Just done the waterfowl counts around Watamu / Malindi this past 
weekend. Very few birds comparatively - Lake Jilore was totally dry and 
not a single waterbird present - but a Red-necked Falcon made up for the 
lack of birds to count. L Chemchem had a small pool remaining that held 
14 Greater Flamingo and about 35 Black-wing Stilts, the first Black 
Crakes I've seen around here for a long time (including 3 chicks), and a 
scattering of Wood Sands and Ruff. An adult Malindi Pipit was feeding 
two recently fledged juvs and we had stonking views of an adult male 
Peter's Twinspot. Bird of the site for me was a pair of Brown-headed 
Parrots. I used to see these at this site every time when I first 
started birding there in 1998 and 1999 but then bush and woodland was 
cleared and for about 10 years I've not seen any there... and then we 
heard one squawk and there was a pair in a mango tree of all places!! 
Some of the bush is regrowing after failed shambas have been given up.

Malindi Harbour had a dead Whale Shark mostly chopped up and taken away 
but the scraps were attracting a number of gulls. Best bird from here 
was a Eurasian Oystercatcher - probably the same one seen at Sabaki a 
few weeks back... Sabaki was really quite low in bird numbers - no 
Broad-billed Sands seen, very few Marsh Sands, no Avocet, no 
Crab-plover, only a small flock of terns and gulls... BUT one of the juv 
Lesser Black-backs had a colour ring on which I managed to read and have 
submitted to the Ringing Scheme and hope to hear soon about when and 
where it was ringed - my prediction is by Risto Juvaste in Finland since 
he's got a major colour-ringing project going on there...!! Other good 
birds there were two Eurasian Marsh Harriers (and one at Chemchem too) 
and my first Red-throated Pipit there for several years seen and 
appreciated by all.

Kensalt Saltworks were also very quiet with two of the larger pools 
currently drained but numbers of birds pretty down altogether.

However it was grrrreat to get out of the office and see some of these 
places again - great general birding as ever with Euro and 
White-throated Bee-eaters moving through as well as huge numbers of Barn 
Swallows at Sabaki - probably 10-15,000.

-- 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Colin Jackson
A Rocha Kenya
PO Box 383,
Watamu, 80202
Kenya

Eml: colin.jackson@arocha.org
Tel: +254 (0)20 233 5865 (wireless)
      +254 (0)42 23 32023 (landline)
Cell: 0722 842366 / 0771 757746

For more information:
www.arocha.org
www.assets-kenya.org
www.tanariverdelta.org