Tsavo West, Amboseli, Meru & Samburu — January, 2015

[Tom Kellie]

@@Tom Kellie what a beautiful report, taking me back to Tsavo and Amboseli where I haven't been for many many years. Love the superb starling dedication! Its my favourite African bird and I remember being so bowled over by its looks and name when we first arrive. We have many starlings visiting our garden in the UK and I think, they too are superb in their own way.

 

~ @ld1:

 

Yes! Starlings do indeed have their own beauty, albeit rather dissimilar to the Superb Starlings.

I smiled then laughed when I read your kind post, as it struck me as being on target. Bird or animal species need not have vibrantly electric colors to be beautiful.

There's a certain charm to understated hues.

Each time that I return to Kenya, as soon as I spot the first Superb Starling I say to myself: ”I'm back!”.

Thank you so much for your very kind comment.

Tom K.

[Tom Kellie]

There were water birds wading and dabbling in the waters

of Ol Okenya Swamp. What we noticed during our noontime

visit was that each species tended to remain with others of

its own kind, with little direct inter-species contact.

An especially attractive Nymphaea bloom that I'd

neglected the previous afternoon we saw again,

this time with an African Jacana near it.

Anas erythrorhyncha

Anas hottentota

Amboseli Alopochen aegyptiacus Panorama

Himantopus himantopus Panorama

Two Tringa stagnatilis

Threskiornis aethiopicus

Actophilornis africanus in Flight

Reflected Nymphaea

Actophilornis africanus and Nymphaea

[Tom Kellie]

A small animal stopped our drive through Ol Okenya Swamp.

A Eudorcas thomsonii, Thomson's Gazelle, fawn was near its

mother on a small patch of dry grass. The fawn unmistakably

looked at us. It's curiosity satisfied, it strolled back to its

mother. What did it think of our safari van, or of us?

Thomson's Gazelle Fawn

Have We Been Introduced?

Cantering Fawn

Safely Back With Mom

[Tom Kellie]

Female Falco Naumanni

As happens betimes, for more than ten minutes we drove in the

general direction of Lake Amboseli seeing nothing. A dry pan

with tufts of withered grass. I enjoyed the fresh air and bright

midday sunlight. After fruitlessly scanning, I saw to the south

a small raptor on a low mound, distant from our location

with a different raptor beyond. It was a female Falco

Naumanni, Lesser Kestrel, with Melierax poliopterus,

Eastern Chanting-Goshawk in a tussock beyond.

In that barren location, bird life prospered.

Female Falco Naumanni

Amboseli Lesser Kestrel

Falco Naumanni Wings

Melierax poliopterus in an Isolated Tussock

[twaffle]

I've been off line for a while and have some catching up to do, but I see some pretty good photos so am looking forward to reading all about them.

[Kitsafari]

arggh i got the name wrong - it should be wheatear not wheateater. no matter, the bird is still pretty despite the lack of colours, and your later shots of the same species confirms what I feel - it is a pretty little bird.

 

Love the baby wildebeest, and then the cute baby tommie. i also enjoyed the sequences of the warthogs playing and the jackal vs the eagle.

[Tom Kellie]

I've been off line for a while and have some catching up to do, but I see some pretty good photos so am looking forward to reading all about them.

 

~ @twaffle:

 

That makes two of us, as I've also been off-line, due to grading student papers and preparing for two days of teaching.

One bit of positive news is that I confirmed and completed a reservation at Nairobi National Park, which has been highly recommended by several Safaritalk members.

Two weeks from tomorrow night I'll fly from Beijing to Nairobi with a change of aircraft in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

From helpful comments by Safaritalk readers, I'll make a few changes while taking photos during the next safari.

Tom K.

[Tom Kellie]

arggh i got the name wrong - it should be wheatear not wheateater. no matter, the bird is still pretty despite the lack of colours, and your later shots of the same species confirms what I feel - it is a pretty little bird.

 

Love the baby wildebeest, and then the cute baby tommie. i also enjoyed the sequences of the warthogs playing and the jackal vs the eagle.

 

~ @Kitsafari:

 

When I saw and photographed it, I had no idea what it might be.

Looking in the field guide, after returning home, the name ‘wheatear’ was a surprise.

One keeps learning, safari after safari, whether it's one's own safari or someone else's trip report.

I like that continuous learning.

It is indeed a pretty bird, and surprisingly friendly, in the sense that all of those we saw stayed where they were, not flying away.

I'm so glad that you liked those babies from the wide open ‘Amboseli nursery’.

Tom K.

[IamFisheye]

@@Tom Kellie

 

I doubt I will finish my wild dog trip report in two weeks time. My last day of the trip was spent at Nairobi Tented Camp in the NP, wildlife there was spectacular. I saw my 1st Serval in daylight, a lioness carrying a cub and had some wonderful close encounters with a huge herd of buffalo. I also experienced my 1st black rhino charge during the transfer to the airport!

[Tom Kellie]

@@Tom Kellie

 

I doubt I will finish my wild dog trip report in two weeks time. My last day of the trip was spent at Nairobi Tented Camp in the NP, wildlife there was spectacular. I saw my 1st Serval in daylight, a lioness carrying a cub and had some wonderful close encounters with a huge herd of buffalo. I also experienced my 1st black rhino charge during the transfer to the airport!

 

~ @IamFisheye:

 

Your very nice comment is highly encouraging to me.

I have no expectation as to what Nairobi NP wildlife might be like. Your kind explanation increases my anticipation.

A serval, a lioness carrying a cub, a rhino charge — no such events have I ever seen.

I'd be delighted to observe and photograph a small chameleon or a colorful beetle in the grounds of the Emakoko.

If larger wildlife is seen, oh my goodness!

Many, many thanks, @IanFisheye, for taking time to tell me about this!

With Appreciation,

Tom K.

[Tom Kellie]

This afternoon I met medical student and researcher XU Ni,

who was with me on the January, 2015 safari. He kindly gave

me a number of photos he took of me at various points

during the safari. Here is one from Mzima Springs in

Tsavo West and two from Amboseli with Mt. Kilimanjaro.

With Roselyne at Mzima Springs

Mt. Kilimanjaro Morning

With XU Ni and Mt. Kilimanjaro

[Peter Connan]

@@Tom Kellie, the Jackal/Tawny standoff is a great sighting and well photographed too! As is the baby Tommie!

 

Thank you.

[Tom Kellie]

@@Tom Kellie, the Jackal/Tawny standoff is a great sighting and well photographed too! As is the baby Tommie!

 

Thank you.

 

~ @@Peter Connan:

 

Thanks a lot!

Their back-and-forth was a classic. The determination each exhibited was admirable.

Yet neither was able to make a final crucial advance over the other.

Who needs TV when safari drama is that engrossing?

Tom K.

[Marks]

Never before have I looked at the world through the eyes of a pollinator!

Hope you have a great time in Nairobi NP.

[Tom Kellie]

Never before have I looked at the world through the eyes of a pollinator!

Hope you have a great time in Nairobi NP.

 

~ @Marks:

 

It's been a workday which began pre-dawn and concluded when I returned home at 7:40 pm.

Tomorrow is eight classroom hours. Several hundred assignments are being handed in, awaiting correction.

The eighth safari to Kenya is exactly two weeks from late tonight.

Yet all of those concerns blow away into nothingness when I read your comment above.

If the writing about a pollinator's view opened a new window, I'm over-the-moon!

Thank you for your very kind wishes and comment.

Tom K.

[Tom Kellie]

Balearica regulorum in Grass Near Alopochen aegyptiacus

This portrait of Balearica regulorum is so ‘Amboseli’, or at least the Amboseli I've enjoyed in three successive years. The short grass, the clustered Alopochen aegyptiacus, the crane plumage clearly visible in bright midday sunshine — it's life in Amboseli.

Amboseli Balearica regulorum Pair

This Grey Crowned Crane pair was perpetually bent over the grass, never positioned for a joint portrait...until this single fleeting moment. As they immediately returned to their feeding, I didn't realize that this photo had been made until days later.

Attentive Equus quagga Foal

‘Someone’ was watching us. The adults in the small family group of Equus quagga may have been engrossed in grazing, but the young foal was transfixed from the moment the safari van rolled to a halt. Its reddish coat may have been red earth dust from resting in the day's heat.

Pelecanus onocrotalus on a Mudbank

Anthony's primary objective in driving to the water shown in this image had been to show the Platalea alba gathered there. A bonus was this group of Pelecanus onocrotalus, Great White Pelican, on a mudbank. Among the most able of soar-masters in Kenya's winds, Pelecanus onocrotalus is charming out of the air, waddling about, preening to remove unwanted plumage.

Platalea alba and Friends

The small flock of Platalea alba, African Spoonbill, on the right were doing the ‘spoonbill thing’, hyperactively probing the muddy bottom in search of whatever morsels might be available. Relative to their quartz-white plumage, the neighboring Pelecanus onocrotalus look pale pink.

African Buffalo, Thomson's Gazelles, Great White Pelicans and African Spoonbills

Amboseli surprises again and again with assemblages of species as shown in this image. When writing the caption, the presence of out-of-focus Egyptian Geese ought to have been noted. This is what I miss about Kenya's national parks and nature reserves — the abundance of wildlife regularly observed. I'm yearning to return!

[Super LEEDS]

Hi @@Tom Kellie

 

Having only read your subject, I was already thanking you: Tsavo is one of my favourite places in the whole world and reports from their are rare.

 

Having read more... I have to repeat my thanks, the report is fascinating and wild dogs! in Tsavo!! WOW.

 

I concur with your sentiments on the 'leopard', doesn't count

 

Look forward to more.

Edited April 17, 2015 by Super LEEDS

[Tom Kellie]

Hi @@Tom Kellie

 

Having only read your subject, I was already thanking you: Tsavo is one of my favourite places in the whole world and reports from their are rare.

 

Having read more... I have to repeat my thanks, the report is fascinating and wild dogs! in Tsavo!! WOW.

 

I concur with your sentiments on the 'leopard', doesn't count

 

Look forward to more.

 

African Wild Dogs Reposed on Red Soil

 

~ Hello, @@Super LEEDS!

 

Thank you SO MUCH!

It's after 3 am in Beijing, with a 10 am Saturday class to teach.

Reading your very kind post above is an unexpected joy.

To express my appreciation, here's another Tsavo West wild dog image.

Yes, with nothing against the leopard itself, such a scenario isn't my idea of a safari, which is more fate-driven than a photo opportunity.

As it happened, and as will eventually be uploaded, there were authentic leopard sightings many days later.

These days I'm correcting a large batch of student research writing, as well as finalizing the next safari in Kenya, which is now less than two weeks away.

I'd like to conclude Amboseli National Park before flying to Kenya. After my return, on to Meru National Park.

You and I feel alike about Tsavo, @@Super LEEDS. It is indeed a treasure worthy of visits by Safaritalk members.

Your wish is sure to be granted. There will be more.

With Appreciation,

Tom K.

[offshorebirder]

@@Tom Kellie - nice trip report. Too many good sequences to comment on individually...

 

On page 10:

"Full credit for this sighting goes to XU Ni, who kindly

called it to my attention. I'd been watching an African

Jacana on the east side of the track. This Bubulcus ibis,

Cattle Egret, was on the west side. It had a corpulent

frog in its bill, toying with the hapless amphibian."

 

-- Rather than being corpulent, I believe the frog is inflating itself with air. Some frog species do this as a defensive measure - both to appear bigger and to make themselves difficult for predators to swallow.

[Tom Kellie]

@@Tom Kellie - nice trip report. Too many good sequences to comment on individually...

 

On page 10:

"Full credit for this sighting goes to XU Ni, who kindly

called it to my attention. I'd been watching an African

Jacana on the east side of the track. This Bubulcus ibis,

Cattle Egret, was on the west side. It had a corpulent

frog in its bill, toying with the hapless amphibian."

 

-- Rather than being corpulent, I believe the frog is inflating itself with air. Some frog species do this as a defensive measure - both to appear bigger and to make themselves difficult for predators to swallow.

 

~ @offshorebirder:

 

That's so nice of you to tell me that.

I'm very glad that you've enjoyed the trip report thus far.

Thank you so much for explaining to me what was occurring with the frog.

A Safaritalk member told me that it's most likely Xenopus sp., the African Clawed Frog.

Your explanation is highly appreciated, as I wasn't aware of amphibian air inflation as a defensive measure.

With Many Thanks,

Tom K.

[Tom Kellie]

Amboseli Hippopotamus amphibius

~ We spotted a lone Hippopotamus amphibius, grazing with birds around it. XU Ni was delighted, as he had high interest in seeing a hippo. Ni was surprised to see his first hippo out of water, so Anthony explained that hippos do occasionally wander away from their customary pools for midday grazing.

Early on an Amboseli Afternoon

This image includes the insects buzzing around the feeding hippo. The water plants in the swamp pool where the hippo stays remain on its back, decorations slowly withering in the bright Amboseli sunlight.

Grazing Hippo in Amboseli

Hippos gotta eat, too! The teeth visible through the grass are impressive. Natural selection resulted in powerful jaws and teeth on a species which grazes on gentle grass. That's a mouth to avoid at all costs, as no interaction would be pleasant.

Hippopotamus amphibius Grazing with Mesophoyx intermedia

The Mesophoyx intermedia, Intermediate Egret, strode across the expanse of reddish-purple skin with insouciance. If the hippo in any sense minded its avian passenger, there was no overt behavior suggesting irritation. Seeing the egrets around the hippo brought out the affinity species have within a common environmental niche.

Solitary Hippo in Amboseli

This image depicts what we saw from within the safari van, looking westward. The lens in this case was a Zeiss 35mm f/2 lens, while the other images were taken with a Canon 400mm f/2.8 super telephoto lens. This view makes clear that this hippo had walked a distance from water on a warm day.

[Tom Kellie]

Peeking Up

Anthony called our attention to this baby Hippopotamus amphibius which briefly peered up out of its watery resting place. I wondered which sensory organ warned the baby hippo of our presence, as the direction of its gaze seemed to be towards us.

Baby Hippo and Water Birds

The usual assortment of bird species were active around the baby hippo. Egrets, jacana, and two ibis species. While birds preened or sought food, the small hippo repositioned itself before sliding down into the water, beyond our view.

Hippo and African Jacana Panorama

In this photograph no less than five Actophilornis africanus, African Jacana, are shown walking toward a resting adult hippo. It's as if the hippo was an immense potentate surrounded by little attendants in brilliant red-brown plumage.

Resting Hippopotamus amphibius with Attending Birds

The broad backs of the adult hippos are a platform for several bird species to go about their business. The calm scene belied the fearsome reputation of hippos walking on land in darkness.

Edited April 18, 2015 by Tom Kellie

[Tom Kellie]

Enkongo Narok Swamp Elephant

We watched this elephant feeding in the Enkongo Narok Swamp. Amidst sedges and long-stemmed grasses, the elephant boldly stood out due to the dark color of its skin, and the motion of its ears.

White Tusk, White Egret

One admires the tenacity of egrets, which remain with immense mammals resting or feeding in swamps. How comparatively small the egret seems, when viewed beside its pachyderm companion. Both the tusk and the egret are white accents in a world of green and grey.

Loxodonta africana Chest-deep in Enkongo Narok Swamp

What are the logistics of feeding in a swamp where the lower limbs are mired in the ooze below the water? Moving forward must be a slow, heavy process due to the water pressure and encircling aquatic plant growth.

[Tom Kellie]

Female Redunca redunca in Enkongo Narok Swamp

~ To the left of the track we were following were a pair of female Redunca redunca, grazing in the tall grass of the Enkongo Narok Swamp. By temperament a discreet species, their richly reddish-brown pelage was an easy-to-spot contrast with the green vegetation.

Two Female Redunca redunca in Enkongo Narok Swamp

Their lives encompassed in a swamp, these two female Redunca redunca are unconcerned with falling oil prices, climbing gold prices, rapid digital change, intensive security precautions or the perils of genetically modified crops. Instead, each day they eat their fill in the lush vegetation of the Enkongo Narok Swamp before wearily lying down in a hollow, unseen by predators and safari visitors alike.

Redunca redunca Chest-Deep in Swamp Grass

As we drove along, the track took us closer to the two female Redunca redunca. Their delicate beauty, as seen from a distance, gave the swamp a note of elegance.

Edited April 18, 2015 by Tom Kellie

[Tom Kellie]

Hippo Family Resting in Enkongo Narok Swamp

~ We saw another hippo family resting in Enkongo Narok Swamp. It reassures to see groups of hippos, whose presence in numbers is one indicator of a functioning ecosystem.

Balearica regulorum Trio

Despite other events in the area, these three Balearica regulorum attracted my lens. Grey Crowned Cranes appear to thrive in Kenya's national parks and nature reserves, nowhere more so than in Amboseli.