The following list is from a morning in the Taita Wildlife Sanctuary, mostly along the Bura River circuit between the Taita Hills Lodge and Salt Lick. The flowering grass is tall and lush at the moment. Lots of Quails around, definitely saw Harlequins. Highlight was what I think is a Corncrake! I have posted the photos on Wings over Kenya (Facebook group). Also nice Batelur nest along the Bura 'river' valley and a pair of Jackal sunning in short grass opposite Sarova Taita Hills car park.

Total number = 65. Not bad for a quick morning round, and I definitely missed some Cisticolas and Acroceph warblers (I need a birding mentor for wee brown jobs). Saw a distant kestrel but couldn't tell if it was lesser or common, also very distant Hoopoes which were either Green Wood-hoopoes or Common Scimitarbill.

If Common quail are mixed in with the Harlequins what are the ID features best to distinguish between the species as they briefly flush from the roadside into dense cover?

Yellow-necked Spurfowl

Harlequin Quail

Spur-winged Goose

Egyptian Goose

Woolly-necked Stork

Marabou Stork

Grey Heron

Black-headed Heron

African Fish Eagle

Bateleur

Lizard Buzzard

Augur Buzzard

Tawny Eagle

Wahlberg's Eagle

Corncrake

Blacksmith Plover

Wood Sandpiper

Red-eyed Dove

Ring-necked Dove

Laughing Dove

Emerald-spotted Wood Dove

Namaqua Dove

White-bellied Go-away-bird

Jacobin Cuckoo

White-browed Coucal

Little Swift

Speckled Mousebird

Lilac-breasted Roller

Eurasian Roller

Grey-headed Kingfisher

Striped Kingfisher

Little Bee-eater

African Grey Hornbill

Red-billed Hornbill

Von der Decken's Hornbill

Spot-flanked Barbet

Red-and-yellow Barbet

D'Arnaud's Barbet

Chin-spot Batis

Slate-coloured Boubou

Northern White-crowned Shrike

Red-backed Shrike

Long-tailed Fiscal

Black-headed Oriole

Common Drongo

White-bellied Tit

Lesser Striped Swallow

Fawn-coloured Lark

Pink-breasted Lark

Grey-backed Camaroptera

Superb Starling

Hildebrandt's Starling

Pied Wheatear

Spotted Flycatcher

White-browed Sparrow Weaver

Parrot-billed Sparrow

Yellow-spotted Petronia

Red-billed Buffalo Weaver

White-headed Buffalo Weaver

Chestnut Weaver

Red-billed Quelea

White-winged Widowbird

Crimson-rumped Waxbill

African Pied Wagtail

Pangani Longclaw