Kenya 22/12-12 Part 1 of 2

During a night of little sleep I got to experience the African night. It was truly amazing! Two Comon Genets were feeding on the fish that had been laid out by the staff, and a Mongoose of some species came running by. And the Marabou that had tried to steel food the day before was sleeping in silhouette against the dark night-sky. And as the sun started to rise at about 06.20 its rays hitting the surface of Mount Kenya gave a truly amazing view. This Lodge is really situated in a magnificent place!

Mount Kenya at sunrise, seen from Mountain Lodge.

We drove off towards teh next lodge, and the binoculars and the camera were easily accessible. But what I really needed was my bird-guide. this country is something different from what I am used to from Norway. I figured out that I would just have to give up on identifying the small passerines, and to consentrate on the larger birds. While stopping for a hort while in the town of Aberdare, I got to see two Ibises walking on the grass. These were Hadada Ibises (Hadadaibis), and they seemed like they did not mind us beeing stood only a few metres away from them.

Hadada Ibis/Hadadaibis



Hadada Ibis/Hadadaibis



 After this brief stop in Aberdare we drove to the Equator, did the usual "tourist-things" there like looking at the water swirling different ways on each side of the Equator. Then we drove on to have a look at the Great Rift Valley where again there were lots of people trying to sell us the usual things. But both these places were nice to have actually seen with my own eyes.

The sign at the Equator

The sign at the Great Rift Valley

The car we drove around in was an old-style Toyota HiAce. This is probably the most common car in Kenya, since there were lots of them everywhere! And as I am used to from home, there were supporters of English football everywhere we drove! The picture I am adding here is for Lars Emil! ;) Looking at the motorcycles that drove along the road was also interesting, since they seemed to find all possible ways of filling all their posessions onto them.

Our ride

How many items can you put on a motorcycle?

Guess which team he cheers for???

  When we finally came to Sunbird Lodge I was positively surprised that there were bird-feeders along the patio in front of the restaurant. I only managed a couple of OK pictures of Purple Grenadier(Purpurastrild) and Red-Cheeked Cordonbleu (Rødkinnastrild), but I knew where to look for birds the morning after!

Purple Grenadier/Purpurastrild

Red-Cheeked Cordonbleu, female/Rødkinnastrild, hunn

Red-Cheeked Cordonbleu, male/Rødkinnastrild, hann

Birds seen this far on 22.12.-12:

Mountain Lodge:

Marabou - Marabou - Leptoptilos crumeniferus
Egyptian Goose - Niland - Alopochen aegyptiacus
Cinnamon-Chested Bee-Eater - Bergbieter - Merops oreobates
Rock Martin - Ravinesvale - Hirundo fuligula
African Pied Wagtail - Afrikaerle - Motacilla aguimp
Cape Wagtail - Askeerle - Motacilla capensis
Grey Wagtail - Vintererle - Motacilla cinerea
White-Eyed Slaty Flycatcher - Brillefluesnapper - Melaenornis fischeri
Tropical Boubou - Tropebobo - Laniarius aethopicus
Beglafect Weaver - Bergvever - Ploceus beglafect

Aberdare:

Hadada Ibis - Hadadaibis - Bostrychia hagedash
African Pied Wagtail - Afrikaerle - Motacilla aguimp
Pied Crow - Hvitbrystkråke - Corvus albus

Aberdare - Sunbird Lodge:

Cattle Egret - Kuhegre - Bubulcus ibis
Little Egret - Silkehegre - Egretta garzetta
Grey Heron - Gråhegre - Ardea cinerea
Bateleur - Gjøglerørn - Terathopius ecaudatus
Grey Crowned Crane - Gråkrontrane - Balearica regulorum
Speckled Pigeon - Spragledue - Columba guinea
Common Fiscal - Svartryggvarsler - Lanius collaris
Pied Crow - Hvitbrystkråke - Corvus albus
Cape Rook - Smalnebbkråke - Corvus capensis
Greater Blue-Eared Starling - Blåøreglansstær - Lamprotornis chalybaeus

Sunbird Lodge:

Laughing dove - Palmedue - Streptopelia senegalensis
African Pied Wagtail - Afrikaerle - Motacilla aguimp
Pied Wheatear - Svartstrupesteinskvett - Oenanthe pleschanka
Red-Winged Starling - Rødvingestær - Onychognathus morio
Superb Starling - Praktstær - Lamprotornis superbus
Beglafect Weaver - Bergvever - Ploceus beglafect
Red-Cheeked Cordonbleu - Rødkinnastrild - Uraeginthus bengalus
Purple Grenadier - Purpurastrild - Uraeginthus ianthinogaster



New species: 15

Total species of birds this far: 55

Kenya 21.12.2012

The first day of traveling in Kenya was a tiny little taste of what was to come. Both me and the rest of the family had high hopes for this journey into what we had only seen on TV before we came there. I did not know what to expect to begin with, due to the totally new setting I found myself in, but I had high hopes for this adventure.

The first thing that I was happy with was that the driving-conditions were very much better than I had feared, and the roads out of Nairobi were like any good road in Europe. The thing that was different was the buildings that we drove past that I dont think anybody would have lived in unless they really had to in Western Europe. But this just added some spice to this experience.

When we were almost out of Nairobi and the surrounding suburbs, we noticed that something was wrong with the car. The driver/guide stopped the car, and we got to confirm that the rear suspension had broken on teh car. The guide told us that we should wait at a small petrol-station/shopping-araea, and that he would be back in an hour. My mother did not believe anything in this, and the rest of us did not really think that this would be the reality, but we needed ther so we waited. I of course used the occasion to look for birds, and got to see several birds where I was able to figure out the species by the help of my bird-guide. This book was lying at my feet all the time we were in the car, and due to all the new birds it was used more or less constantly.

When an hour had passed, and people started to say "I tol you so" and such things, our guide actually came back. In total he had used about five more minutes than the hour he said he would use. And the drive could continue. We drove to Mountain Lodge, situated under Mount Kenya, the highest mountain in Kenya. This lodge was situated next to a waterhole so that we could look at Waterbuck and Bushbuck comming out to lick salts, while the Warthogs and the Giant Bush Hog were grazing just behind. And of course, as a birder, the Marabou that came in to feed on the food that had been laid out for the Common Genet. A great start to the adventure that was to come.

Nice traffic going out of Nairobi

The first Marabous of the Trip, still inside Nairobi

How to stop cars the Kenyan way

Entry to Mountain Lodge

Sykes Monkey

Mantled Guereza

Long-Legged Buzzard(Ørnvåk)

Long-Crested Eagle(Toppørn)

African Dusky Flycatcher (Smussfluesnapper), hiding in the jungle

Marabou

Marabou, a contestant for the title: "Ugliest bird"

I will be pasting in the list of birds seen every day in the different places, and new birds will be marked with red. These are the bird species that I could recognise.

Nairobi

Pied Crow - Hvitbrystkråke - Corvus albus
Sacred Ibis - Helligibis - Threskiornis aethiopicus
Sunbird sp. - Solfugl sp.
Weaver sp. - Vever sp.
Lanner Falcon - Slagfalk - Falco biarmicus
Marabou - Marabou - Leptoptilos crumeniferus

Nairobi - Maountain Lodge

Black Kite - Svartglente - Milvus migrans
Olive Trush - Auroratrost - Turdus olivaceus
Pied Crow - Hvitbrystkråke - Corvus albus
Marabou - Marabou - Leptoptilos crumeniferus
Common Bulbul - Hagebylbyl - Pycnonotus barbatus
Beglafect Weaver - Bergvever - Ploveus beglafect
African Pied Wagtail - Afrikaerle - Motacilla aguimp
Sacred Ibis - Helligibis - Threskiornis aethiopicus
White-Browed Sparrow-Weaver - Hvitbrynvever - Plocepasser mahali
Lesser Striped swallow - Bredstripesvale - Hirundo abyssinica
Black-Headed Heron - Svarthodehegre - Ardea melanocephala
Yellow-Rumped Seedeater - Gulgumpirisk - Serinus reichenowi
Dusky Turtle Dove - Rustvingedue - Streptopelia lugens
Cattle Egret - Kuhegre - Bubulcus ibis
Scarlet-Chested Sunbird - Skarlagenbrystsolfugl - Chalcomitra senegalensis
Common Fiscal - Svartryggvarsler - Lanius collaris
House Sparrow - Gråspurv - Passer domesticus
Red-Billed Firefinch - Rødnebbamarant - Lagnosticta senegala
Horus Swift - Horusseiler - Apus horus

Mountain Lodge

Crowned Hornbill - Bantutoko - Tockus alboterminatus
Grey Heron - Gråhegre - Ardea cinerea
Red-Billed Oxpecker - Rødnebboksehakker - Buphagus erythrorhynchus
Marabou - Marabou - Leptoptilos crumeniferus
Red-Eyed Dove - Rødøyedue - Streptopelia semitorquata
Eastern Bronze-Naped Dove - Krittnakkedue - Columba delegorguei
Mountain Greenbul - Østfjellbulbul - Andropadus nigriceps
Cabani's Greenbul - Jungelbulbul - Phyllastrephus cabanisi
Green Sandpiper - Skogsnipe - Tringa ochropus
White-Tailed Crested Flycatcher - Hvittippfluesnapper - Trochocercus albonotatus
African Dusky Flycatcher - Smussfluesnapper - Muscicapa adusta
Egyptian Goose - Niland - Alopochen aegyptiacus
Hartlaub's Turaco - Blåkroneturako - Tauraco hartlaubi
Grey Wagtail - Vintererle - Motacilla cinerea
African Pied Wagtail - Afrikaerle - Motacilla aguimp
Cape Wagtail - Askeerle - Motacilla capensis
Rock Martin - Ravinesvale - Hirundo fuligula
Red-Fronted Parrot - Rødpannepapegøye - Poicephalus guliemi
Long-Crested Eagle - Toppørn - Lophaetus occipitalis
Long-Legged Buzzard - Ørnvåk - Buteo rufinus
White-Starred Robin - Stjerneskvett - Pogonocichla stellata
Cinnamon-Chested Bee-Eater - Bergbieter - Merops oerobates
Beglafect Weaver - Bergvever - Ploveus beglafect

Totalt number of bird-species seen after day one: 40

Animlas seen day one:

Waterbuck, Imbabala (Bushbuck), Warthog, Giant Forest Hog, Common Genet, Mongoose sp., Rabbit sp., Duiker sp., African Buffalo, Sykes Monkey, Mantleded Guereza, Bat sp., Squirrel sp. 13 species in total.