Although I had been a guide in southern Africa for more than La decade, it was the rainforest of the Congo Basin that had always captured my imagination. To me it seemed a place of unexplored wonders, home to the mythical dinosaur-like and water-dwelling Mokele-mbembe and to families of birds I knew nothing about. At about 20 000 years old, this rainforest is one of the youngest in the world, but it is also the second largest, at more than 202 million hectares. And here I found myself, based in the centre of it all at Odzala-Kokoua National Park in the Republic of Congo. The park is the second oldest in Africa, predated only by the Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Most people who travel to the Congo Basin go there to see chimpanzees, gorillas and forest elephants. It is these large mammals, along with forest buffaloes, that create the openings in the forest - known as baïs - where salts accumulate. There are many renowned baïs throughout the basin, such as the Mbeli Baï in Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park (Republic of Congo), where gorillas were first observed using tools, and Capitale Baï and Lango Baï in Odzala-Kokoua. There is also Sangha Baï in DzangaSangha (Central African Republic), where hundreds of forest elephants congregate, their small family units emerging from the forest to socialise with one another in this colossal arena.
These beautiful openings are valuable sources of nutrients for all the animals that gather at them. Baïs, savanna, swamps and various forest types create a mosaic of habitats, each coming to the fore in the wet and dry seasons. Seedeaters and insectivorous birds, such as the gregarious White-throated Bee-eater, abound in the savanna, and after the rains they are joined by species such as the diminutive Orange-cheeked Waxbill and the skulking African Crake.
Denne historien er fra March 2023-utgaven av African Birdlife.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra March 2023-utgaven av African Birdlife.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
EXPLORING NEW HORIZONS
Keith Barnes, co-author of the new Field Guide to Birds of Greater Southern Africa, chats about the long-neglected birding regions just north of the Kunene and Zambezi, getting back to watching birds and the vulture that changed his life.
footloose IN FYNBOS
The Walker Bay Diversity Trail is a leisurely hike with a multitude of flowers, feathers and flavours along the way.
Living forwards
How photographing birds helps me face adversity
CAPE crusade
The Cape Bird Club/City of Cape Town Birding Big Year Challenge
water & WINGS
WATER IS LIFE. As wildlife photographer Greg du Toit knows better than most.
winter wanderer
as summer becomes a memory in the south, the skies are a little quieter as the migrants have returned to the warming north. But one bird endemic to the southern African region takes its own little winter journey.
when perfect isn't enough
Egg signatures and forgeries in the cuckoo-drongo arms race
Southern SIGHTINGS
The late summer period naturally started quietening down after the midsummer excitement, but there were still some classy rarities on offer for birders all over the subregion. As always, none of the records included here have been adjudicated by any of the subregion's Rarities Committees.
flood impact on wetland birds
One of the features of a warming planet is increasingly erratic rainfall; years of drought followed by devastating floods. Fortunately, many waterbirds are pre-adapted to cope with such extremes, especially in southern Africa where they have evolved to exploit episodic rainfall events in semi-arid and arid regions. But how do waterbirds respond to floods in areas where rainfall - and access to water - is more predictable? Peter Ryan explores the consequences of recent floods on the birds of the Western Cape's Olifants River valley.
a star is born
It’s every producer’s dream to plan a wildlife television series and pick the right characters before filming.
