Dear All,
Yesterday, 15th September 2013, Brian Finch and I headed into the Rift Valley due west of Ngong Town. We took the road past the Savannah Resort towards Endeshant and once we reached level ground we explored a few areas on foot.
We stopped to watch a pair of Yellow-bellied Eremomelas and suddenly realised that virtually underfoot were a group of Short-tailed Larks (STL7623) hammering away at the ground like terrestrial woodpeckers. The image shows 8 of the 11 birds present, some of which were very tame (including STL7628). Brian found his first Northern Wheatear of the season and we later found two more, one of which appeared rather odd for an autumnal male and not unlike like a Black-eared Wheatear at times (NW7691). It was a very hot day and many birds were taking cover, including this fine Bare-eyed Thrush (BET7681).
A Grasshopper Buzzard appeared in the distance but all the features could be seen. This would appear to be an unseasonal and rather out of place record for this species.
With the heat building, we decided to make our way to Savannah Resort for some light refreshments and on our ascent of the hill there, we noticed a small number of medium-sized swifts cruising over. Unfortunately they didn't hang around for a thorough inspection but later at the Savannah Resort they re-appeared alongside some Nyanza Swift, Rock Martin and Red-rumped Swallow. It wasn't long before we were confident that we watching Pallid Swifts. Not only were they obviously larger and more robust than the Nyanzas nearby, they were very pale greyish-brown (like Palm Swift) and other features were also observed including pale scalloping on the underparts (not unlike Mottled Swift), dark lores that contrast with the rest of the face, and mostly plain wings that lacked obvious translucent panels.
We would welcome all comments on these swift images as they would represent the first documented records for Kenya if accepted by the EARC, even though the species is known to regularly occur in the country.
