Sunday 7 November 2010

A summary of the Autumn migration at Tuti

Last weekend (29th October) there were few migrants at Tuti, other than a clear passage of Eurasian Spoonbills and a large group of about 50 Little swifts. I feel that I have monitored the island enough this autumn and I will probably target some other areas in the coming weeks.
After reading Ola Ellestrom’s excellent trip report (http://www.club300.se/Files/TravelReports/Sudan2005_OE.pdf) of his visit to Tuti in August and September 2005 and January 2006 I somehow expected more. Don’t get me wrong, I saw some good birds this autumn, but there weren’t the big numbers seen by Ellestrom. In fact, I had the feeling that there were equal numbers of migrants at other places along the Nile with decent vegetation and that Tuti did not seem to be concentrating birds in the way that might have been expected.
The table below shows a summary of the birds seen on different days, plus a list of what Ellestrom saw in his autumn visit. Major differences between days are often the result of different effort, due to the time spent birding, the area covered, the number of eyes in the group and whether or not a scope was available. Conditions also changed on a daily basis with the rising and falling of the Nile, causing flooded pools, or exposed mud flats. This would have had a particular affect on numbers of waders recorded. However, it should give a rough idea of when different species were around.
Ellestrom’s visits (18th August to 15th september) were slightly earlier in the autumn than mine, but with some overlap. This will partly explain the differences between sightings, but there were still some major differences. For example, he saw Abyssinian Roller on every visit  and had good numbers of European Roller, while I didn’t see a single one of either species. He also had large numbers of Northern Wheatears, while I did not see a single one. He also recorded Common Whitethroat as the commonest migrant warbler, yet did not record a single Lesser Whitethroat.
I hope to continue observations throughout the year, but concentrating my effort on the migration periods. It will be interesting to see how next autumn compares with this one and with that of Ellestrom in 2005.
I am still trying to figure out how to include tables with borders, so please excuse the formatting below. The total is 158 species.


Aug                   Sept             Oct Elles
28 4 5 8 12 17 24 1 15 22 29 2005
Reed Cormorant 2 x
Pink-backed Pelican 1
Black-crowned Night Heron 13
Squacco Heron 2 1 1 2 1 1 1
Cattle Egret c10 c20 c20 c10 c20 c20 c20 c15 c5 c6 c3 x
Striated Heron 3 c8 c4 2 c5 c5 3 2 1 2 1 x
Little Egret c5 c5 2+ c5 2 c10 c5 c5 3 c5 x
Intermediate Egret 1 x
Great Egret 2 2 2 c4 c5 2 c10 c5 3 x
Purple Heron 1 2 1
Grey Heron 1 1 2 c6 3 c30 c10 2 x
Black-headed Heron 2 1 2 2 x
Yellow-billed Stork x
Abdim's Stork c8 6 2 2 2+ 1 3 3 c6 1 x
Glossy Ibis 1
Sacred Ibis c5 2 4 c5 3 c3 c6 c15 1
Eurasian Spoonbill 1 c20
White-faced Whistling Duck 2 4
Spur-winged Goose x
Common Teal x
Garganey 2 c10 c10 2+ x
Yellow-billed Kite c20 c20 c20 c20 c15 c20 c30 c20 c300 c15 c15 x
Montagu's Harrier x
Western Marsh Harrier 1 1
Gabar Goshawk 2 1 2 1 1 3 2 3 3 x
Shikra 1+ 1 1 x
Eleonora's Falcon 1
Lanner Falcon Prob Poss x
Common Quail x
Corncrake x
Black-winged Stilt c20 c10 c10 c20 c5 x
Senegal Thick-knee 1 x
Egyptian Plover 1 1 2 3 1 1 1 c4 x
Little Ringed Plover 1
Common Ringed Plover 2 3 c5
Kittlitz's Plover 2
Black-headed Lapwing 4 4
Spur-winged Lapwing c5 c15 c15 c10 c10 c10 c15 c10 c5 c4 c5 x
Little Stint 2
Curlew Sandpiper x
Ruff c10 c15 c15 c30 c5 c10 x
Black-tailed Godwit c6 2 c8 c15 c10 c15 x
Marsh Sandpiper c8 c10 1
Common Greenshank c10 x
Green Sandpiper c5 2 2 2 c5 1 x
Wood Sandpiper c5 c5 c6 c5 c15 1 x
Terek Sandpiper 1 2
Common Sandpiper 1 2 2 2 2 1 2 1 1 x
Ruddy Turnstone x
Lesser Black-backed Gull 4
Gull-billed Tern c10 c6 2 2 2 c5 2 x
Caspian Tern Prob
Whiskered Tern c4 c15 3 c3 c6
White-winged Tern 1 c4 c8 c12 c10 x
African Skimmer 1
Black-billed Wood Dove 1+ 1 1 1 c5 1 1 1
Namaqua Dove 2 c4 1 1 1 2 1 1 x
Speckled Pigeon x
African Mourning Dove c30 c10 c15 c10 c20 c20 c30 30+ c20 c25 c20
European Turtle Dove c100 x
Laughing Dove c20 c15 c15 c20 c20 c20 c15 c10 c15 c15 c10
Rose-ringed Parakeet c6 2 2 3 3 1 x
Common Cuckoo 1 2 1 2 x
Dideric Cuckoo x
White-browed Coucal 3 3 2 2 1 2 2 2 x
Long-tailed Nightjar 1 x
European Nightjar x
African Palm Swift c10 c15 c20 c15 c20 c10 c6 c5 c5 c6 c8 x
Pallid Swift c5 2
Little Swift 2+ c50
Blue-naped Mousebird 1+ c25 c15 c10 c15 c10 c20 c15 c10 c8 c10 x
Grey-headed Kingfisher 1
Pied Kingfisher c4 1 2 3 2 2 c4 2+ 2 x
Little Bee-eater c6 c10 c5 c8 c10 c6 c10 c10 c8 c10 c10 x
White-throated Bee-eater 1 1 x
Little Green Bee-eater 1 x
Blue-cheeked Bee-eater 2+
European Bee-eater c15 c6 c8 1+ x
Abyssinian Roller x
European Roller x
Hoopoe Upupa epops c6 c8 c8 c10 c10 c5 c3 1 c5 2 x
Red-billed Hornbill c5 c6 c4 c5 c5 c5 2 2 c4 2 x
African Grey Hornbill 2 2 2 2 2 x
Vieillot's Barbet 1 x
Yellow-breasted Barbet x
Eurasian Wryneck 1 1 H x
Greater Short-toed Lark x
Crested Lark c8 2+ 4 2 c4 1 2 2 c5 2 x
Plain Martin c20 c20 c15 c20 c30 c10 5+ c10 c30 c25 c20 x
Common Sand Martin c15 c5 c5 1 c5
Wire-tailed Swallow 6+ 1
Ethiopian Swallow Prob 1+ c6 1 x
Barn Swallow 2+ 2+ 2 1 c15 5+ c20 c8 2 1 x
Yellow Wagtail c6 c10 2 2 c5 x
White Wagtail 2
African Pied Wagtail x
Tawny Pipit x
Tree Pipit 1 1 1 c6 2 5 c6 x
Common Bulbul c20 c30 c25 c15 c20 c10 c30 c10 c15 c15 c15 x
Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin 1 x
Black Scrub Robin c6 3 c5 2 c8 c10 c5 c4 c10 c10 c10 x
Common Redstart 1 2 2 x
Common Stonechat x
Whinchat 1 1 3 1 1 x
Northern Wheatear x
Pied Wheatear x
Black-eared Wheatear 1 2 1 x
Desert Wheatear x
Heuglin's Wheatear x
Isabelline Wheatear 1 x
Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush 1
Blue Rock Thrush 1
Grasshopper Warbler x
Sedge Warbler x
Eurasian Reed Warbler 1 2 2 1 x
Great Reed Warbler 3 2 x
Eastern Olivaceous Warbler 2+ 3+ 5+ c5 c8 c4 2+ 1 1 x
Icterine Warbler x
Willow Warbler c8 4+ c5 1 x
Common Chiffchaff 2 1
Wood Warbler 2+ 2+ x
Eastern Bonelli's Warbler x
Barred Warbler x
Garden Warbler 1 1+ x
Blackcap 4+ 4
Common Whitethroat 1 2+ 1 x
Lesser Whitethroat 1 1+ c6 c8 1
Zitting Cisticola H 2 2 1 1 1 c8 c5 1 x
Graceful Prinia c5 c5 c6 2 c4 2 c5 1 c4 c4 c5 x
Spotted Flycatcher c6 c6 1 2 3 2 3 2 c3 x
Semi-collared Flycatcher 2
White-headed Babbler c15 c10 c20 c10 c40 c25 c15 c20 c25 c25 c30 x
Nile Valley Sunbird x
Beautiful Sunbird c20 c10 c15 c4 c20 c5 c10 c8 c6 c5 x
Masked Shrike 1 c4 1 2 1 2 3 c4 3 x
Lesser Grey Shrike 2 c5 1 x
Southern Grey Shrike c10 3 1 x
Red-backed Shrike 1 1 2 1 1 3 3 1 1 x
Woodchat Shrike x
Black-crowned Tchagra x
Eurasian Golden Oriole c25 2 x
Greater Blue-eared Starling c100 c50 c40 c20 c30 c20 c20 c30 c10 c8 c10 x
Lesser Blue-eared Starling c40 c5 c5 2+ c5 2+ c10 c15 c6 1
Rüppell's Starling x
House Sparrow c200 c100 c150 c50 c40 c20 c30 c15 c30 c25 c50 x
Sudan Golden Sparrow 1 1 x
Northern Masked Weaver c10 2+ c10 c10 c5 c5 2+ c6 2 x
Vitelline Masked Weaver c10 c4 2+ 1
Village Weaver 2+ 1 1 2+ 2+ 1 1 c5 c6 2 x
Cinnamon Weaver x
Northern Red Bishop c5 1 3 c6 c5 c5 c5 c6 c8 c10 x
Crimson-rumped Waxbill c10 c10 1+ 1 c4 x
Red-billed Firefinch c10 c10 c10 c10 c15 c10 c10 c10 c20 c25 c15 x
Cut-throat Finch 3 c6 1 c10 c10 c6 c20 c6 c15 c20 c20 x
African Silverbill 2 c8 c5 c10 c10 c10 c10 c20 c10 4 x
Pin-tailed Whydah 2 2 2 2 1 c5 2 c4 c5 x
Village Indigobird c5 2+ c4 2 c4 1 c3 1 2 3 2 x
White-rumped Seedeater 2+ c8 4 x
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