Fantastic Kenya birding and mammal safari - January 8-23, 2016

[Tom Kellie]

~ @@offshorebirder

 

As ever, each installment of your trip report is a joy to read!

The insightful, down-to-earth commentary and excellent photographs are greatly appreciated.

Concerning the eleven Green Wood-Hoopoes you saw — each of the several, widely separated sightings I've had of Green Wood-Hoopoes has consisted of a fairly large flock.

While I never counted the number of birds, there might have been at least ten in each instance, if not more.

Thank you so much for this full-of-energy trip report!

Tom K.

[Lala]

@@offshorebirder

 

 

WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW!!!!!!!

 

great photos & commentary - thank you so much!!!!!

[offshorebirder]

Saturday January 23, 2016 - morning activity.

This was to be our last day in the Mara before heading to Nairobi and then back to the USA. We were scheduled to take the last Safarilink flight out at 4:30pm. Our plan was to do a morning game drive, eat lunch in camp and then take a leisurely game drive to Mara North airstrip.

We started early and had some nice dimly lit bird encounters. Then we got word that Kapeen in @@mapumbo + Mama Ndege's vehicle had spotted the lost Lion cubs from the Offbeat Pride. So we went to check them out - not the first time we had benefited from one of Kapeen's sightings. We passed rich concentrations of game on the way - Kirk's Dik Dik, Impala herds, Topis, Plains Zebra, Thomson's Gazelle, Coke's Hartebeest. and Masai Giraffe.

When we arrived at the Lion spot the cubs were lying on top of a rise looking sleepy. We were worried about their having been lost for 48 hours but Josphat said the pride was moving back towards this side of the river and they should be reunited soon. We simultaneously enjoyed a small flock of Brown Parrots feeding in a blooming Acacia tree while watching the young Lions.

Brown Parrot

After watching the Lions and Parrots a bit, we decided to move on. Right away we passed a pair of Kirk's Dik Dik; I managed to get the only unobscured photo of a Dik Dik during my time in the Mara.

Kirk's Dik Dik

Shortly afterwards we passed a grumpy lone Cape Buffalo - not sure if he was a Dagga Boy, as it looked fairly young and healthy to my inexperienced eye.

As we reached an open shortgrass plain area, we saw several Giraffes spread about. There were multiple mothers with young calves. Two of the calves were very young - one had a dried umbilical cord still dangling from its belly. We delighted in watching the cute, fuzzy little Giraffes nibbling Acacia leaves with their mother. I had no idea Giraffes that young showed an interest in browsing. But they nibbled Acacia leaves like they meant it for long periods. One of the calves was very pale in color and the other was darker.

Very young Giraffe calf

Mother and baby Giraffe browsing

Mother and two baby Giraffes browsing

Then the pale baby Giraffe walked a short distance away from the Acacia tree. It seemed a little agitated. Then we saw a Yellow-billed Oxpecker climb up the far side of the Giraffe's back. The baby twitched, turned its head, lashed its tail, and swiped at the Oxpecker with its tongue in an attempt to shoo it away. The combination of these actions worked and the Oxpecker took flight.

Baby Giraffe shooing a Yellow-billed Oxpecker away

The baby then returned to browsing with its family. After spending some very relaxing time watching the Giraffe femily, we decided to move on. We come to a lower, wetter area with much taller grass. Josphat mentioned that Amani had been just sighted nearby and asked if we would like to go see her. You bet! was our reply. As we came to a boggy section of road, there were some shorebirds foraging around a large elongated puddle. It was a Wood Sandpiper, a Green Sandpiper and a Wattled Lapwing. Of course we had to stop and admire + photograph the shorebirds.

Wood Sandpiper

Green Sandpiper

Then proverbial lightning struck! As we were pulling away from the shorebird sighting, Ben said "Look a Crake" at a dark figure scooting through the grass. Josphat immediately stopped the vehicle expertly. I was bringing my camera to bear when the Crake flushed! It put down almost immediately in tall grass near the takeoff point. I managed a few poor flight shots but they show a fair amount of detail. It was another African Crake! In a handful of days in the lush tallgrass habitat at Mara North we had seen half as many African Crakes as Ben had seen in his entire birding career! And we also had another special encounter with a highly vocal pair at our feet in the main reserve.

There are not that many African Crake photos on the Internet and I have yet to find an online photo of one in flight. This sighting of the African Crake in flight may be my most treasured bird encounter from the entire trip.

African Crake in flight

Wide view of the Crake taking off

African Crake landing - note the all-gray face, pale supercilium, lack of white spots or streaks on the mantle, and bright red eye.

Later I discovered that for some unknown reason, my focal length had only been set at 200mm during the Crake encounter! I was kicking myself for not having it at the usual 300mm default focal length or not checking it in a hurry prior to shooting the Crake. I also kicked myself for not pre-focusing on the top of the grass beside the rail before focusing on it - I have found that can help obtain/keep focus on flushing birds. But these unexpected sudden appearances and disappearances by photographic subjects are hard to handle perfectly.

I was very proud of Ben and Josphat for their quick reactions - the photographer ended up being the weak link in the chain...

After our giddiness subsided, we moved on to find Amani the Cheetah. We came upon her soon thereafter - stalking through tall grass near a wet area and pausing occasionally. Also enjoying Amani were @@mapumbo, Mama Ndege and the intrepid Kapeen and David.

Then she stepped up onto a low mound and scanned the area.

Here is a wider view of the surroundings

Here is a short video of her scanning the surroundings from the small mound. Sorry for the wind noise - it makes it more difficult to hear the nearby frog chorus.

After scanning the grasslands for a while, Amani strode down and moved towards an area with shorter grasses. She moved to the base of a hill where two Grant's Gazelles were grazing. Amani definitely seemed interested in the Gazelles, but a small Elephant herd at the base of the hill complicated matters. We could see Amani looking at the Gazelles, then the Elephants and working things out.

Amani studying the setup

Amani eventually worked a bit closer to the Gazelles and they moved closer to her.

But it was just too difficult a setup - uphill stalk, through sparse and short patches of grass, with Elephants partially in the way. Eventually Amani decided against a chase and moved away from the hill and continued searching. She came to an even shorter grass area and plopped down atop a bare termite mound. From there, she kept scanning the area intently. It was nice to finally have a Cheetah in good light - we had not had that since a brief encounter with the male Cheetah in Buffalo Springs NR.

Amani scanning her surroundings while resting on a termite mound

Wider view

A pair of Wattled Lapwings did not like having Amani there. They kept circling overhead, scolding her loudly. Presumably they had a nest nearby.

Eventually we tore ourselves away from Amani and continued on. Our eventual goal was Leopard Gorge - I wanted to visit that iconic place before leaving Mara North and Ben also said the birding there can be quite good.

On the way to a nice breakfast / sundowner spot that Josphat knew, we passed a herd of Elephants and a herd of Coke's Hartebeest.

Coke's Hartebeest

Shortly after the herd of Hartebeest, we had close views of a male White-bellied Bustard

Near the bustard, some Lappet-faced Vultures were spreading their wings and sunning in the top of a tree. They were doing their best Dracula imitation. Not long after passing the vulture tree, we came upon a Montagu's Harrier perched on a rock.

Montagu's Harrier

The breakfast spot was on an elevated shortgrass plain. There was a LOT of game scattered around - Topi, Common Warthog, Plains Zebra, Coke's Hartebeest, Wildebeest, Thomson's Gazelle and more. Every grazing species except Giraffe and Elephant were present. We could also see a garish "tented" camp up on a distant ridge - Josphat said it was a Japanese camp. It made no effort to blend into its surroundings - quite the opposite, the bright white buildings were visible at great distances.


On this first bright sunny day in a while, butterflies were also becoming active. There were many of them of several varieties sunning, nectaring and chasing each other around our breakfast site. They especially liked sunning and "hilltopping" around a termite mound at the summit of our little elevated plateau.

* Please correct any of my identifications if they are incorrect, @@armchair bushman or other experts on Kenyan entomology.

The most numerous species was Yellow Pansy. The second most numerous butterfly was African Orangetip. I was elated to see them as their New World cousin - Falcate Orangetips - are one of my favorite leps (short for Lepidoptera - butterflies and moths). We also had African Monarch (Danaus chrysippus), Mimic Butterfly (Hypolimnas misippus), Gaudy Commodore (Precis octavia), and multiple species I failed to photograph or record in my field notes.


Mimic butterfly (Hypolimnas misippus)

African Orangetip

I think we also had some Lesser Wanderers (Danaus chrysippus) - a former subspecies of African Monarch that is now considered a distinct species. But I am not certain about the ID.

* So if @@armchair bushman or another Safaritalker who knows their Kenyan butterflies could help with the ID of the following photos I would appreciate it:


Lesser Wanderer?

Unknown butterfly species - ID assistance appreciated

We spent over an hour at the breakfast spot - the game viewing and butterfly activity was too good to leave! Eventually we left well after 10:30 to continue the game drive.

Here is a nice landscape view near the breakfast spot

Near the entrance to Leopard Gorge we came upon a Croaking Cisticola

Entering Leopard Gorge, I was moved by the familiar-looking geography from various documentaries and Big Cat Diary. On the rocks we saw Flat-headed and Blue-headed Agamas foraging and sunning. We also had several Rock Hyraxes - both on rocks and climbing in trees.

Rock Hyrax

Rock formation on the right entering Leopard Gorge

 

Looking down the western wall of Leopard Gorge

 

Looking towards the south end of Leopard Gorge

 

We also saw Warblers, Cordon-Bleus, Canaries and more small passerines. Then Josphat spotted a Verreaux's Eagle-Owl in a mature tree on the left. It was an adult and it was huge!

 

We worked down to the end of the gorge and turned around. As we were nearing the north end of the gorge, Ben spotted one then two immature Verreaux's Eagle Owls in a large tree.

 

One of them hop/flew to a higher branch - poor photo but I felt it was barely worth including

 

Since time was slipping away, we then worked our way back to camp for lunch. Along the way we stopped to admire a nice herd of Elephants. As we passed near where the Amani sighting had been, Josphat told us that Amani was feeding on a kill and asked if we would like to go check it out. We decided against it, since we had to eat, do some final packing, etc. before our game drive to the airport. I also didn't want to add to what was probably a group of vehicles around Amani. I later learned that @@mapumbo and Mama Ndege had a great time watching Amani with that prey - not sure if they got to see the chase + kill.

At lunch we belatedly learned that @@mapumbo and Mama Ndege were Safaritalkers.

* I really wish we could get Safaritalk hats or something to help identify each other in the field! Maybe a secret code - perhaps could all wear pink corsages on Safari?

[Tom Kellie]

* I really wish we could get Safaritalk hats or something to help identify each other in the field! Maybe a secret code - perhaps could all wear pink corsages on Safari?

 

~ @@offshorebirder

 

I opt for black and white zebra face paint.

We'd blend in from predators and tsetse flies...

Tom K.

[Game Warden]

Grow beards and wear pith helmets?

[Alexander33]

I chuckled with complete empathy and solidarity as you described your encounter with the crake. I cannot count the number of times I've been so excited at the sighting of a particular bird that I have just started clicking away without realizing that I was not zoomed out as far as I could have been. That's really one of my goals for 2016 -- to remain focused and cool as a cucumber as I'm photographing.

 

I've had mixed success, but I find talking to myself ("Let's do it. C'mon, get with it.") helps, although I'm sure I look like a complete nutcase muttering to himself -- definitely not helping improve the already raised eyebrows that so many birders already receive!

 

BTW, great tip on pre-focusing just above the grass when you've got a partially obscured subject in there. I will have to try that out.

 

Amani is one spectacular cheetah, even as she drifts from trip report to trip report on here.

[mapumbo]

Your "doozie" of a morning was our "doozie" of a morning as well, except for the African Crake. I will relate our experience with Amani and the kill in my upcoming report. Also, the fate of the two vagabond young lions will be determined.

[TonyQ]

What a superb final morning. Well done with the Crake, and the Cheetah in that warm light is beautiful.

I have also taken picures not fully zoomed so sympathise - but good pictures nevertheless.

[offshorebirder]

Had to laugh @@Tom Kellie - but maybe something a bit less labor-intensive...

 

Perhaps mandatory wearing of pith helmets along the lines of @@Game Warden's suggestion?

[Tom Kellie]

~ @@offshorebirder

 

Why is it that the mental image of you sporting a pith helmet while in pursuit of, say, a crake sighting is so appealing?

It has that ‘je ne sais quoi’ which makes me smile. Such a flourish in a remote area would flag a Safaritalk member...or indicate that time machines to the 19th century are up and running.

Tom K.

[Marks]

During the safari I kept mentioning how uncanny a resemblance Yellow-throated Longclaws bore to Meadowlarks here in North America. It's really mind-blowing. Eventually Ben started saying "there's another Meadowlark" when we came across another Yellow-throated Longclaw.

 

I remember when I first realized this, too. It's downright astonishing.

 

Really lovely pics and video of Amani. Enjoying your commentary and laughing along.

[armchair bushman]

@@offshorebirder see my responses in BOLD ITALICS below

Mimic butterfly (Hypolimnas misippus) Yes, correct. Another common name is the "African Diadem". This is a male which does NOT mimic the African Monarch (Danaus chrysippus). Only the female Diadem is a mimic - both in appearance and in the lazy flight pattern.

African Orangetip These are notoriously hard to differentiate, especially when you can only see the underside of the wing. As far as I can tell this is a male of either Colotis evenina - one of 3 subspecies in Kenya, or Colotis evagore. I won't bother with common names here as they are so numerous, with several overlapping names, that they are essentially useless.

I think we also had some Lesser Wanderers (Danaus chrysippus) - a former subspecies of African Monarch that is now considered a distinct species. But I am not certain about the ID.

Lesser Wanderer? This actually looks like another male Hypolimnas missipus (African Diadem/Common Diadem/Mimic)

Unknown butterfly species - ID assistance appreciated To be honest, I'm struggling with this one. Do you have any other photos of the same individual?

 

 

[armchair bushman]

In many ways, the last one looks like a Charaxes sp. but I'm still not convinced it is.

[offshorebirder]

Thanks very much for the correction and info @@armchair bushman. Unfortunately I do not have any other photos of the final butterfly so it may be one we have to let go unidentified.

 

* Question for you: you have probably mentioned it elsewhere, but which butterfly guide do you recommend for beginning Kenyan (or E. African) Lepidopterists? Are there any with Apps for mobile devices?

[armchair bushman]

@@offshorebirder

 

Sadly there are no modern, up-to-date options for East African Butterflies

The best option, if you can find it and afford it, is the now out-of-print "The Butterflies of Kenya and Their Natural History", by Torben Larsen http://www.amazon.co.uk/Butterflies-Kenya-Their-Natural-History/dp/019850005X

You can try "Butterflies of The Afrotropical Region" by Bernard D'abrera http://www.amazon.com/Butterflies-Afrotropical-Region-world/dp/0701810297

 

I personally cannot afford either of those, nor do I want to carry a huge, fragile antique into the field with me, so I have resorted to the "Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa" by Steve Woodhall. Not a perfect option, but I can usually get at least down to genus level, and sometime species, for most butterflies here. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Field-Guide-Butterflies-Africa-Holland/dp/1868727246/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1460102420&sr=1-1&keywords=Butterflies+of+south+africa+woodhall

The "Field Guide to The Butterflies of Southern Africa" by Ivor Migdoll covers a wider area, and therefore more species, than the one above, but is older, so some names/taxonomy is out of date. http://www.amazon.com/Migdolls-Butterflies-Southern-Africa-Guides/dp/1868256243

 

No smartphone/tablet apps for African Butterflies exist, that I'm aware of.

Edited April 8, 2016 by armchair bushman

[Game Warden]

@@armchair bushman

 

No smartphone/tablet apps for African Butterflies exist, that I'm aware of.

Get cracking on one then...

[offshorebirder]

Thanks for the info @@armchair bushman - though that is disappointing to hear.

 

I just searched used bookstore sites (like Alibris, ABEbooks, etc) for Larsen's guide - both U.S. and UK / worldwide versions and NOBODY has it for sale.

 

I sure wish Oxford Press would either reprint it or release it into the public domain.

 

I guess my only option is to keep doing periodic searches and hope a used copy (preferably the 1996 updated version) becomes available.

[Atravelynn]

Castle Forest Lodge - your comments are very instructive.

 

Your fascination with and appreciation the multi-sensory Vulterine Guinea Fowl chicks reveal your sound birder credentials. That was very special to see.

 

The secretary bird seems jubilant at the prospect of an insect meal.

 

And then....OMG...the lion cub transfer. Simply amazing. I was thinking, "That's an odd method of grabbing the cub," when I read your non-standard comment. I guess whatever works. Francis must have been thrilled too.

 

Combine such a rare and visible sighting with the jackal, bat eared fox, fighting hippos, and hyena pup and the mammals are stealing the spotlight from the birds!

[armchair bushman]

@@offshorebirder

 

You can also try "Pocket Guide to Insects of East Africa" by Dino Martins. While it's rather simplistic in many ways, the butterfly section is decent, and does cover a few East African specialties that you won't find in the Southern African books.

 

Dino Martins is SUPPOSED to be creating a butterfly book for East Africa, and many of us here have been asking for it for a long time. He's rather busy with other things at the moment, though, and I'm not holding my breath.

[offshorebirder]

@@armchair bushman - I just discovered Dino Martins' butterfly field guide for E. Africa is about to be published!

 

According to this Amazon listing, it will be out in August 2016:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Butterflies-East-Africa-Pocket-Guide/dp/1775842428

 

I am going to buy it the day it becomes possible!

 

I might also start a new topic under a different forum to help share this news with other Safaritalkers.

[optig]

I just love your photos of the butterflies. I've just decided that I really am interested in insects, as well as plants.

[PHALANX]

This trip report covers a safari I took to Kenya with my friend Tommy Graham. Tommy is a good naturalist who also knows his birds, though he is not a lister or twitcher by any means. Mammals are his primary natural history interest. Tommy went to school with my father and has been a friend of the family since before I was born. This was the first trip to Africa for both of us.

 

Prologue

 

By rights I should do acknowledgements first - because this exceptional safari would have been a much poorer experience without the safaritalk community at large, as well as several individual members who were extremely generous and helpful with their advice for this Safari newby.

 

For key advice I am particularly indebted to @@Safaridude, @@armchair bushman, @@pault, @@Tom Kellie, @@madaboutcheetah, and @@Geoff. For inspiration - too many to list but particularly @@Safaridude, @@Game Warden, @@madaboutcheetah, @@twaffle, @@Paolo, @@Bush dog, @@michael-ibk, @@pault, @@COSMIC RHINO, and @@AKR1.

 

And for outstanding guiding, agent services, and "riding to the rescue" to overcome the unexpected loss of a private guide in the Mara at the last minute - Ben Mugambi of Ben's Ecological Safaris. I am so glad to count Ben as a friend and field companion - he is a "birder's birder", a fabulous field man and safari guide, and a scholar and a gentleman who is rock-solid dependable.

 

The theme of this safari was "good luck". And baby animals I suppose. Time and again the guides or camp managers said "We have never seen X before". Or "we have only seen Y two or three times in our lives." I suspect some camps say things like that fairly often to set the hook with their guests - but in our case, I believed the statements to be true!

 

Itinerary:

 

January 7 - Arrive Nairobi late pm. Overnight at Purdy Arms.

January 8 - Recovery day (birding the 20-acre grounds) + shopping in Nairobi. Overnight at Purdy Arms

January 9 - Day trip to Ngong Hills + Magadi Road w/ Ben's. Overnight at Purdy Arms.

January 10 - Day trip to Nairobi NP w/ Ben's. Overnight at Purdy Arms.

January 11 - Drive to Mt. Kenya NP with Ben's. Overnight at Castle Forest Lodge.

January 12 - Mt. Kenya National Park with Ben's. Overnight at Castle Forest Lodge.

January 13 - Drive to Samburu + Buffalo Springs. Overnight at Samburu Simba Lodge

January 14 - Full day in Samburu + Buffalo Springs. Overnight at Samburu Simba Lodge.

January 15 - Full day in Samburu + Buffalo Springs. Overnight at Samburu Simba Lodge.

January 16 - Short game drive in Samburu, drive to Naro Meru River Lodge. Overnight Naro Meru.

January 17 - Bush flight from Nanyuki to Mara Naboisho. Overnight Encounter Mara.

January 18 - All day in Mara Naboisho. Overnight Encounter Mara.

January 19 - Morning game drive then vehicle transfer to Offbeat Mara in Mara North Conservancy. Overnight Offbeat Mara.

January 20 - All day in Mara North, overnight Offbeat Mara.

January 21 - Masai Mara National Reserve 7am-4pm, game drive in Mara North, overnight Offbeat Mara.

January 22 - All day in Mara North, overnight Offbeat Mara.

January 23 - Morning game drive, lunch, then 4pm flight to Wilson Airport, transfer to the Boma.

January 24 - Depart JKIA for USA

 

 

We flew Jetblue from Charleston to New York City, then Emirates to Dubai and another Emirates flight to Nairobi. It was a 26 hour trip and I was not able to sleep a wink. My carryon was a Think Tank Photo camera backpack - Airport Essentials. I loved it - but next time I might get the model that is one size larger. It held my camera, lens, a Swarovski spotting scope, Swarovski binoculars, laptop, iPad, memory cards, batteries, a La Cie portable hard drive, cables, camera cleaning kit, and 1 day's clothing. I checked two bags, including a large duffel bag (Patagonia Black Hole Bag). This was to take my tripod, beanbag, and other bulky gear. Next time I will travel lighter - did not need sweater, long underwear and various other ballast it turns out.

 

Upon arriving at JKIA, there were not different queues for eVisa and Visa-on-arrival. But the lines moved quickly. The immigration agent asked for my eVisa and I said we needed Visa on arrival. She scowled slightly but then took $50 from each of us, gave us the slips of paper and we were on our way. The baggage claim was chaotic, crowded bedlam. After following our flight number as it moved from carousel to carousel, we watched an endless succession of luggage parading around and around. After close to an hour, we finally started seeing our bags. Huge relief! When we got outside and saw the guy holding the sign with my name on it, a wave of relief washed over us. We were home free now and on our way to our lodging.

 

We were the only guests for our entire stay at Samburu Simba, and the only guests in camp for the first part of our stay at Encounter Mara. There were only a couple of other parties staying at Castle Forest Lodge while we were there. We had private vehicles the entire safari. I cannot say enough good things about Offbeat Mara camp and Encounter Mara camp - we loved them both immensely. And I loved the Purdy Arms in Karen - a nice laid-back place, green + leafy + good birds, very affordable, good food and drink, convenient to Magadi Road + Ngong Hills and Nairobi National Park, as well as the Galleria mall (for beer, Forex, and a SIM card). Many thanks to @@armchair bushman and @@pault for suggesting Purdy!

 

There are those who scoff at the notion of a photo safari in Kenya during the green season, particularly one this green - high grass everywhere, etc. Let me tell you - things worked out very well. The green season is a double-edged sword for sure but the good edge far outdid the bad edge on our trip. We were still able to find extensive short/cropped grassland areas, and even in tallgrass areas we could usually pop out the top of the roof and shoot down on targets to overcome the tall grass.

 

The Vehicles:

 

Offbeat Mara won the "most functional safari vehicle" contest - closely followed by Ben's Ecological Safaris. But the vehicles at Encounter Mara were very good and completely satisfactory as well.

 

Ben's Ecological Safaris vehicle:

Encounter Mara vehicle (David on the left and our guide Wilson on the right):

Offbeat Mara vehicle (the short wheel base was invaluable for not getting stuck):

Interior shot of Offbeat Mara vehicle, showing the very handy storage shelf behind the cabin:

 

The companions:

 

For our first week we were guided by a sharp young birding and safari guide named Francis Rutich, from Ben's Ecological Safaris. And our driver John was a fine driver and very good spotter. Francis has some of the sharpest eyes I have encountered in my field travels. I run with guys like Steve NG Howell and Todd McGrath - and Francis would give them a run for their money at sea. He might take them on land... I am no slouch at spotting birds + wildlife, even in heavy cover but it was spooky how good Francis is.

 

Francis on the job:

We had a Maasai gentleman named Wilson for a guide at Encounter Mara - he is one sharp safari guide! Good driver, good at route planning and very attuned to our wants and needs. No complaints whatsoever. A young man named David from Koyaki Guiding School was attached to Encounter Mara during their semester break - he was very sharp as well.

 

* See the above Encounter Mara vehicle photo to see Wilson and David.

 

 

During our time at Offbeat Mara, we were fortunate to have a Maasai gentleman named Josphat for a driver/spotter/guide. Josphat is superb! Though we had intended to have the legendary James Sengeny for a private guide at Offbeat, a foulup that we learned of 5 days before our arrival in the Mara meant James was unable to guide us. This is a somewhat sensitive matter, and I won't mention the agency involved, but suffice it to say I am 100% convinced that James was in no way at fault either for the foulup or for us not getting notified very far in advance. When I learned the bad news, I was sitting in the bar at Samburu Simba at 3pm on January 14. By 4pm Ben Mugambi had agreed to fly to Mara North and guide us during our time there. Ben handled the Safarilink tickets and other details, and he knows the crew at Offbeat well. What a relief! Ben saved the day and I am so glad to have spent time in the field with him - great learning experience and lots of fun all around.

 

Here is a photo of Josphat, Tommy, and Ben at our first sundowner together:

 

The next post will cover our first day afield - a day trip visiting the Ngong Hills, a long stop at 'Corner Baridi' (cold corner), and various stops on the way down to Oltepesi and beyond. Lots of birds and birding, but also a very unexpected mammal find!

I think the green season is a fantastic time to visit Kenya, especially for widow birds. And it is the best time to visit Samburu, less hot and a park transformed.AJ

[armchair bushman]

@@armchair bushman - I just discovered Dino Martins' butterfly field guide for E. Africa is about to be published!

 

According to this Amazon listing, it will be out in August 2016:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Butterflies-East-Africa-Pocket-Guide/dp/1775842428

 

I am going to buy it the day it becomes possible!

 

I might also start a new topic under a different forum to help share this news with other Safaritalkers.

@@offshorebirder

It's been available here in Kenya for a couple of months already. I dilly-dallied, but finally got a copy last week. It's a fantastic little starter guide, but be warned it's a "pocket guide", so it's not exactly exhaustive.

 

Note that Dino Martins is also set to publish first a little Pocket guide to the grasses of Kenya (Random Struik) and later a full, exhaustive tome covering all 600+ known species (Smithsonian Press) - in case you're interested.

[offshorebirder]

Wow, Dr. Martins has so many areas of expertise! Thanks for the info @@armchair bushman.

[pault]

@@armchair bushman Grasses of Kenya? I am so very glad such a book will exist even though I am unlikely to ever read it.

Edited July 18, 2016 by pault