NAIROBI NATIONAL PARK 10th JUNE 2014

Dear All,
Rupert Watson kindly drove Karen Plumbe and myself to Langata Gate. We
arrived at 7.15am having had a flat battery problem initially but the
drive to the Park seemed to fully recharge it. Here we met up with
Jennifer Oduori, and set off for a full days birding.

It was a very dull day for a good part of it, some very light misty
rain first thing, but the rest of the day dry. The sun broke through
at 5.20pm, however although cloudy the temperature was quite
comfortable.

We started at the Langata Dam, there was a Little Grebe resting on the
small island, and the striking Madagascar Pond Heron was also present
but that was all. Not far along the road there were a watchful
Long-crested Eagle and a pair of Brown-backed Woodpeckers with a small
mixed party, and we called in at Impala Picnic Site but the only bird
of interest in this area was a Namaqua Dove which was a bit out of
place.

We descended the hill and had a look at Nagalomon Dam which was very
quiet. The pair of Spotted Thick-knees was not too far from the edge
of the water, but there was nothing of interest along the margin. In
the trees were four Darters, and Ivory Burning Site failed to produce.

Instead of detouring to the new swamp along the back road we went
straight to Hyena Dam for our “breakfast snack.” Near the dam was a
Black-shouldered Kite at its nest with two large young, we saw some
eight other adults today. Also fairly quiet with just the small Great
Egret, the pair of Long-toed Plovers still there, African Water Rails
calling from two parts of the dam, and two Swamphens, but sadly no
sign of the Little Bitterns. The weather was continuing dark and
gloomy but our spirits were still bright and cheerful as we left there
to drive up the side of the dam towards the back road. Along the swamp
we had our first local rarity when an attractive African Crake flew in
and after flying over the wet grass dropped down never to reappear,
and almost no sooner had it landed when a Common Snipe flew up a short
way and dropped down again. At this time of year African Snipe would
be more considered (which I have never seen in NNP), but the bird
showed far too much white on the tips of the secondaries and was a
very late Common. Then a handsome pair of Bohor Reedbucks appeared
having been the providers of these two zaiwadis. There was a
White-browed Coucal which had managed to catch a Rocket Frog
(Ptychadena sp), and a dozen Jacksons Widowbirds in the sedges, and
but for the best part widowbirds have fled the scene. A small party of
Banded Martins were feeding and singing from the sedge tops as well.
Edging further up we made the main back road, and in the main swamp
were a Glossy Ibis, five Yellow-billed Duck and a Red-billed Teal and
some handsome Water Rails. We estimated that between Hyena Dam and
here we had heard nine separate pairs, they were excessively noisy
today.

Now we turned right and followed the back road out to circumnavigate
the grasslands arriving back at Hyena Dam at the causeway. No sooner
had we turned than a male Harlequin Quail snuck very slowly across the
road and provided exceptional views. On arriving back at the causeway
we took the run-off road. We would have seen nothing here were it not
for an exceedingly late and most attractive Lesser Grey Shrike and the
first of four Secretarybirds.

Now back on the main road we crossed the Mokoyeti Bridge where there
were singing Red-faced Cisticolas and headed out towards Maasai Gate.
The Martial Eagles have already constructed a large nest in the tree
next to the one that they have occupied for a very long time, and the
pair was present. It was otherwise quiet across this section of the
Park, but we did have a nice family of African Firefinch near a lugga.

After descending the hill below Leopard Cliffs we took the dirt road
out to the Mbagathi, which seemed quiet until a Grey-olive Greenbul
called. We had such a time trying to locate these noisy birds,
scanning the bushes and limbs of trees, and they would suddenly call
in a different place but we had not seen any movement. Eventually we
found out why when we watched three birds feeding on the ground just
like Terrestrial Brownbuls would. I had never seen them feeding on the
ground before. These are the first in the Park for four years at
least. There were a few African Black Swifts feeding overhead.

Prior to our arrival at the Hippo Pools, something we usually do not
do as it is normally either late, or hot when we pass there, we had
seen a young Martial Eagle with it’s still untouched adult Egyptian
Mongoose in its talons. Today was perfect with the overcast
conditions. But what caught our eye was that the car park had been
very wet, and the vegetation was flattened and full of debris, and
whilst the water level of the river was quite normal, there had
obviously been a flash flood through this area in the past few days! A
little way down the track we flushed a very large bat, and managed to
relocate it. This was the first Rousette Fruit-Bat I had ever seen in
the Park, extremely pale grey above and equally pallid buffy-white
below. A party of no less than nine Violet Wood-Hoopoes appeared which
is an extraordinarily large party. Maybe adults, previous brood and
new brood. Inside a bush we found an adult White-backed Night-Heron,
the first for a few years, but in exactly the same bush as the last
bird! There was a commotion with much mobbing in scrub behind it, and
the bird left cover and came and sat in the open for a long period,
looking nervous and peering over the branches at a Hippo in the water,
but we suspect that there might have been a python that was disturbing
the birds. There were a good variety of riverine birds, which also
included both Grey-headed and Pygmy Kingfishers, plus an attractive
family of Black-faced Waxbills.

As we drove along the road towards Athi Dam, we could see that all of
the old oxbow basins were full of water. We first looked at the
causeway where there was just one Black-crowned Night-Heron, and the
road along the east bank was cut off by a marsh creek. The dam was
full and most of the flat margins had been submerged again. Retracing
our steps to drive around the dam we came across a pair of Water
Thick-knees, only the fourth record for the Park. Other birds at the
dam were few, but two White Stork have seen the sense of staying and
not being slaughtered by the arabs by risking northward passage, also
two Yellow-billed Storks, six African Spoonbills, and apart from
Blacksmith Plovers, the only other waders were five Spur-winged and
three Kittlitz’s.

The only other bird of interest on the entire drive back to Langata
Gate was a Lappet-faced Vulture on its nest in a Balanites!

Mammals were in large numbers but mainly in the Athi Basin, nothing of
note was recorded by far the best being the Rousette Fruit-Bat.

The flooding in the south-east was most unexpected and we had not
experienced any good rain outside of the Park that could account for
this.

Although the weather was dull for nearly all day, the rewards for
being out were legion. The weather had obviously been responsible for
moving birds in and out of the area, and the visiting of places that
we usually do not look at, (Hippo Pools, Mbagathi River below Leopard
Cliffs), certainly paid dividends. However time did not permit a look
in the forest and hidden wetlands, the entire Kingfisher area, KWS
Mess, the back road to Hyena Dam, Eland Hollow, the road out from the
Athi Causeway to Cheetah Gate and the Rhino Circuit. Who knows what
else was in there!

We were out of Langata Gate at 5.45pm and back home with no traffic to
impede us in little more than ten minutes.


KEY TO ATTACHED MONTAGE

TOP LEFT AND MIDDLE
LESSER GREY SHRIKE ADULT
Very late date for this migrant

TOP RIGHT
MARTIAL EAGLE IMMATURE
On recently killed adult Egyptian Mongoose

MIDDLE LEFT
CYRTANTHUS SANGUINEUS LILY
A double bloom, I can’t recall seeing anything but single flowers before

MIDDLE CENTRE
BLACK-FACED WAXBILL
The very local race kiwanukae, showing how reduced the black chin is
in this race, and can be mistaken for Black-cheeked Waxbill.

SECOND ROW FAR RIGHT
WHITE-BACKED NIGHT-HERON
An adult in the same bush at Hippo Pools as three years ago, the last
time it was seen in the Park.

THIRD ROW FAR RIGHT
DRAGONFLY SP
I have never seen this species of dragonfly before in my life. I
suspect it is a Gomphid of some sort, and will require some research
but help not refused! (I can’t find my copy of Warburton)

BOTTOM
WATER THICK-KNEE
This pair at Hippo Pools was only the fourth time the species has
visited the Park.