NAIROBI NATIONAL PARK 30th NOVEMBER 2013

Dear All,
On 30th November, Mike Davidson, Nigel Hunter and myself met up at the
Main Entrance to Nairobi National Park at 6.30am. There had been no
traffic, but the morning that greeted us was pretty foul with a
constant drizzle.

An Eurasian Golden Oriole flew over the car-park, but our first bird
inside the Park, was a male Brown-backed Woodpecker in a roadside
tree, followed by the first of two Common Buzzards.

We then started off at KWS Mess Gardens, where we cowered out of the
rain under a rather scant tree, but with nothing to see, soon went off
to Ivory Burning Site. This was equally unproductive, but there were
alates emerging from every direction and soon birds were emerging to
feed on them, no migrants were to be seen, although a Nightingale was
calling.

On the drift towards Nagalomon Dam, a Spotted Thick-knee also knew how
good alates were, in the grassland were Red-collared Widowbirds some
in full plumage

Nagalomon Dam was a hive of activity, almost everything charging after
alates, an adult Black-crowned Night-Heron, the first African Water
Rail I have ever seen at this dam, Swamphen, African Jacana, several
each of Green and Wood Sandpipers, all were taking advantage.

It was quiet along the back road to Hyena Dam, but there was a
Whitethroat, and at the sewage area a Eurasian Marsh Harrier, noisy
African Water Rails, twenty of more Wood and eight Green Sandpipers, a
Common Snipe, a strange immature Yellow Wagtail, white below with
touches of lemon yellow, all pale grey above apart from a touch of
bright olive on the rump. Not sure where this fits into the scheme of
things. A Red-throated Pipit was heard. Also heard a little further up
the road from the fig trees was a Red-throated Wryneck, the bird was
calling but we could not see it. This was only the second record for
the Park as incredible as it might seem, and the previous one over ten
years ago was from the same area.