At our September meeting we welcomed club member Nick Liebenberg whose talk was titled ’The Flying Bassetts’. We were intrigued as to the meaning of the name, and were picturing arial canines; it turned out to be the name of the group Nick travels with. He describes himself as the weakest link in the group, but I suspect he is being modest.
Kenya boasts 1,158 bird species, 11 endemics and 142 endemic to north east Africa.
There are around 55 million people and 44 tribes. English is widely spoken alongside Swahili, and South African wine is available!
The trip started in Tanzania where Nick and his wife’s traveling companions are currently based. They travelled from Dar Es Salaam to Mullers Mountain Lodge, an old Dutch building in a mountainous region, where in heavy rain they spotted Usambara Double Collared Sunbird (pictured), Usambara Thrush and Red-Rumped swallow among others. Journeying on there were frequent roadside birding stops, one of these yielded 28 species and 14 lifers. Spots included hornbills, weavers and many endemics.
After crossing the border at Namanga they headed to Wildebeest Eco Camp in the Nairobi National Park, which is surrounded by urban development. 520 species have been recorded here in an area the size of the Helderberg basin. Every other bird was a lifer and included several Fiscals (Somali, Taita and others), Red-Collared Widowbird, and Pangani Longclaw.
The group then travelled to Castle Forest Lodge, south of Mount Kenya, which has recorded 289 species and is the home of the Olive Ibis (pictured). It’s 2,000m high and very muddy. The local guide was excellent and spots included Jacksons Spurfowl, Black-Throated, Chestnut-Throated and Buff-Throated Apalis and Red Fronted Parrot.
Climbing even higher up to 3,700m they visited Timau, driving on a road that’s excellent but with speed bumps all the way. It’s a safe road to drive because it’s impossible to drive fast.
Samburu National Reserve is as far north as you can go without an armed guard. It’s known for rare animals such Grevy’s Zebra, Reticulated Giraffe, Gerenuk and Beisa Oryx as well as being where Born Free was based. For the birders there are 390 species and they spotted Somali Bee-Eater, Somali Ostrich, Vulturine Guinea Fowl and Jackson’s Hornbill. Parrots were elusive but they did see African Orange-Bellied Parrot.
One morning Nick cut his finger badly and found himself in a brand new hospital, in an empty waiting room, where he received treatment including stitches for the princely sum of R65!
Lake Baringo, the next stop, has 470 species, a cliff environment, and is a special place for owls including Northern White-Faced Scops Owl (pictured). There were many weavers and sunbirds. They enjoyed a boat trip to an island in the lake to see a breeding pair of Western Barn Owls and Hemprich’s Hornbill. The trip was also notable for their companions recording their 1,000th bird.
Continuing through the Rift Valley, a sparsely inhabited area, they next stopped at Kakamega Forest (350 species). Their guide Winston grew up in the forest and knew every sound. He helped them to spot Grey-throated Barbet, Great Blue Turaco (the largest Turaco also known as the ‘lipstick bird’), White-Spotted Flufftail, Narina’s Trogon, amazing looking Wattle Eyes, and the tiny but beautiful Black Faced Rufous Warbler.
Next stops were Kisumu on Lake Victoria and the Aberdare Mountains, but heavy rain limited the stay. The highlight was Sharp’s Longclaw. They headed back to Nairobi via Amboseli which was also disappointing due to drought, but they did witness a cheetah kill and enjoyed great views of Kilimanjaro. The final stops were Beesley’s Lark Plains and Tarangire National Park (back in Tanzania) which was also very dry.
Thank you, Nick, for taking us on this incredible trip with you, and allowing us to escape to Kenya and Tanzania for a short time. (Pictures in the article are from eBird)
The stats:
- 495 birds (242 lifers) in 22 days
- 12 new Greenbuls, 17 Weavers, 13 Sunbirds, 9 Starlings, 6 Barbets, 7 Babblers & Chatterers and 4 Turacos