Kenya Birds and Wildlife & Masai Mara Extension Oct 31—Nov 18, 2010
Posted by David Wolf
David Wolf
David Wolf is a senior member of the VENT staff and one of our most experienced tour leaders. After birding the U.S. and Mexico for over a decade, an interest in the wildli...Related Trips
Almost every November for the last thirty years has found me in Kenya, but it still amazes me how each safari has been different. In 2009 we found the country just starting to recover from a prolonged and devastating drought as the first rains fell. Unexpectedly, the rain continued over much of the country for the next six months or more, restoring much-needed moisture to the land and making for a bountiful breeding year for the birds and animals. Our November 2010 tour reaped the benefits of this lush time, successfully finding a broad array of birds and wildlife in every region that we visited.
"I've never seen the lake so high," was said by your leader so often that it became a trip joke, but it was wonderful to see the renewal in the lakes after years of decline. With Lake Nakuru the highest in decades, its alkaline waters were diluted, and "only" 100,000 or so flamingos were present. This "low" number was more than made up for by an abundance of other waterbirds in the extensive marshes now fringing the lake, plus the many mammals packed into the tall grasslands around the lake, including 18 white rhino and a solitary male black rhino marking territory. At Lake Baringo the shoreline was a mere 50 yards from our rooms, rather than a half-mile away—and so were the hippos when they came up to graze at night! Here we also found Darters and Purple Herons with fledglings and a few chicks still in the nests. Both had almost disappeared in Kenya during the dry cycles of recent years, so it was great to see that they had nested successfully. Last year much of Lake Naivasha was simply gone, dried up by drought and too much water taken out for irrigation. This year it was flooding back into the fringing brush and the marsh plants were coming back in force. So were the birds, and we saw numerous waterfowl, Black Crakes, African Jacanas, terns, kingfishers, and many others on our morning boat trip, while over 150 species were seen by the group during the course of our day in this area.
The effects of a long rainy season were visible in other ways too. On our first day we found the grasslands of Nairobi National Park in good shape, and here we gained an introduction to a variety of special African birds, including Ostrich, a pair of Secretary-birds, 5 Hartlaub's Bustards, a Spotted Thick-knee on eggs, and a gorgeous Rosy-breasted Longclaw in flight display. The diversity of birds in the semiarid Samburu region is always surprising, but populations were clearly higher this year. Large flocks of Vulturine Guineafowl were seen daily, seed-eating birds were numerous, and birds of prey of all sizes and shapes were finding food in the region, including a Martial Eagle at a nest with a tiny chick, an Eastern Chanting-Goshawk mantling and feeding on a snake right next to the vehicle, and a stunning little Red-necked Falcon chasing the flocks of weavers. Plenty of forage was still available for the mammals too, and several times we found ourselves surrounded by sizable herds of elephants so close it seemed we could almost touch them. Many looks were had at the strange gerenuk ("giraffe-antelope"), and we never tired of the numerous dik-dik, tallying almost 100 in one day. Our final morning here began with 4 delightfully tame greater kudu strolling around the lodge grounds, a skulking pair of gorgeous Gray-headed Bushshrikes, and a vigorously calling Black Cuckoo. As we worked our way out of the reserve, we lucked into a leopard that proceeded to leave its dense thicket and casually stroll past the safari vehicles as if it couldn't have cared less!
The Masai Mara region is always special—a land of immense vistas, varied habitats, and a full complement of mammals and birds. In sharp contrast to last year, the rains had not yet begun here and the region was still dry. The resident wildlife were all present and going about their business, including raising young, and on a magical first day here we found lions, two cheetahs, a sleepy black rhino, and rare Rufous-bellied Herons, Temminck's Coursers, and Long-toed Lapwings. It was only as we neared the Tanzania border, where there had been a bit of rain to green up the grasslands, that we began seeing wildebeest. In fact, as we topped a low hill, we realized that there were countless thousands of them filling the valleys below. We had caught up with the great migration, and to just sit quietly amidst this spectacle was an indescribable experience. The following days produced more great sightings, including beautiful Ross's Turacos and a Narina Trogon, but the ultimate Mara surprise came late one afternoon, when James, our very talented young Masai driver-guide, spotted a magnificent large leopard draped over the branches of a riverine tree. After giving us a long and satisfying look, she descended from her tree and strode away along the edge of the brush to begin her evening prowl.
Each region visited on this varied itinerary yielded highlights, but try to pick just one! Was it the huge Silvery-cheeked Hornbills in a fruiting tree on Mt. Kenya, or the well-hidden Greater Painted-Snipe at Nakuru? Maybe the Northern Carmine Bee-eaters or pair of Three-banded Coursers, or the sleepy Grayish Eagle-Owls found for us by the "bird boys" at Baringo? Eleven Great Blue Turacos in one flock? The stately crowned-cranes or huge Kori Bustards? Almost surely it wasn't the Red-throated Tits in Nairobi Park, or the Gambaga Flycatcher or Wailing Cisticola or vagrant Ortolan Bunting in Samburu—birds that got your leader so excited. All, however, were part of our wonderful safari in Kenya. It was a pleasure sharing it with you. Much of our success was due to the incredible skills and patience of our driver-guides, Bernard Koinange for the main safari, and James Massek in the Masai Mara, and to them we extend a special "thank you."