Dear All,
On 2nd December 2009 I visited Nairobi National Park. I was through
the Main Entrance Gate by 6-30am, and made straight for the Ivory
Burning Site. It was dull and cold with a mist over the lower plains
and Kitengela, remaining cold but dry for most of the morning but
getting sunnier and warmer around mid-day but soon clouding up again
in the early afternoon.
The Ivory Burning Site had attracted a number of migrants, there were
six or so Nightingales and one Sprosser, four Spotted Flycatchers, a
few Tree Pipits passing overhead, two Eurasian Reed, three Marsh, one
Garden and two Willow Warblers. This was only a teaser as not another
migrant warbler was seen the rest of the day!
There was nothing apart from a couple of Nightingales along the back
road, but the feeder to Hyena Dam had an immature Purple Heron, two
Yellow-billed Egrets, a couple of Eurasian Marsh Harriers, one of only
two Whinchats seen today, a Red-throated Pipit and a number of
Jackson's Widowbirds. Hyena Dam was fairly quiet but for five
Open-billed Storks resting in the small acacia, a Spur-winged Goose
and two Yellow-billed Duck. The run-off was quiet also with another
Red-throated Pipit and the first of the returning Quailfinch. I
watched Buffalo eating the Typha, they were really demolishing it, but
whether they are solely responsible for the reduction throughout is
another question. In some places where it has retreated, the water
would be too deep for them to reach it. Continuing around to the
extensive "nameless" swamp there were a dozen Common Snipe and a
couple of Green Sandpipers, which were often the only species present
at other small dams. Across the plain towards Nagalomon there were the
only two Rosy-breasted Longclaws of the day, the first of only four
Red-tailed Shrikes, and a couple of Parasitic Weavers.
Near Nagalomon Dam were ten Eurasian Bee-eaters and the only Barn
Swallow of the day! The female Saddle-billed Stork and a female
Black-bellied Bustard were on the dam near Kingfisher Picnic Site,
where I found my first Eurasian Golden Oriole of the year and a male
Pallid Harrier and Tree Pipit flew by whilst I was having refreshments
there. On the nearby ridge were five Northern and two Isabelline
Wheatears, (only two of each seen elsewhere), and crossing the plain
to Olmanyi Dam there was the first of no less than seven individual
sightings of Common Kestrel spread all over the Park, whereas Lessers
were not encountered. Just after the dam were a pair of the first of
five Kori Bustards seen today. Following the south road was the only
Pied Wheatear of the day and at Baboon Cliffs a single female-plumaged
Eurasian Rock Thrush. Athi Dam was still shrinking but attracting a
number of birds though nothing new. The only Yellow-billed Stork seen,
Five Hottentot Teal, but Northern Shovelers down to a pair, Pied
Avocet back up to three, eight Black-winged Stilts, a new maximum of
five Spur-winged Plover but only a solitary Kittlitz, an impressive
forty Little Stints, four Ruff, seven Marsh and three Common
Sandpipers and two Greenshank. There were only two adult Black-crowned
Night-Herons roosting. There was a Zitting Cisticola displaying which
was intercepted by a Gabar Goshawk, the hawk was able to follow the
twists and turns, trying to grab the cisticola in flight, which only
escaped by plunging into a clump of dry grass. From here I drove
across the pipeline road towards Cheetah Gate to see if there was
anything hiding in the Acacia mellifera. Pishing under a group of
trees attracted a few birds, the only migrants were a rather open
Nightingale and a Spotted Flycatcher, also there were seven
Crimson-rumped Waxbill and five African Silverbills. Taking the small
road to the radio-tower I thought I could get more into the scrub, and
by the tower found only my third Red-and-Yellow Barbet for the Park,
which was singing from the tops of a number of acacias but appeared to
be alone. There were also a few other acacia species like Red-fronted
Barbet and Banded Parisoma. Most interestingly there was a compact
group of seven Hildebrandt's Starlings, but one had a staring bright
yellow eye. Nevertheless the bird was otherwise one-hundred percent
Hildebrandt's but just with yellow eyes. I took a distant image of the
bird. Whilst I was here there was a light shower and a compact group
of over twenty Mottled Swifts suddenly appeared in a very tight group
like a flock of waders, and flew off on a direct course still in this
uncharacteristic formation. There were seven Tawny Eagles sitting in
trees along the Mbagathi but the only other bird of any interest was a
Namaqua Dove. From here I left via Karen Primary School Dam, following
the inside road towards Hyena Dam. The mixed all black and all white
pair of Tawny Eagles were back tending their nest, where they raised a
young middle of this year. This seems a very rapid turn-around. There
was a Black-winged Plover standing on a mound with it's chest puffed
out challenging all-comers, but strangely it seemed alone. The days
only Steppe Eagle was perched on another mound back on the circuit
road. Twelve Yellow Wagtails were flushed when passing a group of
Zebra but departed before any race could be determined. Back along the
feeder to Hyena Dam there were many hundreds of Marabous with a White
Stork amongst them, and Nagalomon Dam had a cluster of nine Green and
thirteen Wood Sandpipers settling down to roost. Along the edge of
Kisembe Forest was the only Northern Hobby of the day and a Nairobi
Pipit was on the road. I left the Park through Langata Gate at 5-30pm.
The mammals were abundant, at "28" there was a female White Rhinoceros
with a very young calf, only one Black Rhinoceros was seen, there was
a Suni on the back road towards Splash, four Mountain Reedbuck were at
their usual site, Bohor Reedbuck were widely scattered in the north
but there was a concentration around Hyena Dam where there was a
Hippo, and a young male Lion was at Forest Edge Dam. Wildebeeste must
have been approaching a thousand (or more), Eland and Harebeeste
seemed in higher numbers than usual and there were several large
clusters of Giraffe.
There were cows near Leopard Cliffs and in the Athi Basin but small
numbers only.
A very good day, but I still feel that migrants are giving us a miss…
at least so far.