-----Original Message-----
From: Brian Finch [mailto:birdfinch@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, September 24, 2012 7:07 AM
To: Itai Shanni

LAKE BOGORIA NATIONAL RESERVE  22nd-23rd September 2012

For a one-night stay at Bogoria, Mike Davidson, Joseph Kariuki and myself
departed Nairobi after 8-00am a with a very educational rendezvous with
William Kimasop at the Equator Park near Mogotio we arrived at the Reserve
at 3-00pm. On Sunday we birded the Reserve until 1-30pm and were back in
Nairobi shortly before 6-00pm. The conditions of all roads at present make
it a fairly tireless journey and easily within reach of the capital for a
weekends birding.
We were inspired by the recent long-weekend stay 24th-27th August, by Peter
Steward, Radhika Timbadia et al (9-pax), and the interesting things they
found there.
Personally I had only ever been to Bogoria three times, and on all, arrival
was around mid-day with a departure by 3-00pm. It was very nice to
experience both the evening and the following morning there instead of just
the heat of the day.
The water level as with nearly all Rift Valley lakes in Kenya was reaching
new records, and even though the rain does appear to have eased off, the
lake level is still rising, and the southern (farthest from gate) part of
the lake road is under water. The entrance that used to have the edge of the
lake some few hundred metres from the road, traced by a line of drowned
bushes, is now right alongside the road, there is a good margin and it is
ideal for birding. Also near the main entrance is the newly formed delta of
the Wareshe (spelling, not on maps) River that we are advised arrives from
Nyandarua and discharges at this northern end of Lake Bogoria, in the dry
season is a dry lugger but at present it is a major roost for most lakeshore
feeding species, numbers building up from late afternoon, and dispersing
rapidly over the lake at first light. So evening is the only time to visit.
Here we had a dozen each of Gull-billed and White-winged Black Terns, single
African Skimmer and Grey-headed Gull, well over 500 Little Stints, 75 Ruff,
4 Greenshank, 8 Marsh Sandpipers, 40 Wood, 8 Common and 2 Green Sandpipers,
30 Ringed Plovers, and a single Madagascar Pond Heron. There was also a
strange stint with a white-rump, which was either aberrant of a hybrid, but
was Little Stint sized. An image in flight with Little Stints accompanies
this. Ideas are welcome, to my mind there is no such bird!
One of the most surprising finds were the Yellow Wagtails, with over
300 present, the largest flock being one of 120. For such large numbers this
is very early in the season. We scanned through every Yellow Wagtail, and
whilst they were seventy percent immatures/females, there were sufficient
adult males to determine which race they were strongly representing. They
were all lutea without exception, until Sunday morning when we found a group
that contained one male Syke’s (beema). Does this mean that lutea leave
earlier than the other races that winter with us, or do the other races have
to travel so much further. It will be interesting to see the sequence of
arrival in the different races.
There were over fifteen Northern Wheatears, mostly adults, but a few
immatures already. Large numbers of Barn Swallows were all around the lake,
with reasonable numbers of Sand Martins.
Sitting rather exposed in an acacia in the water was a fairly alert and
rather obvious Bat Hawk, a small presumed male. In the evening at the Spa
Lodge outside of the Reserve was a large female Bat Hawk hunting around the
lodge and car park.
The next morning we had a look at the swamp on the other side of the road
from the Lodge. There were many Yellow Wagtails, three Northern Wheatears,
our first Whinchat for the season, and some stunning Northern Red Bishops in
full breeding plumage in the typha. In the reserve we had two Isabelline
Wheatears as new returning birds for us, and four Willow Warblers, one of
which was very green above and very yellow below, almost Icterine coloured
but still obviously a Willow Warbler. There were two White Storks feeding in
the grassland. It is difficult to know how far they have travelled as they
could have been non-breeders that did not return. It seems early for the
first White Storks to arrive from the north. The Bat Hawk was in its
inundated roost. There was a small spring coming out of the rock, that we
sat beside for some time as it was incredibly attractive to birds. There
were in the estrildid line Grey-headed Silverbills, Red-billed Firefinchs,
Red-cheeked Cordon-bleus, Purple Grenadiers, Black-cheeked Waxbills
(charmosyna), Pin-tailed and Straw-tailed Whydahs, weavers consisted of
Chestnut, Lesser Masked, Little Weavers, Red-billed Quelea, Yellow-spotted
Petronia, whilst other visitors to the water were Red-billed Oxpeckers,
Buff-bellied and Willow Warbler, Pale Prinia, Green-tailed (dry-country
Yellow-breasted) Apalis, and not surprisingly Emerald-spotted Wood, Namaqua,
African Mourning and Laughing Doves. The Pale Prinia is interesting because
the literature is stating that it occurs in the Rift as far south as Baringo
(where it is common), there appears to be no records from as far south as
Bogoria. It was also on Peter Steward et al’s list, I wonder if the
southward extension is happening in the Rift as well. After Bogoria there is
no more suitable habitat as the land rises quite steeply. We found them in
three other places along the shoreline, and they were very vocal. Both
Greater and Lesser Flamingos were present in good numbers although too
spread out to count, there were a couple of hundred Black-necked Grebes, but
only two Avocet and ten Cape Teal. It was very birdy along the road and a
full list follows at the end.
Mammal-wise, there were the usual Impala, Grant’s Gazelle, a few Greater
Kudu and several Gunther’s Dik-Diks which I did not realise were there. Of
other interest in the delta there were three small Crocodiles resting on
sand banks offshore.
Bogoria Spa Lodge was expensive for what they were offering at Ksh
7,700 for a single room on full board. Especially as it was not actually in
the Park. If staying in the lodge overnight and wanting to visit the Reserve
the next morning, advise them of this when purchasing the entrance, as you
will be asked to pay again for another visit even though it is way under a
twenty-four hour stay. One rip-off is that on top of the entrance fee, the
vehicle costs another Ksh 1000 much more than in other National Parks and
Reserves. We used Michael Kisele as the local guide who lives at the gate,
and is very knowledgeable on birds and plants, and highly recommended.
Best to all
Brian

SPECIES RECORDED AT BOGORIA

Maasai Ostrich
Crested Francolin
White-faced Whistling Duck
Egyptian Goose
Cape Teal
Black-necked Grebe
Little Grebe
Greater Flamingo
Lesser Flamingo
White Stork
Marabou Stork
Hadada Ibis
Sacred Ibis
African Spoonbill
Squacco Heron (only Spa Lodge)
Madagascar Pond Heron
Cattle Egret
Black-headed Heron
Purple Heron (only Spa Lodge)
Little Egret
Hamerkop
Pink-backed Pelican
African Fish Eagle
Brown Snake Eagle
Gabar Goshawk
Shikra
Black Crake (only Spa Lodge)
Black-winged Stilt
Pied Avocet
Blacksmith Plover
Spur-winged Plover
Black-headed Plover
Common Ringed Plover
Kittlitz's Plover
Three-banded Plover
African Jacana
Marsh Sandpiper
Common Greenshank
Green Sandpiper
Wood Sandpiper
Common Sandpiper
Little Stint
Ruff
Grey-hooded Gull
Gull-billed Tern
White-winged Black Tern
African Skimmer
Speckled Pigeon
African Mourning Dove
Laughing Dove
Emerald-spotted Wood Dove
Namaqua Dove
Meyer's Parrot (only Spa Lodge)
White-bellied Go-away-bird
White-browed Coucal
Dideric Cuckoo
Red-chested Cuckoo (only Spa Lodge)
African Scops Owl (only Spa Lodge)
Verreaux's Eagle-Owl (only Spa Lodge)
Pearl-spotted Owlet (only Spa Lodge)
Little Swift
Speckled Mousebird
Blue-naped Mousebird
Lilac-breasted Roller
Woodland Kingfisher
African Pygmy Kingfisher
Malachite Kingfisher
Pied Kingfisher
Little Bee-eater
African Hoopoe
Green Wood Hoopoe
Northern Red-billed Hornbill
Jackson's Hornbill
Red-fronted Tinkerbird
Red-fronted Barbet
Spot-flanked Barbet (only Spa Lodge)
Black-throated Barbet
Red-and-yellow Barbet
D'Arnaud's Barbet
Lesser Honeyguide (only Spa Lodge)
Greater Honeyguide (only Spa Lodge)
Nubian Woodpecker
Cardinal Woodpecker
Bearded Woodpecker (only Spa Lodge)
Pygmy Batis
Grey-headed Bushshrike (only Spa Lodge)
Sulphur-breasted Bushshrike
Slate-colored Boubou
Brubru
Northern White-crowned Shrike
Grey-backed Fiscal
Common Fiscal
African Black-headed Oriole
Fork-tailed Drongo
Fischer's Sparrow-Lark
Dark-capped (Common) Bulbul
Northern Brownbul
Brown-throated (Plain) Martin
Sand Martin
Barn Swallow
Wire-tailed Swallow
Rock Martin
Lesser Striped Swallow
Willow Warbler
Lesser Swamp Warbler (only Spa Lodge)
Little Rush Warbler (only Spa Lodge)
Rattling Cisticola
Winding Cisticola (only Spa Lodge)
Pale Prinia
Buff-bellied Warbler
Green-tailed Apalis
Grey-backed Camaroptera
Grey Wren-Warbler
Northern Crombec
Rufous Chatterer
Abyssinian White-eye
Wattled Starling
Rüppell's Starling
Superb Starling
Magpie Starling
Red-billed Oxpecker
Spotted Palm Thrush
White-winged Scrub Robin
Whinchat (only Spa Lodge)
Isabelline Wheatear
Northern Wheatear
African Grey Flycatcher
Silverbird
Eastern Violet-backed Sunbird
Beautiful Sunbird
Marico Sunbird
White-browed Sparrow-Weaver
Parrot-billed Sparrow
Yellow-spotted Petronia
White-billed Buffalo Weaver
White-headed Buffalo Weaver
Speckle-fronted Weaver
Little Weaver
Lesser Masked Weaver
Vitelline Masked Weaver
Village Weaver (only Spa Lodge)
Golden-backed Weaver
Chestnut Weaver
Red-billed Quelea
Northern Red Bishop (only Spa Lodge)
Cut-throat Finch (only Spa Lodge)
Red-billed Firefinch
Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu
Purple Grenadier
Common Waxbill
Black-cheeked Waxbill
African Quail-Finch (only Spa Lodge)
Grey-headed Silverbill
Pin-tailed Whydah
Straw-tailed Whydah
Western Yellow Wagtail
African Pied Wagtail
Grassland Pipit
White-bellied Canary




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