ABOUT THE BIRDING

Speke Bay is a less visited site on the southeastern shore of Lake Victoria that features a number of specialty birds not found farther east in Tanzania. The Speke Bay Lodge is located along the Grumeti River and is a pleasant place to relax as well as bird the area. The river is home to Hippopotamus and crocodiles, and the nearby grassland adds a variety of birds to the list of possibilities. Birding the nearby lakeshore and the lodge grounds will produce most of our target birds. Birds one can expect to see include African Openbill, Marsh Tchagra, and Swamp Flycatcher near the lake and Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, Black-headed Gonolek, Red-chested Sunbird, Slender-billed Weaver, and Northern Brown-throated Weaver on the lodge grounds. It's often possible to find Verreaux's Eagle-Owl and both Eurasian and Square-tailed Nightjars around the lodge. A good challenge is to sort out the 5 species of quite similar cisticolas found in the area. Certainly a highlight of any visit is watching the extraordinary African Paradise-Flycatcher darting after insects around the lodge.

LOCATION OF SITE

Speke Bay is an inlet on the southeastern shore of Lake Victoria in western Tanzania. It's typically reached by flying into the nearby town of Bukoba or by driving west about 15 minutes drive from Grumeti Game Reserve on the western side of the Serengeti.

OTHER LOCALES

• Arusha National Park
• East Usambara Mountains
• Engikaret Lark Plains
• Katavi National Park
• Kilimanjaro National Park
• Lake Manyara National Park
• Lake Natron
• Mkomazi National Park
• Ngorongoro Crater
• Ngorongoro Crater Rim
• Northern Serengeti Plains
• Olduvai Gorge
• Selous Game Reserve
• Serengeti National Park
• Serengeti Plains - Seronera
• South Pare Mountains
• Tarangire National Park
• Udzungwa Mountains
• Uluguru Mountains
• West Usambara Mountains