Dear All,
Yesterday 11th May I went on yet another trip down the Magadi Road,
this time with Washington Wachira and Adam Riley a friend from RSA.
We only had a short while, as Adam was flying out mid-afternnoon so
had to turn around at 11.00am.
Last week I did Magadi Road with David Guanieri as part of the eBird
challenge representation for Kenya. In the short time we had today, we
had fifteen species that were not part of our 198 last Saturday, they
were Augur Buzzard, Kori Bustard, Black-headed Heron, Cattle Egret,
Black and Jacobin Cuckoos, Rufous-crowned Roller, White-bellied Tit,
Jackson’s Widowbird, Southern Red Bishop, Red-billed Buffalo-Weaver,
Red-billed Quelea, Village Weaver, African Silverbill and Cut-throat.

I have attached the results of the eBird World Species Count and it
makes fascinating reading. Kenya was the top scorer for Africa, with
just 23 participants which is a very low number compared to Colombias
massive achievement of 1547 species seen on that day (more species
than all East Africa has ever recorded), the event was widely
publicised, and promoted with National Pride, the President was
backing the event and with assistance even from their National Air
Force, they had over 5000 people recording birds from every corner of
the nation. So our 23 Kenyan participators were not only greatly
outclassed by the avifauna, but also by the army of birders, and
really did literally include their army!  We can be proud of our 481
and leading the African continent, but the saddest part is that our
one person Kakamega total came in a day too late, and had we have got
this data in on time, according to David Guanieri’s calculation we
would have been 507!!!
Australia with 490 had a lucky escape with our late figures, but next
year we must show the world what we can do with a little more
organising and people placement in key areas. I really think that we
can come top in the Old World where we were third for the non-Americas
region, and neither of the other two ahead of us (India and
Australia), managed to reach 600… for Kenya 600 should be a walk in
the Park! Enjoy the attached read of the final report. We have to show
the world in 2019 that Kenya is still the top birding destination.

Best for now
Brian