Dear All,
Nigel and Julia Hunter and myself were staying on Lelwel Estate. This
is just after Timau, not far from the main Nanyuki-Meru Road on the
lower northern slopes of Mt Kenya.
Quite dry and exposed, it has pockets of mainly exotic trees, and
native undergrowth, but for the most part is dry grassland.

We stayed for two days, recording the birds in the area, which was
quite surprisingly varied.

The most interesting find was on looking at the white-eyes, we found
they were not Kikuyu, which might have been expected, or Abyssinian as
the area was quite open, but all were Yellow White-eyes and a couple
of images are attached, taken at Lelwel and all birds seen were the
same.

East of the Rift Valley the species was only previously recorded at
Mts Marsabit and Nyiru, Ndotos and Matthews Ranges and Karissia Hills,
but was never suspected of being on Mt Kenya. Obviously more care
should be taken when identifying Abyssinian or Kikuyu White-eyes on
the lower largely non-forested slopes.

During our three days on Lolldaiga Ranch it was the only White-eye met
with, although both Kikuyu and Abyssinian are reported. We found
Yellow from the riverine forest along the Timau River up into the
Cedar woodland. Again white-eyes should be scrutinised before
identification.

Following the discovery that it had been overlooked and is a common
bird at least in Langata in Nairobi it is proving that the oversight
of its presence is more wide ranging.

Best to all
Brian