Bat Hawk

A last chance to watch by the Nile at dusk: I spent a couple of hours at Afex camp this evening.  There was the usual cast of Striated and Purple Herons commuting along the river, Senegal Thick-knees, Malachite and Pied Kingfishers, African Palm Swifts, White-faced Whistling-Ducks, Long-tailed Cormorants, Cattle Egrets and Common Sandpipers.  There was also an African Harrier-Hawk and a single Rock Pratincole. Oddly, there were no Bruce's Green Pigeons, normally guaranteed here. But the best bird was a Bat Hawk seen flying across the river.  There are few previous records for South Sudan, though the species may be widely distributed.  I saw one about 80 kms south of Juba by the Nile during a rafting trip in February this year.

Lastly, flocks of 6,5, and 3 White-winged Terns flew purposefully up river on their southbound migration.