Dear all,

Paul Wachira, John Wanyoike, Ann Karuga and myself recently did a 3-night trip (30th May-02 June) to Kora National Park to cover some unmapped pentads. None of the pentads in this huge park had any records on the Kenya Bird Map. We managed 6 pentads in Kora but also did one in Mwingi National Reserve, all full protocols. Before leaving on the last day, we added a full protocol card to a pentad on the Meru/Kora border, along the Tana River, and another to a pentad in Meru National Park. We also accumulated adhoc records in 12 other pentads throughout the area. Unlike Meru which has some open grassy plains, Kora is completely dominated by dense thornbush. So open country birds like Secretarybird and Somali Ostrich that we saw in Meru NP were absent or very scarce in Kora. We however got many nice birds of eastern Kenya's dry bushlands, many of which were lifers or near-lifers to the whole team. Along the Tana, we added several coastal biome species. We recorded 149 bird species in total.

Some highlights included Pale Prinia, Somali Bee-eater, Pringle's Puffback, Golden-breasted Starling, Mouse-coloured Penduline Tit, Buff-crested Bustard, Black-headed Plover, White-crested Helmet-shrike of the eastern race (vinaceigularis), Pink-breasted Lark, Violet Wood-hoopoe and Variable Sunbird of the white-bellied race (albiventris). A Spot-flanked Barbet in Kora was a surprise as the area seemed too dry for it. Its dryland cousin the Black-throated Barbet was very common. A sighting of an Eastern Chanting Goshawk killing a green snake (possibly a Philothamnus sp) was also exciting! Among raptors, Pygmy Falcon, African Harrier Hawk, Gabar Goshawk, Eastern Chanting Goshawk (common), Bateleur (very common), White-backed Vulture, African Hawk Eagle and African Fish Eagle (along the Tana) were recorded in Kora. In Meru, in addition to seeing all these, (except the Fish Eagle, African HE and Gabar) we added Brown and Black-chested Snake Eagles, Tawny Eagle (nesting pair + a juv), Martial Eagle, Ruppell's Vulture and Secretarybird (pair). A Wahlberg's Eagle was just outside Meru NP on our way out.

Mammals included Lesser Kudu, Gerenuk, Desert Warthog, Bushpig, Reticulated Giraffe, White-tailed Mongoose, Dwarf Mongoose, Black-backed Jackal, Spotted Hyena (heard), Lion (heard), Wahlberg's Epauletted Fruit Bat sp, among others. These will be submitted to the Mammal Atlas of Kenya.

The Meru-Kora area and its surrounding reserves are a very interesting and wild part of Kenya that still has very low coverage on the KBM. I invite Kenya Bird Mappers to go out, explore this incredible area and add color to its pentads. Best to arrange with KWS for a ranger escort in Kora or any of the reserves apart from Meru NP. Check out the Coverage Map (http://kenyabirdmap.adu.org.za/coverage.php#menu_top) to see which pentads are still blank. See the before-after screenshots from the Coverage Map attached.