Dear all,

On Sunday 28th Dec I observed a skua from Diani Beach (wind had picked up 
considerably since the previous day). It harassed a tern sp. and then 
dissappeared southward; I was not able to identify it any further than Artic 
or Long-tailed, probable a young bird (all dark). On 30th a skua was seen in 
a large nearby tern flock during a boat trip off Chale Island, further south 
from Diani. This bird could be seen well and I identified it as an immature 
Arctic because of its 'average' size and proportions, warmer brown marking 
on upperparts, white flash obvious on underwing (no paler neck or belly or 
strong black and white barring on underwing and rump).

During early morning birding on the grounds of Baobab resort I noticed small 
groups of large brown swifts flying over slowly. This appeared to be a 
regular pattern; every morning between 7 and 8am up to 50 would fly from the 
direction of Diani forest towards the coastal strip in northeasterly 
direction. They were fairly pale brown, had large white throat patches, like 
Pallid Swifts but lacking the contrast on the underwing of this species. 
They flew comparitively slow and in straight lines, so it was possible to 
obtain some reasonable photos. These show a pale head when seen head on, the 
eye (masks) and bill standing out clearly dark. On some the throat patch 
seemed to have a quite marked border to the brown breast. I would think 
these might be Forbes-Watson's Swift, but I have no experience with the 
pekinensis-race of Common Swift (though drawings of this subspecies show a 
darker head and perhaps a darker ground colour). It would be interesting to 
obtain more information on this pekinensis-race and the pattern of 
Forbes-Watson's movements.

Wishing you all a very happy new year and good birding!
Bernd

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