We had eyes on Lake Nakuru long before we physically presented ourselves there, eyeing it from the journey into the (gorgeous) town of Nakuru, as well as from our lofty overnight perch at the Alps hotel. We knew we'd likely get our first glimpses of thousands of flamingos there - not to mention countless other avian species - as well as chances for more big game, even Leopards! But seasoned in the act of wildlife viewing, we knew better than to anticipate what we'd see beforehand.
African sunsets are legendary, and sunrises weren't too bad either. Being at a reasonably high elevation, we enjoyed...
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I originally intended to do one of these every few days, keeping everyone up to date with a pseudo-realistic walk-through of our safari, but days turned into weeks, and I sit here desperately trying not to let weeks slip into months. We all know how it can get, life that is. Truth is, it's not that I haven't been getting the time to write, but I've been using that time to pore over fresh images, each time I'm finished with a batch I simply import another, and I must admit that I've been reliving our adventure privately over the past few weeks, sometimes sitting open-mouthed, staring at the computer...
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We deliberately arrived in Nairobi a couple days before the scheduled commencement of the safari itself, as there was the mutual understanding that once the birding begins, it begins. All energies replenished during the easy days, everyone was eager for the 6am start at Nairobi National Park. Located in Nairobi itself, the park is over a hundred square kilometres of welcoming African bush comfortably close to the sprawling city.
I made somewhere around 110 images (as in keepers, not how many times I clicked the shutter, that's in the thousands) over the course of our twelve-hour extravaganza...
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I owe everyone a bit of an explanation. One day I ended up on the other side of the world without warning, checking in at various airports to ultimately end up in Nairobi, Kenya. How in the world did this even happen? Was I dreaming? Turns out the last two weeks were the unimaginable conclusion of extensive odds being tossed around for about two years. I had been contacted by one Washington Wachira, with the proposition of working together to show more people the birds and wildlife of East Africa. Why this focus on birds? Washington's TED Talk explains it perfectly (and is also very much the same...
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I remember my first experience with a White-tailed Sabrewing deep in the rainforest that is Main Ridge - a large, confident hummingbird that suddenly materialized out of the deep greens and dark shadows, hovered directly behind me, then faced me head on, and then went on to perch nearby, keeping a suspicious eye on me the entire time.
Since then, I have encountered the species countless times, for the most part at the feeders at Cuffie River where it's an entirely different ball game. Constant battles for supremacy with the other hummingbirds, all smaller than it but not anywhere short of attitude....
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Whether we believe in the concept of time or not, it is forced upon us in the form of a great rush and hullabaloo with the eventual restart/rebirth command for the "new year, new me" thoughts to suddenly activate within our minds, triggering some transient shift in thought and behaviour that has been decreasing proportionately with our attention spans. I'd be lying if I said that I'm not afflicted by this same bug, case in point this blog post, the first here in many months, the writer suddenly galvanized into action by the impending turn of the calendar (more on this later!)
There's lots more...
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For any of you who know me personally, if I'm describing something as the best birding of my life, either I mean the exact opposite or it is exactly that. Knowing full well that if it is indeed the latter, and it actually was the absolute best birding of my entire life, I definitely did not have my camera with me. True to form, that is exactly what went on here. The bird images in this post were all made two days prior - which in hindsight should have clued me in, but I paid no heed - probably for good reason too as had I walked with my gear I would've missed out on a truly magical experience.
So...
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For fear of sounding like a stuck record - actually, who am I kidding? I love the bush and all the creatures that come with it and I'll never stop begging everyone to share in this great love. It's an amazing feeling when another living being that has no obligation to you (this is outside of pets of course, which are the ones waiting on your hand for their next meal) decides to move in, have a meal, or just pass through your space. Especially as a member of the human race I can tell you that I carry a huge amount of guilt on my shoulders, we are the ones responsible for the impending doom we're...
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Last weekend I paid a visit to a special wetland in south Trinidad, and when I say special I mean personally speaking; not only is it just about twenty minutes' drive from where I live, but it was also the site of my first official birding experience back in 2011 under the direction of my friend Theo Ferguson. Inexperienced as I was, I remember seeking out common species like Masked Yellowthroat and Limpkin. I found a flock of upwards of 25 White-faced Whistling Ducks as well as dueling White-tailed Goldenthroats, these mind-blowing finds did not tickle my novice brain in the slightest. What I'd give...
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As science proceeds along its natural path of seeking knowledge, we often realize that things aren't really how they seem. In the not too distant past, what was once the Blue-crowned Motmot was split into six separate species of Motmot, one of which occurs only within T&T, given the dubious name of "Trinidad Motmot". This split was purely based on learning more about the species formerly considered to be a very wide-ranging bird, differences that weren't initially apparent eventually became glaring, and now our Trinidad Motmot looks and sounds nothing like an Andean, Lesson's, Whooping, Amazonian...
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