Birding in Rwanda
I wish I was embarrassed to say that
I have fallen prey to the birding craze, but I’m well beyond that now as I
memorize all of their taxonomical names and distinct sounds. Jack is right with
me.
Our
Spark Bird
The Speckled Mouse Bird is what got
me and Jack hooked. Jack just looked out the window and we opened my app to
find what all of those fat, squeaky birds were that bounced around our bushes
every morning just chattering away. Just so happened that they were the aptly
named "Speckled Mouse Birds". Also, they had “Jack hair” as my son
rightly pointed out. They come knocking on our windows at least a couple times
a week.
A
New Rwanda
It’s easy for things to get old fast
in Kigali. It’s a small town and you end up finding yourself on the same roads
day in and day out. There are no events outside of the myriad of lengthy
weddings that one tries to avoid whenever possible. We hit the same stores, do
the same walks, and find ourselves getting into ruts at times.
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| Olive Woodpeckers looking for a home |
It was like a new world of color
opened up to me. Normal walks that we have been going on for the past two years
have now turned into treasure hunts with rare finds and exciting discoveries
every time.
Distractions...
Jenn has had to remind me to keep my
eyes on the road at times as we see hundreds of hawks and eagles soaring over
the hills as we drive. I spotted a Long-crested Eagle on the way to church and
Jenn thought I was going to kill us all for sure. This is a very addictive
hobby and it has got me and Jack searching for birds through our app and
listening to their sounds to memorize their unique chirping and
whistling.
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| Long-crested Eagle (Jack and I climbed up an insane little hill and almost fell in a swamp for this one). |
Jack and I have our very own special
bird sanctuary that most people don’t go to. It just happens to be right behind
our house. We see at least 8-9 new species every time we go. We call it our
little “hidden valley” and it is a great escape from a city that lacks anything
that resembles a park. It is especially nice because it is a rare moment when
you aren’t surrounded by Rwandans who stare at you. There are the occasional
Rwandans who are cutting grass for their cattle, but they know us now and
sometimes point out where they last spotted an interesting bird.
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| Scoping them out |
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| While looking good! |
Logging
and Sampling
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| Cinnamon chested Bee-eater (These little guys are some of my favorites) |
Jack and I have been on at least ten
birding expeditions and now do it every morning (sometimes we go on Sunday
walks while Jenn is taking care of things as relief society president since
there is no nursery or young kids like Jack in the primary). He has
already spotted his fair share of cool, exotic birds. He is a natural at it.
With so many colorful and weird shaped birds, everyday is a safari.
Jack makes sure we take the time to identify our birds and hear their calls. We log the location and what the birds were up to when we spotted them. Yes, we have officially nerded out and are proud of it. It is fascinating and can keep you busy for hours in nature especially in Rwanda where there are over 530 species to look for.
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| Little Bee-eater |
Jenn came back from her abrupt trip
to the states with a new camera for me. No bird is safe now! Jack and I are
getting way into this and are often getting funny looks from the locals cutting
grass for their cows as we sneak up mounds and hide behind trees waiting for
exotic birds to pass by. Sometimes Jack gets distracted by bugs (that’s his
second passion and it often gets the best of him…I keep catching him sticking
his paws in termite mounds like a hungry chimpanzee).
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| Taking termite samples (he takes samples of everything) |
Adopting
our own birds
Speaking of brids, we are getting
chickens soon. I count all of our purchases by chickens now in order to remind
Jenn that we need to get the chickens soon. I promised Jenn it would look
good (unlike the rabbit hutch that we threw together in a day with scrap wood
we found at the farm). Not pretty! Nor will it ever make it on the blog.
Got to start our farm sometime, right!?
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| Variable Sunbird- Jack spotted this one chirping away to find a friend. These are the most wildly colored birds in Rwanda. I see a new Sunbird with different colorations every weekdays. |
