Table Of Content

Birding northern Kenya: in search of Masked Lark Spizocorys personata Kevin Vang and Wojciech Dabrowka Observer les oiseaux au nord du Kenya: a la recherche de I’Alouette masquee Spizocorysperson- ata. Le nord du Kenya est actuellement peu frequente par les ornithologues. En mars—avril 2005 les auteurs y ont visite certaines zones, notamment le Parc national de Marsabit et le desert de Dida Galgahi, ainsi que le LacTurkana et le desert de Horr avoisinant. 11s y ont recherche et photographic TAlouette masquee Spizocoryspersonata et d’autres especes et sous-especes du desert. D uring March-April 2005 we took the oppor- also decided to use guides only as and when the tunity, whilst working in Kenya, to visit parts need arose. of north-central Kenya to look for and photo- Other than a good GPS and our optical and graph Masked Lark Spizocoryspersonata and other photographic equipment, we did not carry any desert species and subspecies. We also planned to other specialised gear. We bought cheap mattress- undertake more general bird photography in the es, sheets, tarpaulins and lots ofwater, but with lit- region, including in Marsabit National Park and tle chance of major rainfall, we did not elect to the Dida Galgalu desert, as well as Lake Turkana carry a tent. We also had a very detailed map of and the adjacent Horr desert. Our plan was devel- northern Kenya. oped following discussions with many Kenyan bird and wildlife experts. We concluded that the Security and logistics far north of Kenya had been under-explored in Travelling in northern Kenya is a calculated risk recent times, largely because of the banditry and that should be approached carefully and preferably civil unrest in the border areas with Somalia, not alone. It is a rugged destination that demands Ethiopia and Sudan, and as such was worthy of complete self-sufficiency and some expedition visiting. experience. Such a trip requires a 4x4 vehicle with high ground clearance. Ideally, don’t use a newer Planning model or vehicle that is in particularly good con- We timed our expedition to coincide with the dition, as the fancier it is, the more it will be cov- annual meeting in Nairobi ofthe regional African eted. Ensure that you have a good GPS and map development programme that we manage at the as there are no road signs. Also ensure that you Australian Foundation in Sydney. We worked carry plenty of extra fuel. Yellow cooking oil bar- closely with our foundation counterpart, Goncern rels are cheap and easy to use, but ensure they are Universal Kenya, who provided information con- secured firmly and check them frequently for cerning the area and helped us procure a sturdy leaks. Always carry two spare tyres. Night drives jeep to undertake the venture. Unfortunately we should not be contemplated. Some nights we were were unable to find many people who had visited caught out, given our slow speeds, but ideally you the area in recent years and several others assured should be in or close to your hotel or at your us that the area was far too dangerous and that, in campsite before sunset. any case, local authorities would prevent us from If sleeping out, always camp c.1-2 km from entering. The net result was that we just decided the main road, well out of sight of any passing to head north and ‘play it by ear’ as we went. traffic and always make sure that you erase your We decided not to use a driver as the tech- tracks where you turn off, so it is not readily evi- niques that we use for vehicular bird photography dent that a vehicle has left the track. This is partic- are quite specialised, and it is too time-consuming ularly important in sandy or muddy areas. In the to train local drivers to understand or utilise them rocky Dida Galgalu, such precautions are not real- effectively. Furthermore, they necessitate travelling ly necessary as your tracks are not readily visible. at very low speeds, of 20-30 km/h maximum, Ghoose a campsite by looking for evidence of which most local drivers find very difficult. We wildlife and lack of signs of human or domestic & 2t0-BullABC Vol 14 No2(2007) Birdingnorthern Kenya: in search ofMaskedLark: Vang Dabrowka animal activity. Sites with lots of duikers and no Marsabit Mountains, through a transitional area sign of domestic animals reduce your chances of of upland grasslands and open forest, to Acacia being found. The importance ofsecurity in north- scrub and rocky deserts at lower, more arid eleva- ern Kenya should not be under-estimated. In early tions. The uplands contain numerous natural and 2006, almost 80 people were killed in Turbi when artificial waterholes. they were attacked by rebels from Ethiopia. We stayed in Marsabit at a local Muslim- That said, we did not encounter many people owned hotel, the Jey Jey Centre, set around a in the desert. Occasionally we would pass large pleasant courtyard with a small restaurant transport trucks full of people and goods, usually attached. The rooms are clean and some have pri- travelling from Moyale on the Ethiopian brder vate baths but most have shared facilities. The south to Marsabit and beyond. We often left the electricity and water pressure are, however, some- jeep parked in the bush and wandered off what sporadic. Occasionally when we returned a nomad with a We spent two days exploring the northern and small herd of goats or sheep would be resting in southern sectors of the national park. The hills the shade ofthe jeep. Carry bottles ofwater to give above 1,000 m were densely forested. Moisture is to people that you meet in remote areas, as in this gained from nightly fogs which envelop the high- area of Kenya it helps you to make friends quick- er areas each evening, permitting the presence ofa ly. Once you hand out water, the people often completely separate suite of forest bird species seem content to leave you to your birdwatching from the surrounding lower elevation desert and rather than hassling you. open scrub. Forest residents in the highlands of It is worth driving slowly. Not only will you see many more birds by so doing, but you will also save your tyres and your jeep generally. Desert Captions to plates on pages 212-213 birds are often quite lethargic due to the heat and (all photographs taken in northern Kenya, March-April shelter under bushes and rocks. They are easily 2005, by Kevin Vang and Wojciech Dabrowka) flushed when approached on foot, causing them Figure 1. Donaldson-Smith’s Sparrow Weaver / Mahali de unnecessary stress, but if approached slowly in a Donaldson Plocepasserdonaldsoni vehicle they generally permit photography with- Figure 2. Somali Bee-eater / Guepier de Revoil Merops out being disturbed. revoilii Figure 3. Masked Lark / Alouette masquee Spizocorysper- Birding sites sonata Figure 4. Masked Lark Spizocoryspersonata and female Isiolo to Marsabit (274 km) Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse Pterocles exustus The Ewaso Ngiro River marks the border of Alouette masquee Spizocoryspersonata et Ganga a ventre Eastern and Rift Valley Provinces and offers good brun Pterocles exustus femelle birding along the valley. The rolling scrub forest north of the river is home to Vulturine dF’iOguusrteal5.etCEhreesmtonputte-rhiexasdiegdnaStupsarrow Lark / Moinelette Guineafowl Acryllium vulturinum, Buff-crested Figure 6. Greater Kestrel / Crecerelle aux yeux blancs Bustard Eupodotis gindiana. White-bellied Go- Falco rupicoloides away Bird Corythaixoides leucogaster and Von der Figure 7. White-headed Buffalo Weaver / Alecto a tete Decken’s Hornbill Tockus deckeni. Crossing back blanche Dinemellia dinemelli into Eastern Province, we also visited Losai Figure 8. Vulturine Guineafowl / Pintade vulturine National Reserve where we quickly found Somali Acryllium vulturinum Ostrich Struthio camelus molybdophanes, Yellow- Figure 9. Kori Bustard / Outarde koriArdeotis kori necked Spurfowl Francolinus leucoscepus. Crested Figure 10. White-bellied Go-away Bird / Touraco a ven- Francolin Francolinus sephaena grantii and tre blanc Corythaixoides leucogaster Fischer’s Starling Spreofischeri. Figure 11. Fischer’s Starling / Spreo de Fischer Spreofis- Marsabit NationalPark cheri Encompassing altitudes from 502 to 1,344 m, Figure 12. Yellow-necked Spurfowl / Francolin a cou Marsabit National Park protects a range of habi- jaune Francolinus leucoscepus tats from the rolling hills and upland forests ofthe & Birding northern Kenya: in search ofMaskedLark: Vang Dabrowka BullABCVol 14 No2(2007) -211 212-BullABC Vol 14 No2(2007) BullABC Vol 14 No2(2007) -213 the park include Mountain Olive Thrush Tiirdus The following day. Masked Larks were found olivaceous abyssinicus, African Dusky Flycatcher in the same area, a long stretch offlat black basalt Muscicapa adusta marsabit and Grey Cuckoo- ventifacts beside the main road at 02“37’N shrike Coracina caesia pura. Given that the hill 38“03’E. They appeared to be confined to an area forests of Marsabit and other northern Kenyan ofa few kilometres, with none seen north or south montane outliers are surrounded by vast tracts of of this area. Where recent thundershowers had desert, it is relatively unsurprising that the forest yielded their rain, the basalt desert was covered in birds encountered here are frequently represented short grasses. Other areas were bone dry. The by distinct subspecies. grassed areas held not only Masked Lark but con- Being late March, migrants such as Willow centrations ofKori BustardArdeotis koristruthiun- Warbler Phylloscopus trochilus acredula, Eurasian culus and Northern Crowned Plover Vanellus Roller Coraciusgarrulus, Pied Wheatear Oenanthe coronatus. That evening we reached Turbi where pleschanka and Isabelline Wheatear 0. isabellina we obtained good photographs of ‘Horr’ White- were frequently encountered. The north of the crowned Starling Spreo albicapillus horrensis and park is mainly scrub and open desert, providing the maculosus subspecies of Spotted Thick-knee excellent opportunities to photograph species such Burhinus capensis. as Buff-crested Bustard Eupodotis gindiana, Chalbi desert and Horr White-throated Bee-eater Merops albicollis, Red- fronted Warbler Urorhipis rufifrons, Donaldson- Chalbi desert, at 550-800 m, is a mixture ofrocky basalt desert and sandy areas. To the west, most of Smith’s Sparrow Weaver Plocepasser donaldsoni, the sandy areas are covered by dense Comiphora White-crowned Starling Spreo albicapillus horrensis and the argentea subspecies of Croaking scrub. Most of the area is relatively flat but in the west Mt Kulal, which reaches 1,340 m, an extinct Cisticola Cisticola natalensis. volcano at the south-east corner of Lake Turkana, Dida Galgalu desert rises from the desert. m Didi Galgalu desert lies between 500 and 750 In the mission village of Kargi, we came to a and is an arid rocky plain with large areas of low- small waterhole where we photographed Pink- lying, black basalt rubble interspersed with sandy breasted Lark Mirafra poecilosterna, Crested Lark desert areas including active low dunes. Some Galerida cristata somaliensis. Yellow-spotted expanses are bare, but others, both rocky and Petronia Petronia pyrgita, Namaqua Dove Oena sandy, were grass-covered as a result of recent capensis and several others. Pitching camp, there thunderstorms. Although largely dry during our was a wealth ofwildlife so we created a temporary visit, small streams within the sandy valleys sup- waterhole using a tarpaulin. Star-spotted port open forest which offers shade for an array of Nightjars Caprimulgus stellatus were soon flitting desert species. Isolated patches of dense thorny, around, but unfortunately we quickly fell asleep. low Acacia thicket occur widely and provide fur- By the following morning the water was gone and ther shelter. a host offootprints indicated that we had missed a After leaving Marsabit, we drove north into good show. the desert to look for one of our main target Continuing west we headed up Mt Kulal. The species. Masked Lark Spizocorys personata yavel- valley at the base ofthe volcano is forested and we loensis. A migrating Montagu’s Harrier Circus quickly photographed a group of ‘Horr’ Scaly pygargus disturbed a large group of Chestnut- Chatterer Turdoides aylmeri boranensis, some 100 headed Sparrow Larks Eremopterix signatus, km north of its known range. This is perhaps Masked Larks and Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse unsurprising as the forests follow riverbeds, and Pterocles exustus olivascens, which had all been seek- this riverbed originated some 100 km south-west! ing the shade ofbasalt boulders. Somali Bee-eater Surveys may well reveal that chatterers occur along Merops revoilii, Somali Courser Cursoriussomalen- such valleys far into the Chalbi, provided the habi- sis littoralis and Somali Fiscal Lanius somalicus tat holds out, which ifconfirmed would expand its were increasingly common as we proceeded north known range considerably. Climbing Mount Kulal into the desert. via a very narrow track, we encountered some new 2U-BullABC Vol 14 No2(2007) Birding northern Kenya: in search ofMaskedLark: Vang &Dabrowka sBpuenctieisng iEnmcbleurdiiznag poSloimoaplleiuraGoalnddenR-ebdr-ebaisltleedd vreergyiornoiungthowWietshtemrannySasmtbeuerpuc.liTmhbes amnadindetsrcaecnktsi.s Buffalo Weaver Bubalornis niger intermedius, as On the steeper parrs, we usually stopped and bird- well as the majestic Gerenuk Litocranius ivalleri. ed around the passes to let the engine not over- Lake Turkana heat, as well as occasionally changing the water. By The south-east shore of Lake Turkana is an arid driving slowly and checking waterholes and other basaltic boulderfield running down to the sandy, suitable habitat, we obtained excellent photo- silty shores of the lake. We used Loyangalani, a graphs of species such as White-bellied Bustard small village on this shore, as our base and stayed Eupodotis senegalensis canicollis, Rosy-patched in cabins at El Molo campground. The area is very Bush-shrike Rhodophoneus cruentus hilgerti and hot and rugged, but the lakeshore abounded with Eastern Violet-backed Sunbird Anthreptes orien- We waterbirds and waders (many ofthem en route to talis. stayed at a small guesthouse near the cen- Eurasia), none of which seemed too alarmed by tre ofMaralal. human presence, and permitted close approach. To view more photographs and the complete bird list, please visit our website: Lake Turkana to Maralal http://www.birdexplorers.com/ The Maralal area is rugged, with high forested hills, steep valleys and upland badlands, intes- Bird Explorers, PO Box 12, Crow’s Nest, New South persed by desert scrub and wide open grassy high- Wales, 1585, Australia. land plateaux at higher elevations. We returned south towards Maralal through Southern Horr & Birdingnorthern Kenya: in search ofMaskedLark: Vang Dabrowka BullABC Vol 14 No2(2007) -215