Dear All,
The karelini Turkestan Shrike in the 9th March montage which I said
was very strange as it had a blackish line down the back, I think this
is an artefact, and is the shadow from the twig to the left of the
bird,
Best for now
Brian

On 3/12/19, Brian Finch <birdfinch@gmail.com> wrote:
> NAIROBI NATIONAL PARK 9th MARCH 2019
>
>
> Despite being a Saturday, there was no traffic on Magadi Road or
> Langata Road and we arrived at the Main Gate a little after 6.30am.
> The car-park was fairly full, but the queue for the Entry office came
> out the door right across the car-park and formed a second tail.
> Nevertheless with the two Customer Service Clerks working at the
> counters we were out of there in twenty minutes.
>
> There had been no recent rain, temperatures above average with a
> strong wind causing some damage to trees locally. Today the weather
> was exactly the same. A walk around the Main Car Park gave us a few
> birds not encountered later such as Bronze and Northern
> Double-collared Sunbird, but whilst a good variety it didn’t
> contribute very much. There were over a dozen Willow Warblers with
> only three seen inside the Park.
>
> At 6.50am it was still quite dark and not much wanted to say anything,
> but a few Nightingales broke the silence as did a Eurasian Reed
> Warbler, and a few more Nightingales were at Ivory Burning Site but
> little else. There was another on the Nagalomon Dam Causeway, but so
> little of note on the dam. No Palearctic Waders, but brightened up
> with a male Palearctic Little Bittern (see image). There was also a
> Squacco Heron which is likely the bird that has been here for a few
> months now. Four African Spoonbills were not showing any signs of
> nesting activity, but one of the six Darters came back with a beakfull
> jam-packed with leafy twigs. Just one Fish Eagle was perched near the
> Mokoyeti Bridge and was the only one of its kind seen today. Also here
> were the days only Spotted Flycatcher and a singing Zanzibar Greenbul.
> Taking the back road to Hyena Dam the quiet continued but at the units
> there was a surprise in finding a pair of Parrot-billed Sparrows,
> seemingly the first for the north of the Park, (see Images and
> discussion). A Grey-headed Kingfisher was perched on a rock in the
> grassland, not what you would consider typical habits or habitat (see
> Image). As usual we had the first of four Augur Buzzards along here.
>
> At Hyena Dam it was nice to see the young Goliath Heron is still happy
> where it is (see Images), there were single Great, Yellow-billed (see
> Image and discussion) and Little Egrets as well as many Black-headed
> Herons. It had been a good day for herons already! Also present were
> single Yellow-billed and Marabou Storks and two African Spoonbills.
> The waders included five Long-toed Plovers inclusive of the
> white-winged bird, over a dozen Black-winged Stilts, a Common Snipe
> (see Image and discussion), one Green, twenty Wood and three Common
> Sandpipers, a Little Stint, and the days only Ruff.  The only
> passerine of any interest was a female flava Yellow Wagtail. We drove
> between the Mokoyeti and Hyena Dam run-off, but it looks like after
> its fine farewell last week the Greater Spotted Eagle might have
> headed back to his northern nesting area. We have long suspected he
> was a he, but the display last week proved it. As a consequence not
> one Aquila Eagle came our way today. At the Oxbow a couple of Sedge
> Warblers were churring, and the first of just three Black-winged Kites
> seen today appeared. Very considerable drop from over a dozen last
> week.
>
> Before arriving at the Kingfisher Swamp which was without water, we
> had a flock of over twenty Parasitic Weavers which contained many
> adult males in breeding plumage (see Image), later we found the first
> two of a meagre three Whinchats seen today (thirteen last week), and
> the first of seven Northern Wheatears, the only widowbird of the day
> was a male White-winged in full breeding dress. Kingfisher Picnic Site
> had a few people but no desired birds. On to Ololo along the Mbagathi
> River gave us a few species, it still had its Nightingale, the
> Secretarybird was tight on its nest, and there were incredible views
> of a Brown Parisoma at eye-level and a couple of Speckle-fronted
> Weavers in the acacias. At the quarry was out first of just two
> Isabelline Wheatears today, and a very strange Turkestan Shrike, the
> only migrant shrike of the day, (see Image and discussion).
>
> Nothing was there to entertain us at the Pallid Honeyguide spot, who
> still appears to be on holiday, but further along the Mbagathi was a
> very large adult Martial Eagle. At Rhino Circuit we found Red-throated
> Tit and the first of two Olivaceous Warblers today, and a solitary
> Lesser Masked Weaver, then our only Pied Wheatear was along the
> Pipeline.
>
> Athi Dam was a bit more interesting with six Yellow-billed, a tumble
> to just thirteen Whites and two-hundred Marabou Storks, but there was
> a remarkable concentration of 28 adult African Spoonbills, (see
> Image). Six Black-crowned Night-Herons roosted on the Causeway, and
> were our tenth heron species for the day, there were also single Great
> and Yellow-billed Egrets, a young Pink-backed Pelican dropped in, a
> Ruppell’s Vulture came in to drink, the first two Grey Crowned Cranes
> were present, a Spotted Thick-knee, and the Palearctic waders
> consisted of six Black-winged Stilts, four Common Ringed Plover, a
> Common Snipe, eight Greenshank, ten Wood, one Green and four Common
> Sandpipers and eight Little Stints, there was  also  a dozen
> Kittlitz’s Plovers. The best bird was a breeding plumaged Whiskered
> Tern, just the fourth documented record for NNP (see Image).  Banded
> Parisoma were in the Acacia mellifera but no migrant warblers.
>
> Now heading homewards, there was a pair of White-bellied Bustards as
> we were climbing out of Athi Basin, and a Kori Bustard trying to shade
> itself on the plains (see Image), at Karen Primary School Dam a pair
> of Little Grebes and another Common  Snipe, at Eland Hollow Dam was a
> Secretarybird, a female type Western Marsh Harrier searching for frogs
> (see images), a couple of Banded Martins and a few Quailfinch. There
> was a male Yellow Wagtail that was pale grey headed but no
> supercilium, slightly darker ear-coverts, (see Image), probably
> Ashy-headed Wagtail cinereicapilla. Stopping off at Hyena Dam we found
> our second pair of Crowned Cranes for the day, there was a Common
> Buzzard on the edge of the forest, and finally tiny Langata Dam was
> successfully attracting birds and held the male Saddle-billed Stork
> (see Image), single Great and Yellow-billed Egrets, the family of five
> Crowned Cranes that live in this area, single Common Snipe feeding
> with a Common Bulbul drinking right next to it created a sight not
> seen before, two Wood Sandpipers, several Eurasian Bee-eaters at last
> and a female flava Yellow Wagtail.
>
> We were out of Langata Gate at 5.15pm having had a very pleasant day,
> though appalling for migrants with so many expected species just not
> showing up thanks to Arabs eating them by the millions, now we are
> really seeing the effect this bird slaughter is taking on our
> migrants. Still not one migrant Falcon recorded in NNP since last
> May!!!  In spite of this we recorded 181 species. Barn Swallows were
> in very low numbers today. Mammals were widespread, seemingly unusual
> numbers of Giraffe all over the Park, the major concentrations of
> plains game was in the Athi Basin.
>
> Best for now
> Brian
>
> KEY TO THE MONTAGE FOR TODAY
>
> 1	LITTLE BITTERN
> This Adult Male on Nagalomon Dam was of the migrant nominate race.
>
> 2	PARROT-BILLED SPARROW
> There was a pair at the units back of Hyena Dam. Last March I
> photographed a bird I assumed Parrot-billed at the same place,
> thinking this the first ever record for the north of the Park. When I
> downloaded and looked at the image, I was amazed to find that it
> wasn’t one but the Parks first ever Northern Grey-headed Sparrow the
> image of which is no.3. Today’s birds were clearly Parrot-billed
> Sparrows and are the first record for the north of the Park. At home
> adjacent to the Park, in single pairs they are a common garden
> resident, but they really avoid coming into NNP.
>
> 3	NORTHERN GREY-HEADED SPARROW
> Not seen today, see no.2.
>
> 4	GREY-HEADED KINGFISHER
> This was at the back of Hyena Dam, and not a species usually
> associated with sitting in the open on a rock in grassland!
>
> 5	GOLIATH HERON
> The immature is still at Hyena Dam, now starting the fourth week. It
> is absurdly tame, not even blinking as you pass within three metres.
> In fact as the right image shows, it is quite bored of us, and falls
> asleep standing in the water!
>
> 6	PARASITIC WEAVER
> I thought our wintering birds had gone a while ago, but this flock of
> over twenty containing many adult males in breeding dress, was at the
> junction of the north road and road to Kingfisher.
>
> 7	TURKESTAN SHRIKE
> Alarmingly this was the only migrant shrike encountered today. It’s
> unusual in that unlike most Turkestan it is showing an all grey crown
> with no rufous. It’s an adult male with clear white speculum on the
> primaries, the black mask including the lores, but the silvery-grey
> shoulder area is unusual, as is the dark line down the back and the
> insipid rufous tail. Whilst it shows other strange features,
> grey-crowned birds are usually called type “karelini” of Turkestan.
>
> 8	WHISKERED TERN
> This bird in full breeding dress at Athi Dam was only the fourth
> documented record for NNP.
>
> 9	GREY CROWNED CRANE
> As a contribution to the National Grey Crowned Crane survey currently
> taking place, we did not have our first birds until reaching Athi Dam
> where there was a pair. The second pair were at Hyena Dam in the late
> afternoon, and the last were a family of five at Langata Dam, which
> have been usually on the now bone dry vlei on the Kisembe River road,
> and have now relocated.
>
> 10	COMMON SNIPE
> This bird gave a “penny-dropped” moment as it glanced up whilst
> feeding when a Yellow-billed Kite was circling overhead. Snipe feed
> using a long straight bill with sensitive tip and plunging it into
> soft mud repeatedly like a sewing machine. As they ram the bill into
> the mud as deep as they can get, so that the base of the bill and
> sometimes part of the forehead enters the mud or at least surface
> water, they do not want to be continually blinded by mud getting in
> the eyes. So as they have evolved with this specialist feeding, the
> eyes have migrated to the back of the head. When I looked at this
> photograph I could see that not only are the eyes so far back but
> their direct frontal vision must be non-existent as the eyes are
> behind the cheeks. Apart from related Woodcock I cannot think of any
> other birds that have rear vision to this extent. But then as vision
> is not required for food finding and is substituted by the sensitive
> bill tip, the bird must still have to see predators, and it can
> clearly see anything sneaking up from overhead with the rear-vision
> mirrors it has been given. I have never thought of this before, but
> what imagery is it seeing when flying it must be like running a film
> backwards!
>
> 11	KORI BUSTARD
> It was a horribly hot day, with a very strong but still warm wind.
> This bird was trying to find maximum shade under an Acacia. The birds
> have such low crowns, it makes you wonder how much room there is for a
> deductive brain!
>
> 12	IMPALA WAITING FOR TRAIN
> You can see what the attraction for them is here.
>
> 13	WESTERN MARSH HARRIER
> This female-plumaged bird was looking for frogs on foot by searching
> the swampy margins. Then would fly a short distance to another part of
> Eland Hollow Dam.
>
> 14	YELLOW-BILLED EGRET
> Having just had the Snipe revelation as to advantages of eye
> positioning, it was almost immediately followed by this egret, but in
> a totally different way. These birds have to have accuracy when using
> their bill to stab at a prey item, so their eyes must see directly in
> front of the bill but in a three dimensional image to judge distance
> and ensure an accurate strike. So their eyes protrude from the side of
> the head not far behind the base of the bill, but the eyes are not
> flat against the head but facing forward as can be clearly seen in
> this image.
>
> 15	SADDLE-BILLED STORK
> This is the resident male (golden eye) who during the dry period
> wanders all over NNP looking for shallow waters and marshy areas. Here
> it has joined a number of other birds at Langata Dam.
>
> 16	AFRICAN SPOONBILL
> This is a largest gathering I have ever seen in NNP; there are
> twenty-eight adults here at Athi Dam; this surely indicates a marked
> movement.
>