Mombasa Bird Walk

After being in the frozen (but sunny) north it was good to be birding in the sun again at the Huseini car track in Nguu Tatu. Everthing very dry with a lot of burned off grass. This month and next we would be expecting to see migrants preparing to leave but as so very few ever arrived they were few and far between. Car track had been re-graded so walking was somewhat easier. Fine Red-backed and Red-tailed Shrikes in bright breeding dress, a few Spotted Flycatchers, a lone Common Sandpiper (which I suspect is there all year round), very few Barn Swallows and a Common Rock Thrush were the sum total of migrants. Local species of note, the now resident Black Chested Snake Eagle and the Black Souldered Kite, some lovely Pangani Longclaws singing loudly, a pair of Mosque Swallows and a Slender Tailed Nightjar taking off from under our feet. The lack of waders this season is unprecedented during all my years of birding at the coast. Even on my beach walks I have not seen large numbers. Saw more In Northern Ireland, lots of Turnstones, Oyster Catchers, Sanderlings and a lone Redshank but very glad I don't have to lead bird walks there. Keep on birding. Join us any time you are in Mombasa. (Marlene Reid)