alan lewis wildlife stuff

Blue-headed Bee-eater at Kakamega, Kenya this morning - a pair of this stunning species showed very well in the sub-canopy:

A trio of Eremomela species from Kenya over the last few weeks: The stunning Green-backed close to the Ugandan border a few days ago, the very local Turner's at Kakamega forest yesterday and the dry zone specialist Yellow-vented at Samburu last week:

Northern White-faced Owl took a while for our local guide at Lake Baringo to dig out but the views were exceptional. It was already in this 'alert' posture when we taken to see it:

Masked Lark on the lava fields on Shaba NR, Kenya on 6/5/26 - great views of this much wanted species, including a pair feeding young.

You just never know what's going to turn up when you run a moth light... At first I thought I'd caught a Tawny Shears which would've been a new species for my garden. Then its antennae popped up.... Feathered Ear, last seen in the UK in 1968!! #TeamMoth @BC_Suffolk

@keelebirder Mega- only ever seen that once - at Abra Patricia

Barred Antthrush along the Guacamayos ridge a couple of days ago, taken early morning so high ISO (25,600), but happy with the result.

Sokoke Pipit, Sokoke on 30/4/26 - these birds were hard to find and even harder to get a reasonable photo of! We saw three this morning in the southern part of the reserve where we watched them foraging in the leaf litter and perching in trees:

East Coast Akalat, Sokoke - 29/04/26: A really tough site and today was hard work for modest reward. Great views were however obtained of this speciality - we go again tomorrow!

Kilifi Weaver, Dakatcha Woodlands, Kilifi county, Kenya - 28/4/26 - we were lucky enough to arrive at Watamu 10 days after a breeding colony of 120 birds had been found in a tiny wetland:

Sokoke Scops Owl, Sokoke Forest 27/4/26: After a short flight from Manda to Malindi, we were taken directly to see this roosting pair in the heart of the reserve:

Manda Boubou, Manda, Kenya - 26/4/26: This local species is only really accessible here, with the rest of its range in coastal Somalia. The red eye and glossy plumage is characteristic but only visible in good light:

@HardingRogerC @dunnjons @Mariposa_Nature @thenewgalaxy @JohnAcid That’s a cracker!!

Nearing the end of what is proving to be an extraordinary and record breaking @Mariposa_Nature trip to Crete. @thenewgalaxy Richard Bate has been amazing. This is probably the flower of the trip so far, for me. Hybrid Monkey & Man. @JohnAcid @dunnjons

@BeidaiheBirder Weird quirk of the new X automatic translations of bird names is that they are almost always wrong - no idea why; it always a real bird name but never the correct species!

Big’Bluetail’ 🤔

A few more of the Hoopoe in Basingstoke, Hampshire on Sunday:

@BirdPhotoTours Superb image 👍

An ultra-close encounter here in Malaysia with this fearless Rufous-collared Kingfisher showing well his outstandingly attractive multi-colours [Bird-Photo-Tours.com].

@01000011S cheers Cliff, just 2 miles from my house!

Hoopoe, Basingstoke showed incredibly well this morning - prepare for the deluge of images! I thought this one was a little different, although I should probably edit out the roof top!

@GaryWright62 Congrats of the Satyr Trag - hard away from Bhutan

Recently back from a superb trip to NEIndia. There has been a lot of changes since my first visit in 1984 - and the birding remains just as good 😊

Lovely warm weather across southern Hampshire today and a noticeable arrival of summer migrants including 2 Swifts, Swallows at 3 sites, several Lesser Whitethroats and at least 8 Whimbrel on the coast:

Garden Warblers showed well this evening at Iblsey Water; Hampshire today - at least 3 belting out their songs, my first of the year