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Following several months of low bird activity on
Lake Victoria, (possibly due to the consistent extra high water level which
fully covered all areas normally used by migratory waders), bird numbers have
now greatly increased, particularly since the opening of the duck
season.
Today there were in excess of 550 chestnut teal and
an all time high for the last couple of years of 160 swans. Other birds of
uncommon number were 14 great crested grebes and 11 pelicans. The pelicans seem
to be feeding on large schools of very small fish that are teeming in the
shallow areas of the full lake.
In all 20 species were observed including a raft of
120 hoary headed grebes, a small flock of 8 greenshanks, 120 red-necked stints,
5 little egrets, 2 royal spoonbills, a surprise sighting of 4 little black
cormorants, little pied cormorants. pacific black ducks, 1 black-tailed native
hen, masked lap-wings, red-capped plovers, 56 black-winged stilts, 3 banded
stilts, 150 silver gulls, many white-fronted chats and superb blue wrens in the
undergrowth around the Lake.
Rod Corinaldi
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