Kenya February 2019 With Sandwich Bird Tours Feb 8 The Sandwich and Deal crew left home at 3pm and got to Heathrow hotel at 8 after having been stuck in a traffic jam by the Folkestone tunnels for two and a half hours. The strong winds rendered the CCTV masts by the tunnel unstable and the self- same winds prevented operators taking them down. Apparently they weight four tons each. The diversion through Folkestone caused chaos as no re-direction signs had been placed leading up to the problem. Doreen, Adrienne, Richard and a Tessa, Fran and I met up with Miles and had a nice dinner in the Mercure Hotel. Feb 9 We jumped on the Hoppa bus at 06.15 and met up with Phil and Cathy, Peter and Claire and Linda and Terry at the departure desk. We quickly all checked in and waited for our flight with BA at just after 10 am. We left about half an hour late but generally is was an uneventful journey. Arrived at Nairobi airport about 10 pm and got picked up by hotel transport duly arriving about 11 pm. It was a basic hotel but comfortable enough for one short night Feb 10 Breakfast at 7am after which we were met by the two drivers David and Peter and set off towards Amboseli. As we approached the park three or four really interesting and quite scarce Gerenuk were seen. Very long necked antelopes who often stand on their hind legs to browse foliage from the trees. Checked in, had lunch and set off at 4pm on our first safari. Amazingly we had a couple of Cheetahs quite close to the road but they were more intent on resting than showing themselves. However they both got up for a stretch and look around giving us a few photo opportunities. Unfortunately we were looking into the light. Elephants were just everywhere as were Zebra, Wildebeest, Thomson s Gazelle, a couple of Grant s Gazelles and a couple of Bohor Reedbuck. Oltukai Lodge is a delightful place with wonderful staff, great rooms and lovely food we really enjoyed our stay here and what more could one ask for than constant views of Elephants sometimes virtually on our lawn. A pair of Saddle-billed Storks stayed a while a Hippo also came quite close to our accommodation. Feb 11 A couple of drives of the reserve produced many Elephants, antelopes and Zebras and on a lake in the park Lesser Flamingos and waders were in evidence. It had been a great introduction to the plains inhabitants of East Africa. Feb 12. Reluctantly we had to leave Amboseli but not before photographing about 200 Elephants with the backdrop of Kilimanjaro perfectly clear. This is quite unusual apparently and some sight indeed. Eventually we set off and arrived in Tsavo West and Kilaguni Serena Safari Lodge in time for lunch. An afternoon safari produced Lesser Kudu, quite a few Kirk s Dik Diks, Beira Oryx. A short nature trail where there were some Hippos and our first Crocodile also produced Madagascar and Little Bee-eaters. This is a much more densely vegetated area and therefore mammal- wise more difficult to cover, but better for birds than Amboseli. Feb 13 Early morning drive starting at 06.30. The other vehicle saw a brief view of a Cheetah walking away but my vehicle missed it. It was more than made up for with a pack of 12 Wild Dogs followed almost immediately by about 15 Spotted Hyenas in a small swamp where a
buffalo had got stuck in the mud and drowned. The Hyenas were all covered in mud trying to get to it but without much success and being in danger of getting stuck themselves. Back for breakfast which was very nice but a field breakfast has to be preferred, something we will have to try and arrange in the Mara. The afternoon drive produced Kori Bustard and again plenty of animals. The lodge water hole still appeared to be busy with buffalo, zebra and two or three of the magnificent Barisal Oryx. Waterbuck made an appearance too and after dark Elephants appeared. It is great to sit at the dinner table while being distracted by wild game. A group of 8 Masai (Southern) Giraffes appeared but they were very nervous. The took it in turn to keep a watch out in all directions while two or three of them were having a drink. They would then swap guard duties. They are ungainly animals and presumably quite easy prey for a pack of Lions. Feb 14 Breakfast at 7 and out for a drive to the gate seeing mostly birds. A Brown Snake Eagle sat up nicely, White-throated Bee-eaters were new and at the gate we noted African Firefinch, Cut-throat Finch d Arnouts Barbet, Beautiful Straw-tailed Whydahs in full plumage, Fisher s Starlings and some Grey-capped Social Weavers. It was sad to leave the park and the amazing Serena Kilaguni Lodge where the waterhole in front of the restaurant and also from our balconies was a constant source of entertainment as the Elephants, Buffalo, Giraffes, and all the other usual suspects did their business. At once stage a dust storm appeared in seconds and almost as soon as it had arrived it disappeared. However the Zebras caught up in it were totally confused and had no idea what to do. Some remained while others did a runner. We only had two nights here and thoroughly enjoyable it was too. The park itself is a little overgrown for most parts which makes animal viewing not easy but in the clear areas and waterholes viewing was great. We arrived back in Nairobi late afternoon. Our accommodation was the Troy Hotel on the outskirts of the city centre. It was a rather tired place and seriously in need of modernisation. However the staff were nice, the food acceptable and everybody had a good night s sleep. Feb 15 Breakfast at 7 and on the road again by 8 en route to Nakuru. It took quite some time to get out of the city, we stopped at a shopping mall to buy Cathy a new bag as her old one got wrecked somewhere in transit. Eventually after driving the eastern ridge of the Rift Valley we arrived at our destination. A rather plush, to say the least, Sopa Lodge. Our rooms sat on the top of the ridge overlooking the park and the lake. Very luxurious. A Long-crested Hawk Eagle put in an appearance and a flock of Yellow Bishops, all out of plumage, took a bit of working out. A couple of Rufous Sparrows, Streaky Seedeaters and Red-cheeked Cordon Blues were present too, while a Rock Martin quartered the ridge for a while. It was four o clock and time for our next safari. No special animals but plenty of birds seen. Beer and nice dinner before early night as everybody was pretty exhausted. On arrival at our cottage Fran and I heard a rather unusual song which turned out to be a Montane Nightjar, the first of the family to be identified on this trip. It clearly lives here as others got brief views over the next day or so. Feb 16 Early start at 0645 safari and not back until just after 12 Two female lions were found lying under a tree. They appeared to be waking up after a, no doubt, busy night s hunting. They were rolling around, stretching and after all the other vehicles had departed they decided it was time to rise. They got up and amazingly kept walking towards our vehicles coming with four or five feet of us giving us a cursory glance before walking off into the distance. It had
been an amazing experience and many pictures were taken. There were a number of Rothchild s Giraffes, a Black Rhino with young and a group of three or four Southern White Rhinos, all of which gave great views. A visit to the lake s edge produced some waders like Marsh Sandpipers, Little Stints and both species of Flamingo in their hundreds, 4 Darters, a tight bunch of White Pelicans and some Banded Martins. We returned for lunch after which we did our usual pm drive which perhaps did not produce much different although an adult Male Pallid Harrier in a tree was a rather unusual experience leading to initial mis- identification. A pleasant drink in the early evening before dinner and Peter s miserable failure of a magic card trick was followed by an early night. This Sopa Lodge is a delightful place to stay despite the up- hill walk from the rooms to the main building, but for those inclined a golf buggy was available on request. Feb 17 We left our accommodation to travel on to Naivasha Country Club. A very posh place to say the least. Our rooms were not quite ready so we birdied a little in the garden which is part of the 55 acre estate. A Grey Woodpecker was found as was a White-headed Barbet, some African Grey Hornbills and in front of the lodge an African Paradise Flycatcher was noted. This really is a special place on the shores of Lake Naivasha. It was also good to meet Daniel, his wife Eve and young son Jacob. Great to put a face to a name particularly as he had put the tour together. I hope we can use him again for future tours. We set out to do a boat trip but it started to rain and an open boat in the rain is not a good experience so we abandoned it and planned it for tomorrow morning. So today ended up a day of relaxation. Feb 18 A leisurely breakfast at 7 was followed by a nice boat trip on the lake. As soon as we set off we grounded and I felt it might not be a good idea to hang around too long as only a few meters away was a whole bunch of Hippos. Eventually we set off past a flock of White Pelicans, a beautiful Giant Kingfisher which was busy trying to batter to death a fish which appeared far too big for it. Great and Long-tailed Cormorants were everywhere and a number of Little Grebes seemed rather out of place to me. Fish Eagles were calling from all directions proving how rich the lake must be although how they see the fish in these murky waters is a mystery to me. The boatman threw a fish in the water and immediately an eagle descended and after a trial run it managed to catch its breakfast. A standard photo opportunity. Eventually we reached Crescent Island where we disembarked for a walk for about an hour or so. We were treated to close views of Zebras, Wildebeest and extremely tame Southern Giraffes, the latter taking no notice of us as they went about browsing very thorny acacias. Birds were good too with many Yellow Wagtails, most of which appeared to be of the flava or Blue-headed variety but others were indeterminate individuals. It did not help that many were in heavy moult. A couple of Red-capped Larks were nice to see, as was a pair of Northern Wheatears. They have a long way to go in the next week or two. A flock of Gull- billed Terns was found and a couple of Caspian and Whiskered Terns were amongst them. There were a number of waders there too including Curlew Sandpiper and Black-tailed Godwit which were new to the trip. Our boats were brought round and we returned via a lush water hyacinth bed in which a dozen or more Waterbuck of the Defassa race were feasting.
Returned to the lodge about 11.30 and had lunch an hour later. The rest of the day was taken at leisure with a bit late afternoon birding but it was too hot for most birds to be showing themselves. A White-headed Barbet in its nesthole by the swimming pool was fun to see and after dark we were treated to a number of Hippos which had left the river to graze on land based vegetation. An early night again as a long drive to the Masai Mara was planned for tomorrow. Feb 19 An uneventful journey towards the south incorporated some pretty rough gravel roads but we managed to arrive at the camp in the Masai Mara about 1.30. Already Topi was seen, although they are incredibly common here. A quick lunch, check-in, sort out in the tents and off again at 4 o clock. We had gone no distance before we chanced upon a bunch of vehicles which were watching a group of 5 Male Cheetahs on a kill. It appears these may be four brothers and a single from two different mothers who have stayed together and have travelled up from a Tanzania and stayed. We watched them for ages., We then heard about some Lions and just around the corner a pride of 12 were seen including a very young cub. They were interested in some Giraffes in the distance but gave up after the latter had spotted them and shot off. We returned to the Cheetahs who by now more or less completely finished off the Topi. Eventually they wandered off and stopped only while three of them licked eachothers faces clean. Some sight right by the road. We returned to the Lions only to find an adult female a Cheetah with a Thompson s Gazelle. Great views of her were obtained too and more photos taken. We returned for dinner after an amazing two and a half hours. Feb 20 We set off on our safari at 07.30 and almost immediately came across more Lions. In total four sets of Lions were noted today and a mating couple, a stand- off between 2 females and a pack of about 20 Spotted Hyenas all made for great entertainment. The Lions were protecting their Eland carcass of which little was left but enough to keep the Hyenas interested. A single Leopard was seen in a river bed, more Hippos, Giraffes etc. we all had good if not perhaps rather brief views of this beautiful cat. They really are difficult to find. Again we saw the 5 Cheetahs lying in the shade and amazingly in the last half a mile or so we had a flock of 8 Caspian Plovers. None of the guides have ever seen these so presumably making them quite rare although the book says they winter in the Mara and Serengeti. Feb 21 A pre-breakfast birdwatch produced a few odds and ends including Brown Parrots, Green Woodhoopoes, Red-fronted Tinkerbird, Spotflanked Barbet, Red-faced Cisticola and Woodland Kingfisher. After breakfast we set off to the sister camp, Eagle View in the Naibosho Conservancy. This is a really nice place even if the wind had got up to blow at some strength. En route we had 16+2 more Caspian Plovers while the other van had Black-winged Plover. When we arrived at our accommodation which is sat on the ridge overlooking a broad valley full of Wildebeest, Zebra and a few Eland. The former were distinctly missing from the main park. A lovely lunch followed by watching the antelopes coming down to drink while a Lesser Spotted Eagle quartered the area. It is getting horribly close to the end of the holiday and it is becoming clear that a repeat may be necessary at some stage. 4.30 and yet another drive. It did not take long before we hit upon another pride of 12 Lions.
This time there was quite a wide age range from two months, to older cubs and three adult females and male with full mane. There was a lot of interaction between different members of the family and it was great to watch them for perhaps half an hour. We had to move on as the rule in this conservancy is that no more than five cars are allowed to attend at any one time. It was time to give others a chance. Another fully grown Male was found asleep in the bushes and some Hyenas were noted. Black-winged Plovers were seen catching up with the others who saw this species a couple of days ago. We arrived back home after dark, had a lovely meal and tried to get some sleep which at times was difficult as the wind did not abate causing the tents to flap away all night long. We survived though. Feb 22 A 06.30 start and yet again we immediately came across more Lions. We did not spend too much time with them but still more pictures in the can. We continued our drive through the hundreds of Wildebeest, some Zebras, Hyenas etc. A water hole was frequented by these species which was fun to watch. Another flock of 26 Caspian Plovers were found and Temminck s Coursers were everywhere. A couple more Silverbirds were seen too. black brush on the end. As with the other hare they have huge eyes enabling them to see well in the darkness of the night. Feb 23 Our last few hours in the field before breakfast. Two people stayed back at the camp, four of us went out in the vehicle while the rest decided on a walk accompanied by four Masai warriors armed with spears. They walked the savanna just below the lodge. It was not long before our driver got a message that the walkers had found a female Cheetah with three cubs and a couple of Lions too. We turned the vehicle round and made our way back to virtually our starting point. We soon found the three cubs looking quite relaxed and watching their mother in the distance. She had spotted some Impala and Wildebeest and eventually stalked her potential prey. We watched her hunt, the speed of which was incredible but to no avail. They got away. It was great to watch. While Fran was brushing her teeth in the tent she watched all this commotion going on too. The cubs did not get involved as they would have ruined the hunt. Eventually they joined their mother and started playing and rolling around like kittens do. It was a great finale to a fantastic two weeks of wildlife experiences and one that already is being planned for a repeat in 2020. As great drive and back for breakfast and a break until 5 o clock when we went out again. As the sun was setting we stopped for a sun downer which gave us opportunities to take pictures of Wildebeest and others against a beautiful orange sky. Paul Simon s song Under the African Sky comes to mind but what he did not mention were the Hyenas which eventually persuaded us to get back into the vehicles. As it got dark more Lions were noted and one female was fascinated by a pair of Egyptian Geese with chicks but I guess the snack was just too small to make the effort. A Scrub Hare was seen but more fun were the Spring Hares which are nocturnal. They are just like miniature kangaroos with long tails with a
Bird Name Common Ostrich White-Faced Whistling Duck Fulvous Whistling Duck African Black Duck Yellow-Billed Duck Red-Billed Teal Hottentot Teal Cape (Silver) Teal Egyptian Goose Spur-Winged Goose Helmeted Guinea Fowl Yellow-Necked Spurfowl Red-Necked Spurfowl Coqui Francolin Crested Francolin Scaly Francolin Lesser Flamingo Greater Flamingo Little Grebe Black-Faced Sandgrouse Yellow-Throated Sandgrouse Rock Dove (Town Pigeon) Speckled Pigeon African Green Pigeon Laughing Dove Dusky Turtle Dove Cape Turtle (Ring-Necked) Dove Red-Eyed Dove Emerald-Spotted Wood Dove Namaqua Dove Montane Nightjar Nyanza Swift African Black Swift Mottled Swift African Palm Swift Little Swift White-Browed Coucal Red-Knobbed Coot Black Crake Southern Grey-Crowned Crane White-Bellied Bustard Buff-crested Bustard Kori Bustard White-Bellied Go-Away Bird Bare-Faced Go-Away Bird Pied Avocet Black-Winged Stilt Black-Headed Lapwing African Wattled Lapwing Long-Toed Lapwing Black-Winged Lapwing Crowned Lapwing Spur-Winged Lapwing Blacksmith Plover Common Ringed Plover Caspian Plover Kittlitz's Plover Three-Banded Plover Water Thickknee African Jacana Greater Painted Snipe Collared Pratincole Temminck's Courser Double-Banded Courser Common Snipe Marsh Sandpiper Common Greenshank Wood Sandpiper Common Sandpiper Green Sandpiper Black-Tailed Godwit Ruff Little Stint Temminck's Stint Lesser Black-Backed Gull Grey-Headed Gull Caspian Tern Gull-Billed Tern Whiskered Tern African Skimmer Marabou Stork Saddle-Billed Stork White Stork Woolly-Necked Stork Yellow-Billed Stork White-Breasted Cormorant
Reed (Long-Tailed) Cormorant African Darter Great White Pelican Pink-Backed Pelican Hamerkop Grey Heron Purple Heron Black-Headed Heron Great White Egret Intermediate Egret Little Egret Western Reef Egret Cattle Egret Squacco Heron Black-Crowned Night Heron Glossy Ibis Hadeda Ibis African Sacred Ibis African Spoonbill White-Backed Vulture Ruppell's Griffon Lappet-Faced Vulture Hooded Vulture Secretary Bird Black-Shouldered Kite Yellow-Billed Kite Western Marsh Harrier Montagu's Harrier Pallid Harrier Bateleur African Fish Eagle Tawny Eagle Steppe Eagle Wahlberg's Eagle Martial Eagle Long-Crested Eagle Brown Snake Eagle Black-Chested Snake Eagle Augur Buzzard African Harrier Hawk (Gymnogene) Eastern Chanting Goshwak Pearl-Spotted Owlet Speckled Mousebird Blue-Naped Mousebird Lilac-Breasted Roller Purple Roller European Roller Little Bee-eater White-Throated Bee-eater Madagascar (Olive) Bee-eater Northern Carmine Bee-eater African Malachite Kingfisher Pied Kingfisher Giant Kingfisher Grey-Headed Kingfisher Striped Kingfisher Woodland Kingfisher African Hoopoe Green Woodhoopoe Von der Decken's Hornbill Northern Red-Billed Hornbill Eastern Yellow-Billed Hornbill African Grey Hornbill Southern Ground Hornbill Lesser Honeyguide White-Headed Barbet D'Arnaud's Barbet Spot-Flanked Barbet Red-Fronted Barbet Red-Fronted Tinkerbird Grey Woodpecker Cardinal Woodpecker Nubian Woodpecker Common Kestrel Grey Kestrel African Hobby African Pygmy Falcon Brown (Meyer's) Parrot Red(Orange)-Bellied Parrot Fischer's Lovebird Northern White-Crowned Shrike Common Fiscal Taita Fiscal Grey-Backed Fiscal Long-Tailed Fiscal Lesser Grey Shrike Isabelline Shrike Black-Backed Puffback Tropical Boubou Grey-Headed Bushshrike
Brubru Eastern Black-Headed Oriole Fork-Tailed Drongo Cape Crow House Crow Pied Crow Rufous-Naped Lark Red-Capped Lark Fischer's Sparrow Lark Barn Swallow Angolan Swallow Red-Rumped Swallow Wire-Tailed Swallow Lesser Striped Swallow Common House Martin Banded Martin Rock Martin Black Saw-wing White-Headed Saw-wing African Blue Flycatcher White-Bellied Tit Scarlet-Chested Sunbird Marico Sunbird Collared Sunbird Variable Sunbird Beautiful Sunbird Tacazze Sunbird Black-Bellied Sunbird Eastern Violet-backed Sunbird Abyssinian White-Eye Arrow-Marked Babbler Blackcap Red-Faced Crombec Grey-Backed Camaroptera Grey-Capped Warbler Rattling Cisticola Winding Cisticola Stout Cisticola Red-Faced Cisticola Hunter's Cisticola Southern Black Flycatcher Northern Black Flycatcher Spotted Flycatcher African Grey Flycatcher Ashy Flycatcher African Paradise Flycatcher Grey-Crested Helmet-Shrike Cape Robin-Chat White-Browed Robin Chat Northern Anteater Chat Sooty Chat Silverbird Northern Wheatear Isabelline Wheatear Pied Wheatear Schalow's Wheatear Dark-Eyed Bulbul Red-Billed Oxpecker Yellow-Billed Oxpecker African Wattled Starling Red-Winged Starling Slender-Billed Starling Fischer's Starling Violet-Backed Starling Golden-Breasted Starling Superb Starling Hildebrandt's Starling Greater Blue-Eared Starling Ruppell's Long-Tailed Starling Yellow Bishop Speckle-Fronted Weaver Grey-Capped Social Weaver Baglafecht Weaver Black-Necked Weaver Spectacled Weaver Yellow (African Golden) Weaver Taveta Golden Weaver Village Weaver Red-Headed Weaver Red-Billed Buffalo Weaver White-Headed Buffalo Weaver White-Browed Sparrow Weaver Straw-Tailed Whydah Purple Grenadier Black-and-white Mannikin Jameson's Firefinch African Silverbill Red-Cheeked Cordon-bleu Common Waxbill Cut-Throat Finch
House Sparrow Kenyan Rufous Sparrow Northern Grey-Headed Sparrow Parrot-Billed Sparrow Bush (Bushveld) Pipit African (Grassveld) Pipit Plain-Backed Pipit Red-throated Pipit Mountain Wagtail African Pied Wagtail Western Yellow Wagtail Golden Pipit Yellow-Throated Longclaw Pink-Throated (Rosy-Breasted) Longclaw African Citril White-Bellied Canary Yellow-Fronted Canary Yellow-Crowned Canary Streaky Seedeater Mammal Name Yellow-Winged Bat Yellow Baboon Olive Baboon Vervet Monkey Abyssinian Back and White Colobus (Guereza) Eastern Springhare Unstriped Ground Squirrel Scrub Hare Bat-Eared Fox Black-Backed Jackal Dwarf Mongoose Banded Mongoose Spotted Hyena Cheetah Leopard Lion African Elephant (Plains) Black-Necked Rock Hyrax Bush (Yellow-Spotted) Hyrax Plains Zebra Square-Lipped (White) Rhinoceros Black Rhinoceros Giraffe African Buffalo Common Eland Blue Wildebeest Coke's Hartebeest Topi Beisa Oryx Lesser Kudu Impala Gerenuk Grant's Gazelle Thomson's Gazelle Common Waterbuck Bohor Reedbuck Kirk's Dik Dik Naivasha Dik Dik Common Warthog Common Hippopotamus African Grass Rat
John van der Dol Sandwich Bird Tours March 2019