Comments on: The Race: A New Species, Birds and Special People

By: bob

bob — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 23:03:48 +0000

Thanks, Christina. we had a great photographer who captured a lot of the joy involved in this expedition

By: Christina V. Fidler

Christina V. Fidler — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 22:43:39 +0000

Bob – I just love the picture of you and Velma at the Primary school. There are a lot of genuine smiles in this picture. Keep up the good work!

By: bob

bob — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 00:59:07 +0000

Dear Martim,
thanks for the kind words. Your identification of the Principe thrush came as a bit of a relief. I knew about the Prinicipe thrush and have the papers you sent but I was concerned about this photo and the yellow beak.. The picture was taken by Josef Uyeda, then my student, and I was sure he had taken that photo on the trail to Lagoa Amelia! Josef was with me on the 2nd and 3rd expeditions and is now a PhD candidate at Oregon State University (I will send his address by private email). He informs me that the picture was actually taken a few meters from the top of Pico do Principe, which he scaled in 2006. Thanks for the tips on how to approach the mesa. You may have seen the new holosaprophyte we found on the Rio Sao Tome. We will give the Mesa a shot next year… Was your guide, Manona? Again, thanks for the response.
Bob

By: Martim Melo

Martim Melo — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 13:44:41 +0000

Dear Bob,
amazing work as usual!

Regarding the birds, do you know that the photo of the ‘São Tomé thrush’ is actually the photo of a Príncipe thrush T. xanthorhynchus. A newly split species (very well supported split – suffice it to say that I could identify the species in the photo even without knowing if the photo was taken on ST or P). This new Príncipe endemic is restricted to the most inaccessible areas of the forest and thrives in…the MESA

MESA – most of the route to get there is straightforward, a large winding up path that was used to get the coconuts from the southern forests (Rio São Tomé) to Baía das Agulhas. The final bit is rather more tricky. When i first did it, I had a 15kg backpack, and just saw my guide pursuing forward as if the track had not changed a bit. In fact one needs to climb a vertical wall were water is running down from. Once up there one is in a very montane (misty, lots of mosses) atmosphere, albeit it is not that high. Great place.

All the best
Martim