Month: January 2016

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Weekend at the Lake

It was a great privileged to have guided James and Catherine over the weekend when they came down for a brief birding visit.I had a great birding time with them.

Birding East Africa

January 9-10, 2016

Lake Baringo

It was a spur of the moment decision, we visited Lake Baringo for the weekend. We knew that two things will soon happen at the lake: the northern carmine bee-eaters will migrate north between February and April, and it will become unbearably hot.  A bit of advice…don’t travel to northern Kenya in February or March. We made the standard Nakumatt run for supplies, packed our bags/cooler box, and checked the car’s vitals. The drive was (as usual) quite interesting with the terrain constantly changing. Farmland and fields are soon replaced by escarpments and acacia thickets, which then transition to scrub hillsides, which become lush forested hills, which then morph to dry bush, and finally dusty rock outcroppings with scattered trees. Thankfully, the forecast predicted cloud cover at night, which meant cooler temperatures.

We stayed at Robert’s Camp once again and opted to rent one of their dome tents for 2,000ksh per night. Quite affordable…

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2015 Big Year Ended for Noah Strycker and Big Year 2016 Started with Arjan Dwarshuis

Noah Strycker ended his big year adventure two days ago, with a stunning 6042 species, with Silver-breasted Broadbill being the last bird on that incredible long list.Noah and Raunak 163

British birders Ruth Miller and Alan Davies held the previous Big Year world record with 4,341 bird species seen in 2008, going by those numbers; Noah surpassed the existing record by 1,700 species. Statistically, it means Noah managed to see a new bird everyday in the year 2015. I’m very proud to have been directly involved in the big year expedition in Kenya and it was a humbling experience to bird with this ever excited, energetic and patience record breaking birder.

Birding with Noah in Kenya
Photo by Joseph Aengwo

With the exit of Noah Strycker from the scene……entered Arjan Dwarshuis, a young Dutch birder. Like, Noah rightfully puts it, records are made to be surpassed in any case, and that will be an assignment for the next birder to come along. The new big year bird watching expedition to break the new record which was set two days ago started yesterday in the Dutch delta in Holland. Arjan is attempting to break the world record set by Noah. I’m again privileged that I will be Arjan Dwarshuis guide in Kenya, together with my colleague Stratton Hatfield and Zarek Cockar. I wish him well in his endeavor in setting a new world record.
From Kenya Birding and Silent Fliers Safaris team, we look forward to birding Kenya with you this year. And to everyone else, best wishes for a wonderful, birdy, peaceful, joyful and healthy Happy New Year!