Kenya 2001 - November

Kenya bird list
return to Kenya
return to Africa introduction
return to Calendar

Whilst the actual birding time was a little less than fifteen days, this extraordinarily full trip ended with over 600 hundred species of birds and an equally impressive 55 species of mammals of which no less than 22 species were gazelles. It took in some of the most attractive accommodation situated in the most beautiful scenery offered by any country in the world, the perfect weather and most comfortable of climates enabled the maximum of time to be spent enjoying this country of endless wonders.

The group arrived right on schedule, and was immediately transferred to their Nairobi base. After a couple of hours we left with picnic lunches for the remainder of the day. This first glimpse of the real Africa was more than just a tantalising taster amongst the towering giraffes, ponderous rhinos and startling zebra, we were treated to our first stately Ostrich and Secretarybird, majestic Martial Eagle, skulking Painted-snipe and very local species such as Hartlaub's Bustard, White-tailed Lark and Pangani Longclaw. After such a full day, a delicious meal capped the promise of a good nights rest.

Departing Nairobi we left for our lengthy drive to Tsavo West National Park. Travelling the highway many birds were seen, but it was not until after lunch in Mtito Andei that our real birding started, dazzling Black-bellied Sunbirds in the restaurant garden together with Red-fronted Tinkerbirds, nearby we encountered the scarce Jameson's Firefinch, raucous Broad-billed Rollers and quizzical Bare-eyed Thrushes. Entering the gates on our way to Nguliawe we found Plain Nightjar on the road, seemingly unseasonable Madagascar Bee-eaters hawking from overhead wires and numerous Eurasian Rollers crowning roadside bushes. Our evening meal was punctuated with arrivals of three magnificent Crested Porcupines and an obliging Leopard.

We had an early breakfast whilst abundant palaearctic migrants that had arrived in a fall the previous night thronged in the bushes. Large numbers of Red-tailed and Red-backed Shrikes were more prominent than the variety of warblers such as River, Olive Tree and Marsh, consuming the buffet of light-attracted insects. Our morning excursion took us into the dry commiphora bushland where we found such specialities as Scaly Chatterer, Red-naped Bush-shrike, Pringle's Puffback and Tiny Cisticola. Other arid zone species on the extreme southern edge of their range included Vulturine Guineafowls which in response to pre-recorded tape walked a catwalk in single file, dressed in virtually fluorescent blue, strikingly and intricately patterned in black and white, right in front of our four-wheeled drives. Black-headed Plovers were also striking, but the none-the-less interesting Pale Prinias did not catch the eye to the same extent. Numerous Paradise and Straw-tailed Whydahs cavorted their extravagant attire in their attempts to find favour with the females present. The abundance and variety of bird species was a little overwhelming, but shy Lesser Kudu, another Leopard, and the lucky find of a Peter's Beaked Snake all contributed to an interesting day.

That night saw another major arrival of palaearctics, and we witnessed the ringing of many species of migrants caught the previous night, and kindly shown by the very enthusiastic and dedicated Ngulia Ringing Group. It was good to compare the rather similar looking warblers such as Olive-tree and Olivaceous, as well as seeing more colourful species such as Irania and Rufous Bush-Chat at such close quarters.

Our journey towards Amboseli National Park was not without event, a Black-bellied Starling at the small swamp en route should not have been in the region, and maybe originated from an unknown population in the not so distant Chyulu Hills, sleepy Verreaux's Eagle-Owls blinked at us from some tall acacias, super flavescent African Golden Weavers were adding to their nests near the underwater observatory at Mzima Springs, the nuptial dance of two very different looking Black Mambas was watched for a long time, and the discovery of four Sooty Falcons feeding on aerial insects had us spilling from the vehicles. Just before we entered the portals of Amboseli, a stunningly beautiful Flap-necked Chameleon wavered across the road. Once inside the gates three species of Sandgrouse greeted us, and the extensive swamps abounded with marsh birds, but we hastened to our luxurious Tortilis Tented Camp leaving the birds for he following day. The arrival of a Barn Owl in the bar provided an interruption to the evening's bird-list proceedings, before we embarked on a meal of cordon-bleu standard that any chef would deservedly been proud to claim as their own creation.

After an early morning wake up call with delicious hot coffee, we had a short walk around the grounds before breakfast, enabling a second sighting of Wahlberg's Honeybird as a catch-up for several people, then had breakfast before heading off for the morning. Venturing out we found uncommon migrants like Spotted Redshank and Temminck's Stint, uncommon afrotropicals such as Chestnut-banded Plover and Black Egret, and huge numbers of marshland species, towering sedate Saddle-billed Storks to dumpy, hyper-active Black Crakes. Away from the water we found Two-banded Coursers, Collared Pratincoles as well as both Spotted and Water Thick-knees. Lions lazed in the grass, elephants and hippos were omnipresent, and hyenas were encountered frequently.

The meals were perfectly delicious, as we had come to expect, and after such a busy day, slept very easily.

With the early morning routine much as the previous morning, we had breakfast and departed early for our long journey back to Nairobi. On a swamp we found an impressive assortment of species which included Purple Swamphen, White-backed Duck, and Black-tailed Godwit, whilst in the open plains and scrubland one rare lark fell after another, and superb views were had of Short-tailed and Somali Short-toed as well as Singing, Fawn-coloured, Pink-breasted, Rufous-naped, Red-capped and Fischer's Sparrowlarks. On the return to Namanga, thanks to a well-worked Pearl-spotted Owlet that attracted no less than 42 species towards it, we stumbled on a very isolated population of Pygmy Batis. Numerous other pauses on our journey brought in African Penduline-tit, Black-faced Waxbill and Southern Grosbeak Canary. After the list took so long, it was calculated that we had recorded over 240 species that day, which explained why we felt a little tired.

An early departure to Thika provided us with our only African Finfoot, Trumpeter Hornbill, Brown-hooded Kingfisher and Grey-olive Greenbuls for the tour, then continued on to Mountain Lodge for lunch. In the afternoon we had our first looks at the mountain species finding such niceties as eastern Bronze-naped Pigeon, Scarce Swift, Red-fronted Parrot, Narina Trogon, Mountain Yellow Warbler..... but the most annoyingly frustrating species was a very noisy Buff-spotted Flufftail which commenced its fog-horn refrain late afternoon, continued into the evening and was still wailing the next morning. Mammals were also evident with visitations from elephants, rhinos and buffalos in the heavy league, whist Large-spotted Genet, four mongoose species and Suni made up some of the lesser league.

After early morning at Mountain Lodge, we proceeded slowly to Naro Moru River Lodge for lunch. On the way we encountered a whole host of interesting species, African Crowned Eagle, White-headed Woodhoopoe, Moustached Green Tinkerbird, Brown-backed Scrub-Robin, Long-tailed Widowbird and African Firefinch. In the grounds we found an obliging African Black Duck, Hartlaub's Turaco, Purple-throated Cuckooshrike, and a pair of dazzling Tacazze Sunbirds with a nest underneath a large leaf.

After our filling breakfast, we had an early start on our long haul to Lake Baringo, firstly drawing out a Common Quail, finding flocks of Jackson's Widowbirds, and fence-sitting Greater Kestrels as we passed through the Solio grasslands where we encountered no less than seven Golden Jackals. On the road to Nyahururu, Mel's sharp eyes located Mackinder's Eagle Owl roosting on a cliff, Angola Swallows were found nesting under a bridge, and a responsive pair of Levaillant's Cisticolas were easily located. After passing through Nakuru we found roadside White-fronted Bee-eaters and Silverbirds, soon arriving at Baringo for the night.

After our pre-breakfast walk we had a scrumptious breakfast whilst numerous species helped themselves to the generous handout on the bird-table. Fan-tailed Ravens certainly ruled the roost, but African Mourning Doves monopolised by biomass. Ten species of Weavers and three Starlings still managed to get sustenance, as did an attractive pair of Jackson's Hornbills. After breakfast we visited the nearby cliffs where we found Bristle-crowned Starlings, Brown-tailed Rock-Chats, and at a swampy area had superb views of Dwarf Bittern. Nearby we found Spotted Eagle Owl, this race cinerascens sometimes being treated as a separate species Greyish Eagle Owl, also encountering White-faced Scops Owl, and Heuglin's Courser on it's nest. After lunch we departed, retracing our steps to Nakuru, and seeing the very attractive black-headed race feldegg of Yellow Wagtail on the way.

After breakfast we were treated to the awesome sight of up to a million shimmering roseate Lesser Flamingos many of which were copied in all their glory in cellulose. Amongst these gatherings we located many other interesting species, amongst them two dark-phase Dimorphic Egrets, Greater Sand Plover, two immature Slender-billed Gulls, whilst two Greater Spotted Eagles sitting side by side was a most surprising find. In the evening we were treated to a twenty-minute spectacle of a pair of African Skimmers slicing through the surface of the water just in front of us.

Heading off across the Rift Valley towards Kericho we stopped briefly at a nearby patch of forest finding our only Black-and-White Casqued Hornbills, Banded Prinias, Luhder's Bush-shrike and Stuhlmann's Starlings amongst others. After a break at the tea hotel, we continued on towards the Maasai Mara. On this journey we found Banded Snake-Eagle, Ross's and Schalow's Turacos, Double-toothed Barbet, Trilling Cisticola and Fawn-bellied Waxbill. With the last light fading fast we arrived at our destination.

Spending three nights at the Mara River Camp enabled us to sample the best parts of the Maasai Mara, lion, leopard and cheetah, as well as a healthy array of other mammal species. We also identified some interesting reptiles and an array of colourful flowers that were blooming in abundance. Birds were both varied and abundant, many species that in Kenya are virtually restricted to this region, such as Rufous-bellied Heron, Usambiro Barbet, Familiar and Sooty Chats, Tabora Cisticola, Yellow-bellied Hyliota, Pale Wren Warbler and Green-capped Eremomela, other specialities included Senegal Lapwing, Little-spotted Woodpecker, Red-throated Wryneck, numerous raptor species, Red-throated Tit, Broad-tailed Warbler, Yellow-mantled Widowbird to name but a very few.

Leaving the Mara we stopped in the Kedong Valley finding our first Horus Swift, Grey-rumped Swallow and Schalow's Wheatear. In the Kieni area we easily found the endemic Sharpe's Longclaw, and found the beautiful Bar-tailed Trogon, but sadly only heard Barred Long-tailed Cuckoo. At Limuru our last species of bird for the tour was Plumed Whistling-Duck, ironically equally at home in North America.

We finished the tour with a delicious Indian meal, and also digested what we had seen and experienced over the past two weeks.

Birdlist 2002

A = number of days recorded
B = greatest daily count
H = heard only

Mammals

Reptiles

return to top of page
return to Kenya
return to Africa introduction
return to Calendar