Bird Spectacles & Tour Reports

20th January 2007. On this first day it was only I and the driver and we took our time driving down to Kisumu, along the way we stopped over at Manguo swamp to check out the Maccoa and White-backed Ducks among the other commoner species coots and all. We had another stopover around Molo and here the Aberdare Cisiticola were quite visible, I located three though I did not have much time to bird around here. We continued with our journey and had reached Kitale in the early evening.
Overnight in Kitale

21st January 2007. We woke up mid morning in order to complete the drive to Kisumu, we arrived around mid-day. Our clients Sally and John from the UK had already arrived in Kisumu on the 19th, and had plenty of time to explore Kisumu City and also visit their long time friends. Sally was a teacher in Mukumu girls’ high school in western Kenya for several years and this was my second Safari with her. They were staying at the Sunset hotel and I met with them later that evening for a briefing and discussion of the rest of the trip. Overnight in Kisumu.

22nd January 2007. Early this morning after fortifying ourselves with a hearty breakfast, we hit the road towards Kakamega which is 55 km from Kisumu. Along the way we did manage to tick of some of the more common species like Pied Crow, African Pied Wagtail, Marico and Variable Sunbirds, Black Kite, Grey-crowned Crane, Hammerkop, Cattle Egret, Black-headed Heron, Common Fiscal, Common Bulbul and the Woolly-necked Stork. We arrived in kakamega late morning and Sally and John had a great time visiting there former place of employment as well as checking on a student whose education they were sponsoring. After lunch we spend more time visiting more friends of Sally and it was a joyfull reunion because some of the old workmates were still around. Overnight In Kakamega.

23rd January 2007. After an early breakfast we drive through 16km of villages and farmland to the Kakamega forest which is one of the most diverse forests in Kenya. Its affinities to the West African rain forests are evident in the diverse animal and plant forms found here. Good example are the Sun Squirrel, Tree Pagolin, the hammer-head Fruit Bat one of the biggest in mainland Africa,  and De brazza’s Monkey. The forest contains over 380 plant species of which 50 species are used by the locals for medicinal and ritual purposes, is also home to 400 butterfly species, one species Metisella Kakamega is endemic to this forest. At least 360 birds’ species are recorded in Kakamega forest, 16 species are not found elsewhere in Kenya. The forest contains isolated population of several bird species that are absent from similar forest in Uganda, including Asorge’s Greenbul, Blue-headed Bee-eater, Chapin’s Flycatcher and Turner’s Eremomela. In Kakamega forest we have local guides who are knowledgeable and they know the forest well. We were guided through the trails by Benjamin Okalo who is long time local expert guide and founder of Kakamega Environmental Educational Programme Group. Overnight in Kakamega.

24th January 2007. After an early breakfast we headed back into the forest and we birded up to mid morning then back to the Hotel to pack and head for Uganda. It was a very fruitful morning with the following being some of the birds listed for the forest and the nearby farmlands. African Harrier-hawk, African Goshawk, Long-crested Eagle, Tambourine Dove, Blue-spotted Wood-dove, Great Blue Turaco, Ross's Turaco, Red-chested Cuckoo, Yellowbill, White-browed Coucal, Mottled Swift, Little Swift, Blue-headed Bee-eater , White-headed Wood-hoopoe, Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill, Grey-throated Barbet, Yellow-spotted Barbet, Hairy-breasted Barbet, Black-billed Barbet, Double-toothed Barbet, African Broadbill, Sand Martin, Wire-tailed Swallow, White-headed and Black Roughwings, Ansorge's Greenbul, Little, Yellow-whiskered, Shelley's and Joyful Greenbuls, Common Bristlebill, Mackinnon's Shrike, Luhder's Bushshrike, Black-backed Puffback, White-browed and Blue-shouldered Robin-chat, Brown-chested Alethe, Red-tailed Ant-thrush, African Thrush, Brown Illadopsis, Uganda Woodland-warbler, Black-faced Rufous Warbler , Chubb's and Winding Cisticolas, White-chinned Prinia, Brown-throated, Chestnut, and Jameson's Wattle-eye, Dusky Crested and African Paradise-flycatcher, Green-headed Sunbird, Grey-headed Negrofinch, Red-headed Bluebill, Black-necked, Black-billed, Vieillot's Black,  and Brown-capped Weavers, Red-headed Malimbe, Stuhlmann's, Waller's and Violet-backed Starling. We left Kakamega at 1130 and arrived at the border at 1400hrs. There was no hassle at the border and we arrived at our hotel in Mbale at 1500hrs. There was an Eastern Plaintain-eater to welcome us among an array of other commoner species. Overnight in Mbale.

25th January 2007. We departed from our hotel at 0800hrs for a 60km drive to Mt Elgon National park. We arrived at Forest Exploration Center were we began our 8 km trek. This park is a hiker’s paradise, from the unique Flora and fauna, magnificient waterfall scenic landscape to the famous caves were elephants have excavated for salt since time immemorial. For birders, more than three hundred species known for this park, the rare bone-breaking Bearded Vulture has been sighted in this park. But we were not lucky enough to see one only the normal fare of common species. From Mt Elgon we made a stop at Sipi falls another memorable sight worth the visit. Overnight in Mbale.

26th January 2007. Early morning birds walk on the grounds of the hotel till 0930hrs. At 1030hrs we were departing Mbale and driving towards Jinja town which we covered 176km, by 1430hrs we arrived Jinja town. Jinja lies on the shores of Lake Victoria and is a major market centre for southern and eastern Uganda. It is interesting little place with much Indian influenced architecture, it is a comfortable base for white water rafting and the source of the Nile is something to behold when you consider how far the water has to travel on its journey to the Mediterranean through Sudan and Egypt. Mid evening we drove to the Bujagali falls, here one can take boat rides on the river and white water rafting. We had a number of bird species on record like Great Cormorant, African Fish Eagle, Hammerkop, Grey Heron, Pied Kingfisher, Black Kite, Pied Crow, Long- tailed Cormorant, Piapiac, Black-headed Heron, Opened-billed Stork, Common Sandpiper, Sacred Ibis, Squcco Heron, Crowned Hornbill, Eastern Plain Eater, Grey backed Fiscal and  Little Egret among others.

27th January 2007. On this day we were heading to Mabira forest which is 20km from Jinja town. Mabira forest is a lush reserve which offers residents and visitors alike a taste of a tropical rain forest. There are some good foot trails within the forest which in turn make the bird finding easier. We birded inside the forest for the better part of the morning. By 1400hrs we were heading back to Jinja for lunch and and a siesta. Mid evening we drove past the Owen falls towards the Speke memorial gardens were their is a monument to that great explorer at the exact point he stood when he viewed the outlet of river Nile from Lake Victoria. In the evening we went through our checklist and we had quite a few notable species and they included Forest  Francolin, Cassin’s Hawk-eagle, White-spotted Flufftail( heard ), Grey Parrot, Dusky Long-tailed Cuckoo, Sabine Spinetail, African Dwarf-Kingfisher, Speckled and Yellow- throated Tinkerbird, Cassin’s Honeyguide, Sooty Boubou, Blue-headed Crested–flycatcher, Black-headed Paradise-flycatcher, Dusky  Tit, Olive-Green Camaroptera, Plain Greenbul, Rofous Flycatcher Thrush and Red-headed Malimbe.

28th January 2007. Being the last day of the safari with Sally/John, we took a boat ride on the beautiful Lake and were lucky to spot the following species which were new to them, Osprey, Madagascar Bee-eater, Malagasy Pond Heron, Little Weaver, Broad-billed Roller, Woodland Kingfisher, Black-crowned Night Heron, African Green Pigeon, Malachite Kingfisher and Double-toothed Barbet among others. After by 1100hrs we were ready to drive to Entebbe which is 117km from Jinja. We transferered Sally/John to Entebbe Airport for their onward journey and we returned to Kenya.