Searching for the African Pitta

This post is about a birding trip to find a rather special bird; the African Pitta.

I joined seven other birders on this trip into the Dande area of the Zambezi Valley, roughly 170km north of Harare in a straight line. Of course, going in a straight line was not an option, and our 280km drive took around five hours to complete, thanks to the condition of the gravel roads. One good bird we saw whilst driving through the mopane woodlands was a Dusky Lark.
We arrived at Murara Camp in the late afternoon on Monday, where we unpacked the vehicles before going to meet the local guide, Mackenzie, to arrange the next morning's activities.
That night I spent some time examining my chalet and the dining room for interesting critters. I found a few things, notably Bibron's Geckos, which are surprisingly large.

Dusky Lark

Bibron's Gecko

In the middle of the night a storm rolled in and dumped a whole lot of rain upon us; luckily it had cleared by the time we wanted to set off. So set off we did, slipping and sliding on the muddy road, and splashing through the puddles that had collected. Only when we reached a stream crossing did we have to stop; the stream was suddenly a waist-deep, fast-flowing river! Too deep and fast to cross safely, we turned back and searched for the Pitta in some riverine thicket on the Manongora River, closer to Murara Camp. Eventually, one calling Pitta was heard, but not nearby, and we weren't able to locate it. There was no lack of bird life though; Narina Trogon, Eastern Nicator, Red-capped Robin-chat, African Emerald-cuckoo, Crested Guineafowl, Livingstone's Flycatcher, Hadeda Ibis, Bohm's Spinetail, Red-throated Twinspot and Yellow-breasted Apalis were among the birds seen at this particular spot.

A couple of hours later the stream had flushed out, and was crossable. We picked up Mackenzie and headed to Masoka Camp on the Angwa River - the most popular destination for people seeking the African Pitta. The rain started again during the short drive, and by the time we got there it was bucketing down. We sheltered under the dining area, sitting on Africa's most uncomfortable chairs, for a while, waiting for the rain to let up. Finally, it did, and we started walking through the riverine thicket around camp, led by Mackenzie.
But we still couldn't find the Pitta! I don't know why, but they just seemed to be missing at that particular time. Maybe it was getting too late in the morning, or maybe the rain had something to do with it.
Other birds seen included a very wet Western Banded Snake-eagle, Crested Guineafowl, six different cuckoos, African Wood-owl, Common Swift, Crowned Hornbill, Eastern Nicator, Yellow-bellied Greenbul, and Burnt-necked Eremomela.

African Wood-owl

Western Banded Snake-eagle

Next we headed towards an abandoned camp upstream from Masoka. Once again, we searched hard and still didn't find any Pittas. Birds here were much the same as other spots, with nothing exceptional. We continued south from here, heading towards a Baobab tree where Mottled Spinetails lived, stopping near a river to search the thickets on the way there. The Mottled Spinetail spot was a success; we saw a number of the birds quite well.

Driving through African Pitta habitat

On the way to the baobab, we found a Tawny Eagle feasting upon a frog of some sort

Mottled Spinetail

We headed back to Masoka for the day's last attempt at finding the bird. Still no luck, but the Western Banded Snake-eagle and the African Wood-owl were still there, and we did manage to hear a Pitta...
Tired and frustrated, we headed back to Murara for the night. Flying ants were erupting in full force that evening, so there were a few more creatures about. I found a scorpion chewing on a flying ant, and also found a rather huge Baboon Spider running on the floor under peoples' chairs!

Baboon Spider

Scorpion glowing under a UV light

We awoke the next morning to dry, but overcast weather. We had out last chance to find the bird, as we had to leave that day. We spent the morning looking in the thickets on the Manongora River, and eventually we got lucky! A bird was calling, and another was responding. We could follow the calls roughly to the bush where the bird was hiding, but seeing it was another matter entirely! Finally we were treated to some brief views of the birds, before they disappeared once again into the bush. The views were fleeting and partly obstructed - not good for photos - but at least we saw it. On the way back to Murara we found some Double-banded Sandgrouse.

The African Pitta didn't stay in the open for long, making photography a nightmare. This was the best I could manage

Double-banded Sandgrouse female

We were met with good news when we got back to camp; a few of the birders had stayed behind whilst the rest of us were searching the Manongora River, and those few had seen African Pitta near the Murara camp. All that effort, and we could have just walked around Murara all weekend instead! I did a bit of a walk around, managing to photograph a few birds, but couldn't find the Pitta.

Livingstone's Flycatcher. One stick is all it takes to spoil an otherwise good picture

Bearded Scrub-robin - beautiful!

Brown-hooded Kingfisher

And so we packed up and went home. We had all seen the African Pitta at some point, which was wonderful. I just would have liked to get a better photograph...
The trip out was mostly uneventful. A couple of the gulleys were difficult to cross, owing to very muddy slopes, but it was not too difficult. We had stopped for a break by one of these gulleys, and someone decided to check the riverine thicket. Not a minute later, he had found a couple! The birds flew back across the river, and I had to scramble up a steep slope and through thickets to keep up with them, and eventually I was rewarded. One perched in the open for a few seconds - just enough to get the camera on it and clicking away.

A rewarding end to a difficult and frustrating search. The trip was most enjoyable, and the bird life in general was excellent, even aside from the African Pitta.