Creatures in Burundi

I don't think there is as much wildlife in Burundi as in, for example Kenya. However I've been blessed to hear some of the sounds of varoius animals, and see some of the wildlife as well. Last week Thursday - Saturday we spent at Kibuye mission station. I believe it is a bit south east of Gitega (if you happen to check out a map of Burundi), which is about in the center of the country.

We saw several sun birds. They are rather small - but bigger than a sparrow. They come in varous colors. Some of their chests are light pink, others are bright neon green, others light blue. Their backs are iridescent blue or green, depending on the way the sun strikes them.

I have a few pictures of the paradist flycatcher. I noted that it is mostly a copper color. We enjoyed the frequent call of the bell bird. We even watched a pair as they hopped around tall pine trees, and in and out of a huge eucalyptus tree. I got a very good look at them, but didn't get any pictures. They are a bit bigger than a pigeon, but not so chubby. They are mainly black, but their chests a white, fading into a pink. their call is amazing. Usually a pair answers back precisely on the tail of the mates song. Do a "google" search and see what you find.

It is not unusual to see a small gecko here, or other small (like 4-6 inches) lizards. Geckos like to linger on walls or ceilings. They are good guys, since they eat mosquitoes.

Oh, I should not forget the bullfrogs. Right now they are singing quite the songs! A whole choir of them!

Hey, guess what I saw Sunday evening? Four hippopatamus (sp?). We had just come out of a restaurant about 1 1/2 hours after sunset. One of the people with us knew to look across the road in the grass next to Lake Tanganyika. We saw a car with its headlights shining into the grass. We pulled across the road, and added the headlights of our vehicle. There were 3 adults and 1 baby. We were about 130 feet from them (maybe less). They seemed quite unconcerned about our presence. Hippos are known to come up out of the lake in the evening and munch on grass through the night. They take in 300-400 lbs each night. Wow! By the time we left, there were five cards sitting along side the road. We didnt' get any good pictures, so you'll just have to believe that we saw them. They were quite distinct - easily seen with 4 sets of headlights on them.

Last evening I was walking around the top floor of the huge building that is under construction. I hope to take some photos from up there. One has a great view of the area surrounding HAU. Anyway, I saw a pair of birds that reminded me of large swallows. They were black, but had white along the side of the head, and on their chests.

Lastly, it is very common, when driving up country, to see small herds of goats or longhorn cattle. At times there might be just a couple goats, with one or two cows. Traditionally, Barundians have measured their wealth by the number of cattle they own.

Well, I'll close for now. It is time for me to go and count sheep!