Dear Darcy,
Really nice images and thankyou for sharing them. It sounds like you
had a very good trip, and saw the Tsavos at their best after (during)
the rains.
Some comments on the interesting observations;

Very rarely we see a “grey-tail” plumage of Western Marsh Harrier in
NNP. It is a very rare colour form, and I can’t recall seeing it
elsewhere.

The Greyish Eagle-Owl in Tsavo East is interesting, around Ngulia, but
also Ngutuni and Sagala Lodges both not that far from Voi, have normal
yellow-eyed Spotted, so they are coming very close together and it
would be good to see other records of indentified birds.

Madagascar Bee-eaters are always close to Mtito Andei Gate at this
time of year, and also fairly widespread below Nguia, their appearance
is regular but their origins are quite unknown. It just seems the
wrong time of year for the birds to be here, unless they are breeding
locally.

The airstrip at Ol Doniyo Wuas was a reliable place for Aardwolf, is
that where this one was. It is an exceptional image, and in daylight!

Have a great Christmas and a wonderful 2016,
Brian


On 12/19/15, Darcy Ogada ogada.darcy@peregrinefund.org [kenyabirdsnet]
<kenyabirdsnet-noreply@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> Martin Odino and I just returned from a 6-day trip spent mostly in Tsavo
> East, and more briefly in Tsavo West and Chuylus. It was to be a
> vulture-focused trip but due to the timing of being there during the rains,
> it turned into quite a breeding bird spectacle.  In order not to get too
> carried away, I'll only touch on a few highlights.
>
> One of the most stunningly visible birds were Golden Pipits, which prior to
> this trip I'd only see brief sightings of single males.  We only saw them
> in Tsavo East, but we saw roughly 20-30  males. One of the most striking
> things about this bird is that it is more colourful under its wings, than
> it is above.  Why??  Well this quickly became evident when I watched its
> display, which was a curious showy mix of all manner of seemingly
> narcissistic behaviour.  It raised one wing and then the next (photo 1).
> Leading to it's parachuting descent to the ground with wings held high,
> which unfortunately I didn't get a photo of as it passed by in a blur of
> yellow.  This combined with its mohawk 'hairdo' and fanned tail (photo 2)
> has to put the displays of this bird into the list of all-time great
> performances.
>
> Paradise whydahs (photo) were everywhere, including outside the parks in
> the areas east of Kitui.  They were often seen together with Straw-tailed
> whydahs, and at one point with a Steel blue whydah.  Pin-tailed whydahs
> were also fairly common.
>
> Jacobin's cuckoos were about 10-15 individuals, along with 2 Levaillant's.
> Also, at least 5 Eurasian cuckoos were in Tsavo East.
>
> Rollers were also in high numbers.  In Tsavo East, Eurasian Rollers were
> everywhere, but throughout the trip there were good numbers of
> Lilac-breasted, Broad-billed and Rufous crowned.
>
> I'm not too good with the larks, but with Martin's help there were many
> Flappet larks and a number of Red-winged larks.
>
> There was a few Montagu harriers, and one Pallid.  Interestingly, there was
> a rare dark morph of the Eurasian Marsh harrier (photo, blurry but you can
> see grey tail and otherwise dark feathers).
>
> In Tsavo West there were a number of Madagascar bee eaters (photo), though
> book mentions they aren't usually found at this time of year here.
>
> There were lots of Wahlberg's eagles. And 1000+ White storks roosted near
> Voi Gate one night. A Cinereous eagle owl (photo).
>
> In Chuylus we had a very nice morning sighting of an Aardwolf (photo)
> foraging on the airstrip, rather oblivious to our presence.  And in Tsavo
> East while trying to find the campsite after dark we ran into four lions
> crossing the road.
>
> The full lists of (many) species should be available on Kenya Bird Map in
> the coming days.
>
> One final thing that needs mentioning, has anyone had much experience with
> mammal density in the section of Tsavo East north of the Galana River and
> south of the Tiva River, basically the middle section of the park?  The
> area is seemingly poached out?  with nothing larger than a squirrel
> observed over 20+kms.
>
> Cheers, Darcy
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> Darcy Ogada | Assistant Director of Africa Programs
> The Peregrine Fund | www.peregrinefund.org
> P.O. Box 1629-00606, Nairobi, Kenya
> +254-722-339366
> *Conserving birds of prey worldwide*
>