Amur Falcon and Tree Pipit at Cousine

Amur Falcon (left), Tree Pipit (right); photos by Rebecca Hodgkiss.

Rebecca Hodgkiss and James McClelland have reported an Amur Falcon present on Cousine 3-6 December and a Tree Pipit present 4-9 December, both in the hotel area.

The first ever report of an Amur Falcon was also from Cousine, almost 22 years ago to the day on 2 December 1995. This bird remained present until early February 1996. Since then, SBRC has collected reports of 475 birds, with around 93% of records in November and December. Records have been confined to the inner islands and Amirantes, with no reports whatsoever south of Alphonse and no evidence of a return migration through Seychelles.

 SBRC has collected reports of 267 Tree Pipit sightings and again there is a peak in October-December with 88% of sightings during this period. However, in contrast to Amur sightings are spread throughout the islands from Bird and Denis in the north to the Aldabra Group in the south. Unlie Amur Falcon, there is a small blip in the number of sightings in March possibly indicating a small percentage of birds on northern migration.