Dear all,

a bit late, but better late than never...

last week 5/5-9/5 Bernd de Bruijn, Brian Finch and
myself went birding around Taita hills and Taita
Discovery Center (TDC) and here are the more
interesting records;

on the way to Voi (5th) we stopped for a while in
Hunter's lodge where we found a nice Madagascar
Squacco Heron feeding in the small dam. later on when
watching Butterflies near Umani Springs (Kibawzi),
Four-coloured Bush-shrikes were calling from the
bushes (this might be the most western record for the
species in Kenya).

the next day (6th) we managed to find, in-spite of the
foggy weather, all the Taita endemics and also few
Striped Pipits that were singing on territories.

in TDC, it seemed that not much rain has been coming
there recently and it may very well be the only dry
place in the country now days.

in the camp a very late Willow Warbler was feeding
early on the 8th. and up on Mt. Kasigao few more
Four-coloured Bush-shrike were calling in the forest.

on the same day a Greyish Eagle Owl (what used to be
the northern Subspecies of Spotted Eagle Owl "B.
cinerascens") was seen twice near the camp. this may
be the 1st record for this Subspecies/species south of
the Equator!! 

on the way out back to NBi (9th), another very late
migrant, Common Whitethroat was flying near the gate
and later when stopping again on the road to Umani
Springs camp a Western Banded Snake-Eagle was seen and
photographed near the swamp (this Western species is
known also from Meru forest and from few records in NE
Tanzania) and many coastal species like Ashy
Flycatcher, Blue-mantled Crested Flycatcher, Eastern
Bearded Scrub-robin, Four-coloured Bush-shrike and
Red-capped Robin-Chat. also in Umani Springs forest,
is a Golden-tailed Woodpecker that was photographed.

this patch of Forest near the camp hold a very
interesting mixture of species and it is highly
recommended for more people to bird-watch in this
area, it seems that there is still much to discover...

as a whole it seems that there are many Madagascar
Bee-eaters that are flying in a very broad front from
TDC to NBi and many Red-rumped Swallows are flying all
over (another Intra-African migrant that its migration
pattern is not fully understood).


wish you all the best and happy birding,
Itai


=====
***************************************
Itai Shanni                    
itaisha1@yahoo.com             
Tel 00-254-722-889099  
p.o. Box 47419           
Nairobi                  
Kenya

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