West Cornwall 31st August

I returned to Pendeen this morning despite a lack of wind, hoping to chance upon one of the rarities seen yesterday. Unfortunately my gamble did not however pay off, with only gannet, fulmar, Manx shearwater, kittiwake and my first European storm petrel, Britain's smallest seabird at only 15cm long, of the year going past. We then headed to Marazion in search of the buff-breasted sandpiper reported last night. Again we missed it, seeing only oystercatchers and a small group of black-tailed godwits fly over.

Back at Cape Cornwall, I saw three wheatears which were making a final stop before migrating back to sub-Saharan Africa for the winter. We then walked to the Kenidjack Valley, seeing huge numbers of pied and grey wagtails and rock pipits on the rocky beach. As we entered Kenidjack, I saw two leg-ringed choughs remarkably close and in the valley itself, a sparrowhawk, a chiffchaff and a willow warbler.

To add to that, I also saw a new dragonfly for me, the resplendent beautiful demoiselle in the Kenidjack Valley:

Beautiful Demoiselle Dragonfly, Kenidjack Valley, 3/9/12

Seawatching and waders- west Cornwall 30th August

With a storm the previous night and thousands of Manx shearwaters passing Cape Cornwall, the conditions were right for a great morning of sea watching from Pendeen. The sheer numbers of Manx shearwaters, gannets and fulmars passing the point was breathtaking. They were all passing in their thousands, with an estimate a 7500 Manx shearwaters passing a minute. I spent an hour and a half searching for any rarities passing, seeing both great and Arctic skuas and my first British sooty shearwaters. My last sooty shearwater came on the incredible Kaikoura pelagic seabird trip from New Zealand, back in 2006. Unfortunately I missed the great and Balearics shearwaters, pomarine skua and Sabines's gull, all of which were reported past Pendeen today and all of which would have been new species for me.

A little later, I headed back to Marazion Marsh in an attempt to find the spotted crake again. I did unfortunately miss it, but did see a fine tally of 8 little egrets. We then had a look on Marazion beach, on which I saw my first common ringed plovers of the year, as well as sanderling, dunlin, oystercatcher and turnstone in good numbers and one common sandpiper, quite a remarkable tally of waders!

Cape Cornwall 29th August

There was a weasel in our garden this morning, the first I have ever seen alive (our cats regularly bring in dead ones!). It allowed superb views for about two minutes as it scurried across the lawn, before disappearing into the thick undergrowth. Following breakfast, I had a brief seawatch from Cape Cornwall. Unfortunately I failed to see the same remarkable seabirds recorded from the nearby Porthgwarra, but did see a basking shark, as well as high numbers of gannets, kittiwakes, fulmars and shags. Otherwise, a single grey heron passed, as did an unidentifiable small flock of waders, possibly dunlin.

28th August, Cape Cornwall and Sennen

There was yet another basking shark off Cape Cornwall this afternoon, as well as more sandwich terns and a kittiwake at Sennen Cove.

Cape Cornwall 27-28th August

A session of sea-watching from Cape Cornwall brought me several great skuas and further out to sea an unidentifiable large shearwater. Earlier in the day, I added turnstone to my trip list in St Ives.

Early in the morning of the 28th, I headed to the nearby Kenidjack Valley in search of rare migrants. Unfortunately we missed anything especially rare, but did see chiffchaff, willow warbler, blackcap, sedge warbler and whitethroat, as well as grey wagtail and buzzard. The highlight, however was a wonderful pair of sparrowhawks getting mobbed by carrion crows and magpies. Down by the sea were several oystercatchers and a remarkable 17 grey seals.

A little later on, we wandered down the coast path past Cot Valley. Along the way, we passed dozens of kestrels, stonechats, whitethroats and linnets. There were also several ravens. While having a picnic on a cliff top, I found my first two basking sharks ever, both heading towards Sennen Cove, which was a truly magical sight. There remarkable size was evident even from a great distance. Incredibly, as we made our way back to Cape Cornwall, I saw my first Cornish choughs and at least four more basking sharks. A quite stunning walk!

Porthgwarra, Sennen Cove 26th August

A walk along the coastpath at Porthgwarra this morning brought several wild rock doves, shags and a rock pipit on the rocks.

We then headed to Sennen, where I saw my first sandwich terns of the year fishing off Sennen Cove. On Cape Cornwall, there were several stonechats and whitethroats, and offshore gannets and fulmars.

Marazion Marsh 26th July

On the 25th we headed down to Cornwall for a two week holiday. We were going to stay on Cape Cornwall, the second most westerly point of Great Britain and a truly wild place. On the way, we stopped off a Marazion Marsh to look for a spotted crake, or an aquatic warbler, both of which are specialities at the reserve. In pouring rain, we failed to see either, the only birds of any vague interest being several little egrets, a sedge warbler and a chiffchaff.

We returned to the marsh early the next morning. On the way, I picked up my first common sandpiper of the year at Penzance, wading in the mud. We got to the marsh and headed to the Standing Stone, a notoriously good spot for crakes and waders. There were about a dozen birdwatchers there, and right in front of them was a small, starling-sized bird creeping through the reeds. It was the magnificent spotted crake, a first for me, and a superb bird. This skulking bird is one of the hardest British breeders to see, its secretive habits combined with its generally inaccessible choice of habitat has resulted in it being very difficult to come across. The crake eventually crept out of the reeds allowing a magnificent view in the early morning sun. It was about as good a start as we could have hoped for the holiday.

Hilfield and Rutland

We got back to a sunny Hilfield, with several buzzards and stock doves around, along with all the usual smaller species. On the 19th of August, we went up to Rutland bird fair. After spending hours walking around the superb fair, getting ideas for future holidays and also buying myself a Zeiss spotting scope, we had a quick look on the water. There were a good number of waterfowl, with pochard, wigeon, teal, shoveler, gadwall and tufted duck the species of interest. There were also large numbers of common terns, buts sadly no sign of the black tern that had been seen earlier in the week.

Salisbury Plain 10th August

Driving back from Heathrow, I was extremely lucky to get a new addition to my British list, and a good one at that as we drove through Salisbury Plain, a Montagu's Harrier.

Kenya holiday part one

On the 25th of July we set out for a two week holiday in Kenya, my favourite country.

25th July:

We arrived in Nairobi late in the evening and went straight to our hotel.

26th July:

An early morning's walk around our the Fairview Hotel's garden in Nairobi, brought me several variable sunbirds, as well as a streaky seedeater and white-browed robin-chat. A magnificent little sparrowhawk, which I had first seen in this hotel garden 6 months, appeared on exactly the same branch that I had seen it in previously. In the sky, there were good numbers of yellow-billed kites gliding around, as well as little swifts and pied crows. A pair of ring-necked doves appeared in the garden and three hadada ibises flew over. There were also a pair of common bulbuls singing alongside a mountain thrush in the little sparrowhawk tree. We then headed to Wilson Airport for our charter flight to N'guru Nit in the Milgis region of north Kenya. On the drive, I picked up a black-headed heron in a roadside field. Spiralling in the skies above the airport were more yellow-billed kites as well as marabou storks. There was also a tree full of speckled mousebirds and house sparrows. We then took our charter, enjoying a stunning flight through the resplendent Mathews mountain range. Upon landing in N'guru Nit, we were greeted by Helen and Pete, our guides for the walking safari upon which we were to embark. We had last gone on this safari back in 2007, and had had the most incredible time. Alongside the airstrip were white-browed sparrow-weavers and red-winged starlings and a red-billed hornbill flew off as we drove up to their riverside camp. Alongside the river were more red-winged starlings as well as superb starlings, several fork-tailed drongos and blue-naped mousebirds. A grey-headed kingfisher was perched in a tree next to the river, and an African pied wagtail flitted around on the rocks in the river. Several African black swifts glided overhead, as did a fan-tailed raven. Later that evening, I discovered a tree of hooded vultures, which also contained a Von der Decken's Hornbill and a emerald-spotted wood-dove.

27th July:

We headed out early the next morning with no hope of being able to walk the 130 kilometres we needed to in order to get to our house at Sarara in six days time. Soon after we started, I found a pale chanting-goshawk and an African hoopoe. A little further on a pair of gabar goshawks were perched in a tree. A group of orange-bellied parrots passed overhead and several white-backed vultures were high in the sky. A greater honeyguide begged us to follow it to the honey hive it had found, and in the same tree was a black-throated barbet. We then found a Nubian woodpecker and my first new bird of the trip, a brown-tailed rock chat. After two and a half hour's walking, we stopped for breakfast. Around the breakfast area were African grey flycatchers, chin-spot batises, brown-tailed rock chats and purple grenadiers. A magnificent Verreaux's eagle swirled ahead, before getting mobbed by a lanner falcon, creating an absolutely stunning scene. There were incredibly large numbers of one of my favourite birds, the pygmy falcon (we saw about 7 of them) just beyond our breakfast site and overall the birds after breakfast were plentiful, with a red-faced crombec, several grey wren-warblers, a shining sunbird, eastern violet-backed sunbird, rosy-patched bush-shrike, white-crested helmet-shrike, red-billed oxpecker, greater blue-eared starling, parrot-billed sparrow, yellow-spotted petronia, white-headed buffalo-weaver, eastern paradise whydah, straw-tailed whydah and a northern grey tit being the new additions to my holiday list. The highlights were the pygmy falcons and a flock of the magnificent golden-breasted starlings. We found a camp in the middle of the bush at about two o'clock, where we stayed for the night. There were several yellow-billed hornbills at the campsite. We had only managed to walk 13 km, so it was hardly a great start and we had ground to make up for on the next few days.

Unfortunately one of the camels that had been carrying our equipment suddenly went mad after we arrived, and was dead within ten minutes seemingly having eaten something poisonous. I had brought my trail camera with me, and was not going to miss this opportunity. The results were extraordinary....

Striped Hyena, Milgis 27/7/12

Spotted Hyena, Milgis 27/7/12

28th July:

We started off hoping to cross the Milgis lugga and push on to make up ground lost yesterday. We started well, pushing on before the sun rose. We picked up rock martin in our camp (actually just a rock in the middle of the bush). There was a group of vulturine guineafowls near our campsite and a pair of tawny eagles in a nearby tree. A bateleur passed over, and there were good numbers of crested and yellow-necked francolins. As we passed a manyatta, a field full birds took off. Amongst the large flocks were crowned lapwings, chestnut weavers, red-billed buffalo-weavers and red-billed quells. As we approached the river, some locals told us that the Milgis was flooded and we would be unable to cross with our 28 camels. We had to make a 10km detour, on which I added little bee-eater, hunter's sunbird, fisher's sparrow-lark, Abyssinian scimitarbill and gymnogene to my holiday list. When we reached the lugga, it was absolutely filled with water, and crossing looked unlikely. Dozens of African palm swifts were enjoying the insects around the river and a pair of Egyptian geese passed. The camels began to cross, but halfway appeared to decide that it was a bad idea and refused to move forwards or backwards. No-one knew what to do and for half an hour no-one moved, the camels, despite the camel-herder's best efforts, refused to move. Eventually, to everyone's great relief, one camel began to cross and the rest followed.

Attempting to get the camels to cross

The camels finally crossing..

and on the other side of the river.

After the two and a half hours it had taken to cross the Milgis, we were forced to stop walking and camped on the riverside. A pair of white-headed vultures flew overhead and a grey-headed kingfisher perched in a branch near the lugga. Later that evening, we had supper in the lugga, and had great views of a slender-tailed nightjar, which flew past, and later returned, mobbing an unidentifiable heron. We had only managed to walk about 12km today, most of which was a detour, meaning we had to travel about 120km over the next four days.

Again I put out my trail camera and again the results were excellent..

Caracal, nr. Milgis Lugga, early hours of 30/7/12

Kenya holiday part two

29th July:

The view over the Milgis lugga early in the morning, with the Ndoto hills in the background

We started walking knowing we had to walk an enormous distance to have any chance of getting to Sarara in four days time, and it started well, with us pushing on up the hill behind where we had camped and onto the lava flow on top. There, we saw a black-shouldered kite almost immediately. There were also several shrikes, with Somali fiscal being a new species for me. Two shrikes looked like nothing in the book, and we had to settle for leaving them unidentified, however it is very possible that they were an undiscovered species, as with a sunbird we saw later that day, in this wild and unexplored area. There were also several African grey hornbills on the lava flow and the bones of a dead ostrich. Remarkably, a Montagu's Harrier, a migrant from Europe normally only recorded between October and April glided overhead, creating extreme excitement. Coming down from the lava flow, there were a pair of Wahlberg's Eagles gliding in the sky, as well as a flock of wattled starlings. Several African grey flycatchers were feeding, alongside a red-fronted warbler and there was a tree full of black-capped social weaver nests. We pushed on, having taken a brief break for breakfast, and entered a dried up lugga. In the lugga were good numbers of namaqua doves as well as a grey-headed bush-shrike and rufous-crowned roller.

    The camels having a drink

Beyond the lugga, I found a Somali bee-eater, a real north Kenyan speciality and a stunning bird as well. On the opposite side of the lugga, another of my favourite birds, the Egyptian vulture, which is now endangered worldwide, was perched in a tree offering great views. After several hours more walking, we eventually set up camp in a small lugga, having walked about 23 kilometres in the day. I once again put my trail camera out, and got this caracal and injured spotted hyena on it...

Very worryingly, there have been rumours of poachers putting poisoned nails out on elephant trails in the area, and it must be hoped that this hyena did not stand on one. We also later found the footprints of an elephant dragging a foot and four or five elephants have appeared in the Sarara area with swollen or injured feet recently. This appears to be the poachers' latest tactic as numbers of poached elephants has increased by such a great amount. Poaching levels in the area are extremely worrying and the Milgis Trust is doing a great deal of fantastic work to reduce it, as well as help preserve this magnificent and wild area of northern Kenya. More information here: milgistrust.wildlifedirect.org

30th July:

We set out today knowing we had to walk a very long way to stand a chance of reaching Sarara. After about two hours, we came across a mixed flock birds. I picked out both d'Arnaud's and red-and-yellow barbets, yellow-vented eremomela, yellow-breasted apalis, mouse-coloured penduline tit, brubru and black-cheeked waxbill. A little further on, and we came across a flock of speckle-fronted weavers. As we progressed, we headed into drier country, which was home to good numbers of pink-breasted larks, as well as a cardinal woodpecker and several pygmy baptises. As we pushed through the afternoon sun, bird numbers decreased, but we did find a tree of blue-capped and red-cheeked cordon-bleux, as well as a pair of pygmy falcons. With nowhere obvious to set up camp, we walked for hours until reaching a decent-looking clearing in the bush. There were several northern white-crowned shrikes present, as well as some green wood-hoopoes and some unidentifiable weavers in non-breeding plumage. I put my camera out again and got just this one picture of a striped hyena's tail.

In the mean time, one of the guides, Lamogas, had also been putting his camera out, with even better results:

Striped Hyena

Porcupine

African Civet

31st July:

At the start of the day we felt that there was no chance of reaching Sarara. It was about 75 kilometres to Sarara as the crow flies, and most of that was through thick bush. That, added to the fact that the clouds had disappeared and it was estimated that it may be as hot as 35 degrees celsius by midday, hindered our optimism. We set out very early and racked up the miles as the sun rose. I added Dodson's bulbul, pale prinia and grey-backed camaroptera to my list. I also saw a magnificent black-chested snake-eagle perched in a tree top, as well as more pygmy falcons. As we pushed on, there was scarcely time to bird watch, but I did pick up green-winged pytilia, a stunningly colourful little finch and saw more of the resplendent golden-breasted starling. We continued walking through the midday sun, with temperatures at one stage hitting 40 degrees celsius. Surprisingly large numbers of chestnut-bellied sandgrouse passed overhead and a buff-crested bustard took flight from in front of us. We continued walking until half past four, meaning we had walked 9 and a half hours for around 35 kilometres through thick bush in extremely high temperatures. After a well-deserved sprite, I put my camera out once more, and captured this inquisitive black-backed jackal and genet...

Black-backed Jackal

Genet cat

Kenya holiday part three

1st August:

We pushed on, still needing to travel 27 km to reach Sarara and with our legs understandably achey. Again it was a cloudless day with equally high temperatures expected. We decided to cut over a hill, with the camels going around it. From the hill, I saw another Verreaux's eagle, as well as large numbers of rock martins and lesser striped swallows. There was also a slate-coloured boubou and a tree of vitelline masked weaver nests. We stopped for breakfast after three hard hours of walking in a beautiful lugga.

Our breakfast spot

Following breakfast we continued towards Sarara in the boiling midday sun. For hours Sarara seemed to not be getting any closer. After 8 hours of walking, we reached the Sarara airstrip and could clearly see Sarara.

Approaching Sarara from the airstrip

Finally we reached Sarara at about half past two. We had remarkably managed to walk about 140 kilometres in five and a half days in high temperatures through thick bush. After a remarkable six days, we said goodbye to our camels and guides and relaxed for the afternoon. It was the end of a truly remarkable camel safari, something I would recommend to anyone.

 In the early evening, I headed up to the waterhole to put up my camera. I added Hildebrandt's starling and red-eyed dove to my list on the way, and hamerkop and green-backed heron at the waterhole. As I was putting up my camera, dozens of Liechtenstein's sandgrouse started to come in for a drink. 

The camera picked up dozens of pictures of lesser kudu, dikdik, elephant, buffalo and spotted hyena coming for a drink.

Lesser Kudu, Sarara

African Elephant, Sarara

Cape Buffalo, Sarara

young Spotted Hyena, Sarara

2nd August:

We headed out for an early morning game drive, in search of the wild dogs which had been denning on Millennium Hill, right next to Sarara. They appeared almost straight away, the female coming close enough for a photo. The 10 puppies made a wonderful sight as they play fought in the long grass, with the magnificent chorus of the stone partridge in the background. There was also a steppe eagle perched on top of the hill, alongside dozens of baboons. After about an hour and a half of watching the dogs, we headed back for breakfast.

Early morning cloud on the Mathews mountains

African Wild Dog, Sarara

When we got back, we heard the terrible news that three elephants had been killed by poachers overnight and another had died with a hugely swollen foot just by the camp, creating an extremely pungent smell.

Soon after breakfast, I went up to the waterhole. There was an African pied wagtail there, as was the hamerkop and green-backed heron, but aside from some dikdik, there were no mammals. That all changed when a group of elephants appeared, right in front of the hide.

At 5 o'clock, we went for an evening game drive. There was a rattling cisticola next to Millennium hill, and a mixed group of rufous chatterers, African penduline tits and crimson-rumped waxbills and another group of whydahs, with straw-tailed, steel-blue and eastern paradise present. We found a young leopard at the singing wells lugga, and several genet cats on the way back. We then had supper, before heading out again. We drove down the airstrip in search of the aardwolf we had seen on our last two visits to Sarara. Unfortunately we didn't see it, but there were several dusky and Nubian nightjars as well as a spotted dikkop on the airstrip. We saw more genets, before seeing the leopard again. The highlight was a remarkable sighting of a lion, a mammal which is only just starting to return to Sarara after years of poaching. It was only the second sighting of it by our guide at Sarara, in ten years of guiding here and forty years of living here.

Leopard, Sarara

Kenya holiday part four

3rd August:

Again we headed out for a morning drive, and again we had great views of the wild dogs and their puppies. I saw my first stone partridge of the holiday, as well as a pair of cliff chats on Millennium Hill. There were also several klipspringers on the hill, and dozens of dwarf mongeese on the ground. We came back and there was a lilac-breasted roller in our garden.

Von der Decken's Hornbill, Sarara

Lilac-breasted Roller, Sarara

In the early afternoon, this inquisitive small group of stone partridges appeared in our bathroom!

An afternoon trip to the hide brought a juvenile martial eagle perched in the top of a dead tree alongside a juvenile tawny eagle, as well as a small group of bristle-crowned starlings. Once again we headed out in the evening, on which I added African silverbill, African firefinch and Shelley's starling to my trip list. While searching in vain for another leopard, we got great views of a pair of common quail next to the road.

We came back out after supper, in search of the aardvark or aardwolf. Unfortunately we saw very little mammal-wise, but a Verreaux's eagle-owl was the highlight of the drive. I also saw several Donaldson-Smith's, Nubian and dusky nightjars. 

I also managed to catch a leopard on my trail camera, as well as elephant, impala and all the other commoner mammals..

Elephant with Sarara camp in the background

Hamerkop

White-bellied Go-away-bird, Impala and Elephant

Leopard

4th August:

We decided to climb Snake Mountain today, a mountain the local Samburu people believe to be cursed and one that it is thought no-one had ever climbed. It seemed extremely exciting and we set out very early. On the way, we had a very brief view of an aardwolf, something of a Sararan speciality, as well as my first golden pipit ever, which shone in the early morning sun. Snake Mountain rises up in the middle of the bush in the crater amongst the Mathews Mountain range. It looked fearsome from the bottom, and Samburu who lived nearby could not believe we wanted to climb it. It started alright, with a gentle ascent, before it gradually got steeper and steeper. About half way up, we heard some wild dog very close by, but that was all we saw in terms of nature before reaching the first ridge. The walk became horrendous as our legs were ripped apart by thorns, and we had to be constantly crouched over to avoid the poison Euphorbia cactus. At the time I thought walking could not get any worse. We approached this ridge believing it was the top, but when we got there saw another ridge further on. We decided to push on, picking up little rock thrush and marico sunbird along the way. Typically, we reached the top of this ridge and saw another, and once again headed towards it. Each time we thought we were at the top, before seeing yet another ridge. We eventually reached the summit after three hours climbing and had breakfast. We all thought the worst was over. A Verreaux's Eagle shot past us, as did a peregrine falcon, with large numbers of rock martins and nyanza swifts, as well as a single black-throated barbet. The view over Namunyak and Milgis was absolutely breathtaking, the sheer size of the area and complete lack of any people creating a stunning sight. After finishing breakfast, we decided to head down what was seemingly a more direct route. It started alright,  however it soon became dangerously steep and we had no option of turning back. A horrible slide down a near-verticle rocky mud slide was horrible, and from there it got even worse. Soon the thorns became unbearable and we were all covered in the poisonous sap of the Euphorbia. To make matters worse, our water had all but run out, and soon a swarm of bees appeared, stinging my mother and our guide. That passed, we continued our outrageously steep descent through the horribly thick bush swarming with thorns and bees, as well as snakes. After four and a half hours, with no water remaining, we all feared the worst. With still a long way to go down, and the boiling afternoon sun sapping us all energy, and no option of turning back or getting any help in, things were not looking good. We plodded on, with only adrenaline preventing us collapsing. It began to reach the stage that we could not go on, we were all horribly thirsty and our legs had been shredded. On the verge of collapse, our guide who had been waiting for us in the car appeared like a god with a bottle of water for each of us. We somehow managed to reach the car, and collapsed once we were in it. It had been a horrendous experience, in spite of the great view. I had even managed to get a new bird for the holiday, a single augur buzzard. We could now understand the bemused look of the Samburu tribesmen whom we had told about our adventure.

Snake Mountain not looking too fearsome from the ground

After spending the whole afternoon sleeping and getting over our pains, we went out for a drive after supper. Again we failed to see the aardvark or aardwolf, but did see an African wild cat, as well as 

more of the three commoner nightjars, genet cats and a remarkable record of an Eurasian nightjar, a migrant that normally can only be found in the region between October and April. We went to bed, extremely tired.

On the first ridge

Approaching the third ridge

Reaching the summit

Forcing our way through the bush

Earlier in the afternoon I had gone to check my motion camera and had the shock of my life when I discovered it had been eaten by a spotted hyena! Thankfully it somehow still managed to work!

Kenya holiday part five

August 5th:

Understandably we had a lie in, following our nightmare the previously day. We headed out to see the Singing Wells, a place where the Samburu people come to water their cattle, after breakfast. I saw this wonderful pair of Wahlberg's Eagles on the way:

After a great hour at the wells, we headed back. Up at the waterhole, a large flock of birds appeared in a small bush. I found the following species in amongst the flock: pin-tailed, straw-tailed and eastern paradise whydah, african and grey-headed silverbills, chestnut and lesser masked weaver, African and red-billed firefinch, blue-capped and red-cheeked cordon-bleu, cut-throat finch and crimson-rumped waxbill. It made quite a remarkable sight. I found a mixed group of northern brownbuls and rufous chatterers feeding the thick scrub behind our house as well. On our evening drive I added white-headed mousebird, northern crombec and magpie starling to my list. We headed out once again after supper, and were rewarded with a fantastic aardwolf sighting.

I put my camera next to the porcupine den in camp and caught these pictures:

August 6th:

A morning drive once again brought a good number of new birds for the holiday, with African mourning and dusky turtle doves, long-billed pipit, tiny cisticola and pale flycatcher. On the way back, we saw a pair of African hawk-eagles gliding high in the sky. My only new bird in the afternoon was a black-headed oriole which flew over our garden. Beside several genets and white-tailed mongeese, our evening drive brought very little, but our night drive more than made up for that. We found nightjars, thick-knees and Heuglin's courser on the road, but it seemed very little else was around. We did however have a great view of a buff-crested bustard by the roadside.We had given up seeing anything of great interest and were speeding up the airstrip when one of the spotters started calling 'gele-gele.' I knew this meant aardvark and we got our driver to stop. He reversed and I got a glimpse of the aardvark disappearing into the bush, my second in as many trips to Sarara. We spent a short while searching for it, but it seemed to have disappeared down into a burrow, but I did see a new bird for the holiday, a pair of common button-quails which we disturbed with our car.

Buff-crested Bustard, Sarara 6/8/12

I put my camera out around the back of the camp, hoping to catch the bush pig and anything else that went past.

Bushpig, Sarara

Porcupine, Sarara

Vervet Monkey, Sarara

White-tailed Mongoose, Sarara

August 7th:

We decided to go and explore the semi-desert area a little way away from Sarara this morning. On the way I saw my first harlequin quail ever and an Abyssinian white-eye. A little further on, we had a stunning view of a pair of lanner falcon perched in the top of a tree. In the semi-desert we searched for bat-eared fox, but to no avail. We did, however see a mixed flock of wattled and Fischer's starlings. We also saw a single Liechtenstein's and a pair of black-faced sandgrouse. There were several grassland pipit and fawn-coloured larks as well as a gabar goshawk. As we headed back, we saw the magnificent white-breasted bustard, as well as several of the stunning golden pipit. We found a pair of black-headed lapwing on the way back as well as a perched African hawk-eagle. It ended up as being quite a magnificent morning's bird watch.

Liechtenstein's Sandgrouse, Sarara 7/8/12

Lanner Falcon, Sarara 7/8/12

Black-faced Sandgrouse, Sarara 7/8/12

Black-headed Lapwing, Sarara 7/8/12

African Hawk-Eagle, Sarara 7/8/12

An afternoon watch at the waterhole brought the usual mammals, including elephant and lesser kudu, as well as the usual finches in the the same bush next to the waterhole. One new addition to the bush was a lifer for me, a yellow-bellied waxbill. A lizard buzzard was a great bonus. Walking back to our house, I saw the tiny shikra, Africa's second smallest bird of prey after the pygmy falcon at only 26cm long.

In the late afternoon we drove up to the foot of Wargis mountain to head up to our camp, a short way up the mountain, seeing the resplendent African paradise flycatcher and a group of helmeted guineafowl on the way. On our short climb, I saw my first common fiscal of the trip and had a great view of a pair of African hawk-eagle hunting. As we arrived, my first Hemprich's hornbills flew overhead, creating a magical sight. A short, but superb walk behind camp in the montane forest as the sun set brought a montane oriole, a speciality up in these hills, as well as African cuckoo and grey-headed bush-shrike, but sadly no sign of the Narina trogon we were searching for. 

August 8th:

Early in the morning, we had another search for the Narina trogon, sadly to no avail. He did however see the stunningly colourful Hartlaub's turaco, as well as another pair of Hemprich's hornbills and African firefinches. We went down from the hill to take breakfast, before driving to Lewa. On the course of the drive, we saw two Somali ostriches on the road (right), as well as a gerenuk, tawny and martial eagles and black-shouldered kite. We then passed through the particularly unappealing town of Isiolo, seeing a black-headed heron flying overhead. A little way out of the town, a spectacular small roadside pond contained several more black-headed herons and a single grey heron, as well as sacred ibis and grey-crowned crane. We arrived at Lewa, just before lunch. On the way in, we saw Grevy's and Burchell's Zebra, elephant, reticulated giraffe, waterbuck and black rhino. Near the entrance was a group of green wood-hoopoe and in the marsh were several sacred and hadada ibises, grey-crowned cranes and a pair of blacksmith lapwings. Remarkably, while taking lunch we disturbed a Verreaux's Eagle Owl from its roost. In the early evening we went for a drive, seeing more of the same mammals we had seen earlier, as well as white rhino. The drive also took my holiday bird list past 200, with lappet-faced vulture, white-browed coucal, Shelley's francolin, taita fiscal, rufous sparrow and kori bustard, the world's heaviest flying bird, being the new additions to my list. We also saw more black-shouldered kite, tawny eagle, gabar goshawk and bateleur. We headed back towards the marsh, with the stunning spectacle of flocks of grey-crowned cranes, sacred and hadada ibises, grey and black-headed herons and great egrets. A little further on, we found a group of lion, resting on a dead tree.

Lion, Lewa

August 9th:

In the early morning, a scarlet-chested sunbird appeared in the garden, before we went over to a nearby river in an attempt to do some crabbing(!).  A group of Fischer's lovebirds were in a dead tree next to the river, and an African pied wagtail was on the rocky stream. A spot-flanked barbet appeared in the tree over the river, and an African paradise flycatcher flew downstream. After we had caught literally hundreds of crabs, we drove over towards the exit of Lewa. I went past my last Kenya holiday total as we drove down to Nairobi via Nanyuki, with yellow-throated longclaw and long-tailed fiscal before we left Lewa, and African stonechat, baglafecht weaver and wire-tailed swallow before reaching Nanyuki. After taking lunch in Nanyuki, we pushed on towards Nanyuki. I added Cape rook and speckled pigeon as we approached Nairobi. In Nairobi, the skies were filled with yellow-billed kites, and there were marabou storks on top of every roadside tree and in every roundabout. We got to the Nairobi aeroclub late in the afternoon, and an afternoon's birdwatch brought me several new species for the holiday, African citril, yellow-rumped seedeater, bronze and collared sunbirds, bronze mannikin and Cape robin-chat. I also saw more yellow-billed kites, marabou storks, little swifts, baglafecht weaver, common bulbul, house sparrow and streaky seedeater.

At eight o'clock, we drove to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and caught our flight back to London, ending a remarkable holiday.