NAIROBI NATIONAL PARK 4th October 2014

On the Thursday night we had had an unseasonal 1 ½ inches of rain, and
there had been some on Friday night but nothing much.

So on Saturday morning Nigel Hunter and myself arrived at Langata Gate
at 6.45am and were turned away because the Customer Service person had
not arrived. So we went around to Main Gate which probably took less
than five minutes and were soon inside, on our way to KWS Mess. It was
gloomy and quite quiet, the only palearctic migrants were five
Eurasian Bee-eaters, otherwise there was a nice Eastern Honeybird, and
a fight between a Lesser Honeyguide and Spotted-flanked Barbet. We
left for Ivory Burning Site with a male Eurasian Golden Oriole on the
way, and a Willow Warbler in the Acacias there. Many Violet-backed
Starling parties were flying around the area, as is normal for this
time of year.

Checking the Nagolomon Drift there were a pair of Spotted Thick-knees,
but the dam itself was not to lively. There were two Darters, a
Swamphen, the first three Green Sandpipers which seemed to be
scattered widely today, an adult Fish-Eagle and the first House Martin
of the year.

Now taking the back road to the new swamp at the back of Hyena Dam we
had four attractive Glossy Ibis on the marsh, six Wood Sandpipers, a
couple of Green Pigeons, White-winged and Red-collared Widowbirds in
various plumages, but it was very quiet along the discharge. So we
retraced back and had a look at Hyena Dam. On the way we found an
adult male Whinchat, and at the dam there was an unseen Little Bittern
calling, single Squacco Heron, Yellow-billed and Great Egrets, Purple
Heron, Saddle-billed Stork, three Fish-Eagles together, two pairs of
African Water Rails, two Swamphens, African Jacana, a stunning female
Greater Painted-snipe, a pair of Long-toed Plovers, a bright adult
Little Stint, several Green and over twenty Wood Sandpipers, a single
Eurasian Swift, and a Sand Martin flying with many Plain Martins, a
few Banded Martin, a female Whinchat, and a couple of Jackson’s
Widowbirds.

On the run-off there were a pair of Rosy-breasted Longclaws but not
much colour yet, and a dozen non-breeding Yellow-crowned Bishops.

Red-rumped Swallows were fairly widespread, and settling down to
nesting, and consequently White-rumped Swifts were also in the
culverts, but as predicted no Lesser Striped Swallows were recorded
today. Out on the plains there was a considerable movement of Barn
Swallows most of the day, and near Lone Tree there was a party of five
more House Martins. Banded Martins were in numbers but spread widely.
Also near Lone Tree a pair of Secretarybirds were nest-building only
ten feet from the road on the top of a Balanites. They could not have
been more obvious. Also in this area we had three White-bellied
Bustards, an extraordinarily early (if it had actually left East
Africa) Eurasian Roller, another couple of not too colourful
Rosy-breasted, and a nice Pangani Longclaw, a male Beautiful Sunbird
and some two-hundred squarking and gurgling Wattled Starlings.

Nairobi Primary School Dam was not too busy with a Little Grebe and a
teenager in tow, and to continue on to Eland Hollow looked a bit dodgy
as it was very muddy, so we continued to Athi Basin, finding an
Isabelline Wheatear before descending to the dam. The first bird we
saw, when arriving at the dam and looking round the corner was my
first African Skimmer in Nairobi National Park. There are two old
records but nothing this century. It seemed perfectly happy, and was
quite indifferent to us. Otherwise the water level was high and the
only palearctic waders were four Little Stints. There were four
Spur-winged and five Kittlitz’s Plovers, and a couple of Black-winged
Stilts (which could be palearctic as on Wednesday evening at 7.00pm a
flock was calling as it flew over the house). A couple of Fish Eagles
here and along the Mbagathi had us confused as to how many there were
in the Park at the present time. There were three Yellow-billed
Storks, five African Spoonbills, a single Fulvous with ten White-faced
Whistling Ducks, seven Speckled Pigeon eating weed seeds along the
edge, and an adult Black-crowned Night-Heron roosting on the causeway,
plus a few Eurasian Bee-eaters were flying over.

Now heading for Cheetah Gate we were quite horrified to see how
dehydrated the landscape was, it resembled the great drought and
accordingly not much in the way of birds. There was an adult African
Hawk-Eagle, which was a surprise.

Rhino Circuit was also very dry and not much bird noise, but a male
Pygmy Falcon is the first in NNP for a couple of decades, and there
were nine effervescent White Helmet-Shrikes which must be the first in
at least a dozen years. A pair of Spur-winged Plover were along the
river, they have been here for a while. A little further towards Hippo
Pools which was not visited, there were numbers of Marabous roosting
in the acacias along the river, but with them was the strangest sight
of four Pink-backed and two White Pelicans, all adults.

It was fairly quiet taking the road to Kingfisher, there were three
Speckle-fronted Weavers just above Hippo Pools, the only
Black-shouldered Kite of the day near Leopard Cliffs, and in roadside
acacias another two Willow Warblers and a very early Common
Whitethroat. The only Long-billed Pipit of the day was here as well.
On the Burnt Area, there were a couple of pairs of Crowned Plovers one
with two chicks and one with a single, but we also found four Northern
Wheatears and five Grey-headed Silverbills here. At Kingfisher there
were another ten Grey-headed Silverbills.

On joining the main road from Nagalomon Dam we were delighted to find
a most attractive adult Spotted Flycatcher, extremely well streaked
individual, along the turn to Langata Gate, were two Red-billed Teals
on the Forest Edge Dam. We waited at Langata Dam for birds coming in
to drink, hoping for a Blackcap but no such luck yet but there were
twenty Eurasian Bee-eaters. At the bridge near the turn to Langata
Gate was a confiding perched immature African Goshawk, however the
large drainage marsh courtesy of the Langata Road construction
produced the only pair of Crowned Cranes for the day, and nine adult
lutea Yellow Wagtails. The dam further along hosted a very attractive
breeding plumaged Little Grebe and a different Great Egret.

We were through the gate at 5.00pm having had a really great day, with
such a mixed bag. As usual there were so many things that did not
cross our path today, but we still came in with 204 species recorded
in the Park, included some real surprises. The Park still requires a
concerted Vulture census, I am not sure how many we saw today, they
seemed to be in the sky all the time after 9.00am. A flock near Lone
Tree contained thirty, there were about a similar number resting along
the Mbagathi and a roost in a Eucalypt near Langata Gate held fifteen
birds. Then there were scattered pairs from Mbgathi to Kingfisher.

As was expected, and previously mentioned there were no Lesser Striped
Swallows today, they are now on their annual six-weeks holiday.

Mammals were in very good numbers, we saw well over a hundred
Wildebeest, a great assortment of plains game but none of the most
sought after. The best mammal was probably a pair of Dik-Dik near the
cement factory.

Today with the gloomy weather to start the day, Nairobi National Park
exceeded all expectations, and hopefully the standard will continue.
Some of the palearctic migrants recorded today, are probably the
earliest I have ever seen them before, which is ironic when I posted
on the net, why isn’t anyone reporting any palearctics!

Best to all
Brian

No sign of a Snowy Barbet (watch this space!).