Fw: Blue Swallows in western Tanzania

Hi all

An interesting reply from Steve Evans. There are so few of these birds left and we do not have anyone resident in NW Tanzania or along the Mara River (the only two wintering sites in Tanzania that we are aware of) so arrival and departure times are simply not known.

any ABC members with ad hoc records from Tanzania ? what do we know of arrival and departure dates for Uganda and Kenya ?

thanks

Neil

Neil and Liz Baker, Tanzania Bird Atlas, P.O. Box 1605, Iringa, Tanzania.
Mobiles: 0786-404792 and 0784-834273.
http://tanzaniabirdatlas.com
Subscribe to: tanzaniabirds-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: blueswallow <blueswallow@ewt.org.za>
To: Neil & Liz Baker <tzbirdatlas@yahoo.co.uk>; tanzaniabirds@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, 11 June, 2007 2:11:38 PM
Subject: RE: Blue Swallows in western Tanzania

Hi Neil & Liz,

A few years back approximately 250 Blue Swallows where observed in the Chimanimani Mountains of Zimbabwe (April or May?) and believed to be on migration north. It is possible that these where Zimbabwean and South Africa birds. From observation in South Africa the birds do appear to all leave a particular breeding locality together after starting to bunch together in ever larger groups approximately 2 months prior to migration. In the 1990's the mean group size in the Blue Swallow Natural Heritage Site throughout the breeding season was 4 birds (usually 2 males & 2 females) from February onwards the birds start gathering in groups as large as 13 (there were a maximum of 20 birds at the site) and literally disappear overnight from the site.

Kind regards
Steven
082 850 6480
www.ewt.org.za

-----Original Message-----
From: Neil & Liz Baker [mailto:tzbirdatlas@yahoo.co.uk]
Sent: 18 May 2007 11:23 AM
To: tanzaniabirds@yahoogroups.com
Cc: Steve Evans
Subject: Blue Swallows in western Tanzania

Hi all

An exciting call from Marc & Jo having fun out west.

At least 2 prob 3 Blue Swallows moving north along the Malagarasi River at -5.098751 / 30.858515 on the 16th May.

This is a really interesting record, the first I am aware of of birds seen on their northward migration from ????? (Zimbabwe / Malawi / SA !!!).

Most unlikely to be ours from Kitulo but one never really knows.

Shanna, have the birds left FoxFarm yet ?

William, are there still birds on Kitulo ?

Steve, how does this fit in with what you already know ?

The new "Birds of Malawi" gives extreme dates as 17 Aug- 30 April, exceptionally 13 May.

Neil

Neil and Liz Baker, Tanzania Bird Atlas, P.O. Box 1605, Iringa, Tanzania.
Mobiles: 0786-404792 and 0784-834273.
http://tanzaniabirdatlas.com
Subscribe to: tanzaniabirds-subscribe@yahoogroups.com