A walk along the Blue Nile

Great to have this blog up and running. On 9^th and 10^th September I walked along the south bank of the Blue Nile east of the bridge to Kufori. There’s farmland along much of this area, mostly flooded at present. About 3kms east of the bridge there is an impounded area with open water as well as sandy expanses and pools. This was rewarding, with Terek Sandpiper, Little and Temminck’s Stints and more Egyptian Plovers than I’ve seen so far. Bird list below (records are from 10^th if asterisked, otherwise from 9^th).

Squacco Heron	Ardeola ralloides	5
Cattle Egret	Bubulcus ibis	40
Striated Heron	Butorides striata	2
Great Egret	Egretta alba	6
Little Egret	Egretta garzetta	8
Grey Heron	Ardea cinerea	6
Black-headed Heron	Ardea melanocephala	2
Abdim’s Stork	Ciconia abdimii	4
Sacred Ibis	Threskiornis aethiopicus	2
White-faced Whistling Duck	Dendrocygna viduata	8
Garganey	Anas querquedula	1
Yellow-billed Kite	Milvus (migrans) aegyptius	50
Shikra	Accipiter badius	1*
Black-winged Stilt	Himantopus himantopus	25
Egyptian Plover	Pluvianus aegyptius	20
Little Ringed Plover	Charadrius dubius	2
Common Ringed Plover	Charadrius hiaticula	2
Kittlitz’s Plover	Charadrius pecuarius	5
Spur-winged Lapwing	Vanellus spinosus	15
Ruff	Philomachus pugnax	4
Greenshank	Tringa nebularia	1*
Green Sandpiper	Tringa ochropus	8
Wood Sandpiper	Tringa glareola	10
Marsh Sandpiper	Tringa stagnatilis	1*
Common Sandpiper	Actitis hypoleucos	1
Terek Sandpiper	Xenus cinereus	1
Little Stint	Calidris minuta	10
Temminck’s Stint	Calidris temminckii	5
Whiskered Tern	Chlidonias hybrida	4*
White-winged Tern	Chlidonias leucopterus	40
Namaqua Dove	Oena capensis	1
African Mourning Dove	Streptopelia decipiens	20
Laughing Dove	Streptopelia senegalensis	40
Eurasian Swift	Apus apus	2
African Palm Swift	Cypsiurus parvus	30
Blue-naped Mousebird	Urocolius macrourus	10
Pied Kingfisher	Ceryle rudis	6
Eurasian Bee-eater	Merops apiaster	2*
Little Bee-eater	Merops pusillus	20
Little Green Bee-eater	Merops orientalis	1
Hoopoe	Upupa epops	1
Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Lark	Eremopterix leucotis	1
Crested Lark	Galerida cristata	8
Plain Martin	Riparia paludicola	15
Wire-tailed Swallow	Hirundo smithii	2
Ethiopian Swallow	Hirundo aethiopica	4
Common Bulbul	Pycnonotus barbatus	40
Black Scrub Robin	Cercotrichas podobe	1
Black-eared Wheatear	Oenanthe hypoleuca	1*
Marsh/Reed Warbler	Acrocephalus palustris/ scirpaceus	1
Eastern Olivaceous Warbler	Hippolais pallida	1
Willow Warbler	Phylloscopus trochilus	2*
Graceful Prinia	Prinia gracilis	2
Spotted Flycatcher	Muscicapa striata	2
Southern Grey Shrike	Lanius meridionalis	4
Red-backed Shrike	Lanius collurio	1
Greater Blue-eared Starling	Lamprotornis chalybaeus	50
House Sparrow	Passer domesticus	200
Northern Masked Weaver	Ploceus taeniopterus	6
Village Weaver	Ploceus cucullatus	10
Northern Red Bishop	Euplectes franciscanus	8
Red-billed Firefinch	Lagonosticta senegala	2
African Silverbill	Lonchura cantans	30
White-rumped Seed-eater	Serinus leucopygius	1