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A Rocha Kenya

@arochakenya.bsky.social
101 followers 6 following 69 posts

We are a Christian conservation organisation based in Watamu on the north Kenya coast. As one of 23 A Rocha organisations around the world we focus on biodiversity research, community conservation and environmental education.

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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
First ringed Red-capped Robin Chats of the year! Heard the first one on Monday but they've clearly arrived en mass over night as we had 5 in the 1st round of the nets... #birds #birding #Watamu #birdringing
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
The 31st Fundamentals of #Ornithology course is going well. 24 participants were rained on trying to see highland #forest & grassland #birds. White-browed Crombec, Brown-capped Weaver & good views of Sharpe's Longclaw. But #grassland is burnt & being developed. Maybe the last time we'll see it?
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
Beautifully still morning at #ShortBeachBirds- great for hearing #birds from across the creek mouth: East Coast Boubou, Mouse-coloured Sunbird, Mangrove Kingfisher, Crested Francolin. 3 Swift Terns + 2 Turnstone passing are uncommon here; 200+ Whimbrel, 50 Grey Plover. Glorious spot #birding #Watamu
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 11/01/2026
Great to be back for more #ShortBeachBirds. The usual herons, terns & Crab-plovers but also v out-of-season Mangrove Kingfisher calling from across the creek + a Sooty Gull is not common yo see. #birds #birding #Watamu
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
Such beautiful patterns on these v dry #fungi in Arabuko-Sokoke Forest near #Watamu, Kenya
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
Arabuko-Sokoke Forest is known for its threatened &rare #birds - & we found c.250 endemic Clarke's Weavers in a swamp at the w/e... but also this beaut Hesperid #butterfly & some stunning #fungi. Always SO much to enjoy in that #forest! #arabukosokoke #kenya #magicalkenya #insects #biodiversity
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
Marsh Warblers are really not common along the #Watamu coastline on southward migration, so to catch this 1st year today was a delightful surprise! Had a group of 30+ visitors who also enjoyed E. Nicator & Dodson's Bulbul. #birdringing #birds #conservation #science #kenya
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 30/11/2025
#ShortBeachBirds Tide is out & #waders feeding at the far side of the creek. Scope v needed! A few Barn #Swallows + Carmine Bee-eaters migrating, Crab-plovers in good nos, Bare-eyed Thrush heard from across creek. Always beaut here. #birds #birding #Watamu #Kenya
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
....a few minutes later on 25th Nov at #nguliaringing... #birdringing #birds #TsavoWest #Ngulia #KWS
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
Dawn yesterday on the last morning at #nguliaringing for 2025... #birdringing #birds #kws #ngulia #TsavoWest
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
Morning of 25th Nov. All quiet at Ngulia at 3:30am. No mist. Night nets up for nightjars and 1 Euro, 2 Donaldson-Smiths and 1 Dusky ringed so far. Eles at the waterhole... #nguliaringing #birdringing #birds #ngulia #TsavoWest #kws
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
The Star of the Show for today - caught by Adrian & a beaut of a tiny Owlet is the Pearl-spotted. Also lots of discussion about working out the age of #birds from plumage features. Pictured are shots of Little Swift wing. So much to learn! #nguliaringing #birdringing #ngulia #TsavoWest #lws
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
It's time to wrap up at #nguliaringing for another year... bush nets are down & packed away, just lamps & book 1 still awaiting hoped for mist overnight - & #birds. Over 8,000 ringed this year w several new species & interesting data. Pearl-spotted Owlet today was the star. #birdringing #kws
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
Last morning at #nguliaringing for 2025. No mist at night though 11 nightjars caught + 1 Marsh W, 1 Whitethroat, 1 Sprosser. Hoping for a splash of colour or something unusual... #birds #KWS #birdringing #TsavoWest #Ngulia
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
Totals 23rd #birds: Sc 519 Ll 103 Ap 251 Bn Sw 116 Irania 40 Eu Ntjr 5 Rbk Sh 17 Trk Sh 12 Upch W 25 Rfs Bcht 17 Spt Fly 7 Brrd W 16 Wllw W 12 Rvr W 5 Ntgle 4 Olv T W 13 E Olvcs W 9 Trippt 2 Gdn W 2 Isab Whtr 1 Pd Whtr 1 Rck Th 3 Gldn Or 1 Bsra RW 2 Rdrmp Sw 1 Eu Rllr 2 #nguliaringing #birdringing
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
The mist produced some good results for 23rd despite heavy rain and dim lights. Total caught at #nguliaringing was 1,186 w Whitethroat yet again dominating at c.50% of catch. Highlight was 3rd Euro Red-rumped Swallow for Kenya caught randomly in swallow nets late a.m.! #birdringing #birds #TsavoWest
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 23/11/2025
2nd last full morning ringing at #nguliaringing and we've got mist!! ...and rain... hoping the mist thickens and the #birds pour in... #ngulia #KWS #birding #birdringing #TsavoWest
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
As predicted, a quiet day for Palearctic #birds at #nguliaringing - just 285 ringed of which 93 were Swallows. However, Afros really performed with star of the show being the 1st ever VIOLET WOOD-HOOPOE ringed at #Ngulia! Also Cinnamon-breasted Bunting (5th), Greater Honeyguide (20th). #birdringing
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
#nguliaringing #birds #ngulia #KWS #TsavoWest the video that didn't load this morning...
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
Dawn came cool and w low cloud at #nguliaringing but not low enough to qualify as mist - as it had been all night. 15 nightjars caught from 2am incl Dusky, Don-Smiths, Plain & Euro.
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
A graph of the top 3 species caught at #NguliaRinging (Marsh Warbler, Common Whitethroat, Sprosser / Thrush Nightingale) since the start of the project in 1969. We have a few days to go this year, but the % to date for this year (51%) is vastly different to previous years (av 22%). #birdringing #KWS
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
Totals for the surprise 1049 #birds on 21st: Sc 666 Ll 84 Ap 93 Brn Sw 32 Irania 51 Euro Ntjr 11 Rdbk Sh 8 Turk Sh 7 Upch W 13 Rfs Bshcht 19 Spot Fly 16 Brrd W 9 Willow W 8 Rvr W 2 Nghtgle 6 Olv Tree W 9 E Olvcs W 9 Trippt 3 Gdn W 1 N Whtear 1 Rck Th 1 #nguliaringing #birds #birdringing #KWS
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
The most exciting thing with #birdringing is having one of your birds reported from somewhere far away. In Oct we heard of a Marsh Warbler ring# XB00652, ringed 7/12/2024 at #Ngulia & re-captured on 19/7/2025 at #Hornborgasjön, Västergötland, Sweden! (7,133 km & 7 months, 11 days). #nguliaringing
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
Well... that was a surprise! It felt quiet & there was no stress but final day total was 1,050! And swallow nets are still open. No dull ring yet & plenty of discussion on ringing techniques & ageing! #nguliaringing #birds #birdringing #KWS #TsavoWest #ngulia
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
Night time ringing is a trademark of #nguliaringing - if the mist comes in early we can start at 11pm. Today nets were up for nightjars (15 of 3 spp ringed) at 01:30 w low cloud overhead which became mist at 04:50 & pulled in small #birds. 280 ringed by dawn. #birdringing #KWS #TsavoWest #ngulia
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
Palearctic total so far: 4,482. Afro spp continue to trickle in - 14th ever Spotted Morning (Palm) Thrush the star. Fantastic movement of Amur Falcons (>300) & Euro Rollers (>500) on 21st; & 25+ Steppe Eagle, 5 Steppe Buzzard, Lesser & Common Kestrel #nguliaringing #birds #birdringing #TsavoWest
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
Final day total for 20/11: 875 Sc 410 Ll 128 Ap 115 Brn Sw 57 Irania 48 Euro Ntjr 15 Rdbk Sh 15 Turk Sh 12 Upch W 11 Rfs Bsh Cht 11 Spot Fly 9 Brrd W 7 Willow W 7 Rvr W 6 Nghtgle 6 Olv Tree W 6 E Olvcs W 4 Trippt 3 Hse Mtn 2 Euro Rllr 1 Gldn Orle 1 Rck Th 1 #nguliaringing #birds #birdringing #KWS
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
800+ #birds ringed this morning at #nguliaringing. Felt quiet compared to yesterday but still good. Rock Thrush, Golden Oriole, 12+ nightjars... and LOTS of Whitethroats still. Celebrated 57 years of ringing w a huge cake! #birdringing #ngulia #KWS #TsavoWest #celebration
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
A reasonable night at #nguliaringing with just over 200 #birds ringed but good numbers of nightjars incl Dusky, Donaldson-Smiths, Plain and Euro. Quieter 1st round of nets... #ngulia #birdringing #KWS #tsavowest
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
Another highlight at #nguliaringing today was a magnificent passage of Eurasian Rollers... we counted 1,014 #birds but know we missed some. Potentially 1,200+ went through in about 2 hours. Fantastic sight! 10 Steppe Eagle, 1 Monty Harrier too. #visiblemigration #birdmigration #ngulia #KWS
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
Nets up at 2:30am for nightjars & mist arrived 5 mins later! 280 #birds ringed by dawn incl 5 nighjars; a busy though steady morning & 2 ringing tables started by 6:30am and kept going til 11am. Final total was 1,706 w record day catch of Whitethroats: 1,017! #nguliaringing #birdringing #KWS #ngulia
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
A very good night & morning at #nguliaringing! Mist came in & brought down #birds... final rough tally is c.1,600 migrants c.50 Afros ringed. 2nd Basra of '25, 17th Yellow Wagtail & almost a Euro Roller of which a magnificent >1,000 counted moving through!. #birdringing #KWM
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
Finally the weather is beginning to happen at #nguliaringing. Another misty night and probably over 1,000 caught... #birds #birdringing #KWS ##tsavowest #ngulia
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
The magic DID happen! Dawn came grey & misty but the bush was alive with #birds that emerged slowly such that the 7am round was almost as big as 6am. Final tally 993 ringed incl first Basra Reed, River and Garden Warblers; the star was a beaut Common Redstart (15th ever). #nguliaringing #birdringing
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
The #nguliaringing mist is trying to happen... 01:30hrs nets were put up and a spanking ad male Irania went in before the net was fully up... but slow. 12 birds by 2am. Freckled Nightjar went over & Green Sand also calling. Is the magic beginning?! #birds #Ngulia #KWS #tsavowest
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
00:30hrs at #nguliaringing and there is a mist drifting just above the tree level... a few birds flying around...but very few and within 10 mins the mist lifted to about 50m height and all #birds disappeared... will it happen properly tonight?! #birdringing #birdmigration #KWS #ngulia
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
It is 10 years since David Pearson was last at Ngulia. David pioneered and ran the #nguliaringing bird migration project here with Graeme Backhurst from 1970. He was a leading figure in East African ornithology & key to much of our knowledge on EA #birds. He sadly died in 2017 but we are delighted
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
It was indeed better for the dawn catch though still only just over 100 migrants and c40 Afros. More diversity: 1st Upcher's Wblr, a Rock Thrush, Wood Sand in swallow net (1st since 2005!), 3rd Little Sparrowhawk this yr & a Common Buttonquail. Totals to follow #birds #birdringing #TsavoWest #ngulia
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
A starlit night meant only avid nightjar trappers stayed up & caught 5 Eurasian. But at 04:30hrs a beautiful mist rolled in... a Whitethroat & Sprosser were caught in the nightjar net & hopes were higher for the bush nets.. #birds #nguliaringing #birdringing #ngulia #KWS #TsavoWest
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 16/11/2025
The mist has been atrocious for catching #birds but we've had good visible migration. A stream of Steppe Eagles w several Booted & Lesser Spotted, Common Buzzard, Honey Buzzard, Common Kestrel, a few Amur Falcons, Grasshopper Buzzard, a Euro Sparrowhawk & Euro Rollers. #nguliaringing #birding #KWS
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 16/11/2025
Once again no mist last night at #nguliaringing; dawn saw 25 ringers standing chatting by empty nets. The Swallows turned up a bit to save the day with 131 ringed by 4pm when nets closed; 38 other migrant #birds incl 1 Olivaceous, 1 Olive-tree Warbler & a Euro Golden Oriole; best was a retrap female
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 15/11/2025
A mistress night at #nguliaringing w only a thin layer of cloud meant dawn saw only 9 migrant #birds caught of which 5 were Tree Pipits brought in by a tape lure! But then 255 Swallows from 2 nets. A 2nd Little Sparrowhawk, Cardinal Woodpecker & a finger-shredding Orange-bellied Parrot #birdringing
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 15/11/2025
A highlight for yesterday's session was a retrap Common Nightingale ringed here in Nov 2022. Probably the first we've ever retrapped in a subsequent year. It was of the race africana that breeds in north Africa up to Iran. #nguliaringing #ngulia #kws #TsavoWest #birdringing #birds
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
Mist came in c.2am but never thickened enough to bring down many birds. Only 9 ringed by dawn(!) Large herd of buffalo watching the ringers open nets at dawn... BUT only 102 total for the day incl 21 Swallows; only 1 Marsh Wblr(!), 33 Lls & 30 Sc; 1st Olive-tree #nguliaringing #KWS #birds #TsavoWest
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
As we opened nets at 5:40am a light rain started... which v soon turned into solid rain & by 5:55am nets were closed & only opened again at 8:30am. 129 migrant #birds ringed in total; 17 Afros - but quality rather than quantity: the 1st Red-naped Bush Shrike caught since 1995! #birdringing #ngulia
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
A slow night at #nguliaringing - 7 passerine but 13 Euro Nightjars, 2 Plain and the first Slender-tailed for several years. Mist never really came in. Nets down at 5:10. Green Sandpiper calling several times. V quiet otherwise. #birdringing #ngulia #KWS #TsavoWest
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
2a.m. Night nets are up at #nguliaringing for the first time - mist hasn't really come in yet but is threatening to... heavy rain shower at dinner was positive & so long as the buffalo don't come too close we'll catch a few #birds. Plain + Donaldson-Smiths Nightjars already caught. #KWS #ringing
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
No true mist overnight, just low cloud but enough to bring down a few migrants for dawn. 119 pals ringed &c.30 Afros. V few Aps as expected, many Sc, quite a few Turkestan Shrikes, 3 Olivaceous Wblrs, Rufous Bush Chat; Af Golden Oriole was the Afro highlight. #nguliaringing #tsavowest #KWS #birds
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
Travelling through Addis last night I was put up in a hotel BUT had my #binoculars confiscated for 'security' reasons! But the endemic Brown-rumped Canary (what a dire name!) was so tame I could just use my phone...! #birds #addBirder #addisababa #birding #airportbirding #Ethiopia
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A Rocha Kenya @arochakenya.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
The #nguliaringing project has been studying #migrantbirds for >55 years producing what must be one of the leading #bird migration datasets in Africa with >600,000 #birds ringed. We'll be posting daily updates on bsky for those keen to follow the ringing & hopefully in the birds profile #addBirder
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