Dear birders:

Birding on Sunday 17 August 2008 at the Nairobi National Park was excellent and rewarding! A total of 131 birds’ species were recorded despite the bad birding weather. At start was gloomy, overcast and windy most of the morning session. Later in the afternoon, hot and sunny spells prevailed.

The following bird species had nesting records: African White-backed Vulture (adult was seen regurgitating food to the nestling), Black-shouldered Kite, Gabar Goshawk, Black-headed Heron, Helmeted Guineafowl, Grey-crowned Crane, Blacksmith Plover (estimated as a day-old chick) and the Long-tailed Cormorant.

Several mixed parties of both Red-collared Widowbird and Yellow-crowned Bishop were observed coming into the start of their breeding dresses respectively.

There was an obvious absence of some bird families’ members, which, were expected to be present. No sightings and counts on Bustard(s) and Pipit(s)! The commonest species such as Superb Starling was absent. In addition, the numbers of the Pied Crows were seemingly increasing in the park.

On the side of the birds of prey (raptors), a good number in both species variety and individual counts (estimated numbers in parenthesis) was great. They included African White-backed Vulture (40), Black Kite (5), Black-shouldered Kite (8), Gabar Goshawk (3), Great Sparrowhawk (1), Tawny Eagle (9), Augur Buzzard (4), Black-chested Snake Eagle (1), Marabou Stork (200), and the Lanner Falcon (1).

On a sad ending, the following problems were noted. 1) Rapidly increase of the invasive plant species namely: the Latana camara, Kei Apple, Prickly-pear Cactus, and the Gum Trees Eucalyptus spp. 2) Encroachment by the Maasai cattle deep into the park were noted. 3) Littering (evidence of plastic bottles and plates, canned drinks etc., from the partygoers! There was a private party at the Kingfisher Picnic site, who, after the party went for game-drives discarding the litter.

My humble appeal goes to the management of Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and the Friends of the Nairobi National Park (FoNNaP) to look into the raised issue/concerns.

Happy birding always,