I arrived back from my summer break a couple of weeks ago. I have yet to make any lengthy birding trips, but I popped out a couple of times to my local patch at the Soba Hospital sewage ponds. I was particularly interested in trying out some new recording equipment, but with little success, so I did not take any photos.
It was interesting to see that the Northern Masked Weavers are still nesting, with some birds still actively nest-building. Many of the rainy season visitors are still present, such as White-throated Bee-eater, Greater Blue-eared Starling, Abdim's Stork and Fulvous Whistling Duck; plus a number of migrants and winter visitors have already arrived, such as Gargany, Shoveler, Purple Heron, Night Heron, Little Stint, Common, Wood and Green Sandpiper, and White-winged Tern.
As is usual at this time of year, much of the area around the pools was flooded, which made it hard to see all of the birds and many would have been hiding in the thick vegetation. I counted at least 32 Hottentot Teal, but there were probably more. I hope to get out to Bahri next week with Marwa to see what is around.
It was interesting to see that the Northern Masked Weavers are still nesting, with some birds still actively nest-building. Many of the rainy season visitors are still present, such as White-throated Bee-eater, Greater Blue-eared Starling, Abdim's Stork and Fulvous Whistling Duck; plus a number of migrants and winter visitors have already arrived, such as Gargany, Shoveler, Purple Heron, Night Heron, Little Stint, Common, Wood and Green Sandpiper, and White-winged Tern.
As is usual at this time of year, much of the area around the pools was flooded, which made it hard to see all of the birds and many would have been hiding in the thick vegetation. I counted at least 32 Hottentot Teal, but there were probably more. I hope to get out to Bahri next week with Marwa to see what is around.
