NAIROBI NATIONAL PARK 30th NOVEMBER 2018

On the last day of November Fleur Ng’Weno and myself having checked in
were waiting for Jennifer Oduore to appear. There had been a Matatu
strike and she was having difficulty in getting to the Park from her
home.
Whilst waiting we decided to have a walk around the main car park
area. It was quite busy with up to ten Willow Warblers, single Garden
Warbler and Spotted Flycatcher, amongst the migrants. It was very
overcast and looked threatening. Many resident were active including a
pair of silent Honeybirds, but so dark we could not be sure whether
they were Green-backed or Wahlberg’s. I took an image, and on
lightening it up could clearly see that the bird was a Green-backed,
very useful birding tools cameras! (See image). We had a good time but
then the skies opened, we were fortunate to be near a shelter over a
petrol pump when it happened. When it stopped the birds became
exceedingly active all around us. In the meantime Jennifer had now
taken a Boda Boda and was having a fairly damp ride. Whilst we were
now being offered tea, coffee and snacks but a lady working in the new
restaurant by the car parking area, which is well worth noting if you
fancy refreshments before you go in, or it’s pouring with rain and you
will only be sitting in a vehicle with streams of water running down
the panes unable to see anything. I said I would put the word out for
them and this is it!
About 8.20pm Jennifer appeared and was as cheerful as if she wasn’t
wet, tired and fed up with the morning. She was soon processed and we
set off to KWS Mess.

There was less activity than in the car parking, but a few
Nightingales were active and a single Blackcap, but there wasn’t a
good representation of the residents. So we continued to Ivory Burning
Site, a Brown-backed Woodpecker on the way then more Nightingales, a
few Blackcaps and Garden Warblers but otherwise quiet.

We had planned on leaving early afternoon and realised that we would
not make it to the Athi end, and decided to stay in the Northern end,
in fact we never left “Finch Pentad.”
At Nagalomon Dam were the usual suspects but the only Fish Eagles were
perched high above the dam a long way into the forest. Four Darters
were present, and single immature Black-crowned Night-Heron, Great
Egret and Yellow-billed Stork, and three African Spoonbills. There was
a female Eurasian Marsh Harrier over the back of the dam. Around the
edge were five Black-winged Stilts, but no other Palearctic waders,
and in the Rus bushes Blue-naped Mousebirds were gorging on the
fruits.
We took the back road to Hyena Dam, but it was quiet as well as
getting late, whilst at the dam was a Yellow-billed Egret, a pair of
Crowned Cranes, a dozen Black-winged Stilts, six Long-toed Plovers, a
Ruff, a very jaunty Common Snipe (see image), three Green, two Common
and thirty Wood Sandpipers, whilst on the causeway was a young
Eurasian Cuckoo (see image), a few Eurasian Bee-eaters were circling
around, and a Rosy-breasted Longclaw was starting to sing though did
not show much colour. A couple of Banded Martins came in to drink with
the other Swallows present, but very few Barn were seen today.