Dear All,

Have just completed a speedy whisk around Mt Kenya region with 
Richard And Ann Bishop. We were looking for a number of the species 
that I saw back in July.

Our first stop was to Blue Posts, arriving mid-day on 19th. The 
target was Half-collared Kingfisher, no sign of the bird however 
this does not mean that the bird is no longer in the area as there 
is a lot of river for it to hide along. A pair of Brown-hooded 
Kingfishers were displaying and investigating holes in the bank. 
There were also Malachite, Pygmy and Giant at the confluence of the 
two rivers. In the fruiting trees were a few Zanzibar Sombre 
Greenbuls, and Golden Weavers in full breeding plumage. A pair of 
Black-throated Wattle-eyes were also busy in the same tree and a 
Blackcap was singing intermittently. A single Trumpeter Hornbill 
flew over and African Firefinches secluded themselves in the 
lantana. 

We spent the night at Meru County Hotel, still excellent value at 
Ksh1000 B/B, and ideal for exploring Meru (Imenti) Forest alongside 
the town.

Our aim was to find Black-and-White Flycatcher which has been 
elusive of late.

There is an excellent perimeter path that passes between the forest 
and ASK Showground. The trees were full of Kenrick's Starlings with 
a couple of Black-bellied Starling of the endemic Mt. Kenya race, 
with Waller's feeding in a different tree. Other birds along the 
track included lots of White-eared Barbets, Fine-banded Woodpecker, 
a lek of four Narina Trogons, Yellow-bellied Greenbuls amongst large 
numbers of Slender-billed, Ashy Flycatchers, Black-headed Apalis, 
Black-fronted Bush-Shrike, Brown-capped Weavers and surprisingly at 
this altitude and not personally recorded from here before, a Brown-
hooded Kingfisher. Just a little down the road back towards Timau we 
located a pair of Black-and-White Flycatcher, the male was 
displaying and they are ready to nest.

The only palearctic apart from numbers of Eurasian Bee-eaters, Barn 
Swallows and a few Yellow Wagtails was a Northern Hobby. Amazingly 
there were no migrant warblers. Crossing the highlands near Timau 
there was a male Pallid Harrier.

We searched Steve Easleys Orange-winged Pytilia spot at the water-
tank near the Timau-Isiolo Junction. There was no sign of the birds, 
in fact the only interesting observation was a huge movement of 
dragonflies almost equal numbers of Pantala (Pantala flavescens) and 
Key-Hole Glider (Tramea basilare). This was indicative of an 
approaching front and approach it did.