Tag: Escorted Birding Trips to Kenya

Bird of the Week, Bird Photography, Bird watching

Little Weaver(Ploceus luteolus)

Photo by Joseph Aengwo

Kenya is known for its rich diversity in weavers species in East Africa with over 60 species already described.Little weaver is one of the smallest weavers and is found in arid and semi-arid areas of North-western park of Kenya.Breeding little weaver plumage has a black forecrowned,face and throat surrounded by bright yellow,with out any of the saffron wash typical of larger weavers.The only species which is very similar to it is the Slender-billed weaver ,but can easily be separated by the longer and slender billed and its habitat is restricted to areas adjacent to Lake Victoria.

The breeding behaviour of Little weaver is pretty unique compared to other weavers who are majorly colonial breeders.Little Weaver is monogamous and solitary nester and often prefers reusing its nesting site over and over again.

Best birding sites to see them in Kenya includes;Samburu,Buffalo spring and Shaba game reserve,Lake Turkana,Kongelai,Kerio Valley,Lake Bogoria and Baringo.

Bird of the Week, Bird Photography, Bird watching

Broad-billed roller (Eurystomus glaucurus)

Broad-billed Roller , Eurystomus glaucurus .

The Broad-billed roller is a beautiful bird to watch during your nature travel in Kenya, and its strikingly yellow billed catches your attention instantly .It  is found in areas around Lake Nakuru national park, Mt.Kenya, Kakamega extending south to Masai Mara game reserve.

Here it is fairly common in savanna, as well as clearings in woodlands. It is a specialist predator, mainly eating swarming termite and ants, as well as beetles and bugs. It mainly nests in unlined cavities in trees 5-15 m above ground. It also nests in holes of barns . It lays 2-4 eggs, timing laying to coincide with the emergence of insects after rain.

Intra-African breeding migrant, mainly breeding in southern Africa before moving north in the non-breeding season. Flocks start to arrive in southern Africa in September, leaving in the period from December to April.

It mainly nests in unlined cavities about 5-15 m above ground, usually in a tree but occasionally in a barn.

Bird of the Week

Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse (Pterocles exustus)

I recently accompanied a French couple who were birding Kenya for 18 days to Samburu game reserve, it was pretty dry there when we visited but still the birding was stunning and we managed to pick up all the three species of Sandgrouse  which was on their target list. We had impressive looks of both Black-faced and Lichtenstain’s Sandgrouse, though Black-faced was rather common compared to the latter. But it was Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse which made our day. This was the most uncommon species among the tree and we had excellent photographic opportunities. DSCN0284

Photo@Joseph Aengwo