Dear All,

A contingent of nine members of Nature Kenya had a four-day outing to 
Tsavo West from 28th November to 1st December. They consisted of 
Fleur Ng'Weno, Gordon Boy, Patrick and Karen Plum, Joseph Ayub 
Kariuki, Alex Duncan, and myself kindly chauffeured by Mike Davidson 
and Nigel Hunter.

We left Nairobi around 10am, stopping at a small river near Machakos. 
It was quite a birdy place, Thrush Nightingale, Whitethroat and River 
Warbler were all singing, and boded well for a chance that we would 
encounter a good fall of migrants. 
Taking the excellent route via Wote we arrived at Mtito Andei gate, 
and here found several nice species around the gift shop, which 
included Upcher's Warbler as well as Black-headed Plover and Black-
bellied Sunbird and the most unusual being a "red-chested" Black 
Cuckoo. On the road to Ngulia we could see that the place was quite 
green following recent rains, cuckoos were in evidence, as well as 
several Eurasian we additionally had African, Red-chested, Dideric, 
Klaa's and Black-and-White. Two male Golden Pipits, Eurasian, Blue-
cheeked and Madagascar Bee-eaters, plenty of Eurasian Rollers and a 
few nightjars were also encountered before reaching Ngulia.
Here there was already a contingent of about twenty bird-ringers 
ready for the arrival of the migrants and the mist. We were not to be 
disappointed and as the mist closed in at midnight the birds started 
to drop out of the sky. That night (plus in the bushes the following 
day) was almost an all time record and three thousand birds were 
trapped and ringed. The next day the bushes around the lodges seethed 
with migrant warblers and chats, a figure out of a hat could be 
something like several hundred thousand birds…. This was Ngulia at 
its best the likes of which exist nowhere else on this planet… the 
migrants had at last arrived. Flying around with the migrants was a 
Dwarf Bittern but it was not captured. Although all normal species 
were netted, Marsh Warblers were inordinately abundant and 
represented by far the greatest percentage of all birds moving, but 
no real surprises. Other birds caught up in this activity were 
Laughing Doves, Harlequin Quail and Wattled Starling. A little tired 
after being up since 3-00am we set off on the Tsavo Gate road, heavy 
rain just before dawn meant that many birds were sitting on bushes 
trying to dry out. We were soon admiring an immature Sooty Falcon, 
and in the plains several Grasshopper Buzzards and over fifty Amur 
Falcons (which had been 200 a little earlier, when Simon Thomsett was 
first watching them0. There were many Red-naped Bush-Shrikes calling, 
and we finally coaxed one into posing on a bush for us. The first of 
the target species for several people. On the return to the lodge we 
stopped to admire an adult Sooty Falcon catching flying alates. In 
the afternoon we were going to go out, but ended up just looking at 
one bush whilst lazing in armchairs on the terrace. An amazing 
leafless bush containing Whitethroat, Barred Warbler, Olivaceous, 
Upcher's and Olive Tree, Basra Reed, Marsh, and Sedge Warblers, 
Spotted Flycatcher, Eurasian Rock Thrush, Nightingale, Sprosser, 
Irania, Rufous Bush-Chat, Red-tailed and Red-backed Shrikes, none of 
the River Warblers seen the previous night were showing themselves, 
nor Willow Warblers which were very poorly represented. Eurasian Reed 
and Garden Warblers had also been caught but were not seen by us in 
the field.
The next night was a little slower, but at dawn again the bushes were 
a seething mass of migrants, and again Marsh Warblers were by far the 
dominant species. We farewelled Ngulia to set off to Lake Jipe and 
try to find Friedmann's Bush-Lark, the second target species for 
nearly everyone aboard. We found a male Painted-snipe at the Hippos 
Pools, and birded slowly towards Maktau Gate. On entering the Jipe 
side of Maktau we searched for Friedmann's but to no avail, there was 
a stunning Chestnut-backed Sparrowlark, many Red-winged and the 
commoner lark species and one Singing was in song flight. Numerous 
bustards of three species were in the grasslands, as well as Ground 
Hornbills, and at least fifteen Pied Wheatears. At Lake Jipe the 
Taveta Golden Weavers were in full breeding dress, but the Zanzibar 
Red Bishops were far from red. Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters hunted from 
the trees, the high-level of the lake reduced the amount of reed-
beds, over 25 Black Herons fed traditionally with their canopies 
spread… a high concentration for the species in this country, a 
Purple Swamphen fed with its browner but full grown offspring and 
several Water Dikkops ogled us. The night was spent in Saltlick.
The next morning after breakfast, we had a look around the reserve, 
and flushed a small white-tailed lark from near the road. On playing 
a tape of Friedmann's Lark, the group were more than just delighted 
when the bird flew back in, posed on a bush and sang back at us. 
After this exciting discovery, we left for Nairobi stopping briefly 
for our picnic lunch at Kibwezi forest and finding a pair of  Golden-
tailed Woodpeckers feeding in a Euphorbia kibweziensis which seemed 
appropriate, this population of woodpeckers is isolate and only one 
of three widely separated localities for this species in this country.