Dear Birders
Bird walk to Central Quarry Sat. 15th
Dec. Water quite high. Lots of Little Egrets, (one beautiful
dark phase), Cattle Egrets coming in large numbers for roosting. Lots
of Reed Cormorants. Small flock of Common Greenshank (used to be huge flock here
every season but they seem to have severely diminished), Black Heron doing
its umbrella thing. Purple and Striated (how I hate that description)
Heron and a Little Bittern which just flew from one patch of reeds to
another. Eurasian Bee-Eaters which hardly seem to settle around Mombasa,
always hear and see them flying over my garden, Malachite and Pied Kingfishers
and a incredibly a Giant Kingfisher, a first for our bird walk and usually seen
at Haller Park fish ponds where it is very elusive. Two Juvenile African
Darters which I presume were the progeny of the nests we saw a month or two
ago. A lovely Palm Nut Vulture flying around to crown the
scene. 36 species seen in 2 hours. Especially gratifying in that we
had some of our old birders back from Europe.
Wishing you all Happy Christmas Birding and a Happy
Bird-Filled New year.
Marlene Reid (Mombasa)