Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge Newsletter April / May 2010

Despite it being the rainy season here, very few guests have been troubled by the rain. Most days it has stopped raining well before the gorilla trek starts but, of course, it is still very wet and muddy while trekking through the forest. Total rainfall for the month was 323.5mm, a little higher than March. Gorilla news: The Kwitonda Group, which has 3 males, now has a new leader, Kighoma. This group has been unsettled for some time and the establishment of a new leader should help them to settle down In the Pabios Group one of the males, 15 year old Rukundu left to form his own group and, on the 29th, a new baby was seen for the first time, which is great news.

During the month chameleons were particularly common in the lodge grounds and were almost certainly breeding although, as far as I know, no very small babies were seen. While they are very similar in appearance and their habitat and size all fit the Western form of the Ruenzori Side-striped Chameleon Chamaeleo rudis, the males differ in having very distinctive yellow colouring around the eyes.

What was almost certainly an African Wild Cat Felis sylvestris was seen and photographed in the lodge grounds. These days African Wild cats are rarely seen, except in the southern Serengeti Plains and in Botswana so this is exciting news. Another exciting mammal observed in the lodge grounds was a very large Mongoose, which almost certainly, had to be an Ichneumon (Egyptian) Mongoose Herpestes ichneumon. During the month, we also enjoyed some wonderful birdwatching. During the first two weeks of April flocks of Eurasian Bee-Eaters could be heard passing high overhead usually above the clouds but, occasionally, a few would drop down lower. A nice surprise was to find a pair of White-Starred Forest Robins resident in the bush near the main building. These birds are normally found in highland forests so to find them at the lodge was a special sighting. A pair of Olive Thrushes have two young and, both Mountain Yellow Warblers and Cinnamon Bracken Warblers are singing, which indicates they will be breeding any time soon. And, finally, I must mention a pair of White-Necked Ravens which visit every breakfast time. Ravens, like other members of the family of Crows, are very intelligent birds. This pair regularly digs small holes in the ground and buries extra food they can't eat and stores it for later. We hope to share the magic of the Virunga Volcanoes with you sometime soon.