KENYA: Castle Forest

It was a gorgeous afternoon at Castle Forest Lodge set deep in the forested foothills of the southern slope of Mt. Kenya. While having lunch on the verandah (above), overlooking a fabulous valley below, we had circling Long-crested Eagle, a distant Mountain Buzzard and African Harrier Hawk. A resting Broad-billed Roller (below) perched in nearby shrubbery, was a wonderful surprise.

There was a fair bit of activity around the ‘castle’ with Brown-capped Weavers, Kikuyu White-eyes (below), Tacazze and Northern Double-collared Sunbirds, White-eyed Slaty Flycatcher and Pin-tailed Whydahs in the adjacent hedgerow, and Scarce Swift, Lesser Striped Swallow, Barn Swallow, Little Swifts, Black Saw-wing, Mottled Swift, Mosque Swallow and Alpine Swift flying all around.

The afternoon walk down the track was a great success, beginning with a pair of nesting Abbott’s Starling in a distant tree. Sadly, the Waller’s Starling’s were not any closer. It was not long before the raucous khaw calls of Hartlaub’s Turaco were heard all around us. One showed well and this was followed by a few more working their way through the canopy.

There was a steady steam of birds that kept use enthralled, which included Black-throated Apalis (above), Grey Apalis, Brown Woodland Warbler, a Spectacled Weaver beginning his nest building, Thick-billed Seedeater, the huge Silver-cheeked Hornbill, noisy Red-fronted Parrots flying over on their way to roost, Eastern Bronzed-naped and the larger Olive Pigeons, Eastern Olive and Eastern Double-collared Sunbirds as well as hearing a Tambourine Dove calling.

Before turning back we followed a Long-crested Eagle (above) in the late afternoon, as it moved from perch to perch gazing intently at the grasses below for the slightest movement, in the hopes of one last meal for the day. To round out the day we had a pair of Hunter’s Cisticolas and a Grey-headed Negrofinch. The following morning on the way out we stopped for an African Hill Babbler. Even though it has the name babbler, this small thrush-like sulking highland bird, does not occur in noisy family groups.