TR : [KENYABIRDSNET] Long-tailed Cisticola and some other birds...

Hi All

We went down to the Olkirimatian Group Conservancy last week for a few nights. The area is looking beautiful as they have had quite a bit of rain. The birdlife is brilliant when it is like this, especially the numbers of breeding weavers, bishops and quelea. The white Throated bee-eaters and cuckoos (African, Black, Black and White, Diderik) were also numerous and calling lots. I would really recommend everyone heading down the Magadi road over the next week or two (be warned the road is awful and all the seasonal rivers were flooded over the road when we drove back on saturday) to witness the breeding spectacle of the weavers - in particular chestnut weavers - and also the large numbers of chestnut sparrows too.

The Maasai leave the conservation area when the rains are around as it is left as a 'grass-bank' for dry periods. We therefore had the place to ourselves and were surrounded by lions on our first night, one loan male we found on a night drive - it's an exciting place and so easy to visit. The plains game is abundant and tame and we even saw two elephants.

The most interesting bird species for us was a pair of Long-taled Cisticolas. Zimmerman, Turner and Pearson don't mention this area as an area in which they are found so thought it might be of interest to some of you. They were busy birds and moved on quickly.

Also I wanted to write sooner to mention a short visit I made to the tea estates in Nandi over Easter. I saw a few nice species in the remnant forest patches including Luhder's Bush-shrike, Mackinnon's Fiscal, Black-throated Wattle-Eye and I managed on two occasions to whistle to a White-Spotted Flufftail and attract it to within a metre of me (I had to sit dead still and be patient but was well worth it!).

Look forward to more birding when I'm back in December.

Kieran