"On July 31 we saw only about eight or nine
White-fronted Bee-eaters at a breeding site at ca 1,550 m along the Nairobi road
ca 12 km west of Arusha and 4 km short of Lengijave; which is the main watershed
as you go west around Mount Meru. There was
none at the large breeding site in a korongo at Mkuru camel camp at ca 1650
m which is on the dry northern side of Meru; nor were there any in colonies at a
similar elevation right on the watershed of Lengijave
itself.
My feeling is that they temporarily evacuate all the
higher and drier sites en masse, and that only a few individuals
remain near to the lower colonies (at say 1,550m and below) and
these few are present only whilst they are finding enough food in the
immediate vicinity.
The Arusha sites mentioned by Marc, Paul and Fred are
all lower, floristically richer, typically more agricultural, suburban and/or
forested so that clearly there are many more hymenopterans
and butterflies active in these relatively lush areas during the cool and
often dry days of late mid-winter.
It would be interesting to compare this with Anabel's
experiences at Magongo hill which is at about the same elevation as Marc's birds
i.e similar to that of Arusha airport."