Kenya Birds - endashant

Where in Kenya might you see African Crakes and Dwarf Bitterns alongside Rosy-patched Bush-shrikes and Bare-eyed Thrushes? Possibly only in and around the Endashant swamp, just an hour's drive from Nairobi. Endashant is a seasonal swamp just beyond the Ngong hills. It lies in a shallow basin of about 209 hectares, between steep cliffs on one side and a long rocky outcrop on the other, in dry Acacia-Commiphora country sparsely populated by nomadic Maasai and their herds.

Being seasonal the 'swamp' is of course often bone-dry. It appears to flood in years of good rains, probably from April or May, drying out again between July and October, depending on rainfall.

Getting There

Travel out to Ngong town, turning right at the junction in the town centre, then almost immediately bear right again where the road forks. Follow this road (dirt soon replaces tarmac, but it's usually passable by saloon car) round the edge of the Ngong hills and soon you are descending steeply into Maasai country covered in Camphor bushes (ol-lelelshwa in Maa). Have your binoculars handy from here: you should see Schalow's Wheatears on the road down the hill and Northern Anteater Chats a bit further on. After 10.8 km, bear right where the road divides again (there is a sheet-iron covered church on your right here), and turn left after another 5 km where there is an old sign marked 'Ngong rifle range'. Park after 4.4 km by a small fenced pond, put on your wellies and walk in the direction of the Ngong hills. A scramble down a rocky bush-covered slope brings you to the swamp.

The Birds

The last 8 km or so of the drive to Endashant are particularly exciting. In the early morning, there are hordes of small birds by the roadside: White-browed Scrub Robins, Purple Grenadiers, Speckle-fronted Weavers, Grey-capped Social Weavers and Yellow-rumped Seed-eaters are typical, Green-winged Pytilias not infrequent, whilst abundant Grey Flycatchers and frequent Fawn-coloured Larks perch near the tops of the small trees. Capped Wheatears can sometimes be common in the open country just beyond the turning at the church, and Short-tailed Larks and Temminck's Coursers and Kori Bustard also occur here. There are three goodies to look out for in the better-wooded areas: Tiny Cisticolas (which sometimes perch conspicuously right on the tops of acacias), Southern Grosbeak Canaries (here at the northern edge of their range) and the very local Bush Pipit, whose small size is distinctive - but remember that the Grassland and Long-tailed Pipits also occur. Rocky outcrops hold Wailing Cisticolas, Cliff Chats and a pair or two of Common Kestrels and Augur Buzzards.

As you walk down towards the swamp, look out for the noisy and numerous banded Parisomas, D'Arnaud's Barbet, Slate-coloured Boubous, Brown-crowned Tchagras and Rosy-patched Bush-shrike. Once at the swamp, birds seen depend very much on the conditions. In dry periods, there may be Fischer's Sparrow-larks out on the dried mud. Depending on the time of year, pools of water attract breeding or migrant waders. If there is plenty of cover for their nests, Red-billed Teal and White-faced Whistling Duck may be found escorting tiny ducklings. If there is an expanse of open water as well, herons and storks occur (12 species have been recorded), including African Spoonbills, Glossy Ibises and the 'secretive' Dwarf Bittern which, if flushed, will land and stand motionless on the top of an acacia. Occasionally a pelican drops in (but not for long, as there are no fish). Whiskered Terns may be breeding, along with a few Maccoa Ducks and Black-necked Grebes (Little Grebes are far commoner, but the Great Crested Grebes which nested here in the 1970s sadly no longer occur). If there is dense grass and sedge growth, a few little Rush Warblers may arrive and there are lots of Winding and Zitting Cisticolas, together with Cardinal Queleas and a few Yellow_crowned Bishops.

When water is scarce, muddy pools attract droves of estrildid finches such as Cut-throat Finches, Crimson-rumped, Black-faced and Common Waxbills, and Grey-headed Silverbills, along with other small birds like Straw-tailed Whydahs.

But the star birds are the rails, eight species of which have been found recently. When conditions are right, Common Moorhens, Red-knobbed Cots, Black Crake and African Water Rails breed, whilst Lesser Moorhens may do so. In the wet grassy margins, migrant African Crakes occur in May to July, sometimes in surprising numbers. But the two top birds are very hard to find, since they occur in deeply-flooded stands of grass and sedge and are notoriously difficult to flush. These are the enigmatic Striped Crake (not called Aenigmatolimnas marginalis for nothing!) and the tiny Baillon's Crake. Both species were present during May to July 1998, when the conditions may have been exceptionally suitable. If you find flooded grassland walk along the margins and hope that luck is with you! Avoid repeatedly 'thrashing' one area though, as this will damage the vegetation.

The wooded country around the swamp edges should not be neglected. Here there are Spotted Morning Thrushes, Grey Wren-warblers, Nubian Woodpeckers, White-headed Saw-wings, Beautiful Sunbirds and two more 'specials': Red-throated Tits and Bare-eyed Thrushes, though neither can be guaranteed. Along the cliff face on the far side of the swamp are breeding Egyptian Vultures, Lanner Falcons and occasional Verreaux's Eagles, together with flocks of Nyanza and Mottled Swifts. Nocturnal birds of the cliffs include Freckled Nightjars and Spotted Eagle Owls.