I would be grateful if somebody could confirm the identity of the two birds and comment on my Black Cuckoo-shrike observation.

My first query is a nightjar seen in the Mara, roosting on a hippo path beside a river with quite thick vegetation and trees at the beginning of August this year.  When the bird flew it revealed white sides to the tail and also strong white markings on the wings although it all happened so quickly that I could not be certain of what was where.  I think it was a square-tailed nightjar but my photo does not seem to fit with the images in the bird guides that I have looked in.

My second query is a Cuckoo - I suspect that it is a female Common Cuckoo but again my observations and images do not seem to fit with the bird guides, and also I don't think it ought to be in Nairobi yet !  I have seen it for the first time on Saturday 30 th August in Rosslyn, Nairobi feasting on fat hairy caterpillars.

Finally, also in my Rosslyn garden, I am seeing what I am sure is a black Cuckoo-shrike but it has no other colours or markings at all.  No yellow gape or shoulder but it is associating with another bird that looks like a female BCS.  Is this unusual - I see there was a thread earlier about BCS but I was uncertain if they were referring to just the lack of a yellow shoulder or also no yellow gape.

If this is the wrong group to be referring this type of question please feel free to redirect me to the correct place.

regards

Ben