Ngorongoro Conservation Area

Following a great night’s sleep we were up at first light and watching the family of Schalow’s Wheatears that Chris and Kevin had found late last evening. After breakfast and an accompanying Ruppell’s Robin-Chat we drove to the bottom of the highland forest of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and spent the next 4 hours birding in excellent habitat. 

Brown-headed Apalis

In the car park we had Brown-headed Apalis and Grey-olive Greenbul, and just around the corner a pair of singing White-browed Robin-Chats competed with our first Grey-Capped Warbler that came in so close to us it was hard to focus the camera. 

Grey-capped Warbler

The path wound slowly and easily up into the hills and we picked off Lemon Dove, Black-throated Wattle-eye, a gang of Mburo White-eyes, Cabanis’s Greenbul, Purple-throated Cuckooshrike, African Paradise-Flycatcher, Mountain Greenbul, Thick-billed Seedeater and Brown Woodland Warbler. I was amazed when a pair of African Hill Babblers came straight into the tape and showed well, and even more stunned with eye-level views of Grey-headed Negrita that posed beautifully and very close for us. 

Grey-headed Negrita

We continued upwards and found Bar-throated Apalis, White-tailed Blue Flycatcher, flyover Steppe Buzzard and Martial Eagle, Eastern Honeybird and a roosting European Nightjar that our driver, Martin found. What a great morning.

Eastern Honeybird

European Nightjar

What a view into the Ngorongoro Crater

From here we drove up to the entrance gate and after getting the requisite permits headed to the crater rim. What a view greeted us and we stood in awe at the amazing sight of the Ngorongoro crater below us. Dave scoped a Black Rhino and we saw a male Pallid Harrier and our first Eastern Double-collared Sunbird. The number of animals below us was staggering and we couldn’t wait to get down there tomorrow. So we drove up the road to our picnic lunch and were just in time to get a heavy downpour, so we ate our picnic lunch in the vehicle and then fortunately the rain stopped. We saw Hunter’s Cisticola, White-necked Raven, Eurasian Hobby, several Mottled Swifts, Hildebrandt’s Francolin and Golden-winged Sunbird.

Hildebrandt's Francolin

Eastern Double-collared Sunbird

Mottled Swift

White-necked Raven

Abyssinian (Mountain) Thrush

Moving on we scored big time with a pair Oriole Finches loosely associating in a large flock that included Mburu White-eye, Mountain Thrush, Yellow-bellied Waxbill, Mountain Yellow Warbler, Eurasian Blackcap, Streaky Seedeaters and even a pair of Schalow’s Turacos showed behind us. 

Mountain Yellow Warbler

Oriole Finch

Another male Oriole Finch was seen extremely close as it fed in some bushes, but our search for Jackson’s Widowbird drew a blank as we drove across the moorland only seeing Capped Wheatear, Grassland Pipit, Whinchat, Augur Buzzard and Northern Wheatear.