Greetings birders

 

Nature Kenya held four days of field training in bird identification for members of the Tana Delta Conservation Network March 17-20, 2015. It was very dry and dusty and water levels in wetlands were low, but many birds were observed.

 

Migrants included Grasshopper Buzzards, Eurasian Rollers, Northern Carmine and White-throated Bee-eaters, Barn Swallows and Sand Martins (all Eurasian or intra-African migrants) feasting on roast grasshoppers and other insects at a grass fire.

 

Red-capped Robin-Chat, migrants from the south, were clearly seen Buboya Forest in Ndera Conservancy on 19 March. Forest birds in this forest fragment included Fischer’s Turaco, African Pygmy Kingfisher, Scaly-throated Honeyguide, Square-tailed Drongo, Little Yellow Flycatcher, Black-headed Apalis, Eastern Nicator, Black-bellied Starling, Red-tailed Ant Thrush, Bearded Scrub Robin and Dark-backed Weaver. The group also had excellent views of Tana River Red Colobus monkeys.

 

The boat trip up the River Tana was amazing as always, despite the low water levels. Over one thousand Spur-winged Plovers lined the sandbanks. The banks of “lake” Mbililo included a pond with sedges and were teeming with birds: an estimated 100 Spur-winged Geese, 120 Yellow-billed Storks, 150 African Open-billed Storks, over 70 African Spoonbills, 350 Cattle Egrets (including those seen on the way), 30 Pink-backed Pelicans, 3 immature Greater Flamingo and best of all, 52 African Skimmers.

 

Wishing you good birding, Fleur