Kenya: The Coolest Trip in Africa Set Departure Tour: May 9th to May 31st 2013 Tour Leader: Adam Scott Kennedy Tour driver and local guide: John Chege Tour Participants: J.L. & Nancy Walter and Mike Walsh Kenya: The Coolest Trip in Africa May 9-31, 2013 Introduction Kenya is a mind-blowing birding destination at any time of year but our May departure was especially well-timed. Not only did we enjoy the best weather imaginable, but we arrived in time to see a majority of resident birds in full breeding plumage, intra-African migrants just arriving, and we even caught the tail-end of the Palearctic migration, particularly good on the wader front. This classic set departure tour covered the vast array of habitats to be found within Kenya, through the verdant Guinea-Congolese rainforest at Kakamega; the Afro-montane forests of Mount Kenya, the Aberdares and Taita Hills; the very full Rift Valley lakes and papyrus swamps of Lake Victoria; the endless plains of the Masai Maral; the semi-arid bush of Tsavo East and West; and finally the bird- rich coastal forest of Arabuko-Sokoke. In total, we recorded 603 bird species, of which 582 were seen and, as is usual, we missed some typically “easy” species but made up for it with great views of some very tricky species instead – that’s birding for you! It should be mentioned that this was a relaxed tour with no ridiculously early starts or very late finishes; instead, we took our time and enjoyed our birding and, with three keen photographers on-board, we made the most of the fabulous encounters that came our way. In addition, we observed 55 mammal species and 14 reptiles. Itinerary DATE DESTINATION 9th May ARRIVE TO NAIROBI 10th May LAKE MAGADI 11th May NAIROBI NATIONAL PARK 12th May TO MOUNT KENYA 13th May MOUNT KENYA 14th May MOUNT KENYA & NARO MORU 15th May SOLIO PLAINS & THE ABERDARES 16th May LAKE NAIVASHA, KINANGOP & LAKE NAKURU 17th May LAKE NAKURU & LAKE BARINGO 18th May LAKE BARINGO, KERIO VALLEY & KAKAMEGA 19th May KAKAMEGA 20th May KAKAMEGA 21st May KISUMU (LAKE VICTORIA) TO MASAI MARA 22nd May MASAI MARA 23rd May MASAI MARA 24th May MASAI MARA TO NAIROBI 25th May TSAVO WEST 26th May TSAVO WEST 27th May TSAVO WEST, TAITA HILLS & TSAVO EAST 28th May TSAVO EAST & TO MALINDI 29th May ARABUKO-SOKOKE FOREST 30th May ARABUKO-SOKOKE FOREST 31st May ARABUKO-SOKOKE FOREST Kenya: The Coolest Trip in Africa May 9-31, 2013 9th May The group rendezvoused at the Redcourt Hotel and took an afternoon stroll around the small gardens and roads nearby the hotel to get a first taste of African bird life. Close to the main bar area, a selection of common garden birds were found to include Red-billed firefinch and their brood- parasite the Village Indigobird, tiny Bronze Mannikins, Speckled Mousebird, House and Kenya Rufous Sparrows, and Streaky Seedeater while overhead were Little Swift in numbers and a few Fischer’s x Yellow-collared Lovebird hybrids screeching past at high speed. Along the roadside nearby, we enjoyed our first of many Hadada Ibis, Red-eyed Dove, Baglafecht Weaver, Winding Cisticola and Superb Starlings, among others. This was a nice way to get our eyes honed-in on some of the commoner species that we’d see with regularity on the rest of the tour. 10th May Our destination for the day was Lake Magadi but, with so many excellent birds to stop and enjoy en- route, at times it was looking like we may never make it! With driver John negotiating his way out of the Nairobi traffic with great aplomb, we soon found ourselves at one of the higher points of the southern Rift – the aptly named Corner Baridi (meaning “cold corner”). A light mist covered the hillsides but this soon burned away as the first rays of sun kissed the short grass. Good numbers of Yellow-crowned Canary kept us entertained and Grassland Pipits bobbed nearby before two larks dropped in beside us – Short-tailed Larks! Great views were had as they fed at close range and then a Bare-eyed Thrush began to sing from the nearest tree. What a start! Short-tailed Lark, Magadi Road We slowly made our way down the hills of Magadi Road stopping every kilometre or so for more great birds including Singing Cisticola, Red-fronted Barbet, Schalow’s Wheatear, Nubian Woodpecker, Black-backed Puffback, Golden-winged Sunbird, Yellow-bellied Eremomela, Hildebrandt’s Starling, Mottled Swift, Ostrich, Taita Fiscal, Chestnut Weaver and Chestnut Sparrow, and stunning White-throated Bee-eaters sitting on the overhead wires, among many others. Before we knew it lunchtime was upon us so we stopped to enjoy the view of Lake Magadi, under what was by now a very hot sun, and could see a wash of pink over the water; it was covered with flamingos. As we finished lunch, a male Somali Golden-breasted Bunting sang nearby and as we watched he and his mate hop around, we picked up more treats in the shape of Black-throated Barbet and Northern Crombec. After lunch, we drove to the Magadi pans for closer views of Lesser and Greater flamingo and a very smart-looking Yellow-billed Stork fed beside us. One of our target species, the alkaline-lake-loving Kenya: The Coolest Trip in Africa May 9-31, 2013 Chestnut-banded Plover was then spotted and we enjoyed close views of 8 of these smart little waders, feeding alongside Little Stint and Curlew Sandpiper, both in reddish breeding plumage. Red- billed Teal, Grey-headed Gull and Pied Avocet provided part of the supporting cast of other goodies here. The journey back to Nairobi was hot and fairly uneventful although a young, large and very brown-looking Lanner caused a little excitement. Chestnut-banded Plover, Lake Magadi 11th May As entered Nairobi National Park – the only “within-city-limits” National Park in the world – we were greeted by a group of Olive Baboon and once through the main gate we drove slowly while listening to the sounds of new birds, stopping where we could to see Slate-coloured Boubou, African paradise Flycatcher and Yellow-breasted Apalis. A pair of African Black Duck were spotted flying above the forested river valley but the views were not great – this is a good record for the park. We walked the Club House gardens to find White-eyed Slaty Flycatcher, Dusky Turtle Dove and the dainty Red- cheeked Cordon-bleu, and a grumpy-looking Warthog took to following us around for a while. At the “Ivory Burning” site, a White-headed Barbet perched above us while Holub’s Golden Weaver, Little Bee-eater and Bronze and Variable Sunbirds occupied our eyes at lower levels. Around the corner, we stopped to enjoy displaying Red-collared Widowbirds and we had brief views of Parasitic Weaver (aka Cuckoo finch [which is neither a finch or weaver but actually a yellow Whydah!]) but this was to be our best sighting of the species on the tour. Along the Park’s northern road we stopped at a reed-filled marsh to try our luck with African Water Rail and were successful with two rails and a Black Crake responding to us here, and at Hyena Dam we had reasonable views of singing Little Rush Warbler while male Grosbeak Weavers were actively nest-building. further along the road, we encountered scores of Jackson’s Widowbird, including some displaying close to the vehicle, a few Grey Crowned Crane and a party of four stunning Zebra Waxbill. A huge Martial Eagle guarded her nest while Rufous-naped Larks and Yellow-throated Longclaws literally littered the road. We stopped at the Karen Primary School dam to enjoy the displaying Yellow-crowned Bishops bouncing around the reed tops like giant bumble-bees, and our driver John spotted something lurking on the other side of the dam – a Lesser Moorhen! This was a brilliant find, especially given how far away and hidden it was. By now, we’d begun to muster quite a list of plains game but we had more target birds to bag before we could enjoy lunch including Pangani Longclaw that we saw at close range in the Whistling Thorn thickets. A group of Marabou Stork and vultures, including White-backed, Ruppell’s and Lappet-faced, frequented another dam, no doubt having a drink and a wash after a bloody meal and we then headed out towards Athi Dam, Kenya: The Coolest Trip in Africa May 9-31, 2013 finding a pair of Secretarybird along the way. Surprisingly, there were few birds on the dam but nearby we had close-up views of Yellow-throated Spurfowl and another pair of Secretarybird. After lunch, it began to get a little hot and many birds seemed to be resting but there was still a lot to see including Striped Kingfisher, Black-shouldered Kite and White-browed Coucal. By the time reached the Kisembe Forest, the clouds had built up and sure enough it began to spit with rain just as we began our search for the as-yet undescribed Nairobi Pipit but it could not be located. With the already bad tracks getting soaked, we headed out of the forest, flushing a brilliant Hartlaub’s Turaco from low ground on the way, and made our final stop at the Nagolomon dam where we found a nesting colony of Black-crowned Night Heron and several African Darter. It was getting dark and late as we headed out of the park but our final surprise of the day was found walking along the road – a huge male Lion.