Dear All,
On Saturday 27th August, Nigel and Julia Hunter and myself, left to
stay the night with Joe and Janet Mills on Rawhide Ranch near Kampi ya
Moto. On Saturday afternoon we walked around the paddocks before rain
sent us back to the house. There was a good variety around the house,
including as last year Jackson's Hornbills, Golden-backed and Little
Weavers, and Silverbirds on the lawn. Our best bird was a juvenile
African Hobby. This was first chasing Crowned Plovers all over the
sky, it was surprising to see that the Crowned Plovers did not turn
the tables on their antagonist being considerably bigger. The bird was
quite a thug. He returned to sit on a tree near us, and then took off
again, this time attacking a flock of Helmeted Guineafowl which went
off in alarm, although I doubt that they were in any danger from the
little falcon.
I was somewhat surprised to find the bird here, as the terrain is
quite open with just a few scattered trees, but it seemed quite at
home. Being an immature it was very heavily streaked all down the
breast on a rust background, the throat and sharply curved patch on
the cheek was white. The underwings were rufous. Both images and video
were taken of the bird.
On Sunday we departed for Olbainita Swamp, and as the road has been
regraded, this was only a fifteen minute journey. The water level was
high with a very broad margin of inundated grassland. The composition
of birds was very different from this time last year.
The most astounding find was of a pair of Madagascar Pratincoles
patrolling the swamp edge. Whilst common enough seasonally on the
coast, inland records are exceedingly rare. There was one record from
Kendu Bay of a flock of hundreds in 1920, and there does not seem to
have been another inland record in Kenya, although there have been a
few in Tanzania.
Last visit on the 5th Sept (only a weeks difference), there were some
500 Fulvous Whistling-Ducks, this time not a single bird, and the
second most numerous duck last year was Southern Pochard, whereas we
only recorded ten birds this time. There were possibly 100 or more
White-backed Ducks on this occasion similar to last year, but this
time no Maccoa Ducks. Twenty Spur-winged Geese, and twenty-five
Knob-bills is much as last year. Yellow-bills, Hottentots and
Red-bills were only in small numbers. There was one pair of Great
Crested Grebes and they were displaying. There were two pairs last
October, but not seen in September.
There was a single Pink-backed Pelican flying over, and a sub-adult
Saddle-billed Stork. Yellow-billed Egret were very numerous as last
year, whilst only six Great and one Little Egret, possibly 100 Squacco
Herons, and a few Black-crowned Night-Herons. At least eight Darters,
several hundred Glossy Ibis, and yet only a single African Spoonbill.
In 2010 there were many Swamphens (as well as single Baillon's Crake
and a few Lesser Moorhens), but this year just four Swamphens were
seen. Well over 100 Whiskered Terns, but only one White-winged Black
Tern and two Grey-headed Gulls. Migrant waders were fifteen Wood and
one Common Sandpiper, one Greenshank and a group of nine Ruff. A very
nice 130 Crowned Cranes were around the edge, and one close pair
revealed a small chick. Over 100 Barn Swallows were already present,
and five Common Swift.
Other birds were Woodland Kingfisher, nesting Golden-backed Weavers,
one male White-billed Buffalo-Weaver and a pair of Silverbirds.
We left Rawhide after lunch, and had just passed through Nakuru when
the phone wrung. It was Mike Evans (Nigel's neighbour). He had just
had a bird hit his window, it was stunned but he rescued it, and after
a while released it. It was overall greenish, with a long unmarked
tail, and a very conspicuous bright yellow bill. There was no doubt he
was describing a Yellowbill, which is a very good record for Nairobi.
We were just passing the murrum road to Nakuru NP at Lanet, whilst I
was still on the phone, and noticed a pair of Hemprich's Hornbills
flying over the highway towards the Park!
We looked for the Yellowbill but the vegetation was very dense, and
there was no sign of the bird.