Exciting Harare Wildlife; A Final Week's Worth

My last week in Zim was fairly rushed and I didn't have a lot of free time. Nevertheless it was pretty entertaining as far as the wild animals were concerned.

Mukuvisi on the 3rd of November was a lovely walk. Two things still stand out in my memory; a young Ovambo Sparrowhawk which had caught a Green Wood-hoopoe perched in a tree before moving away.

The other, more exciting sighting was an active Grey Penduline-tit nest. What a treat! I'd never seen a penduline-tit nest before. They are quite unusual in that they construct a rather impressive nest which appears to be made of a wool-like material, and even has a fake entrance.

Ovambo Sparrowhawk clutching a Green Wood-hoopoe

Grey Penduline-tit on nest

I followed up Mukivisi with a couple of nightjar-catching trips to Haka Park later in the week. Only one bird was caught between the two attempts - timing is important! The birds are much more active on the full moon (my two trips were during the new moon).

I did, however, see some cool wildlife.

Western Barn Owl

White-tailed Mongoose. I spotlighted this on the edge of the vlei, and followed it for a while along the road. It eventually stopped and I managed to sneak close enough for a photo with only a 50mm lens (really should have brought my usual lens...).

Giant Bullfrog (Pyxicephalus adspersus), found in the Miombo woodlands, surprisingly.

It was huge!

A friend of mine caught a baboon spider (tarantula) in his house, which he passed on to me to photograph and release.

Identified as Idiothele nigrofulva, photographed at Greystone Park upon release. Imagine finding that in your lounge!

It had an impressive set of fangs.

On 9 November, the day before I left, I had a last visit to Haka Park. I had to say goodbye to those lovely Helmet-shrikes!

White-crested Helmet-shrike

Plains (Burchell's) Zebra

Whilst watching the helmet-shrikes, we noticed the birds were mobbing something on the ground. We walked close to the spot, and still only managed to see the thing when it shot off up a tree.

It was a Boomslang!

Unfortunately, I have finally run out of recent material to put up. Perhaps I'll post some old stuff at some point.

Goodbye for now!