A week in the Chimanimanis

I recently spent a night in the Chimanimani area, after which I wrote that I would love to spend more time there. Well, less than a week later I was back in the area! I arrived on the 13th and left on the 20th of April. For the first half of the week I was busy being the official photographer for an Outward Bound instructor selection course. During this time I did not get much birding done as the schedule was pretty tight.
I did, however, stay a couple of days extra at Outward Bound so that I could spend a bit of time looking for birds.

Miombo Rock-thrush female

In the 'gardens' around the houses and dorms there were a fair few birds, many of which were fairly accustomed to people. Miombo Rock-thrush was the main performer here, with a family of three seen regularly and providing me with great photo opportunities. Familiar Chat were also quite easy to find in the gardens. Plenty of waxbills, mannikins and whydahs were around, but no Green Twinspot this time. A flowering bottle-brush tree attracted many sunbirds; Miombo Double-collared, Variable, Collared, Amethyst and even Western Violet-backed Sunbirds made an appearance. A Red-faced Crombec spent a short time in one of the trees in the garden - a bird I had never seen before. A Blue-spotted Wood-dove was sitting on the lawn one afternoon!
The day before I left I noticed a small nest on a branch hanging over the roof of my car. It was low enough that I could stand on the roof of the car and see inside (just!). It turned out to have small chicks inside; Yellow-fronted Canaries.

Yellow-fronted Canary chick in nest

Brown-hooded Kingfisher

Birding in the Miombo woodlands was, for a change, a real joy. The hilly terrain meant that I could be at the same level as part of the canopy, instead of being dwarfed by the trees as far the eye could see, as is usual in Harare woodlands. This meant nice backgrounds for photographs! The birds were quite exciting too; Red-faced Crombec, Southern Hyliota, White-breasted Cuckooshrike and Miombo and Cinnamon-breasted Tits were seen most days, plus Striped Pipit and Green-backed Honeybird were seen twice each.

The Miombo woodlands - mostly Mountain Acacia and Muzhanje trees

Red-faced Crombec

Green-backed Honeybird

Cinnamon-breasted Tit

Striped Pipit

The other main habitat was riverine woodland and thicket. Quite a few small rivers flow past the area, and there are nice patches where thicket meets Miombo woodland, creating an interesting mixture of birds.

Dark-backed Weaver, Cape Batis, White-tailed Crested-flycatcher, Olive Sunbird, Stripe-cheeked and Yellow-streaked Greenbuls, White-eared Barbet, Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird, African Firefinch, Livingstone's Turaco, Scaly-throated Honeyguide, Tambourine Dove and Square-tailed Drongo were some of the more exciting birds of these riverine habitats. Near Tessa's Pool I photographed a Mountain Wagtail on the boulders by the river's edge. In one thicket I saw three species of Apalis; Bar-throated, Yellow-breasted and Chirinda Apalises.

Chirinda Apalis, endemic to the eastern highlands of Zim and adjacent Mozambique.

Mountain Wagtail

White-eared Barbet

As far as other wildlife was concerned there was not much about. Other than Baboons, the only mammals I saw were a pair of Klipspringer and a Mutable Sun Squirrel.

One exciting find was a lizard which I believe to be a Chimanimani Flat Lizard, confined to (you guessed it!) the Chimanimani area.

Chimanimani Flat Lizard - I think!

Other than that, the scenery was gorgeous, and I have added a couple of photos to prove it.