So on Friday we told you about our southern-banded snake eagle sighting, and on Saturday you heard about our humpback whale.  Well I’m afraid we’re going to keep boasting about our sightings, because they don’t end there!

It was at the end of the week, and a forest team was wearily trudging back to base from a long, hot day of forest research.  We were no more than 30 metres away from the gates, when we heard a rustling in the leaf litter to our left.  We all peered in, and to the utter shock of us all we were staring straight at a spotted ground thrush!  This was one of the most exciting sightings we’ve had in months and months.  And to our utter disbelief and joy – we saw it again today!  We think it was the same one as it was in almost exactly the same spot.

This may not sound that exciting, until we tell you that it is a critically endangered species with very restricted distributions.  It is under serious threat from habitat loss, and Shimoni forest is one of the few places left in the world that it can still be seen.

It is a medium sized (about 8 inches) terrestrial forest thrush that is difficult to observe.  This is mainly due to it being well camouflaged, silent and shy.  It tends to freeze motionless when disturbed or surprised.  It lives mainly in deeply shaded areas with deep leaf litter, where it feeds on seeds, fruits and invertebrates. 

(zimmerman et al, 1999)

This is only the third and fourth sighting we’ve had of this species in almost a year, which when you imagine we are in the forest almost every single day, highlights the rarity of this sighting.  There is action being taken however, consisting mainly of a partnership between Birdlife International and Nature Kenya, plus other organisations in several countries, who are working together to gather data and information about this species.  They are then using this information to produce conservation management strategies to safeguard the future of this wonderful bird.