NAIROBI NATIONAL PARK 24th APRIL 2016

Dear All,
Nigel Hunter, Fleur Ng’Weno, Jennifer Oduore and myself met up at the
Main Gate at 6.50am. It was drizzling, and there had been heavier rain
on and off since 4.00am.
We were quickly processed and soon on our way to Ivory Burning Site
where there was hardly any sign of birdlife so we went through and
looked at the piles of Ivory ready for the big burn in less than a
weeks time.
We checked at Nagalomon Dam, but apart from Sacred Ibis and
Black-crowned Night-Herons it was fairly quiet. There was a Glossy
Ibis feeding amongst a horde of frog-chasing Sacred Ibis in some
flooded grassland. Three Darters rested in their usual spot, and two
Swamphens fed well away from the waters edge, which was very high.

With the rains the back road to Hyena Dam has become impassable, and
we took the conventional route. It was still entertaining, but almost
everything was a long-term resident, pairs of White-faced Whistling
Duck and Red-billed Teal, a Saddle-billed Stork with one seen in the
late afternoon on its nesting tree, seven African Spoonbills, two
Squacco Herons, two Great and four Yellow-billed Egrets, pair of Fish
Eagles, another Swamphen, African Water Rail, two Grey Crowned Cranes
with a well grown immature, four Black-winged Stilt, seven Long-toed,
and a pair of Spur-winged Plovers, three African Jacanas, four Wood
Sandpipers and two Ruff. A few Barn Swallows, and several Sedge
Warblers called from the typha.

It was still raining as we headed southwards to Karen PS Dam, where
there were another couple of Sedge Warblers in the sedges, but nothing
much else. A detour to East Gate provided a few usual birds, and the
resident pair of Marico Sunbirds.
The weather ahead looked dramatically dark and we drove towards it and
Hippo Pools. Heading through the grassland revealed several
territorial noisy Shelley’s Francolins, the first of three
Black-shouldered Kites, a Martial Eagle, two male Hartlaub’s Bustards
one of which was calling, and a lone Crowned Crane. During breaks in
the rain, swallows and swifts were in vast numbers, one solid
smoke-like Barn Swallow flock numbered several thousand, another group
resting on the road contained four Sand Martins and another couple
later. The swifts were mainly Little and White-rumped and a few Palm,
but a number of Nyanza Swifts were with them. With the dark backdrop
of storms it was difficult to describe just how crystal clear the
swifts were as they zipped past, and even at a distance with the naked
eye, the translucent secondaries on the Nyanzas seemed to twinkle.
There were a few Red-backed and stunning Lesser Grey Shrikes with
seven of each, and the first of just six Willow Warblers today. A lone
Wattled Starling flew over, Jackson’s Widowbirds were numerous as were
Red-collared but relatively few White-winged. The day’s total of
Rosy-breasted Longclaws came in at fifteen, they were noisy and
conspicuous, and amongst the Yellow-throated we found five scattered
Pangani Longclaws. Coming from East Gate there was a stunning golden
Parasitic Weaver, glowing with the dark gloom behind it.

By the time we reached Hippo Pools the darkness was heading our way
again, and whilst we had about five minutes along the track marvelling
at the hyper-activity of the birds chasing rain-induced insect
emergences, the skies opened and we made hasty retreat. There was a
good assortment of species, but the only palearctic was a Common
Cuckoo.

With the heavy rain, it was deduced that the safest way back was to
retrace the route we had come, it was pouring as we climbed out of the
valley, and eased once we reached the plains. There was a Kori
Bustard, which was of much a sodden mess as you could imagine a large
waterlogged bird to be. At the small roadside dam beloved by
Yellow-crowned Bishops, that were no-where to be seen, the activity
was from warblers that were flycatching termites crossing the reeds,
and included two Sedge and two Eurasian Reed Warblers, then three
Spotted Thick-knees suddenly came out of the grass next to the car,
one was a juvenile.  Soon we stopped for a Eurasian Hobby that was our
only palearctic raptor today. It was catching termites and getting
them from the source, and spent all its time patrolling a very small
area and so provided wonderful views. Whilst watching this we became
aware that some bee-eaters had dropped into the same area, and were
stunned to see over forty gorgeous Blue-cheeked in bright breeding
dress. They also patrolled the same termite source for quite a while.
This is only the third time ever that I have seen the species in NNP
before, the others were a dead bird on the road, and a pair a few
years ago two at Nagalomon Dam. For some reason this species manages
to avoid the Nairobi area.
A tiniest bit further and there was a female Black-bellied Bustard in
the road, looking a bit lost. This is a rains visitor, not resident
like Hartlaub’s. We hadn’t gone a hundred metres before there was a
sudden movement near the edge of the road, and there was an African
Crake running around in the open chasing termites that were emerging
close-by, and a little further the only Quail-Finch for the day.

The insect biomass in the air today must have run to thousands of
tons, and there was far too much for the birds to take on board, even
Cattle Egrets hawked the insects while in flight. Almost every species
today was consuming termites, and I have never witnessed an event
quite as dramatic as this before, and not seen such impressive
threatening weather in NNP.

We stopped for a short while at both Hyena and Nagalomon Dams, before
passing through Main Gate at 4.00pm.

Mammals have largely vacated as is normal in the wet periods, of
interest were the extravert Bohor Reedbucks around Hyena Dam where we
had the only Black Rhino of the day. There were six Chandler’s
Reedbucks at the murrum pits near “The Beacon” and another three at
their usual valley further along the road.

Initially giving the impression of why did we come today to sit in a
car in the rain, to one of the most impressive days at so many levels,
just because of it. The amazing thing is that just driving to the
Hippo Pools and back with none of the usual circuit or deviations we
recorded 152 species, and yet again Nairobi National Park offered many
exciting surprises.

Best to all
Brian

KEY TO MONTAGE

TOP RIGHT AND LEFT
IVORY WAITING TO BE BURNED ON 30TH APRIL

BOTTOM LEFT
DEAMATIC INCLEMENT WEATHER

MIDDLE RIGHT
MALE PARASITIC WEAVER

BOTTOM RIGHT
FEMALE BLACK-BELLIED BUSTARD
SHOWING VERMICULATIONS ON NECK

BOTTOM MIDDLE
LONG-CRESTED JACANA HYENA DAM