NAIROBI NATIONAL PARK 18th OCTOBER 2015


Dear All,

Leaving the house, it was obvious that there had been a shower, but
just leaving the ground damp but not wet. As we got to Langata Gate at
6.40am, it started to rain heavily, and with no surprise there was no
Customer Service employee to let us in and we had to go to Main Gate.
Here it was raining heavily, and it continued on and off until 9.30am
after which it remained overcast with a few splashes and cleared for a
brighter day after mid-day with some heavy clouds and short showers in
the afternoon. This was the season’s first proper rain, and the
thirsty ground simply sucked it from the surface so rapidly that
within minutes of a shower there was no evidence.

We started off at Nagalomon Dam, which was wet and gloomy as well as
rather unproductive. There were Great Cormorant and three Darters
amongst the more numerous Reed Cormorants, a single Swamphen, a few
Green and Wood Sandpipers and wet Barn Swallows on the reeds and that
was it. No sign of Spotted Thick-knees at the drift either, and at the
outflow of the Mokoyeti was the strangest sight of a Common Moorhen
feeding in a rock pool in the middle of the rapids.

Whilst it was still overcast and damp we headed off on the main road
to Hyena Dam. Along this section from Nagalomon to Hyena Dams we met
with six separate flocks of 8-10 Orange-breasted Waxbills, which looks
like an incursion into the area. As usual Hyena Dam was the most
interesting place in the Park. The only ducks apart from plenty of
Egyptian Geese were a couple of White-faced Whistling-Ducks, there
were single Little Grebe, Yellow-billed Stork, Glossy Ibis, Squacco
Heron, Purple Heron, Red-knobbed Coot, female Greater Painted-snipe,
and Common Snipe feeding on the mud. As well as two African
Spoonbills, two Great Egrets (this species was recorded in six
different locations today, and even allowing for duplication is quite
a record for the species in NNP), an army of Black Crakes, four
different extravert African Water Rails, three Swamphens and another
record of over twenty Common Moorhens. A good scattering of Green and
Wood Sandpipers, one pair of African Jacanas with two well grown
young, and another pair with one well grown young, two Long-toed
Plover including the single leucoptera with the striking nearly all
white wings, a few Blacksmith Plovers included one pair with three
half-grown young, three Spur-winged plus many Three-banded Plovers.
The non mud-loving birds included an adult Fish Eagle and the seasons
first Pallid Harrier, a distinctive female-plumaged bird but with a
very white lower belly, easily recognised when seen again in the
afternoon at Eland Hollow.

We carried on connecting with the back road to Ivory Burning Site,
finding the road very quiet. At Ivory Burning Site, birds were coming
out of the bushes to feed on small alates on the ground, and resulted
in an unusual sight of a Red-fronted Barbet feeding terrestrially. The
only migrants were a couple of Willow Warblers, and the only two
Red-rumped Swallows of the day were here. It is also pertinent here to
add that no Lesser Striped Swallows have returned as yet, from
wherever than have been in their period of absence. There was a
Zanzibar Sombre Greenbul singing from somewhere back in the scrub.

Heading for KWS Mess, there was the first Common Buzzard in a sodden
state along the road, but at the Mess it was so dark and miserable
that we left having not seen a bird! Returning past Nagalomon Dam, we
took the road towards Langata Gate and then the road circuiting the
glade via Hippo-Grebe Pond and the wet vlei. A strange sight was an
adult Black Stork feeding along the road in the forest, that did not
want to leave the area, and a Garden Warbler that was in full song and
not as skulking as they might be. There was a good variety of forest
species, but nothing unusual.

Forest Edge Dam had the adult and immature Little Grebes, and the days
only Yellow-billed Egret, and driving through Kisembe Forest towards
Kingfisher Picnic Site we picked up three Eurasian Golden Orioles. A
short detour near the swamp rewarded with the days first Whinchat.
Kingfisher was interesting, a feeding flock of a dozen each Eurasian
Bee-eaters and Common Swifts also attracted single House and Sand
Martins. In the trees were a few acacia specialists such as
Red-throated Tit, Buff-bellied Warblers and displaying pair of Brown
Parisomas.

Leaving here, the burnt area could not have been less interesting, but
the inside road near Maasai Gate had a group of four White-backed and
a pair of Lappet-faced Vultures feeding on something unidentified, and
the days only Wheatear, a Northern. Nearby was a handsome Bateleur
quartering the edge of the gorge, and a couple of Long-billed Pipits
along the road.
We decided to have a rare look at Hippo Pools and walk as far as the
bridge with the Maasai souvenir supermarket at the other end, outside
of the Park. The most interesting bird was a hepatic Common Cuckoo,
but there was a reasonable assortment of birds including a pair of
Grey-headed Kingfishers, and a Black-headed Oriole inexplicably absent
from most of the Park. The only Striated Heron, the first of the days
Common Greenshank and a few African Firefinches were also here. Just
beyond Hippo Pools towards Athi Dam, the oxbow still with some water
had attracted a congregation of Marabous with an adult breeding
plumaged White Pelican sitting on the bank amongst them, and close by
an adult Martial Eagle sat in a tree.

Lunch by the river on Rhino Circuit could not have been quieter, nor
the drive through, but at the oxbow on joining the main road, which
being shaded by scrub had held water all dry season, held a male
Greater Painted-snipe, and a surprise right on the junction was a
d’Arnaud’s Barbet, which was the sixth barbet species for the day.
Athi Dam was not at it’s best, eight Yellow-billed Storks, six African
Spoonbills, three roosting Black-crowned Night-Herons, an immature
Fish Eagle, but waders at a very low ebb with just two Black-winged
Stilts, just one Spur-winged Plover, six Kittlitz’s and the best wader
being a handsome adult Common Ringed Plover, two Greenshank, one Wood
and three Common Sandpipers, and only four Little Stints. An adult
Pink-backed Pelican sat on the shore and three Speckled Pigeons fed on
the weeds. On the causeway was the incongruous sight of a Tawny Eagle
sitting on the top of an acacia with a calling African Hoopoe at the
same level only four feet away and neither showing any recognition of
the other!

At the top of Athi Basin was a single Shelley’s Francolin, the vulture
pools have dried completely but fifteen non-plumaged Yellow-crowned
Bishops fed in the weedy cover and a White-tailed Lark sang in the
sky. Although Crowned Plovers were seen in many parts of the Park
today, there were many in this area and numbers are considerably
greater than they have been recently. The return towards Eland Hollow
Dam was uneventful, but apart from another Greenshank there, a male
and seven female-type Lions feeding on a Zebra carcass was more
entertaining. An adult Martial Eagle sat near its traditional
nest-site along the Mokoyeti River, and the Hyena Dam run-off had the
only Banded Martin and Rosy-breasted Longclaws of the day and just the
second Whinchat.

Although the weather was dull for the best part of the day, and damp
for some of it we were surprised to find we had recorded 197 species,
but it was poor for the returning migrants. White-rumped Swifts have
moved back in, and are the commonest Swift, Barn Swallows were in very
small numbers with no sign of any movement, White-winged Widowbirds
were in flocks almost everywhere, but all in non-breeding plumage and
the other two widowbirds were not encountered. Small groups of
Red-billed Queleas were scattered, and very few Quailfinch in the
drier southern parts of the Park.

Plains game was in impressive numbers from Eland Hollow down through
Athi Basin. The days only Black Rhino was in Athi Basin, Hippos were
in Nagalomon, Hyena and Athi Dams and the lions were at Eland Hollow.
Of the more interesting mammals near Karen Primary School Dam was an
adult Egyptian Mongoose.

We exited out of Langata Gate shortly before 5.00pm, the Customer
Service Clerk having since reported for duty!


Just as a appendage to todays report, on the 18th October 2014
migrants seen that day, still not recorded in the present season were
Western Marsh Harrier, Northern Hobby, Lesser Kestrel, Eurasian Roller
(first on 4th), Pied Wheatear, Spotted Flycatcher (first on 4th),
Eurasian Rock-Thrush, Common Whitethroat (first on 4th), Red-backed,
Isabelline and Lesser Grey Shrikes, so things are a little late this
year.

Best to all
Brian