The Dream
For about a year I've been texting back and forth with Jeff Mwok out in western Kenya about organizing a guided trip for the mythical African Spotted Creeper. Because of the distance, and the uncertainty of success, I kept putting it off. But we had a really nice chat around March and he managed to sweet talk me into taking the leap, by telling me about all the other lifers I could get out there. He'd also mentioned that they'd just had their first rains, so by the time we got there, the breeding season should be underway.
In short, what I learned from this trip is that that area around Mt. Elgon is a really underrated birding area and the creeper depends more on how committed you are than luck. With an empty April break to fill, I assembled a crew of four elite birders (me, Wilson, Jackson and Robert) + Jeff and we came up with a plan.
The basic plan was to camp on Jeff's farm and use that as a base to make excursions into the surrounding areas in an attempt to sweep up all of our targets, of which there were about a dozen! Jeff's farm is situated just a smidgin east of the hamlet of Kwanza, which is just north of Kitale, to help situate the reader.
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| This'll do! |
April 18th - birding around Kanyarkwat
It took only a 300m walk to get our first lifers. We started with Lesser Starling and Southern Citril, which was my #900 for Kenya. We then hung around a school where some Heuglin's Weavers were just starting to construct their nests. Dozens of kids were walking to school already by 6:30 in the morning, there were no teachers in sight. They lined up along the fence to see what we were doing. I was very careful to point my binoculars and camera only at the weavers to avoid looking suspicious outside of a school, Jeff assured us we were OK.
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| Heuglin's Masked Weaver |
From there we headed out to an area called Kanyarkwat to look for Western Violet-backed Sunbird, Foxy Cisticola and some other goodies.
We tried and tried for the Western Violet-backed Sunbird but there were no flowers to be found anywhere so we shifted our focus to the Foxy Cisticola. This is mainly a bird of Uganda which I've seen dozens of, but in Kenya it has become very rare due to over-grazing, marginal agriculture and charcoal harvesting. We walked around extensively through some severely degraded and desiccated habitat until eventually we got one and followed it around for a bit. It is a bird that few have seen in Kenya and a very beautiful cisticola, hence the name!
Nearby, we birded along a road through some more lush habitat which was not a nature reserve but still had some decent habitat. We got Green-backed Eremomelas pretty easily, Black-winged Bishops in non-breeding plumage, and a solitary Yellow-bellied Hyliota (all lifers). We birded that whole area persistently. The Hyliota was a big stroke of luck because the habitat was pretty marginal, we were basically birding on peoples' farms that Jeff had good relations with. On some random road, we found a little mixed flock and turned up a surprise Icterine Warbler (a migrant typically found further west) and right after that, three African Penduline Tits. That was a nemesis of mine for years.
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| Yellow-bellied Hyliota! |
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| Icterine Warbler |
Later on we went to this canyon that had some beautiful woodland that was in the process of being liquidated for charcoal, but for the time being the birding was quite decent. We had nice views of White-crested Turacos but it was too late in the day for much else.
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| White-crested Turaco |
April 19th - birding in the Cherangani Hills
We go up early to drive up to the Jeff's brother's farm up in the Cherangani Hills. The hills are a shadow of their former glory, reduced to endless farms, burnt-out charcoal hellscapes and over grazed scrub, but at one time they used to be one of Kenya's great forests with patches of moorland at the top and even had Mountain Bongos back in the 1960's. Nevertheless, patches of beautiful forest still remain here and there and that's where we were going to look for the enigmatic African Spotted Creeper.
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| I believe this is Kapcherop forest in the background. Hopefully I can explore it some day. |
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| The sad fate of most of the Cherangani Hills |
The farm was a cool habitat with grass understory and Abyssinian Acacias coated in mosses and lichens. This is the perfect habitat for the creeper according to Jeff. Bordering the acacia woodland is a patch of "proper forest". We wandered around for almost 3 hours before it was time for a tea break. We got some local children to bring us some tea. While enjoying the tea, Wilson remained focused on looking for the creeper. Suddenly, he had it! We rushed over and got a quick glimpse before it took off. It took a while to refind it but we eventually got decent looks. Later on we found a second one which responded to calls (the first one didn't) so we assumed they were male and female. We got soul-satiating looks.
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| African Spotted Creeper |
April 20th - birding around Jeff's farm
The rest of the trip is kind of a blur but cause I'm writing this up almost 2 years later but I'll try and summarize with a few photos. Jeff took us to some dry scrub at a lower elevation to look for the elusive Western Violet-backed Sunbird, but there being no flowers this was a big ask. We had some luck in a semi-dried up river with a brief look at a pair of Black-cheeked Waxbills which was a lifer. Jackson had to stay behind cause he had some personal business to attend to, unfortunately for him just before getting back to the house we randomly found a Purple Starling on top of a huge pine tree. After that, we drove to a farm just down the road from his house to look at a Yellow-billed Shrike that was residing there. We spent the rest of the day We had 2 nights left and decided to spend the next one at Saiwa Swamp so we said goodbye to Jeff. Just after we left his farm, we found an African Hobby and a Eurasian Hobby on the same wire! So a lot of good birds within 1km of Jeff's farm!
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Eurasian Hobby
 | African Hobby
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| Black-billed Barbets |
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| Purple Starling |
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| Viewing the Yellow-billed Shrike |
Saiwa Swamp is a small but extremely concentrated with bird and mammal action. We camped just outside the gate and hit the trails at dawn. Right off the bat we called in my lifer Grey-winged Robin-chats. For some reason we split up after that and I ended up spending most of the time alone which was kind of peaceful and serene. I came gave to face with a Sitatunga antelope, they are pretty rare and endangered in Kenya.
Further along, I got some sweet looks at DeBrazza's Monkeys, another wetland specialist more reminiscent of the jungles of Uganda. I found my lifer Purple-throated Cuckoo-shrikes (finally) and a cherry on top Red-headed Bluebill.
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| Sitatunga |
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| Gray-winged Robin-chat |
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| Purple-throated Cuckoo-shrike |
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| Green-headed Sunbird |
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| Black-collared Apalis |
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| ultra shy Red-headed Bluebill |
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| Saiwa Swamp |
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| DeBrazza's Monkey |
We were going to try to drive to Tindaret Forest before nightfall to see if we could look for the recently seen Red-chested Owlet. On the way, between Saiwa and Kitale, we chanced upon this random swamp by the side of the road. While looking and listening, a Spot-necked Otter randomly swam by!
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| Spot-necked Otter |
Getting to Tindaret Forest via Google map directions took FOREVER and it was well past sunset when we got there. The problem was we were on the wrong side of the forest. To get to the entrance road, we would have to drive all the way around (2.5 hours according to Google). We forgot about the Red chested Owlet and we're more concerned about the imminent question of where to sleep. We ended up asking a local if we could camp on his farm and he happily let us pitch our tent on his lawn and even served us chai in the morning. Classic kenyan hospitality! The next day we drove back to Nairobi. We would have to save Tindaret Forest for another trip!
Some final thoughts:
1) Jeff Mwok is an absolute Ace guide and on top of that a great host and now a great friend. Despite the fact that the habitat is really fragmented, he really knows all the secret spots to get the western birds and I was really blown away by how many lifers or near-lifers I got based solely on his expert local knowledge. Also his wife Pamela makes one of the best chicken stews around.
2) If you're considering driving out from Nairobi to look for the creeper, DO IT! It is such a unique and amazing bird that's so range restricted in the region and it lives in such a cool habitat. Just bring lots of patience. They are there but don't expect to roll up and see it in a few minutes as part of an adrenaline-fueled, rock jumper style mega tour. This bird might take some time. We got lucky to see it within 3 hours but we're prepared to stay longer if needed.
3) This was a really short trip. The original intent was just to see the Spotted Creeper and anything else would be a bonus. We saw far more than I'd hoped to see on this trip!
4) For our last day, we had to choose between Mt. Elgon and Saiwa Swamp and I was happy with our choice. We decided that the next time we visit western Kenya, it would be dedicated to Mt. Elgon. You need many days to explore western Kenya properly! Maybe 10 days would do it justice. We did pretty well with only 3 and a half.
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