Dear All,
I have just returned from the Rockjumper Kenya Mega Tour, a 26 day
very exhausting and long tour, but always enjoyable. I did a similar
trip in 2007 a week in advance of this years dates (2008 was cancelled
for obvious reasons) and it has been interesting to compare the two,
also 2007 was exceptionally wet, not a word used that often this year!

We started on the 2nd April in Shimba Hills, there was a lunch-time
Bat Hawk over the lodge, in the afternoon we entered the Park finding
a Eurasian Black Kite, a Common Buzzard, two Lesser and five Eurasian
Cuckoos, one Eurasian Roller, five Red-backed Shrikes, a Common
Whitethroat. In the lodge car-park was a fine Green-headed Oriole
feeding quite low in the understorey, and a couple of wind-blown
Fischer's Turacos at Makadara.

A pre-breakfast re-visit to the Park on the 3rd revealed many more
migrants. A nice Sooty Falcon went over, the Common Buzzard was in the
same place, there were three Lessers including a nice red hepatic
bird, and fifteen Eurasian Cuckoos, seven Eurasian Rollers, eight
Red-backed and a single Lesser Grey Shrike, forty Eurasian Golden
Orioles, and a Eurasian Rock-Thrush. Of the Afrotropical species we
found the coastal races of Flappet Lark, Siffling Cisticola and Pale
Flycatchers, and hearing just how abundant the Coastal Boubou is
there, although only having brief views of one! North of Mombasa there
was a Booted Eagle flying over.
The interesting mammals were not in the Park but at the lodge with
night attendant Civet, Marsh Mongoose, Blotched Genet, Small-eared
Galagos and Eastern Tree Hyrax. During the day the Red-bellied Coast
Squirrels stole what they could.
Although Shimba was dry we were not prepared for how arid the coast
was. With the small swamps dry, we found Coastal Cisticola, Zanzibar
Bishop and Golden Palm Weavers in sisal at Vipingo! We arrived at
Kararacha Track, it was quite silent then went round to the back of
Sokoke on the Jilore Road finding a pair of dark Sokoke Scops Owls,
one bright orange one, but more interesting for me were a the first
pair of Barred Owlets I had seen for years.

On the morning of the 4th we were in Sokoke Forest, again so very
quiet with no rain during the night. Butterflies were also very poor
for the time of year. An Eleonora's Falcon flew over, whilst in the
forest were two Lesser and eight Eurasian Cuckoos, a single
Forbes-Watson's Swift was near the forestry station, its friends must
have left ahead of it, there were three Eurasian Rollers passing
overhead, some two-hundred Eurasian Golden Orioles in the area and
five Willow Warblers. We struggled hard in the silence for the local
residents, and did well including fifteen Clarke's Weavers containing
eight adult males in full breeding plumage.
We had lunch at the shrinking Lake Arabuko. It still had seven
Garganey. Of the local birds three Saddle-billed Storks were chasing
frogs, a couple of Palm-nut Vultures came in to bathe, eight Mottled
Spinetails joined the local Little Swifts in drinking forays, only a
single Northern Carmine Bee-eater was left, and three Paradise Whydahs
looked very out of place in Sokoke!