NAIROBI NATIONAL PARK 15th April 2013

Dear All,
On 15th April, Mike Davidson, Fleur Ng’Weno, Jennifer O’duore and
myself met at 6.30am at the Main Gate of Nairobi National Park.

There had been several recent downpours in the past few days, and we
were not surprised to find the roads rather hard (soft) going, and
some parts of even the main roads were treacherous. Compared to the
previous week the water had subsided, the wash at Nagalomon Dam had no
water at all and yet was a raging torrent the previous Monday, and the
dam itself was much lower. Hyena Dam was a bit lower, and the water
was not flowing across the road. We never got to Eland Hollow, but
Athi Dam was so full that it is useless for waders, and had nothing
else of interest.
We confined our watching to KWS Mess garden, Ivory Burning Site, Hyena
Dam but not the run-off, Athi Dam and the back road round to
Kingfisher and back to the Main Gate. We were out of the Park by
3.30pm.

The Ivory Burning Site was unexpectedly quiet, nothing much of
interest apart from a few Willow and Garden Warblers. On the road down
to Ivory Burning Site we had an acacia that was a magnet for Willow
and Garden Warblers and two Spotted Flycatchers. It was evident that
there was a major push of both species, and Willow Warblers were all
through the grasslands in isolated bushes. Another bird moving in
numbers in a south-easterly direction was Barn Swallow, and there were
two House Martins as well.

Heading out to Hyena Dam along the main road there were so many
Red-collared Widowbirds in full breeding dress, and these had expanded
southwards as had good numbers of Jackson’s Widowbirds. White-winged
Widowbirds were in very small numbers at several sites both in the
north and the south. At the dam we were welcomed by African Water
Rail, there was a Yellow-billed Egret, a pair of flighty Red-billed
Teal, but not a wader to be seen. A very handsome Sedge Warbler poked
around the reeds and the nearby causeway had a couple of Marsh
Warblers. We also had out first of fifteen Red-backed Shrikes and our
first of twenty Lesser Grey Shrikes. It was not until the southern
portion of the Park that we found our only Red-tailed Shrike. The last
bird of any note was a solitary Wattled Starling.

Continuing on to Athi Dam we slipped in, out and over the muddy and
wet patches, there were two immature Fish Eagles together on the
run-off area, and a pair of Shelley’s Francolins were skulking by the
side of the road nearby. There were many swifts, mainly White-rumped,
but good numbers of Little with both Mottled and Nyanza in with them.
Not far past the Empakasi Dam turn off we had five Chandler’s
Reedbucks back in their old haunt, and the Albizzia there was
attracting both residents and migrants to a smoky haze of emergent
flying ants. Additionally we had a Whitethroat here, and another two
Spotted Flycatchers. Above Athi Basin we found a displaying Hartlaub’s
Bustard and two White-bellied Bustards,  we had a number of each of
Rosy-breasted and Pangani Longclaws, as well as Long-billed Pipit and
the only Wheatear of the day, a sprightly Capped. I don’t remember
seeing the bird in the Park at all last year. Athi Dam was useless as
far as birding was concerned, but impressive in mammals including
Black Rhino. The only birds we saw on the dam apart from the resident
Egyptian Geese, was a solitary Blcksmith Plover, and there was a
White-tailed Lark singing from the skies. We swept round to
Kingfisher, finding a not so coloured Eurasian Roller and a
Lappet-faced Vulture on a potential nest.  A surprise were a couple
more Chandler’s Reedbucks along the Kisembe Valley by the bridge
between Maasai Gate and Kingfisher. Then on to Nagalomon Dam. We were
astounded here to find at least twenty pairs of Black-crowned
Night-Herons sitting on nests right in the open on top of the typha
(bulrushes) with no cover whatsoever. There were two adult Swamphens
with two large juveniles, a male African Darter perched over the
water, and a Great Egret flew by.

Our last species of the day was noisy Scaly Francolins near the Main Entrance.

It was a good day, with a few species of late migrants pushing north,
but the weather prevented up from leaving the beaten track. There was
much singing, and it was easy to find all ten species of Cisticolas!

Best to all
Brian