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These are largely unconfirmed records published in recent Bulletins of the African Bird Club for information only.

At Vilanculos, two Greater Frigatebirds Fregata minor and a Lesser Frigatebird F. ariel were seen on 2 January 2007, with two Sooty Terns Sterna fuscata and a Lesser Noddy Anous tenuirostris there the day before. Two Crab-plovers Dromas ardeola and a Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus were at Pomene on 12 January. Crab-plovers were further reported from the Inhambane area in early April.

In March-September 2006, the following records were reported. A Greater Frigatebird Fregata minor was seen at Inhassoro on 3 September. Large numbers of Crab Plovers Dromas ardeola were observed at Inhambane on 11 March and a Common Redshank Tringa totanus was seen at Maputo the next day. A Franklin’s Gull Larus pipixcan, found at Lagoa Piti in Maputo Elephant Reserve on 25 May, was perhaps the same individual seen in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, on 18-19 May. Two Gull-billed Terns Sterna nilotica were at Rio Savane on 20 September.

During a birding trip to southern and central Mozambique in August 2006, excellent views were obtained of a Great Bittern Botaurus stellaris and of Locust Finches Paludipasser locustella at Rio Savane, a site known to hold these sought-after species. In the Panda woodlands, presently the only site south of the Zambezi where the localised Olive-headed Weaver Ploceus olivaceiceps is found, several of these miombo specialists were observed.

A Greater Frigatebird Fregata minor was seen at Ponta da Barra on 12 January, with further sightings until the 17th, and a Lesser Frigatebird F. ariel at the same site on 14 January, with another at Ponta do Ouro on 13 January. Crab Plovers Dromas ardeola were reported from Pomene on 18 November (one), from Barra Lodge, Inhambane, on 4 December (a large flock) and from Ponta da Barra on 11 January (more than 200. Six Eurasian Oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus were seen at Rio Maria on 1 January and two Broad-billed Sandpipers Limicola falcinellus at Ponta da Barra on 16 January.

A Franklin's Gull Larus pipixcan in full breeding plumage was observed at Lagoa Piti in Maputo Special (Elephant Reserve) on 25 May 2006; this is possibly the same bird that was reported earlier from Sodwana Bay, South Africa, and may well constitute the first record for Mozambique.

A Light-mantled Sooty Albatross Phoebetria palpebrata was found exhausted on the beach at Ponto Malangane in late June 2005. It was taken into care in South Africa and released off Cape Town when it had recovered. A flock of 30 Greater Frigatebirds Fregata minor with one Lesser Frigatebird F. ariel was at Pomene on 19-20 September. Another Lesser Frigatebird was photographed at Ponta D’Oura on 13 January 2006. Two pairs of Locust Finches Paludipasser locustella were seen in grasslands between Beira and Savane on 13 November 2005.

A Red-tailed Tropicbird Phaethon rubricauda was seen at Inhambane on 15 February 2005. In March, a European Honey Buzzard Pernis apivorus was reported south of Muanza on 14th and single Western Marsh Harriers Circus aeruginosus near Rio Savanne on 13th and from Pungwe Flats on 16th. On 28th, a Brown Booby Sula leucogaster was off Pomene.

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In March 2003, a Red-tailed Tropicbird Phaeton rubricauda was seen 20 km off Bazaruto Island on 23rd, and a European Honey Buzzard Pernis apivorus at Gorongosa on 27th. At Pungwe wetlands, north of Beira, a Great Snipe Gallinago media and a Locust-Finch Paludipasser locustella were observed on 25-26th.

In the wake of a severe cold front that swept up the east coast of southern Africa from 8 to 10 June 2003, an exhausted Light-mantled Sooty Albatross Phoebetria palpebrata was wrecked on the beach of Praia de Xai-Xai in southern Mozambique and subsequently eaten by a local villager; this is the first record for the country. The species, which has a circumpolar distribution, is a very rare vagrant to South African waters, north to Mabibi, KwaZulu-Natal.

The following records are for 2001.

A Blackcap Sylvia atricapilla was mist-netted at Namuli in November 2001; there are very few records of this species from southern Africa and this appears to be the first for Mozambique .

A Greater Frigatebird Fregata minor and a Great Bittern Botaurus stellaris were at Rio Savanne, just north of Beira, on 7 September 2001. An out-of-range African Hobby Falco cuvierii was reported from coastal Vilanculos on 20 October. Three Sooty Terns Sterna fuscata were observed on nearby Bazaruto Island on 21 October; presumably the same birds were on Margereque Island the following day, when there were also five Crab-plovers Dromas ardeola at that locality.

Some 15 Mascarene Martins Phedina borbonica were flying south-east over miombo woodland west of Panda, southern Mozambique, on 12 July. This is the first record for the country south of the Save. Both Long-billed Tailorbird Orthotomus moreaui and African Tailorbird O. metopias were still present in montane forest patches on Serra Jeci (Njesi Plateau), Niassa Province, northern Mozambique, on 4-5 July. A pair of Long-billed Tailorbird O. moreaui was observed in the forest canopy. Several African Tailorbird O. metopias were seen and three were mist-netted. Serra Jeci is the only known locality outside Tanzania for both species, and these are the first records from the site since the birds were discovered there by Jali Makawa, Con Benson's collector, in 1945.

At least four Greater Frigatebirds Fregata minor were seen near Inhambane on 30 December 2001. An African Hobby Falco cuvierii was reported from Beira on 14 November. At Rio Savanne estuary, just north of Beira, a Eurasian Oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus was seen on 15 November. A Black-naped Tern Sterna sumatrana, found at the same locality the next day, constitutes the third record for the country and the eighth for southern Africa; the previous Mozambican records are of four birds at Inhaca Island and two at Bazaruto Island, while the other five records are from the KwaZulu-Natal coast, South Africa.

Last page update 10th December 2007

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