This shrike is puzzling to me. I'm inclined to ID it as a Mackinnon's shrike because of the grey back with no white spot on the wings, but it's doesn't have any white on wings. Only shrike this color in range though....
Support for N. bouvieri ID: purple forehead patch, purple & chestnut-red breastbands.
Hard to tell with crappy photo, but I think the dark head, grey back, bright yellow belly, and pale bill support a dark-backed weaver ID.
Common flowering plant in montane pasture and open area.
Tree near the Kagwene border.
Forest edge with pasture. A bit different look than the commonly seen dark capped bulbul.
Some drab widowbird, finch, or bunting?
Not sure what this is, but it was a striking brown raptor soaring in the hills that I think I saw it a couple times. A pale line visible on edge of tail?
Forest edge along pasture.
Not 100% confident of this ID, particularly because I don't have a shot of the rump.
Large bee, maybe a carpenter bee (Xylocopa)?
Another option, besides Bannerman's, is Heuglin's masked weaver, but range isn't perfect and top wing is a uniform olive.
No idea what this is, but the people I was with were enthusiastic collectors of this fungus, growing on a decaying log. Good food, apparently.
Dead snake, caught in a snare, and exhibiting decay of >1 week (probably more). Snare was set for bushmeat species (e.g., duikers, porcupines), the snake is bycatch. I was told that a minority of people will eat snake, it is not a preferred species. Snare set-up visible in two of the photos.
Forest cobra? Mamba?
African mahogany. Interesting pattern underneath peeling of bark: the result of some sort of insect?
Fresh nests and poo from that am. With gorilla tracker team from Kagwene Gorilla Sanctuary, who provide surveillance and knowledge of the gorillas' movements.
From De Vere et al 2010: "...recently created Kagwene Gorilla Sanctuary (KGS), Cameroon, and the results of an analysis of nest site preferences of the gorillas that live there. Qualitative vegetation assessments were made to assign various categories to the topstory and understory throughout the sanctuary, and nest sites constructed between January 2006 and March 2008 were re-visited and assessed for possible site preferences. The habitat map revealed significant anthropogenic impact, with only 57% of the KGS being relatively undisturbed primary forest. Analysis of nest sites showed that ground nests are constructed preferentially in the dry season, on precipitous slopes, in light gaps and clearings, with an understory of mixed herbs. Tree nests are predominantly built in the wet season, in primary forest with saplings as the preferred understory. Gorillas avoid nesting in grasslands and farms, which visibly fragment the remaining forest in the sanctuary. The results have implications for the conservation and management of the Cross River gorilla at KGS, and offer new insight into the nesting ecology of this subspecies. Am. J. Primatol. 73:253–261, 2011. "
Pretty little yellow flowers in this circle-leafed ground plant.
tadpole & metamorph: if different species, then I will split.
Montane species. No photo of the back, but I think this might be the only option in range with a all-yellow belly, moderate black mask, and yellow eyes. Endemic.
Nothing else like it: the mask, the black belly.
Livestock inside Kagwene Gorilla Sanctuary.
Livestock inside Kagwene Gorilla Sanctuary.
Very common, but the first one seen of the trip is always a treat.
Tough without the frontal shot, but the slate grey back, yellow eyes, and white tail tip suggest African goshawk? Not 100% confident of this ID.
God knows what this is, but it has the look of an estrildid finch. Red rump, olive-brown back, and a yellow-tinged lower belly: my best guess is a orange-cheeked waxbill (Estrilda melpoda).
The most common bird seen in area.
Only bee-eater saw on trip.
