EVENING SKY 
December Moon 04 
5 Dec Last Quarter (rises at 
midnight); 12 Dec New Moon; 18 
Dec First Quarter (overhead at 
sunrise); 26 Dec Full Moon 
January Moon 04 
3 Jan Last Quarter (rises at 
midnight); 10 Jan New Moon; 17 
Jan First Quarter (overhead at 
sunset); 25 Jan Full moon 
December Sun 
On the 21'^ the sun is at it's 
farthest south of the celestial 
equator: this December solstice 
marks the start of winter for 
those in northern latitudes, the 
start of summer for those in the 
south. 
Dec and Jan stars 
December and January skies are 
full of beautiful stars. Look to 
the east for a group of six stars 
clustered together; these are 
the Seven Sisters or Pleiades. 
Near the Pleiades is a bright, 
reddish star, the fiery eye of 
Taurus the bull. 
Most of our English names for 
the stars and the constellations 
- the patterns made by the stars 
- come from the legends of the 
ancient Greek and Romans. 
Southeast of the Pleiades the 
constellation of Orion, the great 
warrior, is rising. To the Greeks 
the stars formed the shape of a 
man striding across the southern 
sky; to us on the equator it is 
more difficult to visualise: 
Look for three bright stars in a 
row; four other bright stars form 
the corners of a box around the 
three stars. To the Greeks, the 
three stars were Orion's belt; a 
line of three fainter stars were 
the sword hanging from his belt. 
The other four stars were his 
knees, including blue-green 
Rigel, and his shoulders, 
including reddish Betelgeuse. 
Use binoculars to see the Orion 
Nebula at the tip of the sword 
(the three faint stars next to 
the three bright stars). With 
binoculars, you will also see 
many more stars in the Pleiades 
cluster and the face of Taurus. 
The brightest star we can see 
at night, Sirius, is in the 
southeast; and Canopus, the 
second brightest star in the 
sky, is lower in the south. 
Canopus cannot be seen in the 
north, but we have legends 
from some of the San people of 
southern Africa; Sirius is the 
'Grandmother of Canopus' as 
Sirius rises just after Canopus, 
just as the elderly follow 
behind the more agile youths. 
The constellation of Cassiopeia 
is low in the north. Look for 
stars forming a conspicuous 
zigzag or “M“ shape. The great 
square of Pegasus is high in the 
northwest. 
Dec 04 and Jan 05 
Planets 
The planets are in the dawn sky 
this season. Brilliant Venus 
rises in the east about an hour 
and a half before the sun and 
can still be seen in the morning 
twilight. Bright Jupiter is high 
in the morning sky: the moon is 
just north of Jupiter on the 7^^. 
Viewed from some places, the 
moon will occult (pass directly 
in front of) this giant planet. 
SCOPUS 
Volume 24 now 
available from 
Nature Kenya 
@ 500/- 
Contents 
LUCA BORGHESIO Variation in 
waterbird populations of two 
freshwater lakes in Marsabit 
National Park, northern Kenya 
NORBERT J CORDEIRO, ELIA 
MULUNGU, GODFREY G 
MAINA AND JON C LOVETT 
Birds of the Kihansi Gorge, 
south-eastern Udzungwa 
Mountains 
MARC BAKER A preliminary 
survey of the avifauna of 
Eminit Forest, Loima Hills, 
western Turkana District 
LUCA BORGHESIO, KARIUKI 
NDANG'ANG'A, NICODEMUS 
NALYANVA, MARTIN 
KAHINDI AND PAOLA 
LAIOLO Some interesting bird 
observations from Northern 
Kenya 
ROBERT J DOWSETT 
Comments on the distribution 
of Cape Teal Anas capensis 
Short 
Communications 
PETE AND ANDREAS 
LEONARD Block-rumped 
Buttonquail Turnix hotten tota 
in Serengeti National Park, 
Tanzania 
OLIVIER HAMERLYNCK AND 
STEPHANIE DUVAIL 
Suspected breeding of Roseate 
Tern Sterna dougallii in Mafia 
Island Marine Park, Tanzania 
MICHAEL MILLS A range 
extension for Zenker's 
Honeyguide Melignonmon 
zenkeri from Kibole National 
Pork. Uganda 
K D DIJKSTRA First record of 
Orange-cheeked Waxbill 
Estrilda melpoda in East 
Africa 
Bird Hotline 
3749957 
Ortolan Bunting Buffalo 
Springs N.R / Oct Sanderling 
Ruddy Turnstone, African 
Skimmers 1 . Naivasha / Oct 
Shailesh Patel , Titus Imboma 
and friends 
African Cuckoo Hawk Karen / 
Oct A Rocha members 
Birdwalk 
Grey Olive Greenbul Nairobi 
Arboretum / Oct Alan 
Johnston and Chege Kariuki 
Dwarf Bittern Carnivore / 
Nov Wed. Morning Birdwalk 
PLANT INDIGENOUS ! 
TREES AND SHRUBS 
.ATTRACT Bl.riTERFLIES AND BROS 
80 SPECIES INTIIGENOUS TREES .4ND SHRUBS, WTILL 
GROWTl (IM 0 IN L.ARGE POLYPOTS. 
“LANDSCAPE” TREES ,\LSO .AVAILABLE. 
VISIT ITTE NURSERY FOR ADVICE. 
CON I AC T: CROPWAICH L I'D TREE NURSERY 
CAROLE HENLMINGS 0733 747865 
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Continued on page i 
