Karen Country Club bird walk, 23 January 2015
On a cold and overcast morning (is this really January?!) we set out enthusiastically – JD, Mick and Jane Wilson-Smith, Karen Plumbe, Barb Schlegel, Alastair Campbell and Sharon Inzaule – on the first Karen Club bird walk of 2015. At the dams, the only migrants were Common Sandpiper and Black-winged Stilt, but the locals were in good attendance – Grey Crowned Crane, Grey Heron, Hamerkop, Egyptian Goose, Three-banded Plover, Yellow-billed Duck, Little Grebe, and Reed and Great Cormorant.
As we walked around, some very interesting sightings soon dispelled the gloom, including a female Black Cuckooshrike, and good views of a Cabanis’s Greenbul. The sweet liquid song of the Black-headed Oriole rang out clearly, and we were told that “It will rain” by both the Red-chested Cuckoo and its impersonator, Ruppell’s Robin Chat.
Back at the wetlands, we were treated to a wonderful array of sights and sounds. The Grey-capped Warbler again proved itself a true Nairobi gem, for both its loud crescendo song and its attractive appearance, once it emerges from the bush. A Long-crested Eagle squawked its disapproval when a Black-headed Heron joined it at the top of an acacia. Speke’s, Spectacled, Reichenow’s, Grosbeak, and Holub’s Golden Weavers were all busy, as were Spot-flanked and White-headed Barbets. A small flock of Willow Warblers were flitting through the crown of an acacia.
But the gem of a very enjoyable day was excellent views of a Brown-backed Woodpecker, the first sighting for the Karen Club. Surely this species is far more common around Nairobi than is often supposed.
On our way back to the clubhouse, some Rock Martins and Lesser Striped Swallows brought the total for the walk up to 53 species, hardly to be expected when we set off, but what a great start to 2015!
Birds seen and heard on Karen Club bird walk, 23 January 2015
Egyptian Goose
Yellow-billed Duck
Little Grebe
Sacred Ibis
Hadada Ibis
Grey Heron
Black-headed Heron
Hamerkop
Reed Cormorant
Great Cormorant
Black Kite
Long-crested Eagle
Common Moorhen
Grey Crowned Crane
Black-winged Stilt
Three-banded Plover
Common Sandpiper
Red-eyed Dove
Red-chested Cuckoo
Speckled Mousebird
Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater
Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird
Spot-flanked Barbet
White-headed Barbet
Brown-backed Woodpecker
Black-backed Puffback
Tropical Boubou
Black Cuckooshrike
Black-headed Oriole
Pied Crow
Rock Martin
Lesser-striped Swallow
Singing Cisticola
Yellow-breasted Apalis
Grey-capped Warbler
Grey-backed Camaroptera
Common Bulbul
Yellow-whiskered Greenbul
Cabanis’s Greenbul
Willow Warbler
Olive Thrush
Ruppell’s Robin Chat
White-eyed Slaty Flycatcher
Bronze Sunbird
Variable Sunbird
Kenya Rufous Sparrow
Grosbeak Weaver
Baglafecht Weaver
Spectacled Weaver
Holub’s Golden Weaver
Speke’s Weaver
African Pied Wagtail
Streaky Seedeater