Kenya part 2 - into Tsavo East (October 9-10)

I won't write about the war

I can't write about the war

I can write about birds and wildlife

After we were done with the wonderful Arabuko-Sokoke forest (see previous post), our Rockjumper tour headed on October 9th towards Tsavo East National Park. First stop, on the northern side of Arabuko Sokoke forest reserve was at Jilore, a known site for the range-restricted (in Kenya) Zanzibar Red Bishop. It was a short stop, because we had a long day of driving ahead of us, yet it was a very enjoyable one. It was our first group birding session with common Kenyan farmland birds. We did find a large flock of the bishops, but they didn't pose very well for photos. It was also our first encounter with Northern Carmine Bee-eaters, hawking for flying insects from overhanging powerlines. 

Zanzibar Red Bishop

The drive along road C-103 heading to Sala Gate was actually really good. There were lots of great birds by and on the road. We made slow progress with all the eBirding...

There were lots of fun birds to stop and watch, including entertaining White Helmetshrike, Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse, Eastern Paradise Whydah and the first stunning Golden-breasted Starlings.

White Helmetshrikes

Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse - subtle and beautiful

Tail with a little bird attached to it (Eastern Paradise Whydah)

In Tsavo East NP past Sala Gate the terrain became very dry and it was hot. As a result bird densities were rather low. We had to cross the park from east to west to reach our accommodation in Voi. The first half of the drive provided encounters with some typical dry-country birds, including Somali Bee-eater and Bunting, Chestnut-headed Sparrow-Lark and more.

Somali Bee-eater - poor photo of a quality bird!

Kori Bustard

Buff-crested Bustard was common

Chestnut-headed Sparrow-Lark

Von der Decken's Hornbill

Because of the habitat aridity there were few mammals in the eastern side of the park. We did encounter our first Gerenuks, such unique antelopes, the way they stand up to reach fresh acacia leaves with their long giraffe-like necks. Also out first Fringe-eared (Beisa) Oryx and Coke's Haartbeest.

Gerenuk

Fringe-eared (Beisa) Oryx

Coke's Haartbeest

The further west we made it in the park, towards Aruba Lodge and dam, mammal and bird densities increased. Elephants, Plains Zebras, Northern (Masai) Giraffes and many antelopes were frolicking in the lush vegetation around the dam. There were more cool African birds to be seen too.

Southern Ground-Hornbill

Kittlitz's Plovers were plentiful by the dam

Working on the next gen

Yellow-throated Spurfowl - stunning and common

The next day (October 10th) was happily spent in the western section of Tsavo East and around our accommodation, Voi Safari Lodge. So many excellent birds, too many to mention. Lots of mammals too, including our first Lions, sleeping of course. 

Fischer's Starling - Carrying Nesting Material

Golden-breasted Starling - wow

More Stunnery

Hence the name: Blue-naped Mousebird

Taita Fiscal

Straw-tailed Whydah

Yellow-spotted Bush Sparrow. I love Petronias.

Cut-throats in large flocks - quite unusual

Abyssinian Scimitarbill

Two of the pride of Lionesses, with their heads up!

The lodge grounds and waterhole were excellent, with large numbers of animals coming in to enjoy a good splash. This theme of wildlife lodges with cool waterholes is a great feature of African safari trips.

The lodge gardens held several sunbirds, including this stunning male Black-bellied Sunbird (such an uninspiring name for a brilliant sunbird!) that waited for us in the carpark:

Next stop - Taita Hills. Stay tuned!

Kenya #6 - Hell's Gate

Our final morning in Kenya (July 22nd) was spent in Hell's Gate NP. It is a unique park because walking there is possible, which makes birding much more enjoyable and productive. Understanding that it was our final chance to add birds to our growing trip list, we were determined to make the most out of the walk. Not sure how the boys felt about this... 

The weather wasn't great, cold and overcast and windy, but there were spots with good bird activity (eBird checklist here). Already by the gate we saw many birds, including a Greater Honeyguide, which was fun. We started walking into the massive gorge - very impressive indeed.

Perhaps the most prominent bird of the park was Abyssinian Wheatear - they were everywhere, including many youngsters. I love wheatears, even more when they are sooty-brown, and these E African endemics are especially appealing.

Youngster

Two large birds were at the focus of our attention there, and were very enjoyable to watch. First up - Secretarybird. We did see several before, but this was our first close, high-quality encounter. We spent some time with a pair, walking slowly in the low vegetation, picking up grasshoppers. They are extremely comical birds, so awkward, part stork part hawk. Love them.

Down the hatch

Another mega bird was Kori Bustard. As mega as it gets. Male Kori Bustard is the heaviest flying bird in the world, and the species shows an impressive sexual dimorphism. The male we encountered was huge, quite a bull, majestically walking among larger animals - quite fantastic.

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Sadly, the massive cliffs of Hell's Gate are past their glory days. Verreaux's Eagle and Lammergeier don't breed there anymore, and vulture numbers we saw were quite low. Also worth noting that the deep canyon at the end is closed to the public after the disaster in 2019. We spent some time above the canyon and actually had a nice mixed flock at the wood there, that held some cool birds, including White-bellied Tit:

That was the end of our trip. From there we drove back to Nairobi airport, picking up some final silly additions to our trip list, that stands at 314. Check our eBird trip report here.

It was an amazing trip, so much wildlife and wonderful places. This was also my first proper trip since covid, so the experience was even greater. Our team, Dan, Noam and Noam, and our guide Simon, worked very well together - thank you everyone! Simon works for CITES African Safaris - it was very fortunate to have them as our support team, especially dealing with the retrieval of my lost suitcase. 

Till the next trip - over and out! Asante sana Kenya, you were good to us!

Kenya #5 - Naivasha

 After our mind-boggling visit to Masai Mara, it was time to move on. On July 21st we drove up to arrive in Naivasha right on time for an afternoon boat trip on the lake, towards Crescent Island. 

The boat trip actually exceeded my birding expectations, with some great birds seen. Some sections of the habitat are good, and it's interesting to see the close proximity between people and wildlife there. I can't say if this is 'coexistence', cynical me, but at least it looked peaceful. From a birding POV, I really enjoyed the combination of large numbers, high variety (eBird checklist here), good quality species and photo opps! I highly recommend doing this boat trip - there are many operators in Naivasha.

Pink-backed Pelican

Goliath Heron

Yellow-billed (Intermediate) Egret

Giant Kingfisher

Black Crake

African Jacana

Lots of noisy African Fish-Eagles

There's this 'thing' that boatmen throw fish to trained eagle, who snatch them for photo opps. I was unprepared for this, and in the short time I had i failed to explain to our boatman what I conditions I need, re distance etc. Therefore my results are miserable.

Long-toed Lapwing was a welcome lifer

Fishcer's Lovebird - eBird treats all lovebird records in Kenya as Fischer's X Yellow-collared, exotic. I don't see any physical signs of hybridization here, but what do I know.

ON (Occupied Nest)

Black Heron was another lifer, and what a fantastic bird it was. The umbrella maneuver is truly spectacular.

Normal bird

Transformation

Alien

White-faced Whistling-Duck - cool that it's the same taxon as in South America (e.g. here in the Pantanal):

Back at Sopa Lodge, birding was great, (eBird checklist here) and lots of mammals were walking the lodge grounds, including Zebra, Waterbuck and one Rogue Hippo that walked outside our room at night. 

Defassa Waterbuck

I was pleased to find a Wahlberg's Honeyguide foraging in the tree canopy outside our room, not a bird that was on my radar, and not an easy one to ID (thanks Itai for your help). A birder's bird...

Some common stuff

Brimstone Canary

White-eyed Slaty-Flycatcher