For the first time in a long time last Thursday (5th Nov) I went into the shambas & now sprawling development just in behind Turtle Bay Beach Club to do some birding. I had produced a "where to watch birds around TBBC" ten years ago & want to update it. It was actually not bad birding still - Scaly Babblers, Grey-headed Bush-Shrike, Mottled Spinetail, Mouse-coloured Sunbird, Paradise Fly in the mangroves (a red morph male which are less common here than the white), an adult & juv Grippit (Grassland Pipit for the unitiated), Purple-banded Sunbird, Sand Martin in with some migrating Barn Swallows, nesting Golden Palm, Af Golden & Village Weavers, a female Black Cuckoo-shrike, Pale Flycatcher, Euro Golden Oriole, Woolly-necked Storks & several roosting waders incl Grey Plover, Whimbrel, Greenshank & Curlew Sand. But we were scoping a female Paradise Whydah on the short grass by the mangroves when we noticed two plain brown birds feeding on the ground beyond.

They were clearly larks and at that were of real interest as I've never seen any species of lark this side of Arabuko-Sokoke. However they were more interesting than that as they were extremely plain with next to no streaking other than light fine streaking on crown & somewhat on the back - the underparts were totally unmarked other than a dark smudge either side of the upper breast - like "pectoral blotches". Also the bill was clearly buffy yellow & there was a clear supercilium leading into a fairly 'plain' face. I wasn't at all sure what they were but made some notes & when we reached home looked it up - only to realise it could only be Greater Short-toed Lark - & unless Brian has been seeing them anywhere since Zimmerman was published, this would constitute only the 3rd record for East Africa - the last one being "near Mombasa" in 1964 & the one before that in 1899!

Obviously I went straight back armed with camera & witnessein the form of Albert, Al & Rehema & found them just where we had left them & managed to get some reasonable shots (will post these later) for the rarities committee.

So much for what one can often assume as a less interesting site - you just never know what might turn up.

That wasn't it for the day either... Visiting birder Chris came up very excited from the beach later that morning with a sketch that could only be a Thick-billed Cuckoo perched in a casuarina - never heard of them outside of the forested areas though they do move around so must occur outside... He also had our first Red-backed Shrike of the season. Later that evening walking on the beach I had my first Oik (Eurasian Oystercatcher) for Watamu beach - which Chris saw again on 6th. It was in with some Grey Plover & 3 Barwits.

On 6th i had a Peregrine off shore heading towards Whale Island as I walked down the beach to work at 6am... Ringing in the Obs nature trail - v few birds but first one was a Yellowbill (always thought "Bananabill" would be a better name...).

We counted the waders at Sabaki on Saturday 7th - nothing outrageously interesting tho I looked hard for a Pacific Golden Plover... There was an ad and juv Black-chested Snake Eagle, very good numbers of Broad-billed Sandpipers & numbers of Caspian Terns picking up now. The Sabaki Skimmers (conservation youth group) had seen a Skimmer earlier in the week but it had gone by Sat. Also Carmine, White-throated & a few Madagascar Bee-eaters moving through. The river's in full flood & looks like glutinous chocolate it is SO loaded with Ukambani's top soil - WHEN will our government ever take environmental degradation issues seriously & control the farming in riparian land?

We watched the Aussies hammer England in the rugby on Sat pm & then got into conversation with some of the fishing boat skippers at Ocean Sports - one had just come down from Kiwaiyu and said they'd seen "mingi sana White-tailed Tropic Birds". Also reported a lot of nightjars out at sea that morning some 10-15kms off shore. The nightjars were so tired they were landing on the boat & even perched on people's arms if you held yourarm out for them! They didn't know the ID but I imagine they are Eurasian & I should imagine these are birds crossing from India & hitting shore around Malindi / Watamu There was that exhausted Eurasian Scops Owl one of the skippers scooped out of the sea 16kms off shore 2 years ago that I also thought must have been crossing from india (why else would these birds be out there in such an exhausted state??). 

Sunday pm - at Ganda just inland from Malindi while visiting friends we had a look at the seasonal lake that 4 weeks ago was bone dry & now extends almost a km in length! Still too 'new' to have produced much food for birds so there was v little on it. However there was a pair of Af Pygmy Goose which are the first I've heard of around here for some time & a Brown Snake Eagle overhead with later 3 Wahlberg's.

Lastly yesterday (9th) a Eurasian Roller on a wire beside Bamburi in Mombasa; a Bohm's Spinetail over the main road in Matsangoni beside ASF, & back at the A Rocha centre the first record of Narina Trogon for the site - in the taller sand dune forest trees in our nature trail. I have been waiting for it to turn up as it's a perfect spot for them.

All in all a good few birding days around Watamu - and what an awesome area to bird in! All are welcome to come visit us & join in what's going on at the time be it ringing or bird counts.

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Colin Jackson
Director
A Rocha Kenya
www.arocha.org

Mobile: +254 (0)722 842366
Office: +254 (0)42 233 2023
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