f The Nature.S^/z>'a Newsletter www.naturekenya.org June 04 | 100 aPO Nairobi Tel: 3749957 / 3746090 Fax: 3741049 E-mail: office@n3turekerjya.org NATURE KENYA, R. O, Box 44486, fie^p TKiP Lake Solai by Geoffrey Mwachala Mon 7 June '03, 5:30 p.m. Ford Hall, National Museums, Nairobi The Taita Hills are part of the Eastern Arc Mountains. These are ancient crystalline mountains that haye been in existence some 50 million years. They are distinguished with at least 15 endemic taxa, nine of which are plants, with more being discovered all the time. Since 1997, Geoffrey Mwachala, Geoffrey Mungai and Beatrice Khayota of theTTational Museums of Kenya have led teams of volunteers in documenting botanical diversity in the transition zone (800-1250 m above sea level) on the Taita Hills. Geoffrey Mwachala will share with you their experiences and interesting finds. Sat 26 (2:00 P.M.) - Sun 27 June 04 Lake Solai is a seasonal lake in Nakuru District about 50 kms from Nakuru. On Saturday we will travel to Flamingo Camp, situated on the Nairobi-Nakuru highway where we shall camp overnight and proceed for Lake Solai the following day. Nature Kenya members will be able to camp for free (A big THANK YOU to Flamingo Camp): come with your membership card and camping gear. Toilets and hot water showers available and security is provided. Book at the Nature Kenya front office by 22 June, with 150/- per person, and meet at the National Museum car park on Saturday 26 June at 2:00 p.m. TAl^KS i VIP^S Botanical diversity of Taita Hills /4/7 Illustrated talk * Purchase the Forests Bill, 2004 published at the end of April - details on page 4 H.andbook of the BIRDS or 111r WORL D IN n+E^ H-OL/SP- Books HANDBOOK OF THE BIRDS OF THE WORLD - VOLUME 9 Cotingos to Pipits and Wagtails PREPUBLICATION PRICE 135 EUROS (NORMAL PRICE 170 EUROS) ORDER BY POST: LYNX EDITIONS, Montseny, 8, E-08193 Bellaterra (Barcelona) SPAIN OR EMAIL: lynx@hbw.com >t COMMUNITY GUIDE TO FOREST CONSERVATION A handbook for local communities in Kenya Just published by Nature Kenya's Environmental Legislation and Policy Working Group, and available at only 200/ - from the Nature Kenya gfffce. CHECKLIST OF THE COMMON BIRDS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM GROUNDS. NAIROBI Featuring outline drawings and thumbnail descriptions of 29 bird families, and names of common species in English, Swahili and Latin. Available at only 20/- from the Nature Kenya office Lyni MKkHts OiKASSiZOOrS Nature East Africa Volume 34 1, 2004 This issue, which comes to you with this newsletter, is a special issue focussing on the Nature Kenya's conservation work, involving networking and monitoring among Site Support Groups. 2 Introduction 4 The Mustard Seed Story by Dan Omoio 7 Yala Swamp by Nickson Otieno 13 Wool-Spinning promotes Grassland conservation by Anthony Kiragu 15 Securing the Future for Sharpe's Longclaw by Solomon Mwangi 18 Local People Contributing to Science by Simon Musila 19 Important Bird Areas Monitoring Form 24 'Mass Killings' of Birds! Friends of Kinangop cry foul by Dan Omoio 25 Blue Swallows ...by Paul Kariuki Ndang'ang'a 27 Creek and Forest Guiding by Jacqui Kaye 28 Highlights from the Chairman's report 32 Conserving the home of the critically endangered Taita Thrush by John Musina 34 Driving Forces at Sites: Francis Muigai, John Chege, David Kuria and David Ngala 39 Important Bird Areas Map //'•/ y- 4 * ■ \ // SKY June Sky, from The Safari Star Guide by Alex and Joy MacKay By Ian MacKay and Fleur Ng'weno June Stars Ursa Major, also called the Plough or the Big Dipper, is a large constellation in the north. Four stars form the corners of a box, and three stars in a line stretch away from the box. Higher in the northern sky is the brilliant orange star Arcturus. Higher still, the blue-white star Spica is directly overhead. (The bright planet Jupiter is also overheod, a little to the west.) The Southern Cross is upright in the south. Two very bright stars in the constellation Centaur seem to point to the Southern Cross. The constellation Scorpius is rising in the east; look for its fiery eye, the reddish star Antares. Planets, June 04 Saturn is only visible in the early evening, setting in the west soon after the sun. Mars is above Saturn in the western sky, less bright than Safurn. Jupiter can be seen throughout the evening, setting much later at around midnight. There will be a transit of Venus on June 8"’. The orbit of Venus around the sun passes between the sun and the orbit of the Earth. And on June 8"’, the planet will pass directly between the sun and us for a few hours. Astronomers viewing it through protective equipment will see it as a small black disk crawling very slowly across the brilliant face of the sun. The most recent transits of Venus occurred in 1874 and 1882, the next ones will be in 2012, and after a longer interval. 2117. There are some interesting stories surrounding past transits: A French astronomer called Lengentil journeyed to the Far East to see the transit of 1761, however the expedition was delayed by wars, and he was forced to watch it from the deck of a ship, and was therefore unable to record any useful information. Not to be daunted, he stayed abroad for 8 more years to catch the next one in 1769, but as it often seems to be when people try to watch such important celestial events, the weather was cloudy so he saw nothing! Meanwhile, the first epic voyage of the explorer Captain Cook had taken him and his astronomical observers to Tahiti in the South Pacific, where' they made exact measurements with more success. Moon June 3rd Full Moon: June 9th Last quarter: June 17th New Moon: June 25th First quarter. And, using the moon to find the stars and planets: June 3rd - Antares just south of the moon; June 19th - Saturn south of moon; June 20th - Mars a little south of moon, June 24th - Jupiter south of moon. Sun On June 21st the Sun is as far north as it gets. This marks the winter solstice for us south of the equator. An American Indian religious leader, Arvol Looking Horse, is calling on people everywhere to gather at sacred sites on the solstice, 21 June, as a day of peace and prayer. Reach over 1000 members by advertising in Nature Net CUkF>F>\-F\FV>S Rates for Ciassifieds: • Up to 25 words 250/- • Up to 50 words 500/- Ads • 1/4 page @ 1750/- • 1/2 page @ 3000/- with image +500/- horwim^s SUNDAY BIRDWATCH Members meet at the NQtionQ^ Museum^ Nairobi car pork at 9:00 a.m. the t ir Sunday of every month, i.e.20 June. The members decide where to go. Bring lunch TREE WALK Suided Tree Walks in the Arboretum on the second Saturday and last Monday, i.e. 12 Qt 12 A NRF walk Toita Hills tolk Tree Walk HI A *- ___ 7 un 20 .Sunday Birdwolk Ull V/ _ t -- - at 26 A Sun 27 L. S olajj^ Tree Walk Contrary to popular belief money can grow on trees Natural Seaweed 3 Suggest a NAME and WIN a bird book! f ■ Ornithologists, I birdwatchers, tourists and I bird tours all gather masses o f information on birds and store it in personal notepads or in trip reports that remain unseen or unpublished. This is 'lost' information that could make an important contribution to the global understanding of nature and birds. BirdLife International is planning to set up a web-based World Bird Database. This will be a great source of easily submittable and accessible information to use for monitoring, analysis of trends, updating atlases on bird distribution, etc. Birdwatchers prepared to input their own personal observations through a user-friendly Web page will help to produce a vast dataset of bird sightings around the giobe, and wiil be abie to participate in the conservation of their natural heritage at a variety of different levels. • Access and contribute to definitive and cohiplete lists of bird species at all important sites • Increase their chances of seeing a particular species at a particular site. • Manage their own records to produce day, year and life lists, summary statistics and maps • Help to identify and monitor areas of conservation priority • Help to monitor the populations of all species There is a prototype that is up and running and ready for some general testing. In order for it to be attractive on the Internet, we are now looking for a name for the Kenya system. Nature Kenya is launching it as a competition for its members. Members are invited to submit a name for the Kenya part of the World Bird Database by the end of July 2004. Send your suggestions to "Name for Bird Database" at Nature Kenya. With the powerful analytical tools that this project aims to provide, everyone will be able to; ••Produce distribution maps of species, showing where each is most frequently encountered. • Plan birdwatching trips in their own and other countries The Bird Committee of the East Africa Natural History Society at their August meeting will review the proposed names. The winning suggestion will get a copy of one of the following bird books; Birds of East Africal Field Guide to the Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania (hard cover) or Birds of Africa South of iie Sahara. OiMSSIZOOVS The Forests Bill, 2004 The Forests Bill, 2004, was published at the end of April. The 2004 Bill follows much of the spirit and wording of the 2000 draft, approved at a Stakeholders' workshop in 2000. The Forests Bill, 2004, proposes a Kenya Forest Service, with a disciplined force, to replace the current Forest Department. There would be a Director of Forests, a governing Board, and Forest Conservation Committees in different parts of the country. The Bill reflects current management priorities, and includes opportunities for participation in forest management by communities, the private sector, and other government and non¬ government bodies. Copies of the Forests Bill, 2004, are available at Ksh.250/- each from The Government Printer's Bookshop Haile Selassie Avenue PO Box 3128, Nairobi 00100 Phone (020) 226596 "We urge all Members of Parliament to enact this Bill to guide Kenya to a better future." Paul Matiku, Executive Director, Nature Kenya Nature Kenya Membership form Yes! , start I ■ Renew my Nature Kenya membership MAILING ADDRESS (BLOCK LETTERS) First Name Address Ms/Mr/Title Tel (H) (0) Mobile Email (OPTIONAL - but useful to us in planning) Occupation Age Bracket (tick) under 21( ) 21-35( ) 36-50( ) over 50( ) Country of Origin Would you like us to share your contacts Yes/ NO For Official Use Only Sub No. Mode Due Date Recpt. No. Recpt Date MEMBERSHIP TYPE Ksh Per Year Enter Amount Full 800 Sponsor 3000 Family 1000 Pensioners 300 Students (Full time & undergraduate; 300 Institutional (Libraries, schools, clubs) 1000 Corporate (check with the office) ADDITIONAL SUBSCRIPTIONS Kenya Birds (please tick If you would like to receive this Bird magazine) Free of charge Journal of E.A. Natural History 1000 (Ornithological Journal) 500 World Birdwatch (the BirdLife International magazine) 1500 Succulenta East Africa 400 . Friends of Nairobi Arboretum Single - 400/-, Student - 250/-, School or Club - 800/- • DONATIONS Help us to do even more! 5000/ 8000/ Other Total /fyou live reside outside of Kenya please refer to www.naturekenya.org 4