----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Brian Finch <birdfinch@gmail.com>
To: Itai Shanni <itaisha1@yahoo.com>
Sent: Wed, 23 December, 2009 23:11:06
Subject:

Hi Itai,
Looks like you didn't receive these as they have not come through.
Have a great festive season, and a wonderful 2010,
Brian

NAIROBI NATIONAL PARK 13th December 2009

With ¾ of an inch of rain (75 points) at the house the previous night,
there was great expectation for some thing really out of the ordinary
for Nairobi National Park, but again the local vagaries of rainfall
did not extend much beyond Impala Lookout, and whilst there had been
rain it was nothing like we had received only a short distance to the
west.
I was through the Main Entrance at 6-30am, there was a rufous Common
Buzzard perched on the drive in, and I first investigated Ivory
Burning Site.
Rainfall brings out the usually skulking palearctic migrants and it is
difficult to know whether there was a small fall or that the birds
have been present but hiding as is their usual habit. Nevertheless
between here and the bushy part of the back road towards “Splash,”  I
had an adult Black Stork flying over, a dozen Nightingales, five each
of Common Whitethroat and Marsh Warbler, three Garden, one Blackcap,
just two Willow Warbler and two Spotted Flycatchers. A few Tree Pipits
were passing overhead. There was an adult Fish Eagle at Hyena Dam, but
the rallids stole the show as I sat in the car next to what was a reed
bed and had within two metres of me Black Crakes with fluffy chicks, a
few Common Moorhens with the extraordinarily confiding Lesser Moorhen,
and a pair of equally extravert African Water Rails. A few Yellow
Wagtails were around the edge but nothing else was seen. On the
run-off were a Yellow-billed Egret, a pair of Spur-winged Geese, a few
Wood and Green Sandpipers, the first three of four Whinchat, the first
of four Red-tailed Shrikes and a couple of Quailfinch. In the
vegetation in the basin were over 300 Barn Swallows and 100 Banded
Martins.
Continuing round back to Hyena Dam were a couple each of Rosy-breasted
Longclaws and Red-throated Pipits. When nearly back to Ivory Burning
Site I found two Levaillant’s and one diminutive black Jacobin Cuckoo
in the same acacia, and an African Firefinch gathering nesting
material from the road. All Nagalomon Dam could muster were a few each
of Wood and Green Sandpipers and a Common Buzzard. Driving up and
through part of Kisembe Forest there were singles Namaqua Dove,
Eurasian Bee-eater and Nairobi Pipit, and towards Kingfisher a young
Eurasian Roller. The swamp near Kingfisher held an adult Black Stork,
possibly the bird seen earlier in the morning, and five each of
Northern and Isabelline and two Pied Wheatears. On returning across
the plains were three Common Kestrels and I left towards the Langata
Gate via the Kisembe River valley (parallel to Magadi Road) nearly
running over the tail of one of a pair of honeymooning Lions at the
edge of the forest in a most unexpected place.  The warbler drinking
pond that I described here back in April is starting to hold water
again and might entice thirsty birds during the heat of the day. I
left at 2-30pm having only investigated the northern part of the Park.






LAKE NAKURU NATONAL PARK 15TH December 2009

On 15th December 2009, I escorted Mike Davidson, Fleur Ng’Weno and
Karen Plumbe up to Lake Nakuru. The idea being to relocate the Fox
Kestrels that Nigel Hunter and I found ten days before.
On the way a small flooded grassland that has ironically not been wet
for over ten years and yet next to the disappearing Lake Elementeita
at Kikopey was an interesting diversion. Three Open-billed Storks
rested in the trees, a single Garganey was in the shallows
accompanying a Black-tailed Godwit, Spotted Redshank and Temminck’s
Stint amongst the more usual Wood and Marsh Sandpipers, fifty Ruff and
a Greenshank. There were a scattering of Yellow Wagtails of the race
lutea, and a couple of Sand Martins. With the current conditions this
area of temporary wetland must prove a magnet for birds moving down
the Rift, and should equally cause any passing birders to pause.
At Nakuru the lake falls, and there appears nothing but Lesser
Flamingos on it. We readily located the four Fox Kestrels and it was a
new bird for Mike, Fleur and Karen. There were some four Common but
only two Lesser Kestrels. There seem to be either more Common Kestrels
than usual, or they are usually masked by the abundance of Lessers and
this year so far it has been very poor for Lessers in Kenya. There was
a very broad-winged, short tailed Aquila flying over but this will
have to be investigated. The African race of Eurasian Hoopoe (wabeli)
was at the Lanet Entrance. Very happily five White-fronted Bee-eaters
were busily excavating burrows at the Makalia Falls camp-site, and
displaying around the nest hole. Hopefully more will come and join
them. We had a pair of Pale Flycatchers below Lion Hill, and as with
ten days ago, no-one can remember them being in Nakuru before. Also
here there were a pair of Southern Ground-Hornbills and a very smart
“curly-crested” Helmet-shrike. Migrants were poor although wheatears
were numerous away from the Lake. We finished up with a dozy Leopard
on the way out.

Best to all,
Brian