Dear All,

I spent 1st August 2009 in Nairobi National Park. The morning was cold
and overcast, but after mid-day the clouds burnt off and it actually
became very warm. There has been no recent rain, the contrast between
the still green and relatively lush northern parts of the park
contrast markedly with the arid, shrivelling grasslands of the
southern parts. I left at 3-00pm.
Entering the Main Gate at 6-30am there was a slight delay with the
system down and the necessity of scribbling details for a future
deduction from the loading slip. I would imagine that this would have
been chaotic once more people arrived.
There were no birds of any note along the entrance, Ivory Burning Site
and all along the back road to Hyena Dam. At the dam the African
Jacana was still present, there were Zebra Waxbills and thirty or so
Yellow-crowned Bishops in the bulrushes. The run-off was far more
interesting with a (probably the one and only this season) Madagascar
Pond Heron, a Yellow-billed Egret, Green Sandpiper, at least three
calling African Water Rails and a Red-chested Flufftail were along the
creek. Along the edge of the reeds, the female Whinchat has made it
into August, and whilst not in the numbers of last week,
Yellow-crowned Bishops were in considerable numbers creeping into the
hundreds, there were a few Zebra Waxbills, and substantial numbers of
Quailfinch were flying in to drink, as they were at virtually every
other dam in the Park. There was a compact group of twenty-one Crowned
Cranes and a couple of pairs of Rosy-breasted Longclaws that were
showing some colour on the breast.
Just past the turn off across the Mokoyiet River (4A), White-winged
Widowbirds were probably in their thousands in the rank grass, and
there was a Red-faced Cisticola singing from the riverine vegetation.
Karen Primary School Dam had little but there were a hundred or so
Yellow-crowned Bishops in the reeds, and four Yellow-throated
Sandgrouse were on the edge of the dam. An interesting sight here was
a Yellow-billed Stork grabbing an Egyptian Goose chick, I was
surprised at how little a distance the parents pursued the bird before
giving up. From here I took the Beacon road through to Empakasi Dam,
but there was nothing of interest, and at the dam the best was a
gathering of over a dozen Black-headed Heron, and a Three-banded
Plover with a freshly hatched chick.
Continuing on to Athi Dam, there was a single White Pelican, two
Black-crowned Night-Herons, fifteen more Yellow-throated Sandgrouse, a
pair of Spur-winged Plover were on a nest with three eggs, new
arrivals were three adult Little Stints still with a lot of rufous on
the chest and head, four adult Common Sandpipers still intricately
barred on the upperparts, and an adult Greenshank still with black
streaking on the chest. There were also a couple of Kittlitz's
Plovers. Another interesting feeding observation was a Common
Sandpiper creeping up and successfully snatching a Banded Groundling
Dragonfly and swallowing it whole.
There was nothing of note all along the southern road towards
Kingfisher Picnic Site, but there were several thousand cattle back in
the park and even a number of donkeys! There is blatant encroachment
once again, and no sign of KWS taking any measures to control it. Near
Kingfisher there was a female Saddle-billed Stork, numbers of Mottled
Swifts were scattered along the gorge, and over Kisembe Forest and at
Olmanyi Dam was a flock of well over a hundred Wattled Starlings that
contained a disproportionate number of males coming into breeding
dress.
Last week I remarked on the number of Lilac-breasted Rollers that had
invaded the park, surmising that the bird might be in numbers all over
the Park. Perhaps this was wrong, the rollers were still present, but
in discrete localities, three were around Hyena Dam, but I did not see
any others until three in the Athi Basin. Then no more until nine in
the Kingfisher area. Today whilst there were plenty of Red-rumped
Swallows, there were no Lesser Striped Swallows to be seen, it would
be interesting to hear if any are seen over the next couple of months,
and also if they are not seen in places where they are usually found.
This should be the time when they mysteriously disappear from the
Nairobi district. They were present in the Park last Sunday, so the
vacation has been at some time during the past six days.
On the Kisembe Forest Dam the African Jacana was still present and
there were three single Nairobi Pipits along the forest edge on the
way out through Langata Gate.
In the Hyena run-off there was a very impressive gathering of Zebra,
just in this area I counted over 650, and there were still more moving
in from the south as I left. Apart from this there were Zebra in many
parts, and also good numbers of Wildebeeste. On the entrance road
there was a Suni and another on the back road towards the back of
Hyena Dam in the dense scrub. I see Suni on almost every visit now,
and yet there was a six-year period in which I did not see the species
in the Park. Are they on an increase? There was a lioness towards Lone
Tree, and three in a tree along the Mokoyiet near 4A. At Athi Dam
there were three very large Crocodiles hauled out and basking on a
small island.

Best to all

Brian