On 29th October I met Nik Borrow at the Main entrance to Nairobi 
National Park at 6-45 am. Sitting on the top of an acacia on the edge 
of the Safari Walk was a stunning adult male Red-headed Weaver, the 
first I have ever seen in Nairobi before, though there is an old 
record from the Park I don't know when it was. This was an auspicious 
start to the day.  First stop was at Ivory Burning Site, the Crested 
Francolins were calling from the scrub, the apparent resident Spotted 
Flycatcher was there, with a male Red-backed Shrike that looked 
nominate race.  An adult male lutea Yellow Wagtail. The Nightingale 
was also still in the same place as a few days ago. At Hyena Dam 
there were a pair of African Water Rails, the currently resident 
Squacco and Great Egret, only one Saddle-billed Stork could be seen, 
a Green Sandpiper, sub-adult Fish Eagle, single Eurasian Hobby, 
female Pallid Harrier, Northern Wheatear, a female Whinchat, and 
finally a male singing Parasitic Weaver. The biggest change was that 
there was not one White-winged Widowbird seen all day… that's a mass 
exodus.
There were three Black-crowned Night-Herons on Nagalomon Dam, but 
nothing else other than single Common and two Green Sandpipers. In 
Kisembe Forest, three separate single Nairobi Pipits were 
encountered, a pair of breeding plumage Broad-billed Rollers and an 
adult Lizard Buzzard. At Kingfisher Picnic Site we puzzled over a 
large eagle. It was fairly distant but looked heavily streaked 
underneath with long lanceolate feathering on the head giving a 
shaggy appearance. We thought it might be an Eastern Imperial Eagle 
but left as it was too far. There were three Northern Wheatear and an 
adult female Red-backed Shrike on the adjacent grasslands. Heading 
towards Olmanyi we had a soft tyre, so detoured out of the Park at 
Langata Gate to get it fixed. In about an hour we were back again and 
took the road through the eastern part of the forest on the left turn 
just down from the gate. There were some twenty Eurasian Bee-eaters 
bathing in the dam, but nothing else. Carrying on towards Athi Basin 
there was nothing apart from a single Red-backed Shrike and a Mottled 
Swift flying by. There was a fairly good passage of Barn Swallows 
strung out along the valley, and Cinnamon-chested Rock Buntings were 
fairly frequent on the road verges plus Long-billed Pipits in three 
places including a singing (and parachuting) bird. Athi Dam was very 
dull, three Pink-backed Pelicans were still present (or different 
individuals) there were half-dozen each of Marsh Sandpiper and 
Greenshank, two Wood and three Common Sandpipers, four Little Stints 
and a Ruff. There are now two pairs of Spur-winged Plovers and much 
squabbling between them.  Otherwise four Black-winged Stilts, 
Kittlitz's Plovers with chicks, and two roosting Black-crowned Night-
Herons is about it. On the road towards Hippo Pools was the seasons 
first Eurasian Black Kite, and only the second Spotted Flycatcher of 
the day. There was a single Mountain Wagtail on the Mokoyeti bridge. 
Back via Kingfisher Picnic Site again we had a displaying Black-
bellied Bustard, a pair of Shelley's Francolins, and the same 
Northern Wheatears and Red-backed Shrike.  We were happy to find the 
eagle again by the road, and had superb views and took many photos 
and it was indeed an Imperial Eagle. On the nearby marsh was the 
missing Saddle-billed Stork. Back at the Ivory Burning Site there was 
a dark phase Booted Eagle soaring around, possibly the same 
individual that was feeding on a dove last Sunday.

It was sunny all day, and the difference between this and overcast 
and drizzling mornings was quite noticeable.. we need more drizzle!

On the 30th October, Mike Davidson kindly took Fleur Ng'Weno, Karen 
Plum, Nik Borrow and myself up to the moorlands of the Aberdares. We 
stopped first at Manguo Ponds at Limuru. There was a nice level of 
water, good for marsh and water birds. A pair of extravert Swamphens 
were parading openly on the grassy verge. Amongst the ducks were a 
nice 22 Maccoas, but the only migrant duck was a single Garganey. 
There was an adult female Eurasian Marsh Harrier present, some eight 
or more Red-throated Pipits were in the swampy grass, plus a few 
Yellow Wagtails. Our next stop was at a rocky ridge on the left side 
of the road towards North Kinangop, only a few hundred metres from 
the Naivasha Junction. Here we looked for and found Elementeita Rock 
Agama, but the surprise discovery here was a Lyne's Cisticola.  A few 
kilometres further we stopped by another gorge. There were a number 
of Malachite and Golden-winged Sunbirds. A few of the Kinangop towns 
had small numbers of Angola Swallows. On a patch of highland 
grassland beyond North Kinangop we had three Sharpe's Longclaws, a 
pair of Levaillant's Cisticolas but the prize was a superb colourful 
adult Rufous-breasted Sparrowhawk skimming the grass and disturbing 
the swallows.Common Quail and Wing-snapping Cisticolas were both 
heard here, and there was one Red-throated Pipit. Just below Mutubio 
Gate were all four longtail Sunbirds, very many Malachites, a lot of 
Golden-wings and two Tacazzes. Eastern Double-collared Sunbirds were 
extraordinarily beautiful, males displaying showing dazzling orange 
tufts. There were Common Swifts and House Martins and accompanying 
these were a few Scarce Swifts. There was an Abyssinian Ground Thrush 
calling from the bottom of the valley. On entering Mutubio Gate we 
were soon looking at a number of Jackson's Francolins, Hill Chats and 
eventually Aberdare Cisticolas. We descended to Lake Naivasha and 
Hippo Camp. Again the water level was ideal, having dropped there was 
a wide band of inundated vegetation with open pools. Amongst the 
normal ducks were ten Shoveler, two Pintail and two Garganey. A good 
variety of waders though nothing uncommon, twenty or more Black-
tailed Godwits, forty Ruff, thirty Curlew Sandpipers, twenty Little 
Stints, one Greenshank, twenty Marsh, a few Wood and one Common 
Sandpipers. Some twenty Common Snipe and a few Ringed Plover. There 
were very large numbers of Whiskered Terns, only two Gull-billed and 
no White-winged Blacks. Two Eurasian and one each of Montagu's and 
Pallid Harriers, and a Booted Eagle were migrants, but a Peregrine 
was of the resident race. There were a pair of Grey-rumped Swallows 
amongst the numerous Barn, and large numbers of Mottled and Nyanza 
Swifts. Alarmingly here was no sign of any White-fronted Bee-eaters 
which is extraordinary.
Great future potential for this locality.


Best to all

Brian