanza

Slipping Right Back In?

I am not sure what I expected upon our return visit to the UK this summer but I’m pleasantly surprised that for me at least it is very much a case of picking up where I left off in 2014. I imagined that there might be a greater discontinuity or even culture shock but it hasn’t as yet been manifest.

Perhaps the effects of Social Media, FaceTime, the BBC News App on my phone and a 4G has meant that a tenuous link to the UK remained even though I was well off the beaten track in Mwanza.
We are in the midst of a week long return to MK and yesterday had a great time catching up with old friends at St Mary’s Bletchley. Whilst much had changed in the Church Yard, it seemed to us that it was very much the same SMB we left in 2014. It was good to be part of that community again.  MK itself seems little different – a few new buildings in this ever changing new city but familiar nonetheless. 
We have all got older of course and the changes are most apparent in the friends of our children and in the older folk we have met. Even so most people are as they were. Here lies the most obvious difference. 

I suppose the past two years for us have opened us to a very different way of life and a plethora of experiences. Yet perhaps outwardly we have changed little too other than a slight tan and the use of a few expat colloquialisms. Yet sitting here in MK, we are visitors, curious onlookers no longer residents.

I wonder whether the longer we are away from Britain, the bigger the differences will become.

WPC – Look Up To The Skies

A submission to this week’s photo challenge :Look Up – looking up to see the birdlife around us in Tanzania and across Africa.

Grey-headed Kingfisher

Klaas’s Cuckoo

Spotted Morning Thrush

Yellow-billed Black Kite in the sun

White Throated Bee-eater

Common Bul Bul

Black and White Casqued Hornbill

Little Bee-eater

Bronze Mannikin

Black headed Gonolek

Palm Nut Vulture

African Paradise Flycatcher

Swamp Flycatcher

Yellow-billed Black Kite

Roller Close Up

Red-billed Firefinch

Hamerkop in flight

Roller Turn

Red Kite

Roller Landing

Back to ‘Blighty’

I sit here in the lounge of my parents-in law watching Wimbledon – the Ladies Semi-Finals (Kerber vs Williams). It’s almost like we’ve never been away.

It’s our first day back in England (Blighty is an old-fashioned term for Britain / England). It was a long and somewhat stressful trip back with Turkish Air / Fast Jet.

It all started back in Mwanza with a lengthy conversation  with a ‘jobsworth’  Fast Jet official who insisted that although on weight – we were only allowed one bag each on the plane – this was neither on the ticket or clearly described in the small print – we almost missed our flight!

In Dar Es Salaam – we discovered our 3 am flight was delayed by six hours – resulting in a sleepless night in the Airport. The reason for the delay was never fully explained though attributed to technical difficulties. The result of all this delay was that we would miss our connecting flight from Istanbul to London. Thankfully but after a hour long, 1 – 2am wait in the airport we were re-scheduled for a later flight.

The delay was almost 7 hours in the end and got us into Istanbul with a little over an hour to spare before check-in. So a quick taste of European culture (Café Nero) before boarding our Heathrow flight. Arriving back in the UK about 9pm we realised that of our 7 bags, 3 were still in Istanbul. One of the three belonged to Anita who had no clothes, one to me who had no other shoes but sandals, the other to my daughter.
These were subsequently put on another flight – but one bag only has arrived thus far – the others having taken an even later flight back and expected late this evening. Although all these will be couriered across – things are still very frustrating.

I’m told this is the perils of long-haul travel – just hoping our journey back to Mwanza will be less of an ordeal.

 

I’ll Miss…. The Birdlife

Term’s over, school’s out and soon we’ll be out of Africa.

Not for ever ….. but for a couple months whilst we return to the UK. Here is a short series on some of the things I’ll miss whilst we’re gone.

It may not be a surprise to those who follow this blog regularly that the birdlife has been a major part of the experience here. You can find out more by clicking on the link below and working forward. A Bird a Day in June

Pied Kingfisher

Klaas’s Cuckoo

Eastern-grey Plantain Eater

Black-headed Gonolek

White Throated Bee-eater

Marabou Stork

Red-chested Sunbird

Lilac Breasted Roller

House Sparrows

Redbilled Firefinch

Dimorphic Egret

Yellow-billed Black Kite

White Browed Robin Chat (Orange)

Swallow-tailed Bee-eater

African Paradise Flycatcher

Purple Grenadier

Speckled Pigeon

Laughing Dove

Hadada Ibes

Bronze Mannikin

Little Egret

Scarlet-chested Sunbird

Mourning Doves

Green-winged Pytillia

Grey-backed Camaroptera

Swamp Flycatcher

Spotted Morning Thrush

Red Bishop

African Thrush

Speckled Mousebird

Spectacled Weaver

Grey-headed Kingfisher

Pied Crow

Variable Sunbird

Grey-capped Warbler

Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu

 

A Bird A Day (The ones that got away) – Day 35 : House Sparrow

Day 35 of a series illustrating some of the fantastic birds we see here on Lake Victoria and across Tanzania. Sadly there weren’t enough days in June – so here are some of the birds which got away. This is an apt one to finish with – a regular visitor we never expected to see here in Tanzania.

House Sparrow

House Sparrows

Other Sparrows

I’ll Miss…. The Weather

Term’s over, school’s out and soon we’ll be out of Africa.

Not for ever ….. but for a couple months whilst we return to the UK. Here is a short series on some of the things I’ll miss whilst we’re gone.

It rarely falls below 20°C here in Mwanza – and generally day-time temperatures hover between 25°C and 30°C – so I’m not looking forward to the ‘cold’ of the British Summer – let alone the rain.

I’m hoping for a heat wave back in Britain – otherwise it’s lots of sweaters and long sleeved tops – something I have hardly ever had to wear here.

We are now firmly in the Dry Season so not looking forward to the wet either.

 

I’ll Miss …. Lake Victoria

Term’s over, school’s out and soon we’ll be out of Africa.

Not for ever ….. but for a couple months whilst we return to the UK. Here is a short series on some of the things I’ll miss whilst we’re gone.

Lake Victoria affords some amazing views. It might be full of Bilharzia and polluted, but is scenically beautiful, whether from Tunza, Talapia, Malaika, Yung Long, Wag Hill, Jembe Beach, Papa’s or Igombe it’s lovely to sit by the Lake, the gentle breeze blowing cooling air, watch the nature and relax. Sunsets are awesome.

 

Tunza Sunset

Wag Hill Sunset

Malaika Sunset with Dow

A Bird A Day (The ones that got away) – Day 33 : Pied Crow

Day 33 of a series illustrating some of the fantastic birds we see here on Lake Victoria and across Tanzania. Sadly there weren’t enough days in June – so here are some of the birds which got away.

Pied Crow

Pied Crow

I’ll Miss…. The Sounds of Morning

Term’s over, school’s out and soon we’ll be out of Africa.

Not for ever ….. but for a couple months whilst we return to the UK. Here is a short series on some of the things I’ll miss whilst we’re gone.

I love the mornings here – particularly at the weekends – it’s light at 7 or so and the dawn chorus is the first thing to wake us.

Sitting on the verandah, coffee in hand on a warm sunny Saturday hearing the sounds of the garden and the neighbourhood -my favorite time of day.

The Sounds of the Morning

A Bird A Day (The ones that got away) – Day 32 : Speckled Pigeon

Day 32 of a series illustrating some of the fantastic birds we see here on Lake Victoria and across Tanzania. Sadly there weren’t enough days in June – so here are some of the birds which got away. This is a recent visitor to our garden but is found widely locally

Speckled Pigeon

Speckled Pigeon

 

African Green Pigeon 

This one is not local but found in along the Indian Ocean coast.

 

A Bird A Day (The ones that got away) – Day 31 : Egret

Day 31 of a series illustrating some of the fantastic birds we see here on Lake Victoria and across Tanzania. Sadly there weren’t enough days in June – so here are some of the birds which got away.

Little Egret

Little Egret

Dimorphic Egret

Dimorphic Egret

A Bird a Day in June: Day 30 – Bronze Mannikin

Day 30 of a series illustrating some of the fantastic birds we see here on Lake Victoria and across Tanzania. Many of these are seen in our garden including this one.

Bronze Mannikin

A Bird a Day in June: Day 29 – Southern Red Bishop

Day 29 of a series illustrating some of the fantastic birds we see here on Lake Victoria and across Tanzania. Many of these are seen in our garden – but this one is not but from close by.

Southern Red Bishop

Red Bishop

A Bird a Day in June: Day 28 – Black-backed Puffback

Day 28 of a series illustrating some of the fantastic birds we see here on Lake Victoria and across Tanzania. Many of these are seen in our garden including this one.

Black-backed Puffback

A Bird a Day in June: Day 27 -Northern Carmine Bee-eater

Day 27 of a series illustrating some of the fantastic birds we see here on Lake Victoria and across Tanzania. Many of these are seen in our garden – but this is the another one from elsewhere in Tanzania and further afield.

Northern Carmine Bee-eater

Other Bee-eaters

Swallow-tailed Bee-eater

White Throated Bee-eater

Rising Waters

One thing which has been apparent over the almost two years we have been in Mwanza, that is the fact that the Lake is rising!

Lake Victoria’s waters are flooding over the low lying land along the shoreline, like here at Charcoal Ribs, Jembe Beach south of Mwanza.

The above photo was taken a month after the end of the rainy season (we have had very little rain this past month) but the waters are not receding. This photo was taken south of Mwanza on Jembe Beach, but the pattern is repeated along the length of the lake where we have encountered it at Igombe, Papa’s, Talapia, Tunza and Malaika

Researchers in Uganda have measured water level rises of almost 6m in two years. Lake Victoria is a shallow lake and has only one outlet, the River Nile at Jinja. This accounts for 15% of the outflow. The water comes in via streams and the Kagera River, but again this does not account for much.

The water levels are mainly affected by rainfall and evaporation. Climate change appears to be having a big effect on Lake Victoria.

Information taken from

http://allafrica.com/stories/201601060324.html

http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/mobile/article/2000181998/lake-victoria-water-to-rise-in-next-10-years

Weekly Photo Challenge: (Feathered) Partners

A submission to this week’s photo challenge: Partners this one focus on the birds seen in our garden – part of my bird a day in June series

Mourning Doves