The April snow persists, and this morning’s weather was almost a repeat of yesterday’s. Happily, the critters in Estabrook Park changed things up for us, so here’s who I saw today.

The red-breasted merganser was on the pond again, along with the two Canada geese and about a dozen mallards, but the new sight today was this pair of wood ducks. Sure, they’ve been around and even on the pond from time to time, but I didn’t see them there yesterday.

Here’s the hen.

As I walked over to the river, I glimpsed a little bird flit into a tree, and I thought it might be an eastern phoebe. When I got a better look through the corner of my binoculars that hadn’t fogged up yet, I was thrilled to see it was and eastern bluebird, instead. They visit Estabrook from time to time, but I sure don’t get to see them very often.

When I finally did make it to the river, there was another surprise waiting for me, this darling goldeneye hen, the likes of which we haven’t seen in Estabrook since February.

Lastly, the horned grebe is still with us, and sound asleep this morning.

While we’re all here, let me show you a few more pictures from Malawi. Plus, they’re all nice and sunny. After our stop on the western shore of Lake Malawi, we turned west and eventually stopped for the night in Dowa at a place identified as “Jelia Park” on google maps. The next morning, while Anne and her team got to work, I took a look around to see who I might find in a “subtropical highland climate.”

First up is this stunning male village indigobird, which I promised you earlier.

Next, is this amazing pair of red-billed firefinches (Lagonosticta senegala), a first for me.

They just kept coming, and here’s a southern black flycatcher (Melaenornis pammelaina), another first for me.

And it is tempting to suppose that this is why it looks so blue, instead of black, but it is probably just feather iridescence, instead.

Lastly, common bulbuls seem to be just about everywhere, and here’s a pair looking pretty cozy.

Well, the snow sorta did eventually arrive here in Estabrook Park, but temps never got below freezing, so the little bit that did stick to the grass and branches is almost already melted. The big surprise for me this morning, however, was how high the river water has become. I estimate that it is 2-3 feet higher than when I was there on Monday, and I don’t believe I’ve ever seen it so high. Much of the river path was submerged.

Anyway, the birds were still going about their business, since they don’t really have a choice, and I saw quite a few. Here are the ones moving slowly enough for me to capture a decent image in such dim light.

A red-breasted merganser drake was on the pond and taking a break from fishing when I stopped by.

The mother goose was keeping her eggs warm on the island.

Along the river, I saw more brown creepers than I believe I’ve ever seen in a single day. At one point, I could see four of them on a single tree trunk and a fifth on the next trunk over.

The horned grebe was still on the river by the northern island, and it too was on break from fishing at the moment.

Farther south, at the bottom down the bluff from the southern playground, which was completely flooded, I found my first swamp sparrows for the season. Woo hoo! “Welcome back!”

Finally, there were also plenty of golden-crowned kinglets around, and I took another crack at getting a decent portrait. We’re not there yet, but I think you can get a general idea of what they look like.

Since I have a little room left, let me slip in a couple more pictures from Malawi. On our journey back toward Lilongwe from the Tongole Lodge, we stopped for supper at the luxurious Sunbird Livingstonia Beach Hotel on the shores of beautiful Lake Malawi, which I read “is far deeper than Lake Michigan,” although it has about half the surface area.

I already showed you the amazing pair of cut throats I saw there, but here’s another picture.

That is also where I saw a stunning adult wire-tail swallow that I promised you.

Finally, this amazing butterfly, which I believe is an African monarch or dorippus tiger (Danaus chrysippus dorippus) fluttered by and paused for just a moment. As you might have already guessed, it is a close relative of the African queen we saw on Comoros and to the monarch butterflies we’ll soon be seeing in Estabrook Park.

It appears that the weather’s April Fools’ prank will be arriving a day late this year, if we do get any of the snow forecast for today. In any case, it’s dark and precipitating now, which is expected to continue all day long, so this is my big chance to get some more Africa pictures out of the queue.

I left off with pictures from our stay at the Tongole Lodge in the Nkotakhota Wildlife Reserve, so let’s continue there, and next up are this pair of tiny and brightly-colored half-collared kingfishers (Alcedo semitorquata) on the far bank of a small tributary flowing into the Bua River. They average just 7.1 inches in length while the belted kingfishers we see in Estabrook are nearly twice as long at 11-14 inches.

The bird I saw most frequently was the common bulbul, which I also saw in Lilongwe, so not nearly as exotic, but they sure do strike handsome poses.

Near the end of our stay, we all piled into the lodge’s old Toyota Landcruiser to go looking for the elephants that left their calling cards all over the dirt roads. We never did spot any, but when we drove the length of an abandoned airstrip, we did find this flock of about eight helmeted guineafowl (Numida meleagris).

We were not allowed to exit the vehicle, of course, so here’s the best closeup I could manage from my seat.

Back at the lodge, I could hardly believe my eyes when I spotted this quintet of hornbills in the tall trees across the river.

They were far beyond the useful range of my camera, but you can still make out the shape of their bills in this over-zoomed section. That makes them trumpeter hornbills (Bycanistes bucinator), and the few times I heard them call made me think that they were aptly named.

Another amazing sight I saw across the river was this mutable sun squirrel (Heliosciurus mutabilis) with a long, ringed tail.

On the last morning, as we were all packing up to head to our next location, a small troupe of vervet monkeys, like the ones we saw in Dzalanyama, came to see us off.

Since we were so close to the equator, you shouldn’t be surprise that we had lizards, and this one is either a rainbow skink (Trachylepis margaritifera) or its close cousin with an overlapping range, the African five-lined skink (Trachylepis quinquetaeniata)

Finally, I saw just one amphibian on the entire trip, and it was this small and brightly colored toad, whom I am not having any luck identifying further.

Okay, time to wrap this up, but not before I show you this darling little butterfly, which I believe is a spangled skipper (Dotta stellata).

The weather hasn’t pranked me yet today, and it was a nice sunny morning in Estabrook Park. That let me get out nice and early, so I was able to spot this muskrat at the edge of the river, which we’ve seen plenty of times before.

But this is the first time I’ve managed to spot two of them together like this.

I’ve been seeing a kingfisher around lately, and even captured a picture by the river a few weeks ago, but this is my first picture of one over the pond for the year.

Finally, back at the river again, this is the very first horned grebe I’ve ever seen in Estabrook Park. I’ve seen one before at the South Shore Yacht Club, but this is a first for me in Estabrook.

Better yet, it caught a nice fish for breakfast. Ha!

The skies were grey again this morning, but at least it wasn’t raining. The most interesting sight today was this red-breasted merganser drake on the pond.

He even caught himself a goldfish for breakfast.

Since we’re all here, let me show you a bit more of the sights from Malawi. After staying one night at the house in Lilongwe, which featured the birds I showed you yesterday and the first day, we all traveled to the Nkotakhota Wildlife Reserve to stay at the Tongole Wilderness Lodge on the Bua River. On the one hand, it offered the possibility of seeing elephants and hippos, which would be super cool, but on the other hand, we couldn’t explore on our own, as we could at Dzalanyama Forest Reserve last October, because of the possibility of encountering elephants and hippos. I did the best I could.

Things did get off to a good start when I spotted this Arnot’s chat (Myrmecocichla arnotti) right at the entrance gate. It is a completely new bird for me.

I didn’t see anything else that first day, but when I got up in the morning, I could hear some loud bird(s) making a ruckus. I eventually found the source on the other side of the river. It was these five hamerkops (Scopus umbretta). Here’s a video of just one “talking”.

Later in the trip, I was finally able to get a nice closeup of one. Oddly enough, they are the only living species in their genus, and that genus is the only genus in the family Scopidae. You have to go all the way up to the order Pelecaniformes to find any of their relatives.

Also interesting, at least to me, is that they construct enormous nests, “up to 6.5 feet wide, 6.5 feet deep and over 100 pounds“. Here’s a picture of one I saw in Uganda back in 2017. You can just make out one of the nearly-two-feet-tall and 1-pound birds working on the opening near the top. “Dude, that’s big enough!”

Despite the limitations on exploring, I did see more there than I want to cram into this post, so let me wrap up with a couple of the amazing butterflies I saw there.

This first one appears to be a common joker (Byblia anvatara). Pretty snazzy, if you ask me.

Finally, this second one appears to be a white pie (Tuxentius calice), and it was one of the smallest butterflies I have ever photographed.

Anne and I returned home from Africa safely late yesterday afternoon, and we did our best to get a good night’s sleep last night. The weather in Estabrook Park this morning wasn’t very cooperative, so the critters and I did the best we could.

There were several new arrivals, since I was there two weeks ago, and this first one is a golden-crowned kinglet, of which I saw at least eight.

Also newly arrived, but not quite as plentiful were the brown creepers.

Not so new, but just as fun to see was this muskrat foraging at the edge of the river.

Back to the new arrivals, I spotted just this one eastern phoebe. The big yellow blotch below it is the speed-bump warning sign across the soccer field. If I had more time, I would have taken a step or two to my right, but the phoebe was on a mission, and so this is the best I managed to get.

Finally, the fox and song sparrows are now everywhere, singing like crazy, and here’s one of the latter between verses.

While we’re here, this post isn’t very full, and I’ve got a good internet connection, let me show you a few more pictures from Malawi. These are also from the backyard in Lilongwe, from which I showed you the spotted flycatcher on Day 1.

This first one is also a brand-new bird for me, and it is a female or non-breeding village indigobird (Vidua chalybeata). I eventually saw breeding males later in the trip that I’ll show you another time.

I’m not sure if it was because we were in a different neighborhood of Lilongwe or a different season in the Malawi year, but I ended up seeing a total of five birds for the very first time, and this is the third one, a tawny-flanked prinia (Prinia subflava).

The fourth one was this immature wire-tailed swallow (Hirundo smithii). As with the indigobird above, I eventually did see mature adults later in the trip.

Lastly, I saw my very first canary in this back yard, and it was this yellow-fronted canary (Crithagra mozambica). I saw these throughout the trip, so I’ll be able to show you the yellow front of one soon enough.

That wraps up the new birds from the first location, and I expect I’ll be able to keep working through the rest of the sights from the trip along with the new arrivals in Estabrook.

It is my understanding that we have a long way to travel, and it will probably take us a while, so here’s a post to fill in the gap.

I mentioned that there were a couple of great egrets in the mangrove swamp were I saw the striated heron, and here’s the one that was fishing down near the water.

By the time we reached the southern tip of the island, the tide was out, and several shore birds were foraging on the exposed bottom. Here’s a whimbrel, which we first saw last fall on Ilha de Mozambique, but I think this is a nicer picture.

There was also a new bird for me, this stilt-looking crab-plover (Dromas ardeola), which is “related to the waders, but sufficiently distinctive to merit its own family Dromadidae.” Ha!

Finally, at that same location the most common bird was the pied crow, which we’ve seen before, but this is the nicest pose they’ve ever let me see.

It was our last day here, so we just hung out at the hotel and watched the birds and bats. I finally got a real nice picture of that mysterious blue/purple sunbird, and I now believe I have it identified correctly as a Malagasy sunbird (Cinnyris notatus). My best guess for the confusion is that the sunlight has never been right to see the green, just as the heads of mallard drakes usually look green and only sometimes look blue, when the feathers catch the sun just right.

Meanwhile, I believe that this cutie is a female of the species.

The mongoose was out again this afternoon, perhaps to wish us safe travels.

I’ve been seeing bronze mannikins here on the island now and then, but this afternoon this one let me have my best portrait yet.

As the afternoon wore on, the bats started returning from their day in the forest searching for fruit, and here’s a pair.

Anne and I noticed that as they arrived and started to settle in for the night, some would appear to skim the surface of the Indian Ocean. Sure enough, the fine folks at Nature Seychelles Conservation report that “close observations show that the bats dip their chests in the water as they fly over and then lick the water off when they roost,” and that “many Pteropus species are found in coastal areas and islands and have been seen drinking salt water” probably to “to supplement certain minerals lacking in their diet.”

Finally, let me leave you with this pretty image of a plain tiger butterfly, aka African queen or African monarch (Danaus chrysippus)

I got out nice and early this morning and had the hotel grounds and its critters mostly to myself for a while, and my first sighting was a pair of common mynas, which I only saw for the first time just yesterday. This one let me get a nice detailed look at it, and then I turned to continue my search, but I soon heard the two excitedly discussion something.

When I turned back to see what they might be all excited about, I could not believe my eyes as this stunning creature emerged from a hole in the ground. I’ve never seen such a thing before, so I looked it up to find that it is a small Indian mongoose (Urva auropunctata). Will wonders ever cease?

Later, I even spotted two of them scurrying over the rocks by the water. What an absolute treat!

After breakfast, Anne and I went on a little tour along the southern edge of the island, and an early stop was at a mangrove swamp where we all saw a couple of great egrets, which are always beautiful, but my favorite sight was this young-looking striated heron (Butorides striata) creeping through the canopy. Some of you might be thinking, “doesn’t that look awfully similar to the green herons we see in Estabrook Park, and you are correct because I read that “this bird was long considered to be conspecific with the closely related North American species, the green heron, which is now usually separated as Butorides virescens.”

We eventually made it down to the southern tip of the island where we could see the island of Mohéli about 40 km away, and where Anne found this stunning sight for me, a common leopard or spotted rustic butterfly (Phalanta phalantha).

Tomorrow is our last full day here, and then we begin the long journey home.

I see my posts have become discombobulated and out of order, but let’s press on. Comoros continues to amaze, and after dinner this evening, Anne and I walked down to the water to sit and watch the fruit bats come home to roost for the night. What a sight!

Anyway, new birds for today include this incredible sunbird, who might be a purple sunbird (Cinnyris asiaticus), but we are a bit out of their range, so I’m not sure yet.

Next, we have this bee-eater, my first one ever, and which may be a Madagascar bee-eater (Merops superciliosus). There were a few of them perched high in trees and making sorties to collect insects from the air.

This shy bird, in the same tree as the bee-eater above, but hiding under the canopy, is a bulbul, and I’m hoping that it is a Grande Comore bulbul (Hypsipetes parvirostris), because that would be my first endemic bird. The folks at ebird, however, say that they are “endemic to the middle and high elevations of the mountains of Grand Comoro,” and I spotted it at about sea level, so it is probably a Malagasy bulbul (Hypsipetes madagascariensis) instead. Oh well. Still crazy cool, right?

But wait! There’s more. Here’s my very first myna, a common myna (Acridotheres tristis). At one point, Anne and I saw at least a dozen of them foraging together in the grass.

Finally, I’ve gotta wrap this up because it is getting late, but not all the astounding creatures here have wings, and this is just one example. As far as I can tell, this is a Alticus anjouanae, which is a species of combtooth blenny for which Wikipedia appears not to have a common name. They are fish, but there were dozens of them hopping around on the rocks just above the waterline, munching on algae, I believe, and actively working to prevent the waves from washing them off.

Tomorrow, Anne and I are branching out from the capital city, Moroni, to see some sights on the east side of the island. Wish us luck!