From: James Christian <jc@james-christian.com>
Date: 2008-11-20 16:36
Subject: Diani Morning |Bird
Diani Morning |Bird Hello All,

I would like to thank all the kind people that sent their ideas and contacts regarding Birding in Diani. While we only had one morning we had an excellent time and we’re thoroughly impressed with the patches of forest that remain.  I should mention that Manju Mohamedbhai recommended a local bird guide in Diani but unfortunately we forgot to write down the number which was on my computer before we left.  I will republish that numnber here though for the record, should anyone be looking for a Diani Guide at a later date:
Kalvin - 0720 928783
Munir Virani was also kind enough to recommend conservation Officer at Sokoke David Ngala who came down on a matatu to meet us and bird some of the areas that he and Munir censused for sokoke scops owls.  First we went into the patch of forest behind Nomad’s.  This is a beautiful remnant and the owners should be commended for stewarding such important habitat for this long.
In this patch we found:

Ash Flycatcher
Olive Sunbird
Fischer’s Greenbul
Zanzibar Sombre Greenbul
Yellow-bellied Greenbul
Northern Brownbul
Yellowbill
Green Barbet
Eastern Green Tinkerbird
Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird
Tropical Boubou
Black-crowned Tchagra (heard)
Brown-crowned Tchagra (heard)
Black-backed Puffback (heard)
Walberg’s Eagle (possible – fleeting glimpse)
Ornage-capped Robin Chat
Mombassa Woodpecker
Silery-heeked Hornbills

Also David saw a Giant Elephant Shrew which he said he hadnt observed during the cours of their owl censusing.

We then went on to Kaya Kinondo which was a very impressive forest.  I think it is such a pity that here in Kenya we don’t spend more time marketing natural history and the interesting smaller animals like the birds, frogs, butterflies, etc. Costa Rica does and tourists there are routinely able to identify the morpho butterfly, the leaf cutter ants or poison dart frogs, having never before seen them, because they are all part of the marketing for the country.  Here in Kenya it is the big five tu.  This is a shame and it is exemplified by how few Diani tourists visit Kaya Kinondo. Anyway, as for birds we saw the following:

Red-tailed Anthrush
Mangrove Kingfisher
Tiny Greenbul (heard)
Plain-backed Sunbird
Forest Batis

Also, Speckled Tree Snake eating a gecko and then climbing vertically up a straight smooth tree trunk of a wide diameter – which was rather impressive. Unfortunately we did not get time to check on a pair of large hornbills that are supposedly nesting at Shaanti Spa (after Robinson’s Baobab) . Fleur Ng’weno asked me to verify the species and so should anyone else be passing they might want to have a look and report back to Fleur – sorry Fleur.

Cheers, James Christian


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