Kenya #3 - Nakuru

Our next destination after Samburu was Lake Nakuru. It was a long cross-country drive, taking us across the equator several times. 

Already while waiting to sort permits out, at Lanet Gate, we started seeing good birds. Ovambo Sparrowhawk - eBird has it as rare, we saw black-morphs three times in Nakuru, quite a surprise for an eBirder like me, but maybe not as rare?

Ovambo #1

Ovambo #2

Ovambo #3

We spent two nights at Lake Nakuru Lodge, and had two afternoon sessions and one morning session. The first afternoon session on July 16th was held in poor weather but was quite amazing - so many birds came in to roost (eBird checklist here), some weren't seen in the subsequent morning. Three African Skimmer are one example.

Two African Skimmers with Gray-hooded Gulls and Gull-billed Tern

The next morning was truly magical. The best-known spectacle of Lake Nakuru, or even the Rift Valley lakes of Kenya, is the large concentration of Lesser Flamingo. The view of the mega flock was incredible, even at a distance from the hotel swimming pool, pre-dawn.

Then, down by the lake, it was wonderful to get fully immersed in the pink sights and sounds. I estimated 15000 flamingos in that flock. I wonder if any reader here knows of a good software that could verify my estimate?

There were many great birds on the lake and in the surrounding woods and savanna, other than the flamingos. Here are some of my favourites:

When Lesser Flamingo makes a good background for Gray-hooded Gull

Northern Anteater-Chat

Yellow-breasted Longclaw - CF (Carrying Food)

Striped Kingfisher

Being a protected area, Lake Nakuru National Park hosts many mammals. We saw quite a few of both White and Black Rhino:

Which is black and which is white? Impossible to tell by colour IMO, only by lip structure if I am not mistaken. Top is black, bottom are white, complete with Red-billed Oxpecker.

In Nakuru we spotted our only Black-and-White Colobus of the trip:

Wildlife at the Lake Nakuru Lodge was spectacular, with lots of birds on the lodge grounds, and many mammals just outside the fence, including two male Lions that roared all night just outside the fence, and were still present at dawn.

Abyssinian Thrush

Champions of the Flyway - day 4 - race day

Sitting here in Schiphol Airport waiting for my next flight back home, and my head is still buzzing with Israeli birds and people. What an amazing climax to the pre-race days. It was a tough day with high temperatures and strong winds, but there were more migrants around than in previous days. I spent the day race with teams in the field, helping teams to get on birds, to stay focused and to keep motivated. Pre-dawn I was with some teams at IBRCE. Sadly the Lesser White-fronted Goose did not roost there that night. After dawn I went up to Seifim Plains but had to stop to admire the fabulous raptor migration low over the Eilat Mts. I saw a many hundred Steppe Buzzards in few minutes - daily total counted by IBRCE team was over 40,000. I failed to photograph impressive thermals / kettles.

Buck Ibex not understanding what all the fuss is about

Sunrise in Eilat Mts.

Seifim Plains were fairly quiet but we had there one Bimaculated Lark and several wheatar species. Late in the morning I went with Jonathan to Yotvata. The Turkestan Shrike settled down in a pumpkin field that was whopping with birds, mainly wheatears (lots of Black-ears) and about 50 Lesser Kestrels. The shrike looked good in sunlight rather than dust-storm light. 

Short-toed Lark

Spanish Sparrows

In the early afternoon I went to have a quick look at a White-tailed Lapwing that had been found near IBRCE. It looked pretty knackered in the heat, and light was very harsh for photography. Fine bird nevertheless.

Then teams started to assemble in KM20 saltpans, picking up important species. We did our best to assist the teams struggling with time to find the key species quickly. The Lesser Flamingo was showing alright in the afternoon sunlight:

Wind-swept Glossy Ibises

In the evening North Beach held many teams, using the last minutes of light to catch up with North Beach regulars.

Heuglin's Gull

After dark some teams went for more nightbirding, but I had to attend early retiring teams and play the Bad Cop role. My night ended very late after all the teams had returned and handed in their lists. Incredible efforts!
To be continued...

Champions of the Flyway day 1

Arrived late last night, and this morning I hit Mt. Amasa very early, hoping that the Persian Wheatear had stayed another night. I met up there with a few more birders, and after some searching we did find it. Phew. Thank you for being so patient with me. Very glad with this tick - actually a global lifer. I found it much more striking than I had imagined. It is very big, with a unique elongated silhouette, resembling Hooded Wheatear with that long bill. Very different from the cute and rounded Kurdistan Wheatear. It did not play ball photography-wise, but I guess I can't complain. Here it is - Israel's second Persian Wheatear:

With Northern Wheatear

I had such a lovely time there. As I have written before, this is one of my favourite places to be in Israel this time of year. The habitat is so beautiful. It actually took the birds a while to become active, but eventually we had brilliant activity. Superb soundscape of Long-billed Pipits and Cuckoos singing, lots of wheatears flying around, sylvias in every bush - just great.

Beautiful flowering Phlomis Platystegia

Cu-ckoo!

Eastern Scrub Warbler

Common Whitethroat and its wee cousin, Spectacled Warbler

Stonking male Woodchat Shrike singing his head off, without opening the bill

Quite a few Blue Rock Thrushes around; also two Rufous-tailed but no photos of them

Corn Bunting

I had to leave early to get to Eilat on time. Had a quick, productive stop at Navit Pools with Baillon's & Little Crakes, Dead Sea Sparrows, Clamorous Warblers and Ferruginous Ducks. Then I continued heading south, but stopped all the time to admire the wonderful raptor migration. Weather was unstable today and the raptors were flying very low even at noon. I was excited as if I am a European birder. Well, maybe I am.

Down at Eilat, it was good to meet up with all my friends. In the afternoon did some selfies at KM20 saltpans, and even saw some birds there, including the long-stayer Lesser Flamingo.

Most uninspiring mega ever

Greater Sand with Little Stint

I'm sexy and I know it

In the evening we had a fantastic COTF event, 'Future of the Flyways', supported by Leica. Inspiring stuff and good fun. Socializing is great, but I can't wait to go out birding in the morning! Bring it on!

Birds and wildlife of Cape Town

Apart for being one of the most beautiful cities in the world, Cape Town hosts great wildlife. In my previous posts I shared my experiences at sea and in the Boulders penguin colony. In this post I will clear up the rest of the stuff we saw in and around Cape Town. I display here some of the birds I saw and photographed - mostly common stuff but all African birds are delicious IMO.
In my first afternoon we went for a nice walk on the beach at the stunning Hout Bay. Not too many birds but the view there is breathtaking.

Great Crested (Swift) Tern

Sandwich Terns only look somewhat uninspiring, but they are bad-ass migrants!

Cape Fur Seal behaving like a good boy

Hout Bay

In my first morning I woke up early and went to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, before the rest of my family got out of bed. It was quite a productive hour. And, again, very beautiful. Despite the drought, the gardens looked good.

Swee Waxbill - Kirstenbosch specialty

Cape Sugarbird - what a bird

Hadada Ibis - common as dirt but super charismatic, and pretty in the golden morning sun

Brimstone Canary

Record shot of the scarcer Forest Canary

Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens

Another early morning my brother and I went with Trevor to Strandfontein WTP, a regional hotspot for birding. It was a superb morning with 90 species, lots of individuals and some cool stuff.

Some of the Hottentot Teal we had among the many Red-billed Teals

Hundreds of Cape Shovelers

Spur-winged Geese

 Black-headed Heron

Fewer Lesser Flamingos among the many greaters.

Three-banded Plovers - check that stunning red eyering

 Fun exercise to search for Grey-hooded Gulls among the many Hartlaub's 

Note the diagnostic dark underwing of the Grey-hooded compared to Hartlaub's

Black-winged Kite 

The impressive White-necked Raven

White-throated Swallow

The stunningly beautiful and distinctive female Cape Weaver

A visit to Cape Point was very powerful, because of the wild wind that day. As a result we saw few birds , but still enjoyed it very much. Cape Buntings are stupidly tame there:

I didn't succeed to photograph the parents of this fresh juv familiar Chat

We failed to find the Cape Mountain Zebras there, but saw some impressive Eland at a distance. The Chacma Baboons certainly found us.

Black-girdled Lizard - mini dragon

Cape Point