To find the specialities of Arabuko-Sokoke forest an understanding of the forest itself is necessary. Three distinctive habitats dominate the forest. The wetter areas support a mixed closed-canopy forest previously dominated by tall Afzelia trees (most have been long since felled!) This area is good for Fischer's Turaco, Sokoke Pipit & Spotted Ground-Thrush amongst others. The Afzelia forest merges into Brachystegia forest -especially over drier white-sand soils. This Brachystegia forest holds a wide range of species including Helmet-Shrikes, Batis, Cuckoo-Shrikes, Cuckoos, Hornbills, Clarke's Weaver & Amani Sunbird. The third type of vegetation is low tangled Cynometra forest which is generally found on dry red soils & is the preferred habitat of Africa's smallest, rarest Owl -the highly range-restricted Sokoke Scops Owl.

Photography of forest birds is always a challenge as light-levels are generally low & often birds in the canopy effectively become silhouettes against the bright sky. Many species are also semi-nomadic & are constantly on the move; chasing these birds through thick undergrowth with a tripod & heavy camera gear is very difficult. These are my excuses as to why many of the images below are poor quality 'record' shots; that said there are amongst them some images of birds which have very rarely been photographed before.
The poor quality of the images is down to me but the fact that there are images of the rarities is testament to the birding skills of David Ngala.