Bor: South Sudan - By Terry Barry

It was sad to say goodbye to Terry Barry when he left Khartoum back in May. His next job was a short posting in Bor, which is a town about 100km north of Juba in South Sudan. He was there for three months between June and September, where he was staying on the UNMISS compound, and he sent me the following report of his sightings. He saw some great birds and it is nice to have a report from a new and little known area. He is now back in Wales where he is starting a PhD in International Politics and we all wish him the best of luck with it.
Tom Jenner

UNMISS compound Bor South Sudan (from 11/06/3013 – 06/09/2013)

The compound has green spaces including some small ponds and a small lake with surrounding vegetation – hence there are quite a wide variety of African bird species.  I have been on a few night walks after 20.00 and there are land mammals around – seen two foxes and a mongoose.

Interesting to note was the bird population of different species on the compound changed over these three months of the rainy season. Examples: in June there were Lesser Blue-eared Starlings which then disappeared and then reappeared at the end of August. Black-billed Kites were common on the compound in June but very few by August. The Grey-headed Kingfisher was really common in June/July but then seemed absent and ‘replaced’ by Woodland kingfisher. Some birds were only present on the compound for a number of days like the Grey-backed Fiscal, or a number of weeks such as the group of Black-crowned Cranes. Some increased steadily in number as the wet season progressed such as the African Openbills and White-faced Ducks. Others remained quite constant in high numbers throughout the three months such as the Marabou Storks and Hooded Vultures.

1)    Long-tailed Cormorant

2)    Hammerkop – small groups on compound

3)    Grey Heron (individuals)

4)    Black-headed Heron (individuals – some seem young)

5)    Purple Heron (just one juvenile)

6)    Great White egret

7)    Little Egret

8)    Cattle Egret (roost in their hundreds in trees in compound)

9)    Squacco Heron

10)Black-crowned Night-heron 

11)African  Sacred Ibis (maybe hundreds on compound – roost alongside Cattle Egrets)

12)Hadeba Ibis (very common on compound)

13)Marabou Storks (many particularly hanging around garbage-burning area)

14)African Openbill

15)Woolly-necked Stork (one individual)

16)Yellow-billed Stork

17)White-faced Duck

18)Comb Duck

19)Yellow-billed Kite

20)African Fish Eagle

21)Hooded Vulture – most common vulture in compound

22)White-backed Vulture 

23)African Harrier Hawk

24)Dark Chanting Goshawk

25)Long-crested Eagle

26)Red-necked Falcon

27)Helmeted Guineafowl

28)Black Crowned Crane (group of 5 which stayed for a few weeks in July/August))

29)African Jacana (on lake)

30)Senegal Thick-knee

31)African Wattled Lapwing

32)Common Sandpiper

33)African Mourning Dove

34)Vinaceous Dove

35)Black-billed Dove

36)Namaqua Dove

37)White-browed Coucal

38)African Palm Swift

39)Speckled Mousebird

40)Blue-naped mousebird

41)Pied Kingfisher

42)Malachite Kingfisher

43)African Pygmy-kingfisher

44)Grey-headed Kingfisher

45)Woodland Kingfisher

46)Northern Carmine Bee-eater

47)Little Green bee-eater

48)Black-billed barbet (27/6/13 – small family group -3)

49)D’Arnaud’s Barbet

50)Grey Woodpecker

51)Ethiopian swallow

52)Red-shouldered Cuckooshrike

53)Fork-tailed Drongo

54)Pied Crow

55)Dark-capped Bulbul

56)African Thrush

57)White-browed (Heuglin’s) Robin-chat

58)Spotted Palm-thrush

59)Winding Cisticola

60)Tawny-flanked Prinia

61)Northern Crombec?

62)Grey-backed Camaroptera

63)Silverbird

64)African Paradise-flycatcher (white and rufous morph)

65)Western Black-headed Batis

66)Grey-backed Fiscal

67)Black-headed Gonolek

68)Lesser Blue-eared Starling

69)Ruppel’s Starling

70)Scarlet-chested Sunbird

71)Beautiful Sunbird

72)Northern Grey-headed Sparrow

73)Speckle-fronted Weaver

74)Northern Masked Weaver

75)Little Weaver

76)Red-headed Quelea

77)Red-billed Quelea

78)Northern Red Bishop

79)Yellow-crowned (Golden) bishop

80)Green-winged Pytilia

81)Red-billed Firefinch

82)Red-cheeked Cordonbleu

83)Black-rumped Waxbill

84)White-rumped Seed-eater