Dear All,
On 29th November 2009, Fleur Ng'Weno, Gordon Boy and myself met up
with Mike Davidson at the Main Entrance of Nairobi National Park at
6-30am. Apart from a few Willow Warblers there was nothing of interest
in the car-park and we did not linger. There had been a negligible
shower in the night of which there was very little evidence in the
morning. The day was slightly overcast first thing, but otherwise
sunny for the remainder.
Our first stop was at Ivory Burning Site where a more modest wedding
was to take place, there was a Brown Parrot in the acacias, many
Nightingales, two Spotted Flycatchers (the only birds seen today),
three Eurasian Reed Warblers, the first being very grey like the bird
caught recently at Ngulia, a Common Whitethroat and that was it. The
hoped for fall again failed and migrant-wise the day was not too
exciting but there were some unusual finds, with probably the most
impressive mammal collection ever witnessed, the Park boasting all
three species of large cat, both Rhinos and wall to wall plains game
but more on that later.
Along the back road we saw our only Northern Hobby of the day, at
Hyena Dam it was very quiet, our first of only three Whinchats, first
of three Common Kestrels, the only Marsh Harrier of the day, and the
run-off was equally dull with single Great and Yellow-billed Egrets,
and Northern Pintail (the first I had had in NNP away from Athi Dam),
Black-bellied Bustard flying over, and a scattering of Jackson's
Widowbirds. We turned back onto the main road and took a right turn,
locating the Pintail on a very nice now reedless swamp with no name
along the Mokoyiet, where there were also fourteen Common Snipe.
Towards Nagalomon Dam (birdless) we had our only Pallid Harrier and a
Parasitic Weaver. The first of only five Red-tailed Shrikes were also
here. Along the road below the Kisembe Ridge we headed straight for
Kingfisher Picnic Site for the morning refreshments finding the female
Saddle-billed Stork en route and the first Green Sandpiper, the
species also being met with at four other sites during the course of
the day. Here we found an adult Black Stork, pale Booted Eagle and
again heard Black-winged Plovers without seeing them. In the short
grass we had the first of five Isabelline, three Northern and only a
single Pied Wheatears. Heading towards  Olmanyi Dam (dry with no
birds) we had a wheatear first taken as northern on account of its
charcoal-black flight feathers, but the head and underparts were
Isabelline. A strange individual and I shall share the image and see
what comments come back. Back along the Mokoyiet there were six
Eurasian Bee-eaters and the days only Barn Swallow! We took the inside
road to Karen Primary School Dam where a Greenshank and the first of
only three Lesser Kestrels were the avian entertainment, following
along the main road to Athi Dam.
The water level was low, and the bird numbers also down though
reasonable variety. Only one Yellow-billed Stork, five White-faced
Whistling Duck, Northern Shoveler now up to seven, two Red-billed and
six Hottentot Teals, a pair of Spur-winged but over fifteen Kittlitz's
Plovers, only a solitary Pied Avocet now, seven Black-winged Stilts,
fifteen Little Stint, four Ruff, a Greenshank, eight Marsh, two Wood
and three Common Sandpipers. In the acacias on the causeway there were
four adult Black-crowned Night-Herons and Gordon brought our attention
to a bird feeding in Ipomoeas before obligingly feeding openly in the
acacia and we were amazed to see that it was a superb Basra Reed
Warbler only the second in the Park. At Hippo Pools there were two
Fish-Eagles in the area, but we were most delighted to see a very
handsome and tame near adult Palm-nut Vulture. Almost certainly the
bird that was a scruffy sub-adult with little white in the plumage
when we first found it 18th October 2008 over thirteen months ago.
Since that time I have heard of it twice, once as a near adult earlier
this year along the Mbagathi in the Park, and also it paid a visit to
Hopcrofts Ranch at Lukenya in this period. Now it has grown up! We saw
three Violet Wood-Hoopoes and although we saw no activity at the nest
site, the ascari said that the young were still being fed. Otherwise
apart from a very good variety of common species we had a few
Nightingales and Willow Warblers, and the Red-faced Cisticola was
singing.
Whilst sitting on the ford below Baboon Cliffs we had a Mountain
Wagtail and a couple of Nightingales but none of the recent
specialities although an Olive Thrush seemed out of place here, and
shortly before getting back to the tarmac along the river we had three
Kori Bustards including a displaying pair and a Lappet-faced Vulture.
The evening was beautiful with clear low light that we could even see
tea growing on the hills behind Nairobi though it was too cloudy
further on in either direction to see the mountains. There was a
splendid young male Lion posing on a termite mound next to the road
near the reedless swamp, and on the way out our only Rosy-breasted
Longclaw of the day after such a plethora of recent sightings. We were
out through the gate at 6-30pm.
The mammals; where to start, in the morning there were a couple of
lionesses near the Hyena Dam run-off, a Cheetah only feet from the
road near Kingfisher and there was a Leopard near Nagalomon Dam
finishing up the large cats with the young male Lion near the reedless
swamp. We had three Black and two White Rhinoceros, but the plains
game were still stealing the show with such vast numbers in many
places in the Park with highest concentration Hyena Dam to the Beacon.
There seemed to be large numbers of Giraffe today also. Of the smaller
mammals we had a couple of Slender Mongooses. There were more cattle
than recently with incursions between Athi Dam and towards Kingfisher.
An absolutely, indescribably superb day but we are still waiting on
most of the migrants.

When are the people out there reading these reports going to be
reciprocal and send in their recent sightings, I know who you are and
you know who you are!!!!!