From: Colin Jackson <colin.jackson@arocha.org>
Date: 2015-07-30 23:32
Subject: Re: [KENYABIRDSNET] Golden-tailed Woodpecker and Bronze-naped Pigeon in Nairobi
Thanks for this Paula. Very interesting to hear of Leakey's observation on monitoring changes in bird ranges - this is in fact exactly what the Kenya Bird Map project is able to do and will be used for - looking at changes in bird ranges and distribution as well as looking at and understanding the effect of climate change. The protocol being used will allow us to look at this quite specifically. A number of papers have already been published on the South African data which follows the same protocol as we do including work that shows that Barn Swallows are arriving c.5 days later and leaving c.5 days sooner from their non-breeding grounds that is very suggestive of a climate change effect.

HOWEVER what we need is many more people who know anything about birds to join us and contribute to the atlas project. It is a hugely stimulating activity to be involved with, a lot of fun, and something that you know you are contributing to a very effective conservation project. A smart phone app has been developed for it and is just about to go public - a free app that will allow you to gather data on the go and will tell you which atlas square you're in and warn you when you are leaving it and entering another.. but even just using the google maps satellite images to locate your atlas square is very interesting and effective.

If you or anyone else reading this, therefore, are keen to get involved or know someone who might be, please do register / suggest they register and join us.

Thanks!

Colin

On 29/07/15 16:21, Paula Kahumbu pkahumbu@gmail.com [kenyabirdsnet] wrote:
 
Wonderful report

By any chance is anyone monitoring the changes in the ranges of birds as a possible indicator of climate change? Richard Leakey brought this up as a major gap in the research and monitoring that is going on in Kenya. 

Cheers
Paula



On Wed, Jul 29, 2015 at 7:43 PM, Fleur Ng'weno fleur@africaonline.co.ke [kenyabirdsnet] <kenyabirdsnet-noreply@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
 

Greetings birders

Nature Kenya's Wednesday Morning Birdwalk had winners at the Racecourse
today.

As soon as we arrived, there was an eye-level view of a Red-chested Cuckoo
and a pair of Black Cuckooshrikes. Birds continued to fill the Trema, Ficus
and Senna trees in front of us, adding up to 44 species in the first hour
and 50 metres, and 67 for the morning (two and a half hours and a bit of a
walk). The big winners, however, were:

1. Golden-tailed Woodpecker, only the fourth sighting for Nairobi. Brian
Finch notes about their distribution "Closest east is Kibwezi and closest
west is Mara". But there it was in a forest tree, possibly a Diospyros, a
female with dark forehead and red nape, twice as big as the nearby
Brown-backed Woodpecker, with long streaks on the breast, a greenish back
and a golden tail. We heard its raptor-like call several times. Our last
sighting of this enigmatic bird was at the same place one and a half years
ago.

2. Bronze-naped Pigeons, altitudinal migrants from the highland forests
visiting Nairobi during the cold season. There were at least two females and
one male, and all participants got at least one good view.

3. Yellow White-eye? The Trema tree hosted a pair of Montane White-eyes and
several other white-eyes, yellow all over, but with a medium-sized eye-ring
clearly cut by a dark line. It seems to fit Brian Finch's recent discovery
of Yellow White-eyes in southwestern Nairobi, together with Montane and
Abyssinian White-eyes.

Wishing you good birding, Fleur