Trail Log 1995-1997 - Lamar at Colorado State University

9
Bougainvillaea. Many kinds, all with three colored bracts subtending three inconspicuous flowers.
Originally from Brazil, found in Rio de Janeiro by Bouganville.
Hibiscus. Yellow anthers and red stamens. From China.
Bird of paradise (flower). Strelitzia reginae, from South America.
In the countryside about, lots of thorn trees. Flat topped Acacia, 42 species in Kenya.
July 22. Thursday.
I took alone an early morning walk back down the game trail. Hartlaub's turaco (toor rah ko), seen
quite nicely. This is the bird on the rear of the Collins Birds of East Africa.
We left Aberdare, drove to Mt. Kenya Country Club. Thomson's gazelles. Lots of wheat fields.
Reached village of Naro Moru; this is the base for climbing Mount Kenya, which is 17,058 feet in
elevation.
Went to a market on the equator, with so much hassle from people selling things that it was no fun.
Long-tailed widowbird, with spectacular tail. Several seen from the van. Tail is so oversized you
would think it a burden in flight. But it attracts females. When researchers glued more feathers to
a male's tale, more females were attracted to nests in its territory. But they jettison the tails after
breeding season.
We reached Mt. Kenya Safari Club about noon; this is also on the equator. There are birds all over
the lawn and lake. Marabou storks, quite large with air sacs. Egyptian geese. Sacred Ibis; sacred
in Egypt, where it is now extinct (!), but still present here. Black-headed herons. Grey herons.
Hooded vulture. One exotic here: the Saras crane from India.
We stayed in a rather nice cabin some walk away from the dining hall. Servants built a fire at night.
This is high enough in elevation to be cool at nights.
Bird walk in afternoon, at 4.30. Speckled mousebird. Fiscal shrike. I couldn't trace out the origin
of "fiscal" here. By one account "fiscal" went back to fisk, a public prosecutor, and was taken to
mean "hangman" from the shrike's hanging lizards on thorns, though by another account the shrike
has lots of lizards in the bank and is "fiscally" well off.
Yellow-billed duck, on the pond.
Reichnow's weaver. Yellow. Weavers are about like finches, though they have ten rather than nine
primaries. Both are seed eaters with large bills. This is a large bird group in Africa. Finches build
open nests. With weavers the male builds the nest, while the female sings. The nest is a domed
structure, with an opening at the side, top, or bottom. Then the male sees whether the female likes
the nest; if not he has to build another! They are colonial and acacia trees are frequent here laden
with weavers' nests.
Hadada ibis. Bottlebrush tree, with red hanging flowers. Wild Ipomaea, like a purple morning glory.