East meets west at Intendance |16 February 2026

East meets west at Intendance

One week ago on the Environment page of the Seychelles NATION newspaper, I wrote about the remarkable sighting of a Pheasant-tailed Jacana at Intendance. This is a bird that is widespread in southeast Asia, migrating outside the breeding season as far as Australasia.

Its occurrence on Mahé is a world record for the species: the most southeasterly sighting ever. Last week, I returned to see if it was still there and indeed it was, but that was not the only surprise.