Northern Chyulus and Tsavo East Christmas 2012

We spent four days in the northern end of the chyulu hills over Christmas before driving to the coast via a very wet tsavo east. In total we saw 162 species. Of interest we saw hundreds of European storks and hundreds of barn swallows with about 6 lesser kestrels on the plains near Mbirikani to the west of Ol doinyo Waus. There were large numbers of flappet larks displaying on the plains. We saw a single Eurasian hobby feeding on the wing above the plains. There were isabelline and pied wheatears present all over the grasslands with isabelline being significantly more numerous.

We camped in the hills and after a wet night we had a group of 18 Eurasian rollers fly over camp in the early morning. On a walk into the thicker bush on the hills around camp we saw a single willow warbler and a single olivaceous warbler with three or four spotted flycatchers, numerous black throated and spot flanked barbets and a group of northern brownbuls. We explored some caves in the area and spooked a pair of roosting barn owls in the entrance to one-they kept flying around giving us a fantastic close up siting of these magnificent birds. We saw a single red backed shrike.

Game was fairly sparse. There were quite a lot of signs of elephant along the west side of the hills although we only saw one large lone bull. Zebra and gazelle were present on the plains and we saw several small groups of eland and 10 oryx as well as a few scattered kongoni in the hills.  Giraffe were fairly numerous. There were lots of cattle on the fringes of the park although there were old bomas to suggest that they had been utilising the area around camp relatively recently. Alarmingly we found a snare on one of the big game trails between the hills and several large piles of skulls and bones (giraffe, Kongoni and zebra) hidden collectively in spots in the lava flows in such a way that they can only have been from poachers butchering the animals in a given spot. We reported this to the KWS post on the east side of the hills on our way out and they did not seem particularly surprised.

On the drive through Tsavo golden pipits were present in their hundreds in full breeding plumage the whole way through the park. We saw four or five Ethiopian swallows at Lugards falls. We saw both a male and female pallid harrier. There was lots of flood damage to the road and we had to negotiate several bonnet-deep luggas in full flow. In some of the roadside pools there were waders present and we saw common green shank, common sand piper, wood sandpiper, little stints and three banded plovers. We spotted a loan male lion on a hill near sala gate and there were large numbers of elephant in this area too despite the rain and greenery. We were surprised by the general lack of raptors. Around camp there were a few black-shouldered kites, a single tawny eagle, a single pygmy falcon, a single harrier hawk, and a single little sparrow hawk. We saw a pair of pale chanting goshawks and a single white backed vulture. Along the Galana we saw two roosting batleurs and a pair of fish eagles. Not enough in our minds...

Kieran Avery

A full species list is included below for interest:

Yellow necked spurfowl
Crested francolin
Shelley's francolin
Helmeted guineafowl
Vulterine guineafowl
Black bellied bustard
Kory bustard
Secretary bird
Crowned bustard
Maasai ostrich
White backed vulture
Tawny eagle
Little sparrow hawk
Black shouldered kite
Harrier hawk
Pallid harrier
Bateleur eagle
Fish eagle
Pale chanting goshawk
Lesser Kestrel
Eurasian hobby
Pygmy falcon
Fish eagle
Ring necked dove
Namaqua dove
Laughing dove
Emerald spotted wood dove
White bellied go-away bird
Diedrik cuckoo
Black and white cuckoo
Little swift
Barn swallow
Blue naped mousebird
Speckled mousebird
Lilac breast roller
Eurasian roller
African hoopoe
Red billed hornbill
African grey hornbill
Von-der-dekens hornbill
Nubian woodpecker
Cardinal woodpecker
Rosy breasted longclaw
Fischer's sparrow lark
Flappet lark
Red rumped swallow
Ethiopian swallow
Lesser striped swallow
Palm swift
YVBB
Superb starling
Wattled starling
Pied crow
Black headed oriole
Common drongo
Brown crowned tchagra
Slate coloured boubou
Rosey patched bush-shrike
Long tailed fiscal
Taita fiscal
Northern white crowned shrike
Red backed shrike
African grey flycatcher
Spotted flycatcher
White browed scrub robin
Isabelline wheatear
Pied wheatear
Brubru
Variable sunbird
Grey sparrow
White browed sparrow weaver
Grey capped social weaver
Pin tailed whydah
Paradise whydah
Red billed quelea
Village indigo bird
African silverbill
Grey headed kingfisher
Eurasian roller
Yellow spotted petronia
Red billed buffalo weaver
Chin spot batis
Spot flanked barbet
Black throated barbet
Grey backed cameroptera
Harrier hawk
Spotted flycatcher
Olivaceous warbler
Willow warbler
White browed coucal
Amethyst sunbird
Black backed puffback
Northern brownbul
Grassland pipit
Eurasian swift
Red eyed dove
Little beeater
Barn owl
Hunter's sunbird
Orange bellied parrot
Common scimitarbill
Green pigeon
Village weaver
Grosbeak weaver
Vitelline masked weaver
Knob billed goose
Sand martin
White winged widowbird
Blacksmith plover
Chestnut weaver
Red winged starling
Black kite
D'arnaud's barbet
Grey backed fiscal
Rufous sparrow
Harlequin quail
Golden pipit
Yellow crowned bishop
Hammerkop
Black headed heron
Green backed heron
African cuckoo
Red billed ox-pecker
Marabou stork
European stork
Egyptian goose
Crowned plover
Yellow billed stork
Cattle egret
Little egret
Sacred ibis
Hadada ibis
Common greenshank
Common sandpiper
Three banded plover
White rumped swift
Little stint
Wood sandpiper
Pied wagtail
Intermediate egret
Black faced sandgrouse
Common rock thrush
Cinnamon breasted bunting
Golden breasted starling
House crow
House sparrow
Pied kingfisher
Green barbet
Eurasian golden oriole
African golden oriole
White throated bee-eater
Black bellied starling
Tambourine dove
Forest batis
Crowned eagle
Trumpeter hornbill
Scaly throated honeyguide
Chestnut fronted helmet shrike
Ashy flycatcher
Bohm's spinetail
Pale batis
Eastern nicator
Litte grebe
Golden palm weaver
Sooty gull
Roseate tern
Whimbrel
Speckled pigeon