----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Brian Finch <birdfinch@gmail.com>
To: Itai Shanni <itaisha1@yahoo.com>
Sent: Friday, 14 August, 2009 20:08:33
Subject: NAIROBI NATIONAL PARK 14th August 2009

Date: 14th August 2009
To: Itai Shanni <itaisha1@yahoo.com>

From: Brian Finch <birdfinch@gmail.com>

Subject: NAIROBI NATIONAL PARK 14th August 2009


Dear All,
Rupert Watson and myself decided to have a day in Nairobi National
Park on 14th August 2009, as it was a scheduled power-out day for us.
We entered the gate at 6:30am and made straight for Ivory Burning
Site.
It was an incredibly beautiful morning, sunny and bright, blue sky but
quite cold, however much more cheerful than it has been of late, and
the birds were obviously pleased with the clear morning.
Apart from the Long-tailed Cormorants and Cattle Egrets leaving their
roosts on Nagalomon Dam, swallows had also roosted there, a few Black
Saw-wings flew into the picnic area from there, and followed by others
until there was a staggering eighty saw-wings. I have never seen such
numbers before, and it would appear that they roosted with the
accompanying Plain Martins in the reeds, this would be a surprise as I
thought they roosted in holes in banks. There were about a dozen
Violet-backed Starlings feeding on a fruiting bush, a party of eight
Red-collared Widowbirds had non-breeding plumaged males with almost
fully developed tails and appear to be entering breeding condition
again. There were a number of birds feeding in the clearing, the
biggest surprise being a Somali Bunting. Whether this was the bird
seen at the back of Hyena Dam in the early part of this year isn’t
clear. I have compared photographs with this bird and the last (which
was the first for NNP), and they do look different, but there can be a
lot of plumage change over six months. Another bird that came as a
surprise was a male Black Cuckooshrike, not unusual in itself, but
this bird was a most beautiful shiny blue with a huge bright yellow
shoulder patch. I have only ever seen a very few in Kenya, and have
thought that yellow-shouldered birds originated from the south. The
field-guides don’t mention anything specific as to the provenance of
these beautiful birds (when compared to our all dark birds that we
normally see). Does anyone else remember seeing the bird in Kenya, and
at what time of year?
At the back of Hyena Dam there were two African Silverbills bathing,
but there was nothing much at the Dam itself. The run-off was far more
interesting with single Great and Yellow-billed Egrets, a
Lilac-breasted Roller, a single Barn Swallow, the female Whinchat, a
dense flock of 150 Wattled Starings (others seen elsewhere), a few
Zebra Waxbills and plenty of Quailfinch. Near 5A were two Oribi, a
couple of White-tailed Lark that were singing half-heartedly in
flight, and a distant flock of twenty Athi Short-toed Larks. At Karen
Primary School Dam were three Yellow-throated Sandgrouse, three adult
Wood Sandpipers, with a number of Quailfinch Red-billed Quelea and
Yellow-crowned Bishops coming in to drink. At Embakasi Dam very large
numbers of Yellow-crowned Bishops and Red-billed Quelea arriving flock
after flock from the direction of JKA. A Peregrine was hunting over
the area making several stoops but not securing anything. Athi Dam was
very disappointing with a single Black-crowned Night-Heron, a pair of
Spur-winged Plover that were not seen to incubate so maybe the eggs
have hatched, adults of  Little Stint, two Greenshank and five Common
Sandpipers, all looking like the same birds from earlier in the week.
Nothing noted from here to Kingfisher Picnic Site where there were
four Lilac-breasted Rollers and a Barn Swallow flying through, the
African Jacana was on Kisembe Forest edge Dam and a Nairobi Pipit
along the edge of the forest. We departed through Langata Gate at
2:45pm.

Not much change from Wednesday the last powercut day, still plenty of
cattle in the south, and numerous Zebra and Wildebeeste from Hyena Dam
to Athi Dam. Mammalwise the Park is very impressive.

Best to all

Brian

PS Rupert had a Bat Hawk at dusk over his garden (Kisembe
Estate-Langata) on Tuesday evening.