HGNP #2: Naiburta Campsite - Spot this Bird!
The cache, a small black-taped plastic screw-topped pot, is hidden under rocks under a small tree at this stunning camp location overlooking the valley grasslands with their numerous animals.
To reach the cache location: after entering the Park at Elsa Gate @ S 00 51.148 E 36 22.143, follow the main track past Fischer's Tower (location of GC5CBXT: Fischers Tower - see this also for background info on the park) as far as the signposted junction @ S 00 52.293 E 36 21.140. Fork right here and continue to the next junction @ S 00 52.257 E 36 20.765 signposted (right fork) to the camp. Park anywhere convenient closest to the cache.
103 species of birds have been recorded in the park and you should be able to spot around 25-30 species in the course of a one-day visit. One species which I saw just by the cache location was a (juvenile) Schalow's Wheatear. It was very confiding and perched confidently less than 2m away, allowing me to get a reasonable photo with my point and shoot compact camera. So keep an eye out for this bird which you have a high chance of seeing - and maybe also photographing - if so, please post your photo!
This bird is also known as the Abyssinian or Arabian (Black) Wheatear (Oenanthe lugubris schalowi or O.shalowi or O.lugens) and is the subject of considerable ornithologial and taxonomical debate.
Its taxonomy is being revisited thanks to DNA technology. It is one of 14 sub-species of the Mourning Wheatear (Oenanthe lugens) but some authorities recognise it as a full species.
This taxon was recently moved from the thrush family (Turdidae) and placed into Old World flycatchers & chats (Muscicapidae -see here for details of members of this large family and several photos of Schalow's wheatear), which some view as a bunch of best guesses or a 'taxonomic rubbish bin'. It is a group of superficially similar birds but the similarities could be equally likely due to covergent evolution as to genuine relatedness.
The Old World flycatcher family has many members, comprising tree-dwelling passerine birds that are restricted to the Old World. These little birds are helpful because they are avid insect-eaters, many of which take their prey on the wing.
However, this species and its close relatives are genuinely closely related and Schalow's wheatear was long 
thought to be conspecific with the mourning wheatear. According to the field guide Birds of Africa South of the Sahara, the male of this sexually dimorphic species can be distinguished from males in its sister taxon, the Abyssinian black wheatear, Oenanthe lugubris, by its white or cream-coloured belly, the paler "cap" on its head and its orange vent. Range as well as appearance helps to distinguish this species from the mourning wheatear.
The wheatears are medium-sized chat-like birds with white/buff rumps and an inverted black 'T' on the tail. They are mainly ground-dwelling in open country.
Schalows wheater (15cm, 6") has a unique cinnamon-buff/rufous rump and undertail (see also Gallery photos) and is endemic to a relatively small range of 1,000-3,000m altitude in the Rift Valley of central Kenya and northern Tanzania and associated highlands (see distribution map). In Kenya it is found from Nakuru south to Narok and Olorgesailie (on the Magadi road).
It is particularly fond of eroded gullies and rocky hillsides with some rough grass cover and scattered bushes (exactly what is found at the Naiburta Campsite!). It sings 'short bursts of identical muffled sweet refrains'.
See here for a distribution map and recordings of calls.