Thanks for sharing your observations Pieter and Washington. It seems Karen-Ngong is one of the better places for the species, possibly due to it being slightly higher elevation than Karura. For those interested, I've copied below, the Jan-Dec seasonal occurrence bar chart from 40 years of Nairobi records stored at eBird. Many of these will be referable to birds seen on Wednesday Morning Bird Walks but there is definitely some seasonality, with no June records for example, and occurrence clustering in Feb-May and Sep-Oct to some extent. It seems plausible there are resident birds at Kibuku although that is just outside city limits.

Numerically, Nairobi records have declined as follows (# of reports):

1980-1984: 2

1985-1989: 2 (eBird observer effort fairly low until 1990's)

1990-1994: 10

1995-1999: 10

2000-2004: 5

2005-2009: 7

2010-2014: 2

2015-2019: 1 (not including Pieters report)

Has anyone seen a Brown-capped Weaver in Nairobi in recent years? There are at least 25 Nairobi specimens and field observations up to the early 1990's, and nothing (apparently) since. At least eight forest species have disappeared from Nairobi since the early 1900's, and formerly common forest species in Nairobi on the cusp of extirpation today (only 1 or 2 records since 2000) include Black-headed Apalis and Yellow-bellied Greenbul.

Best Wishes,

James

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On Mon, 5 Aug 2019 at 02:42, Washington Wachira <washingtonwachira@gmail.com> wrote:

Hallo all,

Yes I agree they are resident along the western end of Ngong Road Forest blocks- and also at Thogoto and Kibiku Forests.

They are there all year round; but I have not been that side this year so I have no recent records.

Happy birding,

Washington.

On Mon, Aug 5, 2019 at 10:57 AM Pieter Hansen pieterhansen2010@gmail.com [kenyabirdsnet] <kenyabirdsnet-noreply@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

 

Hi All, 

Over the last 6 months Grey Cuckooshrike has been fairly regular in my garden in Miotoni Road, Karen, (situated next to the fenced portion of the Ngong Forest).     A single bird seem to show up at least once every two weeks.  Over the period I also once saw two birds feeding together but it is normally only the one as part of a mixed specie feeding party. 

Kind regards

Pieter Hansen

Sent from my iPhone

On 04 Aug 2019, at 17:14, James Bradley jalopyjamo@gmail.com [kenyabirdsnet] <kenyabirdsnet-noreply@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

 

Hello All,

Yes Black Herron is a first record for Nairobi and long overdue. Great find Jonathan! Please try and get a photo for the ebird list.

The cuckooshrike is the first I've heard of in Nairobi for a while. Formerly a resident in the city but now possibly only a visitor after a sharp drop in reports around the mid 90's.

Best wishes, James

On Sun, Aug 4, 2019, 05:31 Brian Finch birdfinch@gmail.com [kenyabirdsnet], <kenyabirdsnet-noreply@yahoogroups..com> wrote:

 

Hi Jonathan,
I think your Grey Cuckoo-shrike has come down from higher levels like
Aberdares as with a number of elevation migrants escaping from the
cold, but is a great record. However I think you have an even rarer
record for the Nairobi district in that Black Heron. This species has
never been recorded in Nairobi National Park, and the closest I have
seen it is Naivasha where of course it is not a rarity, and Tana
Bridge on the Thika Road where before the floodplains were cultivated
it was regular,
Best for now
Brian

On 8/4/19, Fleur Ng'weno fleur@africaonline.co.ke [kenyabirdsnet]
<kenyabirdsnet-noreply@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
> That’s a great find!
>
> Grey Cuckooshrikes were resident in Karura Forest in the past, but I have
> not seen one recently. It’s good to know they are still in or near Nairobi!
>
>
> I wonder whether it came down from highland forest because of the cold
> season?
>
> Best wishes, Fleur
>
>
>> On Aug 4, 2019, at 1:59 PM, Jonathan Mwachongo jonoiseau@yahoo.com
>> [kenyabirdsnet] <kenyabirdsnet-noreply@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
>>
>> Today 4th August 2019 we had an early bird watching me and guest starting
>> at 6.48 am, the sun raise was so beautiful from our main entrance to the
>> reception on Acacia tree birds active was so live on the branches, We saw
>> a Chin - spot Batis Olive Thrush, Commo Bulbul and 20 lesser striped
>> swallows on the roof at least 13 sitting and 7 other were flying feeding.
>> We proceeded to the Forest on the right side of the Jogging truck another
>> activities of water birds, Sacred Ibis, Great White Egret, Black Egret for
>> my first time at Windsor and the number of Reed cormorants were higher
>> than usual at least 42 on the trees Little grebe Yellow Bill Duck African
>> darta and Grey heron at the lake. As we proceeded to the Forest we had
>> another chance with feeding party after a walk where I was so challenged
>> with a bird till I share to my guest that I see a new bird here. First I
>> thought was White - eyed Slaghty Flycatcher but it’s movement on the tree
>> was strange, I had to check it again and again, the reason we had fog and
>> view was not clear. Finally I tracked it till I identified it to be Grey
>> cuckoo shrike.
>>
>> Birders is the bird on the transit or is at the Migrating feeding zone
>> first time at Windsor it is my second time see it, first I saw it at
>> Arabuko Sokoke Forest mid 2000.
>> Keep birding
>> Jonathan Mwachongo
>>
>>
>> Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPad <https://overview.mail.yahoo.com/?.src=iOS>
>>
>>
>
>

--

Washington Wachira- Safari Guide, Conservationist, Researcher and Photographer

https://www.cisticolatours.com/

P.O Box 12949-00100
Nairobi, Kenya

+254 711 706 450, +254 731 269 949

My TED Talk- For the love of birds is now live on this link

--

James Bradley
Sidney, BC

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