Arusha October 19, 2006 "Birding the Prison Ponds"
The so-called prison pools are excellent, especially during November-December, for incoming migrants and the surrounding acacia scrub and farmland is always turning up some local surprises.
At ten to six, half an hour before sunset; as Dismas and I were counting the Palearctic shorebirds at this small wetland site on the outskirts of Arusha; two first year Black Storks spiralled down from the north. These were my first of the return. Alastair Kilpin at Klein's Camp, on the eastern edge of the Serengeti has seen singles on two dates just prior to this. These two beauties were first spotted high in the peach-coloured cumulus that was stacking up in the Monduli Gap (the 11km of air space between Mount Meru and Monduli mountain) through which migrants sometimes literally pour.
