From: Brian Finch <birdfinch@gmail.com>
Date: 2010-03-06 05:09
Subject: Fw: Kenya sightings 10th-24th February 2010
FONT size=2 face=Tahoma>----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Brian Finch <birdfinch@gmail.com>
To: Itai Shanni <itaisha1@yahoo.com>
Sent: Sat, 6 March, 2010 14:09:24
Subject: Kenya sightings 10th-24th February 2010

Dear All,
This is a report for the Kenyan section of the recent Sarus East
African Mega-Month!

The group returned over the border from Tanzania at Lunga Lunga on
10th February and overnighted in Nyali. Leaving quite early we had a
rendezvous with Willie at Kararacha for the remainder of the morning.
The forest was dry, and very quiet. Most birds had evidently had a
brood on the wing and were no longer territorial and so there was no
response to any electronic intrusion. Birding had to be mainly on
sight, but we were able to track down a few calling species.
Butterflies were extremely poor, but have apparently been good until
recently. With only two nights in Watamu time was extremely limited,
whilst a good collection of birds from the forest, there was nothing
out of the ordinary. We saw several Zanzibar Boubous, which are now
worth giving an extra glance to following the recent dna findings. For
me the prize was a female Caracal on the track with three active
well-grown kittens, the first Crested Porcupine I have ever seen
abroad in daylight, and really extravert Golden-rumped
Elephant-shrews. We had no time to go down to the Sabaki estuary, but
stopped at a seasonal swamp on the landward side shortly before the
Sabaki Bridge. There was a reasonable collection of species, by far
the most interesting being the presence of a summering Madagascar Pond
Heron, in non-breeding dress but the first I have ever seen in Kenya
in February. We had several Malindi Pipits on the new Gongoni Saltwork
extension. On the 12th we took the Sala Gate road via Jilore to Tsavo
East, in preference to driving all the way round. The road really was
not that bad, and before arriving at the gate we had a walk in the
scrub. It was very lively and full of Golden Pipits in full breeding
dress. There were migrants including several each Eurasian Rock-Thrush
and Rufous Bush-Chats and a few Barred Warbler still showing in
numbers. My best observation here was tracking down a pair of singing
Yellow-vented Eremomelas. This is my personal first record for Tsavo
East and the farthest south I have ever seen the species. There was a
nice pair of Somali Bee-eaters also, but they do get further south in
Tsavo West, likewise Pale Prinias. On entering the gate, the Eurasian
Rollers were nothing short of astounding with over five hundred lining
the bushes all the way to Aruba Dam. At one pond there were numerous
Chestnut-headed and Chestnut-backed Sparrowlarks coming in to drink.
Odd groups of Madagascar Bee-eaters were present in breeding plumage.
Nearer to the dam there were over 1000 Open-bills on a small area of
water that were so densely packed that we could not actually testify
that there was water present! We spent the night at Ndololo where
there were only two other visitors. That evening a very large movement
of nominate Common Swift passed over low. On the 13th we were due to
go up to Ngangao in the Taita’s, but the weather was dull and showery
and inclement weather at the top of the mountain was suspected. There
were birds enjoying the damp conditions. Many Nightingales were
present, and amazingly one was sitting en metres up on a dead tree
singing it’s heart out. It would appear that Nightingales were
wintering well east this year, and we did not encounter any signs of
Sprosser the entire trip. Other migrants included a very early (late!)
Olive-Tree Warbler, and amongst the fairly numerous Olivaceous was an
Upcher’s all of which were probably wintering as were a number of
Spotted Flycatchers. One bird that should not have been wintering in
the area was an Eleonora’s Falcon, which made a very low pass over the
camp. I have never seen a local bird in February before, nor
Olive-Tree Warbler for that matter. Driving out slowly we could see
(or in fact could not see) that the Taitas were under a clothing of
mist and it was decided to have a slow retreat to Nairobi instead of a
mad dash following a morning in the hills. There was an off-plumage
Black Coucal in the rank grassland just west of the dam. This is a
huge and very lush area, and quite waterlogged. Two Red-backed Shrikes
also seemed a bit on the early side, but some certainly do winter in
eastern Kenya albeit in miniscule numbers.
After Voi we randomly selected a piece of roadside bush and worked the
area. It was quite a good choice. There were many Barred Warblers
(more than Whitethroat) and some very noisy Irania spread all through
the bush. A pair of Red-naped Bush-Shrikes led a young and sang from
the tops of the most exposed branches. Pringle’s Puffbacks, Bare-eyed
Thrush etc were of course present in the Commiphora as well as a
female Magpie Starling. Eurasian Rollers must have exceeded 1000 birds
all through the Tsavos up to Mtito Andei. The following morning (14th)
we flew to the Mara. Birds were very quiet, again with young and not
at all territorial apart from the occasional obliging bird. We found
many of the western specialities, but nothing of any particular note.
We drove across the entire Mara to Sekenani via Musiara and again
whilst pleasant nothing springs to mind. It was amazing to go through
such nice looking rank grass and not a Harlequin Quail to be seen, in
fact none in the whole month of touring East Africa. There was a
single adult Rufous-bellied Heron on the oxbow near Musiara, where the
others were is a mystery. Siana/Sekenani also failed to impress (not
that the clients weren’t seeing the three big cats in twenty
minutes!). On the 15th we drove to Thika. The basin at Naregi Ngare is
flooded and extensive open water, but it is sterile at present with
hardly a duck. Manguo Ponds is starting to fill up, but there is
little open water and hardly much to race the heart. Calling in at the
Kinangop flyover, the paddock had half-a-dozen Sharpe’s Longclaws
including a flying dependent young bird. It also had two African
Snipe, and they might breed here, and the Wing-snapping Cisticolas
were making a lot of noise and impressive displays.
On the morning of the 16th, after a night at Thika and paying for the
pleasure of going into the ghastly zoo to get down to the river, it
turned out to be worthwhile. Sitting on a log was a Long-tailed
Cormorant, and either side of it was a Finfoot! There wee also two
Black Ducks, and a few Grey-olive Greenbuls. Like everything else
these too were immune to any temptation to come and see us. Thika
Settling Ponds had no dead or dying birds. There were about three
hundred Garganey, but that was the only palearctic duck, waders were
in small numbers but just the bread-and-butter species and about 150
White-winged Black Terns. The best bird was a Great Reed Warbler, a
strange place for a wintering bird. On the way to Castle Forest we had
seven Hinde’s Babblers, and good numbers of Nightingales and Garden
Warblers. Mwea had many Yellow-crowned Bishops but waders and
waterbirds in low numbers although some good looking open paddies. It
was a quiet afternoon at Castle Forest there having been recent rain,
and there was more that evening. The morning of the 17th had three
interesting birds calling, an Olive Ibis flew over calling pre-dawn, a
Buff-spotted Flufftail was calling from some dank forest patch, and a
Barred Long-tailed Cuckoo was welcoming a beautiful dawn. A
Rufous-chested Sparrowhawk was also up early. We had great birding
picking up a whole swathe of upland forest species including a few
Abbott’s Starlings. From here we drove to Samburu with nothing other
than flocks of White Storks on the Timau wheatlands, but more of a
surprise were fifteen Eurasian Rollers on the roadside wires. Flocks
of House Martins clustered on the same lines. Samburu was drying, but
had still a little bit of annual vegetation. It was for Samburu very
quiet, no swarms of weavers, I would have said that numbers were way
down on what was expected. We still had an interesting drive in to
Samburu Lodge. The river was low with extensive sandbanks.
The 18th saw us on the Shaba Hill, there were some nice birds of
course and a pair of cavorting and noisy Somali Crombecs was the best
find. Following the riverbank we fund a nice party of four
spring-plumaged Little Ringed Plovers and a Eurasian Hoopoe of the
nominate race. In the afternoon we left for Shaba, finding a Marsh
Warbler (our only individual) in an isolated acacia at Buffalo
Springs. Morning of 19th and we had a pre-breakfast walk on the lava
fields of Shaba. There was a complete dry grass cover, and the
William’s Larks were up and singing. Leaving here we called in for
Boran Cisticola at the Timau Junction, it seems that every visit one
has to climb higher away from the road to find them. Naro Moru had a
fairly busy river, but the birding was quite the norm as are the
vepres Black-lored Babblers that always seem to be there these days.
We crossed the Solio Plain on the 20th. So green and grassy, and the
area that looked devastated by the IDP’s, is now looking so much
better, and organised. It’s so good that they have had the good rains
as they are certainly growing some good crops, and the birds are back
in. Along the fence were resting Lesser Kestrels with one Common
Kestrel that was seen to chase a Pipit, one Greater Kestrel, but the
female Amur Falcon should not have been there at this time of year
(like so many other species seen on this tour). Other species included
Whinchats and Red-throated Pipits, which were probably wintering.
Murithi showed us the Mackinder’s Owl and Nyanza Swifts were nesting
in the quarry. There was a darkening of the sky, and the rain started,
but we were due to go across the moorlands to Mutubio Gate. It poured,
but as we arrived at the Ark Gate, stopped and the sun came out. The
birds at the gate were quite insane, and with a rise in insects the
trees were alive with flycatching species including such unlikely
species as Cardinal Woodpecker and Emerald Cuckoo. The road was in
excellent condition and we had no problems driving over the top
finding plenty of Jackson’s Francolins with a few chicks, Aberdare
Cisticolas also with young as had the Hill Chats. We twice had nice
views of Harvey’s Red Duikers. As we had our picnic, there was a
Chiffchaff flitting about in the giant heather. The superb Sharpe’s
Longclaw site that was devastated during the recent drought and
planted with potatoes might be coming back, and in fact there looks
like a lot of good Longclaw habitat around North Kinangop. We spent
the night in Nakuru. Next morning (21st) we spent in Nakuru NP. Pretty
depressing with the good places still being barricaded. Water level
low, the only White Pelican was one on the sewage ponds, which also
provided the only Black-tailed Godwit and Cape Teal. There were
substantial Ruff and Little Stints on the lake margins. At the Fox
Kestrel cliffs there was only one to be seen, but we were grateful it
was there, and the same Long-legged Buzzard seen in January was also
here as was an adult Lesser Spotted Eagle. Off to Baringo with Francis
leading us around. Lake level up again. Prosopis forest in front of
lodge all decayed giving open shore again, though no muddy edges and
no reeds of course. Both the African Scops and the Lead-coloured
Flycatcher were still garden residents. Morning of 22nd, revealed
frantic activity amongst the weavers, and an impressive variety on the
bird-table which now includes a Grey Hornbill. After a little local
birding we left for the Kerio. The first bird we found on the upper
slopes was a Gambaga Flycatcher, the other specialities Green-backed
Eremomela, Western Black-headed Batis and Chestnut-crowned
Sparrow-Weaver were soon located. The surprise in the valley bottom
was a pair of Black-billed Wood-Doves that were photographed. Not now
on the Kenya list (I have made a separate posting for this). We were
surprised at the mating stamina shown by aroused Double-toothed
Barbets, then started our climb out of the Rift.
The swamps at Iten were our next stop but time was pushing on and it
was dusk on our arrival at Kakamega. Rondo Retreat is still one of the
highlights, but I really don’t think that the standards of cuisine
shine a candle on the delicious food that used to come out of their
kitchen. The staff were still falling over themselves to make our stay
as memorable as possible. It rained heavily that night, but was a
brighter morning on the 23rd, as we headed off to the Ikuywa River.
The pipe-laying devastation is most unpleasant and much of the
roadside scrub along the forest edge has been removed, and it looks
horrible. As we arrived at the river, the first bird I could hear was
Chapin’s Flycatcher and so on locating it that became our first bird.
Overall I was very disappointed with the birds, most were quiet,
virtually anything that was calling was unresponsive and some common
species were never seen. We spent the morning along the road, then had
a leisurely lunch before trying again for the afternoon. All in all we
did well enough, that it would be more advantageous to leave the next
morning for the Busia grasslands without an early lingering in
Kakamega. First stop on the morning of 24th was Mumias Bridge, with a
pair of Rock Pratincoles in residence. The grasslands were quiet,
little calling and required a lot of effort for little return. A large
male de Brazza’s Monkey snacked on Phoenix Palm fruit. We found a few
of the local western species, and had a nice time with a pair of
Locustfinch. At Nambale a White-crested Turaco still holds on probably
thanks to the protection of the monkeys now. The Sio Weir back down
the Kisumu Road had a very showy palearctic Little Bittern, and two
Allen’s Gallinules that were attaining blue plumage. From here it was
across the border at Busia into Uganda……