Hi Brian,

Yes, Ben mentioned how denuded  the former woodlands  were at the
base of  the  Olepolos Cliffs at the first I-cross Road.  Like so much
of Kenya, I would have loved to see the area a couple of decades ago.

In terms of the Bare-faced Go-Away Bird - I did not realize it was
rare at that location or I would have snapped a photo.  I will ask my
friend Roger if he happened to snap one.

The BF Go-Away Bird was in my field notes in the 8:45 section.   Far
downhill from Corner Baridi and not terribly far before the turn to
the first I-cross Road if I figure things correctly.

The habitat had opened up and flattened out, we passed some Zebra and
a pair of Crowned  Plovers and saw a Black-billed Weaver.   Then we
had the BF Go-away Bird, closely followed by Hildebrandt's Starling,
Laughing Dove, Grey-capped Social Weaver and a couple of Chestnut
Sparrows feeding beside the road.

The timestamp on my Chestnut Sparrow photos says 9:05:44am so the BF
Go-Away bird just was a few minutes before that.

We got to the parking area at the first I-cross Road at 9:30am, after
driving for about 15 minutes from  the  previous birding  stop.

Hope this helps a little and I will let y'all know if Roger took a
photo of the BF Go-away bird with timestamps or background reference
points that could help determine the precise location.

Good birding,

Nate

On Mon, Feb 6, 2017 at 11:19 AM, Brian Finch <birdfinch@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Nate,
> Thanks for sharing your day with us, it was very good reading the
> success, as the habitat is so decimated compared with what it was like
> ten years ago before the Maasal started selling of their vegetation to
> unscrupulous charcoal harvesters.
> One bird stood out from your list, where was the Bare-faced Go-Away
> Bird, there is no record closer than Shompole near Natron.
> Very best for now
> Brian
>
> On 2/3/17, Nate Dias offshorebirder@gmail.com [kenyabirdsnet]
> <kenyabirdsnet-noreply@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
>> This past Sunday I spent the cloudy morning birding along Magadi Road
>> with Roger Smith and Ben Mugambi.  Birding was steady and good all the
>> way from Corner Baridi down to the Olepolos Cliffs.
>>
>> We got started at 7:15 with Yellow-rumped Seedeaters, Grey-backed
>> Camaroptera, African Citril, Common House Martin and Eurasian Swifts.
>> Then came Red-fronted Barbet, Red-faced Crombec and Red-throated Tit
>> in quick succession.  Then we enjoyed watching a female
>> Scarlet-chested Sunbird gathering nesting material and taking it to
>> her nest (photo attached).  Other birds at our first stop included
>> Yellow-breasted Apalis, Nubian Woodpecker, and Absynnian Scimitarbill.
>>
>> A short drive downhill brought us to a new group of birds - Variable
>> Sunbird, Fork-tailed Drongo, Pied Wheatear, Yellow-bellied Eremomela,
>> Northern Wheatear, and Singing Cisticola.  We also saw numbers of
>> Swifts and Martins swirling out over the valley - Nyanza Swifts, Palm
>> Swifts, Rock Martins, and Plain Martins.  Other goodies included
>> Holub's Golden-Weaver, Streaky Seedeaters, Speckled Pigeons, Variable
>> + Bronze Sunbirds, Lyne's (Wailing) Cisticola, Malachite Sunbird,
>> Green-winged Pytilia, Willow Warbler, Long-tailed Pipit, Red-winged
>> Starling, White-eyed Slaty Flycatcher, Tawny-flanked Prinia and a nice
>> male Scarlet-chested Sunbird.
>>
>> A longer drive downhill brought us to yet another suite of birds.  We
>> saw Kenya Rufous Sparrows, Fawn-coloured Lark, Crowned Plovers,
>> Black-billed Weaver, Bare-faced Go-away Bird, Hildebrandt's Starling,
>> Grey-capped Social Weaver, Chestnut Sparrow, Vitelline Masked Weaver,
>> Beautiful Sunbird, Marico Sunbird, White-bellied Canary, a small
>> gathering of E. Violet-backed Sunbirds, Common Rock-Thrush, and
>> Greater Blue-eared Starling.
>>
>> Then we drove down to the "first I-cross Road" and turned left into
>> the entrance to the watercourse near the base of the Olepolos Cliffs.
>> A Taita Fiscal watched things from its perch and a pair of Von der
>> Decken's Hornbills flitted from bush to bush.  Multiple Red-and-yellow
>> Barbets were present on both sides of the dry lugga/watercourse and an
>> African Hoopoe foraged on the ground nearby.  Some other common birds
>> were also present.
>>
>> Then Ben spotted a distant Martial Eagle soaring - and while scanning
>> the skies further we saw a pair of Verreaux's Eagles that worked their
>> way closer (photo attached).
>>
>> Other nice birds present were an immature Red-backed (Turkestan)
>> Shrike, Slate-coloured Boubou, Spotted Morning-Thrush, Rufous-naped
>> Lark, and Little Rock-Thrush.  Then we had a momentary thrill with a
>> Scrub-Robin we thought might be Brown-backed, but when it turned we
>> saw it was a White-Browed.  So it goes.
>>
>> At 11am we headed back to Nairobi, happy with the constant birding
>> action along good old Magadi Road.
>>
>> Good birding,
>>
>> Nathan Dias
>>