21st November 2007

We woke up to the rain again this morning. A Grey Headed Kingfisher was sitting on the balcony outside our window (so Ian tells me – I was still comatose at the time).

Our Hippo Lawn is a quagmire, which suits the Swallows just fine: both the large Mosque Swallows and the smaller Striped Swallows were busy collecting mud to build their nests. The grass is also really starting to grow. Now we just need to move all the vehicles and building materials etc which are still scattered around the place.

A huddle of at least 20 Sacred Ibis had congregated in a tight pack on one of the far sandbanks. I wish they had been closer, as they would have made a great photo. How on earth do they manage to stay pristine white in these conditions? After twenty minutes or so, they all took off as one, and set off upstream in their perfect V-formation.

The Vulturine Guinea Fowl were all around the house this morning – we saw a group of them on the driveway about 20 yards from the house, and could hear others calling all around. This is such wonderful news! I love these incredible birds and to have them around the house is so special. My father said he saw a breeding pair up on the top road of our driveway loop - not far from the house either – even better news! (Vulturine Guinea Fowl pairs separate off from the main flock when they're ready to breed, and then will re-join later.)

A couple of rare, shy Black Storks were just downstream of the house too this morning, so it’s been an active day already, bird-wise. (It’s only 8am now).

The rest of the day it rained...

See more photos of Swallows and other resident birds at Kulafumbi...
Follow the progress of our Hippo Lawn as it develops from bare earth to (we hope) a lush feeding ground for buffalo, hippo and other grazers...