From: Fleur Ng'weno <fleur@africaonline.co.ke>
Date: 2008-04-30 19:02
Subject: Breeding and migrant records
Breeding and migrant records
Still going through my records; hope this brings me up to date.
On March 29 and 30, 2008, a small group of us visited Lake Nakuru. We stayed at the Wildlife Clubs of Kenya guest house, and the view from nearby Baharini Springs was breathtaking. Layer upon layer of birds, pelicans, egrets, ibises, spoonbills, storks, coots, flamingoes, terns....
The number of young birds was particularly striking. Thousands of immature Great White Pelicans, born on Lake Elmenteita, many of them brown with dark beaks. Some young Pink-backed Pelicans, too. Scores of immature Yellow-billed Storks. Hundreds of young Lesser Flamingos, white or grey in colour. Dozens of young Greater Flamingos, too; about as many immatures with grey beaks as adults. Where did the Greater Flamingos breed?
Migratory birds at Lake Nakuru included White Storks, singly or in small groups, and many Gull-billed Terns and a Black-headed Gull in breeding plumage.
A few recent records:
Yellow Wagtails (race thunbergi) northeast of Thika on April 20.
Common Greenshank, Wood Sandpiper and Common Sandpiper at Paradise Lost, Kiambu, on April 23.
Two Willow Warblers and a Spotted Flycatcher at the Racecourse, Nairobi, on April 30
And a Marsh Warbler at the birdbath in my garden on April 29!
Wishing you good birding, Fleur