Nightjars by day only

On Sunday 29 July Bosco, Richard Trewby, Andrew Harberd and myself went out along the Terekeka road, seeing a good cross-section of the local birds, such as Eastern Grey Plain-eater, Red-billed Hornbill, Red-fronted Barbet, Klaas's Cuckoo and the first Village Indigobirds I've encountered this rainy season.  Oddly, all the related parasitic species we found were in the same area and included Pin-tailed Whydahs and Eastern Paradise-Whydahs as well as Village Indigobird.  We saw the male Pin-tailed Whydah doing its remarkable dancing flight in front of the female.

Red-billed Hornbill

Displaying Pin-tailed Whydah

[Blogging ethics compels me to say the the photo immediately above was taken last rainy season.]

There were also two specials.  The best was a male Pennant-winged Nightjar flushed about three times (but evading my attempts to photograph it).  What an extraordinary bird, with its long extensions to the 2nd primary feathers.  The other was a singing Lesser Swamp Warbler, my first definite record.

The following evening Bosco and I looked for nightjars at dusk along the Nimule road.  It soon started to rain heavily and we gave up, but not before seeing an elegant African wild cat crossing the road in front of us. Again no photo, but so good to find another African mammal species (and the next day I found a roost of bats in trees in the office compound - will try to take some photos).