Kenya Bird Map Expedition to the Mara region and Lake Victoria basin

In order to fill gaps in coverage, the Kenya Bird Map project regularly conducts bird mapping expeditions aimed at collecting data from as many pentads as possible. One such expedition was conducted on the 7th to 17th June 2018 (11 days) in south-western Kenya, where target areas in the greater Masai Mara, Trans Mara and Lake Victoria basin (including Yala Swamp) were atlassed. A total of 60 pentads were covered, of which 29 were full protocols and 31 were ad-hoc protocols. 301 bird species were recorded in the process. The team was comprised: Sidney Shema, John Gitiri, Nelly Ogada, Kennedy Sikenykeny, Frank Juma and Samuel Njihia. We also collaborated with several local guides and liaison people throughout.

We are very grateful to the managers of Naboisho, Enonkishu, Mara North and Oloisukut conservancies and to the warded at Musiara Gate (Masai Mara National Reserve) for allowing us free access to their areas for bird mapping. A big thank you to Stratton Hatfield and Titimet ole Nampaso as well for sharing the contacts of some of the conservancy managers.

When we arrived in Talek on the first day, we conducted a brief afternoon bird mapping training workshop for a few of the local guides and a conservancy manager…

Some of the participant of the workshop

…bird atlassing session in the field

We then proceeded to visit several areas over the coming days. This post is simply to share photos of some of the sightings and highlights from the expedition.

Masai Mara

One of our earliest sightings and also among the top highlights of the trip was an African Marsh Harrier! Considered one of the rarest birds of prey in Kenya (seen in Ngorengore, on our way to Talek)

 

White-bellied Canary – common throughout

Secretarybird (sub-adult) – Naboisho Conservancy

Distant shot of what seemed like a dark morph Ovambo Sparrowhawk. Another rare raptor in Kenya. (exact ID yet to be fully confirmed. It could also be a dark Gabar Goshawk) – Naboisho Conservancy

Red-necked Spurfowl near Aitong

Greater Blue-eared Starling

Tawny Eagle in Mara North Conservancy

African Wattled Plover – Enonkishu Conservancy

Golden-winged Sunbird near Lemek centre

D’Arnaud’s Barbet of the usambiro race (considered a unique species by some authors – Usambiro Barbet). They were common and highly vocal throughout the Mara.

Black-chested Snake Eagle – Ngorengore

Yellow-throated Sandgrouse (male left, female right) – Mara North Conservancy

Ostrich (female) – Mara North Conservancy

 

Sooty Chat – Masai Mara National Reserve

Straw-tailed Whydah – Masai Mara National Reserve

Bare-faced Go-away-birds. The common go-away-bird of western Kenya.

Trans Mara

Common Drongo – Oloisukut Conservancy

Nyakweri Forest – a large and impressive forest, but greatly threatened by deforestation which has reduced its size significantly in recent years.

Equatorial Akalat – Nyakweri Forest. We birded the edges of the Nyakweri Forest but unfortunately were unable to visit the interior as planned due to an unexpected circumstance that derailed us on one of the days

Slender-billed Greenbul seen in a heavily-logged section of Nyakweri Forest

Western Banded Snake Eagle (juvenile) – Nyakweri Forest

Ashy Flycatcher – Nyakweri Forest

Crowned Eagle, aka ‘leopard of the sky’. We saw this one in Trans Mara and had also seen one on the hills north of Lemek.

Grey Cuckooshrike – a shy forest specialist. Seen near Nyakweri

 

Joyful Greenbul hidden in some dense vegetation along the Migori River

Grey-throated Barbet – seen in Trans Mara and later at Yala Swamp

Red-billed Oxpecker on a sleeping cow

Large flocks of Violet-backed Starlings were very common in Trans Mara. They must have been in their thousands.

Female of a pair of Southern Ground Hornbills. A species that seems to be in decline.

Double-toothed Barbet – seen in Trans Mara and Yala Swamp

Crowned Hornbills were fairly common in Trans Mara

African Harrier-Hawk (Gymnogene)

African Harrier-Hawk hunting at a Little Bee-eater nesting site

Brown-throated (or Common) Wattle-eye female – near Lolgorien

Village Indigobird (breeding male) – common throughout

Ross’s Turaco in the shadows. According to several locals, this is the most common Turaco in Trans Mara. But it proved quite elusive for us, with Schalow’s Turaco being seen and heard much more frequently. More regular coverage of pentads in this area will show a clearer picture of which species is the most prevalent

The beautiful Schalow’s Turaco – seen and heard severally throughout Trans Mara and the western Masai Mara in a variety of wooded habitats

Sunrise birding near Kirindon Resource Centre

Oloisukut Conservancy, along the Oloololo Escarpment, offers a great elevated view of the Masai Mara. We also spotted a leopard from this viewpoint on the day we arrived and had encounters with lions and elephants in the conservancy as well.

Familiar (or Red-tailed) Chat – Oloisukut Conservancy

Lake Victoria Basin

Our first stop in the Lake Victoria basin was near Ahero, where a large number of Yellow-billed Storks (pictured) and Black-headed Herons were nesting along the Sondu River

Black-headed Herons and Yellow-billed Stork on their nests. We came across several heronries of different species around Lake Victoria

Dark morph immature Augur Buzzard at the Sondu River Mouth. This was perhaps the raptor we encountered most frequently during the expedition.

Ruppell’s Starling – common throughout

Black-lored Babbler was the common babbler at Lake Victoria, whereas Arrow-marked Babbler was common in the Mara

Swamp Flycatcher – common around Lake Victoria

African Pygmy Kingfisher – seen frequently throughout the expedition

African Mourning Doves were the commonest dove around Lake Victoria

Long-crested Eagle silhouette

Black-headed Gonolek – also very common around Lake Victoria

Yellow-backed Weaver – among the commonest weavers around Lake Victoria’s reedbeds

Dward Bittern – Nyando River Mouth. Also seen at Lake Sare.

Papyrus Gonolek. One of the Lake Victoria endemics. Papyrus Canary, White-winged Warbler and Carruthers’s Cisticola were also seen, though we missed the Papyrus Yellow Warbler.

African Jacana aka ”Lily Trotter”

[Jackson’s] Golden-backed Weaver

Fulvous Whistling Ducks

Gull-billed Tern. A Palearctic Migrant. A few others were seen among thousands of resident Whiskered Terns.

Silverbird – common around Lake Victoria and the Mara

A flock of Collared Pratincoles in the rice fields north of the Nyando River

Fan-tailed Widowbird – common in the Masai Mara and Lake Victoria

Beautiful Sunbird

Angola Swallow

Distant shot of an Eastern Grey Plantain Eater

Blue-breasted Bee-eater. Very similar to Little Bee-eater but has white cheeks and purplish  throat patch – Lake Sare (Yala Swamp)

Northern Brown-throated Weaver (adult male)

Purple Heron near Usenge

Slender-billed Weaver (female) – Lake Sare

Southern Red Bishop – seen numerous times around L Victoria and near agricultural fields at Ngorengore in the Masai Mara as well

Swamp Nightjar – Lake Namboyo (Yala Swamp)

Senegal Plover – Lake Namboyo

Blue-spotted Wood Dove. The other wood doves – Emerald-spotted and Tambourine Dove-  were also seen

African Open-billed Stork – numerous in rice fields

Water Thick-knee – Seen at Yala Swamp and Oloisukut Conservancy in Trans Mara

Breeding colony of Great and Reed Cormorants – Lake Victoria

Lake Kanyaboli (Yala Swamp), with the Papyrus vegetation typical of the Lake Victoria Basin

Blue-headed Coucal – Lake Kanyaboli

Woodland Kingfisher – Lake Kanyaboli. Seen severally throughout the expedition.

Pied Kingfisher fishing at Lake Kanyaboli. This species was very abundant around the entire Lake Victoria basin

All in all, the expedition was a success and we covered several new pentads as well as getting some already covered pentads to turn green (4 full protocol cards – this is the minimum required to allow for analysis of relative abundance and other statistics for any pentad). The important thing, however, is that these areas continue to be atlassed long after this trip, which will allow for monitoring of bird distribution and relative abundance throughout the year. We therefore encourage all you Kenya Bird Mappers to continue going out and mapping birds wherever you are in Kenya!

If you are an interested birder and not yet signed up for the Kenya Bird Map project, simply send your name, email address and phone number to kenyabirdmap@naturekenya.org to get registered.

– Author: Sidney Shema (Project manager – Kenya Bird Map) –