From: James Wolstencroft <gonolek@gmail.com>
Date: 2011-05-21 10:24
Subject: Fwd: [AfricanBirding] Where are the Thrush Nightingales?
Hope this may be of interest to Kenya birders.
Any comments would be appreciated by our friends in Sweden.
PS: saw an Ayres's Hawk-eagle soaring out of the NBI arboretum at 8.30 on Monday morning last.

[AfricanBirding] Where are the Thrush Nightingales?

Dear Anders,
I suspect that the highly erratic, both spatially (they were especially localised and capricious last season) and also in terms of volume, vuli-rains which caused punishing droughts in many areas across the 'Greater Horn' [i.e. from Red Sea coastline in NE Africa down to southern Tanzania at least] during October- December may be at least partly responsible for this. 
Furthermore light-aircraft pilots here in Arusha remarked that the the ITCZ rolled way south very quickly!

Certainly I felt that I was encountering/enjoying fewer than previously 'coming down' into Tanzania during the 'autumn' passage and boreal winter.
In wetter years before there have been several passing through the Arusha area, and off-passage for many days, e.g. up to four daily in our 'garden' during late November-December. And I clearly remember on many migrant mornings, in late November/early December that there appeared to be much more tension (intra-specific rivalry!!) between the 'dark ones' - much chacking, churring and weeting, often ending in chases and scuffles in the leaf-litter! 

So this year I think they moved through much more quickly, and interestingly were soon replaced by the 'pale ones' i.e. hafizi Nightingales, which in marked contrast, remained in good numbers until late in March. And of course L.l. likes to forage and 'winter' in markedly damper situations than does L. (m.) hafizi.
So what might have happened farther south I wonder?

Very pleased to see corroboration that the Sahel, despite the 'homo-termes' human pressures, is indeed bouncing back with [your] birds as wished!
Best wishes,
James



On 20 May 2011, at 23:08, Anders Waldenström wrote:



Hi all!
 
In Sweden we are urgently waiting for the Thrush Nightingales to arrive. In southern Sweden, so far, only few have arrived. At my local patch on the island of Oland, SE Sweden, where I normally at this time of year hear at least 4-5 singing males constantly, I have not heard one single singing male yet.
In Sweden we have a national database of birds and during the first three weeks of May only 72 Thrush Nightingales were reported, compared with 788 last year. You don´t have to have studied mathematics to realize that there is a reduction in 90% since 2010
I have contacted many other birders throughout Sweden and they all confirm this pattern. Red-backed Shrikes are also lacking in numbers, but they usually start arriving these days anyway.
At the other end of the scale Common Whitethroats are more common than usual, as well as Redstarts. As a matter of fact Common Snipes are also more common.
This all leads up to quite a few questions.
Has something occurred  in the wintering grounds in eastern Africa? Has there been a serious drought?
It could be that they are delayed by inclement weather, strong headwinds or whatever? But it is usually very important for migrant songbirds to arrive at their breeding sites as early as possible in order to breed successfully, so being almost three weeks late must be a very serious matter.
 
Thus far we are very surprised and frustrated and we wonder a lot. That bird populations vary is normal, but a reduction in 90% in one year is ridiculous.
Does anyone of you living in Africa or elsewhere have any idea why our beloved summer guests haven´t arrived this year in their usual numbers?
 
Yours friendly
 
Anders Waldenstrom, Oland SE Sweden


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