Kenya and Tanzania November 2019 This was Bustards Birding Tours inaugural trip to Kenya and Northern Tanzania. We had 3 weeks planned on our itinerary, taking in several different habitats for range specific species, endemic birds, as well as viewing a variety of mammals. Photography was also high on the clients agenda, it was destined to be a fun trip. Day 1: 3rd November 2019 – Nairobi to Lake Nakuru After meeting up on the 2nd and having a good chat, including post rugby world cup final discussions, we met up with our local agent to discuss the trip ahead. We departed at 7 AM as planned, with our first stop an hour out of Nairobi, at Manguo Swamp. As we eagerly clambered out of the vehicle we were ticking Brown-throated Martin, Intermediate Egret, Pin-tailed Whydah along with several other common species. Our first regional special was Hunter’s Cisticola showing very well, alongside Kenya Sparrow. Highland Rush Warblers chirped from the reedbeds but refused to show themselves. What was planned as a short one hour stop stretched into 2, as we added other great birds like Hottentot Teal, Variable and Bronzy Sunbird, Lanner Falcon, Augur Buzzard, Baglafecht and Holub’s African Weaver. After getting to 42 species it was time to carry on towards Lake Nakuru, with a quick stop at the Rift Valley Viewpoint, where you look over a 1km drop into the valley, with Mt. Suswa, Mt. Margaret and Mt. Longonot in the distance. Of course, we had to check out the birds on offer too. Eastern Double-collared Sunbird (a new one for me), Abyssinian Thrush, Yellow-bellied and Crimson- rumped Waxbill and Cinnamon-breasted Bee-eater were added to the list. Lake Nakuru beckoned! After a quick packed lunch near the gate, we birded the gate area while our access fees were paid. Black-lored Babbler, Grey- headed Woodpecker, Speke’s Weaver, Eurasian Hobby and Scarlet-chested Sunbird were seen and of course photographed. We drove into the National Park, but barely 20 meters were covered before we needed to stop and add a few more to the list, including point blank photo opportunities of the abundant Superb Starling. So it continued for the rest of the afternoon, with super birding which included Ruppell’s Vulture, Martial Eagle, mind blowing views of the potentially new species, the pale bellied hubbardi race of Coqui Francolin gave incredible views, too close for some of the lenses on board! Other great species included Grey-headed Kingfisher, Red-fronted Barbet, Grey Crowned Crane, African Thrush, Nyanza Swift, White-bellied Tit, Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu and Grey-backed Fiscal. In the midst of the impressive list we were getting, Don said he’d be really impressed if we beat his best ever day of birding, which was 111 species at Bribie Island off Queensland, Australia. Well, we trashed that, with 128 species seen, a further 7 heard only, and a large chunk of the 128 photographed to boot by one or more of the group. One of the last birds for the day were a graceful pair of Grey Crowned Crane before we arrived at our comfortable lodge for the evening. Day 2: Lake Nakuru NP to Kakamega This was a fairly leisurely start as far as birding excursions go, we woke up, had breakfast and packed ready to go, with some relaxed birding around the lodge. We then set off on our drive around the south of the lake, stopping at a popular flamingo viewpoint for other safari drives – our task was more to see what waders, ducks, terns and so on were on show, and of course to add to our list. Some goodies were a single young Lesser Black-backed Gull, Greater Sand Plover, plenty of Northern Shoveler, and a favourite with the guests, the comical feeding behaviour of Cape Teal. Driving away from the lake we soon picked up a White- headed Barbet of the race albicauda. Birding was great, so after taking a while to traverse the lake and stopping at a magnificent view point for lunch, we were hard pressed to make sure we exited the park within the required 24 hours! We set off to Kakamega Forest, which held many lifers in store for the clients on our third day. A vocal “Pale-bellied” Francolin stood on a ridge next to the car screaming its lungs out. Day 3: Birding Kakamega Kakamega Forest, what a beautiful place it is. Washington, with much justification compares it to Budongo’s Royal Mile in Uganda. My first comment was that I was very much out of my comfort zone, as greenbul after greenbul call rang out, most of which I hadn’t heard for some time. I started to settle in and the two of us together with the local guide were pulling out several species as we tracked them down by sight and call. Kakamega holds several species that occur on the Kenyan list by virtue of the fact that in the country they occur only in this large tract of protected forest. One of the specials high on the clients “needs” list was the stunning Great Blue Turaco. A forest walk produced 5 of these massive birds, which posed very well for a prolonged photo shoot. On our hunt for the turaco, we happened to bump into some other striking forest species such as Blue-headed Bee-eater, Jameson’s Wattle-eye, Equatorial Akalat and Red-headed Malimbe. The photoshoot was rudely disturbed by the appearance of a striking adult Red-headed Bluebill, which sat in clear view for some photos. Other specials included the noisy and very pretty little Black-collared Apalis, competing with White-chinned Prinia for noisiest bird in the thicket. The greenbul fest included Joyful, Plain, Kakamega, Yellow- whiskered, Little, Little Grey, Toro Olive, Cabanis’s & Slender-billed. Other special birds we added to our list included Dusky Tit, Grey-throated and Yellow-billed Barbet, Least Honeyguide, Purple-throated Cuckooshrike, Chubb’s Cisticola, Green-headed and Green-throated Sunbird, Black-and-white- casqued Hornbill, White-headed Wood-hoopoe, Turner’s Eremomela, Mackinnon’s Shrike, Black- billed, Vieillot’s Black and Brown-capped Weaver and Black-faced Rufous Warbler. We concluded the day with a walk into a small grassland surrounded by forest. Our target was the very different macrocerus race of Yellow-mantled Widowbird – we found this plus a couple of surprises in the form of Fan-tailed Grassbird and a flyover of an immature Bat Hawk. Day 4: Kakamega transferring to Baringo We started off with a forest walk before breakfast which produced Snowy-crowned and Blue- shouldered Robin-Chat, as well as astounding views of a Brown-chested Alethe that kept coming back to perch on a chair in the forest! We added Yellow-throated Leaflove too before another delicious meal. Great Blue and Ross’s Turaco treated us with views in the garden, as did numerous Bronzy Sunbird feasting on nectar outside the restaurant. Our last binge on forest birding before we had to head on to Baringo added Black-throated and Buff-throated Apalis, African Emerald Cuckoo, Chapin’s Flycatcher, African Shrike-Flycatcher, Grey Wagtail, Hairy-breasted and Double-toothed Barbet, Scarce Swift, Lühder’s and Bocage’s Bushshrike, Cinnamon-chested Bee-eaters gave the group a decent farewell to the forest as they posed for photos on a low down perch. We had a short stop at King’wal Swamp to successfully look for Fan-tailed Widowbird, adding Northern Wheatear, Greater Swamp Warbler and Wire-tailed Swallow in the process. With a fairly long drive ahead we continued with a short stop at one of the view points, arriving at our comfortable lodge shortly after sunset. Day 5: Lake Baringo and surrounds We had a boat trip this morning, leaving at first light, in order to maximise photography opportunities. We weren’t disappointed, after ticking off a few species before getting onto the boat, Mourning Collared Dove being a new one, we were off. Northern Masked Weaver was our first new bird, followed closely by Striated Heron and good views of a Giant Kingfisher sitting on a lamp post. As we slowly moved along the shoreline we added some really good trip birds such as Malachite Kingfisher, Beautiful Sunbird, Black Crake, Black Heron, Sand Martin, Western Yellow Wagtail, Village, Lesser Masked and Golden-backed Weaver all in the same bush, Blue-naped Mousebird, Bristle-crowned Starling, African Grey and Nubian Woodpecker, Blue-cheeked and Northern Carmine Bee-eater. We also saw several African Fish Eagles fishing, which delighted the photographers. The boat trip was so good that breakfast was a “touch” later than planned. After satisfying our hunger, we met our local guide Benson, who had scouted the area and had some goodies up his sleeve. We moved around the area, dry scrub with large amounts of introduced flora, mainly South American cactus and thorn trees, which threatened to tear clothes, skin or both. With such a change in habitat meant several new birds were to be found. We did exactly that, and new birds included Grey Wren Warbler, Eastern Violet-backed Sunbird, affinis race of Red- fronted Tinkerbird, which not only looks a little different to our southern race, but inhabits very different habitat too. Some kids on school holidays were racing around the bush playing, unfortunately this had disturbed the nightjars Benson had found earlier – however while searching, we flushed a few Three-banded Courser which then posed for some photos, complete with a goat for company! Parrot-billed Sparrow, Rufous Chatterer and Black-throated Barbet were added in quick succession, before it was time for Benson’s next surprise, this time a Greyish Eagle Owl at its day roost (with a supporting cast of Jackson’s Hornbill in a nearby tree).