On 7 February, Adrian Skerrett returned to Intendance with James Wareing to see if the Pheasant-tailed Jacana (see earlier post) was still, present. Its occurrence on Mahe is a world record for the species: the most southeasterly sighting ever. Indeed, it was still there, but this was not the only surprise.
 
On the opposite side of the Intendance wetland was a White-faced Whistling Duck, an African/South American species previously recorded in Seychelles six times. Five of these Seychelles records were in the Aldabra Group and one was at Mahe. This Intendance sighting is the world’s most easterly record for this species.
 
This is an extraordinary state of affairs. On one small stretch of water on Mahe, two species meet that technically should never encounter each other. They breed almost 5,000 kilometres away from each other, and each only usually migrates a few hundred kilometres at most, yet here they were happily feeding together.

In 2025, SBRC members considered 120 records, presented in summary in table one. The majority of records were accepted (108, exactly 90%), including seven submitted unidentified and a record misidentified as one vagrant but accepted as another. Eight records were classified as ‘unproven’ (that is, insufficient evidence to authenticate), two were pended for more discussion, and two were rejected as misidentified and not vagrant species of interest. Age, sex, and subspecies were assigned wherever possible.
 
A record pended in 2024 of Pied Wheatear Oenanthe pleschanka, was accepted in 2025 with a caveat regarding the slight possibility of Variable Wheatear O. picata. This was after taking expert advice from Ashwin Mohan, Brian Small and Peter Clements.

A copy of the report can be downloaded here.

: On 10 January 2026, Adrian Skerrett visited the Le Cheval site at Intendance. together with Steve Agricole. Due to heavy rain, they were confined to Adrian's car, but were able to record several vagrant species, namely six Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler and Cotton Pygmy Goose. With no sign of a break in the weather they left the site to check out Police Bay marsh. The rain petered out and they decided to have another shot at birding the Intendance wetland. This bird flew from water near the edge of the road almost as soon as we entered the hotel grounds. It is an adult non-breeding plumage Pheasant-tailed Jacana Hydrophasianus chirurgus, one of the most remarkable vagrant sightings in Seychelles of all time. It is a first record for the western Indian Ocean.

 
:Adrian Skerrett, Lisa Wareing and James Wareing visited Intendance on 06 January 2026, There were 3 male and 3 female Northern Pintail Anas acuta present. Adrian had previously recorded a single male Northern Pintail on 20 December 2025. On the December dated a Tufted Duck Aythya fuligula and a Green-winged Teal Anas crecca    were also present while on the 6 January, a Northern ShovelerAnas clypeata was seen.

SBRC has previously recorded:

• 1 record of Cotton Pygmy Goose
• 2 records of Green-winged Teal
• 3 records of Tufted Duck
• 10 records of Northern Pintial
• 16 records of Northern Shoveler.

Below top left to bottom right: Male (at rear) and female Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Cotton Pygmy Goose and Tufted Duck (all photos: Adrian Skerrett)

James and Elisabeth Wareing have reported a Citrine Wagtail Motacilla citreola near the marsh, La Passe, Silhouette on 4 December 2025. This is the second record for Seychelles. The first record was recorded by Adrian Skerrett at Fregate on 16 April 1999 and was published in the Bulletin of the African Bird Club

Green-winged Teal (Adrian Skerrett)

A Green-winged Teal Mareca penelope was reported by Bjorn Anderson at the main pool, Lemuria Resort golf course, Praslin, on 24 November 2025. Adrian Skerrett, visiting the site on 1-2 December 2025 found the bird still present. This is just the second record for Seychelles
 

 The 2024 report of Seychelles Bird Records Committee has been released today.

In 2024, 155 reports were received by Seychelles Bird Records Committee and circulated to members for authentication. This is the highest number of reports received in any year since SBRC was founded in 1992. It is almost exactly the same figure as the three previous years 2021-2023 combined (156). 

The 2024 report is dedicated to the memory of Ian Bullock., who passed away due to melanoma in January 2025. It an be downloaded at this link:

SBRC Annual Report 2024

In June 2024, Chris Mason-Parker and Rebecca Filippin reported a Cotton Pygmy Goose at Intendance, Mahe. This was accepted by SBRC as the first record for Seychelles and the western Indian Ocean. It disappeared but what was presumed to be the same individual reappeared for 2 days in December 2024 only to vanish once again.

Adrian Skerrett, James Wareing and Elisabeth Hein visited the site on 27 April and located the bird again. Perhaps it had visited another wetland on Mahe or perhaps it just remained hidden given its diminutive size and secretive habits.
 
The Cotton Pygmy Goose is found mainly from southeast Asia to Australia. It is not a goose at all, but in fact holds the world record for the tiniest species of wildfowl on earth. Its distinctive mainly white plumage with specks of grey and black gives it a cotton-like appearance, hence the name. Normally, it does not migrate long distances. However, birds can disperse quite widely following the rainy season and have been recorded as far away from the traditional breeding grounds as the Middle East.

Dr Girish Menon has reported the appearance of a huge number of Red-footed Booby in the skies above Coetivy Island. Red-footed Booby are not unusual visitors to almost any island in Seychelles but normally away from their breeding grounds they are in small numbers. It is exceptional to see so many at one time. The cause of this phenomenon is unknown. It could be connected to weather conditions one of the breeding islands or perhaps a seasonal migration. 

On 26 November 2024, Christophe Mason-Parker visited Intendance wetlands and photographed four unidentified ducks, forwarding the image to SBRC. Anthony Bentley, Island Manager of Aride Island Nature Reserve, visited the site on 9 December, observed the same ducks and submitted an identification to SBRC as two male and two female Gadwall. On 10 December, Adrian Skerrett visited the site and photographed the same ducks.  Numbers increased to nine  by 3 January 2025,
 
Meanwhile, Dr Girish Menon reported two female and one male Gadwall at Coetivy on  23 December and Anthony Bentley reported a female At Aride Island the same day. Adrian Skerrett reported a male in eclipse at Anse a la Mouche on 4 January 2025,
 
Gadwall breeds across northern temperate latitudes, descending to lower latitudes in winter. Southern breeders are mostly sedentary, but birds from easternmost part of range winter south to the Indian Subcontinent and west to Caspian and Black Seas, with smaller numbers in Africa, regularly south to Ethiopia and more exceptionally Kenya (Leschack et al. 2020)
 
These sightings from Intendance (Mahe), Coëtivy, Aride Island and Anse a la Mouche (Mahe) are the first, second, third and fourth records of Gadwall for Seychelles.