Dear all,

During the last weekend (29-30/03/03) Richard & Ann Bishop together 
with Brian Finch and myself explored the area around Embu town. As a 
whole the area is unknown and therefore it was not a surprise to 
find many new and interesting species to the area…

Coming from Nairobi we stopped at the Mwea Rice Scheme, where 
hundreds of Glossy Ibises were seen in the fields and flying above 
was a Booted Eagle, Lesser Spotted Eagle and a Peregrine Falcon from 
the northern ssp (calidus).

In the afternoon, we tried our luck along the road to Siakago (the 
3rd entrance from Embu town, signposted 11 Km), where EASTERN 
NICATOR, Zanzibar Sombre Greenbul YELLOW-BELLIED GREENBUL, BLACK-
HEADED BATIS and Black-bellied Sunbird were very common in the 
valleys.

On the next morning we went to explore the Siakago road, this time 
the 1st entrance from Embu town. The area is a mix of Miombo 
woodland and Commiphora scrub, a great place for the globally 
threatened Hinde's Babbler. In a small riverine patch we found five 
different groups, and since the area looks fairly "healthy" it won't 
be a surprise to find many more in the different valleys. Also in 
the scrub, a male PETERS'S TWINSPOT gave us very good views and a 
LEAD-COLOURED FLYCATCHER was singing its heart. Big number of Violet-
backed Starlings, Eurasian Golden Oriole and Common Whitethroat, was 
a good reminder for the migration and a pair of Violet Wood-hoopoes 
was a nice addition.

Last but by no means least, is a female/non-breeding male Whydah 
species, that had a pale bill (not like the Black bill of the 
Paradise Whydah), an inconspicuous face pattern 
(Again, nothing like the marked face of the Paradise Whydah). Since 
there was no birds next to it, no size comparison could be done, but 
it seemed relative large against the sky.
With these signs above, there is a possibility that the bird was a 
BROAD-TAILED PARADISE WHYDAH!!!!  Though we CAN NOT rule out other 
species, we still feel positive that this was the case (The bird was 
photographed and copies will be sent to the Rarity committee for 
vetting) 
Baring in mind that the area is so seldom visited and that the 
habitat (Miombo woodland) is the preferred habitat for this species 
and not his keen (Paradise Whydah prefers a drier habitat), together 
with the fact that in a short visit of 2 days so many new birds to 
the area were found, it is possible that also this species (that its 
last record in the country is from the 80's, in the same area) still 
remains unheeded???
    
Happy birding to all,
Itai

P.S.  sorry for the delay, but on an earlier visit to NNP (22nd 
March) an Icterine Warbler was seen at Kingfisher picnic-site by 
Brian and myself and on the 28th of March another two Eurasian 
Griffon Vultures was seen by Brian in the park.