In life, sometimes you encounter episodes that are hard to describe, or for others to believe. One such episode, happened to me with a group of Italians ornithologist I was guiding at Tsavo West national park in Kenya in 2018.
The park is 9065 km.sq and is teeming with wildlife. Wildlife of all sorts. Mammals are the main attraction but there is plenty more to see. Birds, reptiles, insects, amphibians, you name it you have it. There is an abundance, of both variety and numbers. It is a haven of natural wonders, for anyone with an interest in wildlife. From biologists to conservationists, from keen enthusiasts to amateur naturalists, all can be entertained. There is plenty for everyone to enjoy.
Our main target for this park was Red-naped Bushshrike,Friedmann’s Lark and Quail-plover .We managed to get the first two with minimum effort, the third one proved to be a hard-nut to crack .After one and half day of searching, we gave up, there was no point spending a lot of time looking for one bird while we had more places to go and things to do. As we were leaving Tsavo West for Taita hills the next morning, something happen! our driver was cruising through the vast park when one of my client notice a lark like flight with a unique black-and-white wing pattern which is a clear indicator that it might be our golden-priced target.
Our driver-guide had no choice but to reverse for approximately 800m, I really admire his patience with us. The six of us had our eyes all over the place and suddenly our guy was there, standing still just by the side of the road next to our car. It certainly started running away from us on a long the road and that is how we picked up this photos that I’m sharing with you today.
That was an incredibly rewarding trip for both the guest and myself.Everyone was happy!
Kenya Birding 