The hilly area with the lush greenery, the fern bushes and the tree strips gives an impression of Scotland. In addition, it is – at least for African conditions – really pleasant tempered, not to say cool.
This should be a top spot for nectar birds? My doubt is answered within minutes. The sunbirds to be seen in the further course are almost all new for the trip. First, a rather inconspicuous yellow-olive Sunbird can be seen. It appears on the edge of a bush below as in the valley. As inconspicuous as only a female of a sunbird can be. Whether it is large or small, is hard to judge in the distance. But our guide is very experienced and he announce the rare Orange-tufted Sunbird (Cinnyris bouvieri) as a newcomer for our trip list. A little later, a “colleague” of this species appears. Oh, well, it has more colors to offer. The wing shoulder or the leading edges of the wings are dazzling green and the tail dark blue at the base. Otherwise, the bird is also more yellow-olive. Then also a sunbird emerges out of the thickets, which also has a dazzling blue with individual purple spots. Obviously the same species but in different moulting stages. As clear as it seems, in the beginning I was unsettled later in the ID by the announcement of the official tripreport from the tour operator (Rockjumper) which mentioned a Splendid Sunbird (Cinnyris coccinigaster) as well in the same area. The Splendid Sunbird is slightly larger and in the male there are – in full color – other colors that play the prominent role. But how can you see that iit is an uncolored male?
In the gallery of the African bird club you can see images taken at that opportunity and in Cameroon at different spots.
To cope with the growing demand for top shots of the rarer species of the Palearctic Bird-Lens is keen to enrich the range of pictures of birds you can find not only in the western palearctic. Beside the image of the blog above you can find a nice selection of birds in the gallery or in the “Picture Shop” very soon. Just give a message, if Bird-Lens could serve you with an image needed before the new pictures are online.