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The following largely unconfirmed records have appeared in recent Bulletins of the African Bird Club and are for information only.
The following records are from November 2006 - May 2007 unless otherwise stated. A Long-tailed Cormorant Phalacrocorax africanus in the Masai Mara on 17 February is a very unusual record for this site. On 25 November, only 20 Great White Pelicans Pelecanus onocrotalus were counted at Lake Nakuru, compared to an estimated 150,000 on the same date in 2005. An adult White-backed Night Heron Gorsachius leuconotus was in Nairobi National Park (=NP) on 24 January and a Little Bittern Ixobrychus minutus on the Lower Kabete, Nairobi, on 6 December, whilst Dwarf Bitterns I. sturmii were seen at Lake Jilore, Malindi, on 31 January (five), Nginyang, Lake Baringo, on 25 April (four), and Kichwa Tembo, Masai Mara, on 2 May (one). On 16 April, 500 Abdim’s Storks Ciconia abdimii were counted at Ol Tepesi, Magadi Road.
In April, Eurasian Honey Buzzards Pernis apivorus were reported from Ngong Forest, Nairobi, on 4th (one), Shimba Hills on 10th (two) and the Kongelai Escarpment on 27th (a group of six). An African Cuckoo Hawk Aviceda cuculoides was seen at Nguuni, near Mombasa, on 2 December, and a Short-toed Snake Eagle Circaetus gallicus was photographed near Malindi on 12 April. An entirely melanistic adult Ovambo Sparrowhawk Accipiter ovampensis was spotted at Lake Nakuru NP on 23 November; at the Oloololo Escarpment, Masai Mara, and young fledged on 2 May. An adult Long-legged Buzzard Buteo rufinus was along the road near Mweiga on 23 November, whilst a Greater Spotted Eagle Aquila clanga was at Lake Nakuru NP on 25 November and a Saker Falcon Falco cherrug at sewage ponds in Nakuru NP on 23 February. Along the coast, from Likoni, Mombasa, to Sabaki, Eurasian Hobbies F. subbuteo were recorded in twos and threes on 10–21 April. Two adult male Red-footed Falcons F. vespertinus were near Lake Jipe on 14 April; this species is rare in East Africa. Eight Amur Falcons F. amurensis were on the beach at Watamu on 15 April; it is quite unusual to see falcons at the coast and only when weather conditions force them down during migration.
An adult male African Blue Quail Coturnix adansonii was flushed from tall wet grass along a track in the Ndara Plains, Tsavo East NP, on 29 December; there are few records of this species in recent times. Two Buff-spotted Flufftails Sarothrura elegans were calling from a Lantana thicket at Wajee Camp, Kirinyaga, on 18 April. A Corn Crake Crex crex was at Ol Doinyo Sabuk NP on 14 January and Lesser Moorhens Gallinula angulata were found in a suburb of Nairobi on 29 November (one) and at Nginyang, Lake Baringo, on 25 April (two). A Temminck’s Courser Cursorius temminckii at Gongoni, north of Malindi, on 12 April, is an uncommon species for the coastal strip. A single Black-winged Pratincole Glareola nordmanni was observed with some Collared Praticoles G. pratincola at Amboseli NP on 19 November; the former is a very uncommon species in Kenya. Three Temminck’s Stints Calidris temminckii were at Hippo Point, Lake Nakuru, on 25 November and a Great Snipe Gallinago media at Nambale, Busia, on 30 April. On 29 March, a Sandwich Tern Sterna sandvicensis was observed at Tudor Creek, Mombasa.
Eight Grey Parrots Psittacus erithacus were seen in Rondo Retreat gardens, Kakamega, on 27 April. A large movement of Common Cuckoos Cuculus canorus occurred over at least central and eastern Kenya from the first week of April to about the 25th; an estimated 1,000 birds moved through in just 3–4 hours at Mida Creek, at the coast, on 21st. Larger numbers of Asian Lesser Cuckoos C. poliocephalus than in most years moved along the coast in mid April. A Black Coucal Centropus grillii was found in Nairobi NP on 15 November; this is far out of range, the nearest records being from the Masai Mara. A pair of African Grass Owls Tyto capensis at a nest with two chicks at Mweiga on 23 April constitutes a rare record for this species. A male Star-spotted Nightjar Caprimulgus stellatus was found dead on the road in Shaba Reserve on 22 April; this species has not previously been confirmed from the area. At Gongoni, north of Malindi, a Nubian Nightjar C. nubicus was found roosting on 12 April; an unusual species on the coast.
A Shining-blue Kingfisher Alcedo quadribrachys was seen at Adungosi, western Kenya, at same site where it was first discovered c10 years ago but has rarely been reported since. A Somali Bee-eater Merops revoilii was seen carrying food, as if breeding, at Maktau gate, Tsavo West NP, on 14 April; an unusual record if it was nesting. A juvenile Green-backed (Eastern) Honeybird Prodotiscus zambesiae was being fed by a pair of Abyssinian White-eyes Zosterops abyssinicus at Nairobi on 29 November.
The little-known Friedmann’s Lark Mirafra pulpa was found to be fairly numerous in Shaba Reserve on 22 April. Twenty Sharpe’s Longclaws Macronyx sharpei counted in a small area, at South Kinangop, on 17 April, constiutes an unusual concentration for this threatened species. A male Black-eared Wheatear Oenanthe hispanica was at seen Solio Ranch, Liakipia, on 10 December. On 25 February, a Basra Reed Warbler Acrocephalus griseldis was singing at Lake Baringo. Single Common Chiffchaffs Phylloscopus collybita were reported from the Isiolo Junction area, Timau, on 20 February (singing); the Taita Hills on 13 April, and at the Naro Moru entrance to Mt Kenya NP on 19 April. A single Wood Warbler P. sibilatrix was found among Willow Warblers P. trochilus at Serena Hotel, Samburu Game Reserve, on 21 April. A Masked Shrike Lanius nubicus remained at Lake Baringo from 25 November until late December at least. A Purple Starling Lamprotornis purpureus was at the Sio River on 29 April. A Golden-breasted Starling L. (Cosmopsarus) regius 2 km beyond Sultan Hamud on the main Mombasa road, on 16 November, is at the western limit of this species’range.
Six Rufous-tailed Weavers Histurgops ruficaudata on Koiaki, Masai Mara, on 2 May, perhaps constitute the first record for Kenya of this Tanzanian endemic. At Lower Kabete, Nairobi, 100+ Jackson’s Widowbirds Euplectes jacksoni were counted on 6 December. A pair of Orange-winged Pytilias Pytilia afra was found at Lewa Conservancy, Laikipia, on 9 August 2006 and several birds photographed at Ol Doinyo Sabuk NP on 14 January; this species has not been reported from central Kenya for many decades.
Records from October - December 2006, from the newly-created Kipini Conservancy, on the coast north of the Tana River, include the following. The last Madagascar Squacco Heron Ardeola ralloides was seen on 22 October and the last African Cuckoo Hawk Aviceda cuculoides, a migrant to the coast, on 24 October. A Corn Crake Crex crex was flushed on 10 November; there are few records on the coast. The unusual rains in October - December brought large numbers of African Crakes C. egregia (some breeding), an invasion of Lesser Moorhens Gallinula angulata in flooded grassland on 25 - 26 December and a Dwarf Bittern Ixobrychus sturmii on 26 December. A group of seven Pacific Golden Plovers Pluvialis fulva paused at a pan on 10 November, and a Broad-billed Sandpiper Limicola falcinellus was feeding on the beach the same day. At least one Temminck’s Stint Calidris temminckii wintered at a pan in December. Small groups of Forbes-Watson’s Swifts Apus berliozi passed or fed over the area from 1 November to at least 25 December, suggesting some wintered there in the unusually wet weather.
Both Eastern Green Tinkerbird Pogoniulus simplex and Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird P. bilineatus were found in forest in the area, confirming they occur further north than previously stated, as well as Pallid Honeyguide Indicator meliphilus (including one singing in a baobab). Malindi Pipits Anthus melindae were very common in the short-grass plains, with numbers probably totalling a few thousand, making Kipini Conservancy the most important area for this globally threatened Kenya endemic. A Black-and-white Flycatcher Bias musicus appeared in a mixed-species flock in a forest patch on 13 October; it was not seen again and the species’ status is unclear, but this is a major range extension. Violet-breasted Sunbirds Cinnyris chalcomelas appeared to be uncommon in the reserve, but were common in flooded thornbush around Garsen, where many were singing, in December. A female Parasitic Weaver Anomalospiza imberbis lurked around two pairs of Tawny-flanked Prinias Prinia subflava on 12 - 19 October; there are very few records from the coast. Other species not mapped for the north coast in Zimmerman et al. (1996, 2001, Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania) include Black Sparrowhawk Accipiter melanoleucus, which was widespread in Kipini, and Kurrichane Buttonquail Turnix sylvaticus, found to be common in grassland.
The following records were reported in May-November 2006. A pair of Great Crested Grebes Podiceps cristatus with a juvenile was observed at Molo on 14 October 2006; presumably the same birds were seen in July. A Dwarf Bittern Ixobrychus sturmii was at the Sabaki River mouth on 9 July and a Madagascar Pond Heron Ardeola idae at Runda Estate, on the northern edge of Nairobi, on 21 June. A white-morph Western Reef Heron Egretta gularis at Mida Creek on 26 November is an unusual record for the area. Also unusual, at least at this season, was the sighting of an adult Beaudouin’s Snake Eagle Circaetus beaudouini at Mumias, western Kenya, in mid-August. A Lesser Spotted Eagle Aquila pomarina was seen on the late date of 15 May in Shaba National Reserve. An adult Eastern Imperial Eagle A. heliaca flew over Ngulia, Tsavo West National Park, around 27 November. An adult Lesser Jacana Microparra capensis was at Limuru sewage pond in late August; this species is unusual near Nairobi. Two Eurasian Oystercatchers Haematopus ostralegus at Malindi in late August constitute an early record for this uncommon Palearctic wader. Three Brown-chested Lapwings Vanellus superciliosus were observed near Keekorok Lodge, Maasai Mara, on 22 June. An early Temminck’s Stint Calidris temminckii was at Lake Naivasha on 14 October. A Great Black-headed Gull Larus ichthyaetus at Malindi harbour on 30 November was the second this year, after many years without any sightings. At Lake Naivasha, a Common Black-headed Gull L. ridibundus in non-breeding plumage was spotted on 11 August; this constitutes an early date for this species, which 25-30 years ago was hardly recorded in Kenya. An adult Heuglin’s Gull L. heuglini at Lake Naivasha on 14 October was an unusual record for the Rift.
A Bare-faced Go-away Bird Corythaixoides personatus, seen in the first week of August, at Kisumu is also unusual for that area. A Madagascar Lesser Cuckoo Cuculus rochii was reported from Kakamega Forest in mid-August and a Half-collared Kingfisher Alcedo semitorquata from Blue Posts, Thika, in late August; the latter is one of the first records for Kenya in c.20 years. A Wahlberg’s Honeybird Prodotiscus regulus was observed in Arabuko-Sokoke Forest at the end of August and a Golden-tailed Woodpecker Campethera abingoni along the Mutembo River, Kongelai Escarpment.
A Gillett’s Lark Mirafra gilletti, photographed in Samburu National Reserve in mid-August, will be the first record from Kenya for decades, if accepted, and the first away from the extreme north-east of the country. A pair of Angola Swallows Hirundo angolensis seemed to be prospecting for a nest site in Nairobi on 16 October; this species may be spreading east. A new form of pipit ‘Nairobi Pipit’, found in Nairobi National Park a few years ago and part of the Long-billed Pipit Anthus similis complex, is regarded as a distinct species by some. A Lead-coloured Flycatcher Myioparus plumbeus was found nesting in a tree cavity at Lake Baringo on 13 June; there are relatively few nesting records in Kenya. A pair of Abbott’s Starlings Pholia femoralis was seen entering a cavity with nesting material in Gatamaiyu Forest on 5 October. Perhaps these were the same birds that nested here in 2005; this first breeding record for Kenya was unsuccessful, as the young died when the branch supporting the nest broke. On 14th a female was seen again, but no sign of breeding was observed. A first-year female Chestnut Sparrow Passer eminibey was ringed at Ngulia on 20 November; this species is very rare at the site.
Last page update 8th July 2008
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