Trip Report February 2001

Combining Birding and Business .... or "Birds I've Chased on Business Trips"

Randy Vernon

February 2001: Decided to take advantage of being in Kenya for a conference by adding a few days in the highlands.

I arrived at Naro Moru River Lodge at about noon on 21 February, and birded the grounds there for the remainder of the day. On the 22nd I went up to the Mountain Lodge and slowly birded my way down the road, then on the 23rd I went up to the moorland, past the radio tower on Mount Kenya. The morning of the 24th I was able to get in another 3 hours or so near Naro Moru before heading back to Nairobi.

I did enjoy Naro Moru. I was startled out of my sleep one night by a troop of Tree Hyraxes, which sound like a clock being wound, followed by an unearthly shriek, that was a first for me. I also had to chase a Sykes Monkey out of my car, having left the window open while I wandered off after a couple of Mountain Warblers. My children were impressed by the story.

Back to birding: my total Highlands count was 115 species, highlights including Tacazze Sunbird, Black Duck, Verreaux's Eagle, Hartlaub's Turaco, African Emerald Cuckoo, Montane Nightjar, Cinnamon Bracken-Warbler, Mountain Warbler, Crowned Hornbill, Fine-banded Woodpecker. Notable misses include Silvery-cheeked Hornbill, Aberdare Cisticola, Lammergeier, White-headed Sawwing, any trogon species. Oh, well -- guess you can't have everything.

After my dedicated birding time in the Highlands, I was still able to bird for an hour every morning before our conference meetings got started. Our conference was held near Ruiru, about 30 or 40 minutes northwest of Nairobi. At sunrise I would normally go over to a little coffee plantation near the conference center, with some scrub and lakeside habitat. I picked up another 49 species there, so my Kenya total for this trip was 164 species.