Birds of Masai Mara - Birds of Prey

From lake & marshes, this post is about birds of prey. One of the largest and most powerful birds of prey in Masai Mara is no other than Martial eagle. They hunt from soaring high up in the air and that makes them a dangerous predator. They hunt for mammals, birds, reptiles and even livestock.

 Back view of the Martial eagle show dark coloration on the upperparts and head.

 Front view show a white underparts feathers.

 Martial eagle taking flight.

 An immature Martial eagle.

 Have a glance of African harrier-hawk fly overhead.

 An African fish eagle is cleaning himself up by the river.

 One of the nicer looking birds of prey in Masai Mara is this Bateleur with bright  orange bill.

 Compare to other vultures, Hooded vulture is the smaller one.

Lappet-faced vulture is the King of African vultures. Largest among all the vultures with wingspan of up to 3m.

 Another large vulture in Masai Mara - Rüppell's vulture

Very similar to Rüppell's vulture but White-backed vulture can be easily identiry but is black colour bill. We will next look at birds in the wooded and garden area...

Birds of Masai Mara - Lake and Marsh

There are so many things to see and photograph in Masai Mara especially for someone like me going there for the very first time. Not just the Big 5, I am pretty much occupied doing bird watching too. From grassland and open area, lets move to lake & marsh area of Masai Mara.

One of the very familiar birds that I saw almost everyday is this Egyptian goose. They are also found  in the open area.

 Black-winged stilt can be found in many part of the world is found here in Masai Mara too.

Green sandpiper may be common here, I saw it quite frequently during my stay there. However, it is not common here in Singapore. I'm so delight to be able to see it in Masai Mara.

Wood sandpiper are very similar to the green sandpiper in terms of size and appearance.

 Another new bird species that I met in Masai Mara is this African jacana

 The illusive Black crake made an fast appearance before disappear into the thick vegetation.

I first seen this African sacred ibis in Taiwan and is happy to be able to see it again in the place of origin. These birds plays an important role in the religion of the Ancient Egyptians.

The less popular ibis but are more common in Masai Mara is Hadada ibis. They are not dependent on water as some ibises, they are found near wetlands and often live in close proximity to humans, foraging in cultivated land and gardens.

Hamerkop is one bird that will sure to leave a lasting impression due to it's very unique hammerhead  appearance.

 Black-headed heron is more common here compare to Grey heron.

 Yellow-billed stork, another stork that resemble Painted or Milky storks here.

 Woolly-necked stork

 Marabou stork

I guess I'm not the only one do bird watching here. Looks like these group of zebra is watching this Goliath heron as well.

 Of the few lapwing in Masai Mara, Crowned lapwing is more commonly found.

I like Spur-winged lapwing more for is cool colouration.

This bird is always too far to reach by my lens, African pied wagtail. Just can't get a closer shot of this wagtail.

Birds of Masai Mara - The Ostrich

Continue on the birds of Masai Mara - Grassland and Open Areas, the Ostrich.

Seeing Ostrich in the wild reminds me of a commercial that featured some gadget just earlier this year. The feather of this Ostrich is in the pristine condition. Remember seeing those in the enclosure with feathers that are in the very poor condition probably due to stress.

Not seeing one but 2 Ostrichs! This is female Ostrich trying to court the male  with darker feathers and pink leg (male Ostrich in Masai Mara tend to have pink legs, not sure is only during breeding period or throughout the year) by moving in front of the male with the wings slightly open.

The female start running when the male show interest and what happen next is like the wild goose chase...

 After few rounds of chasing, the male Ostrich succeeded in mating with the female. What happen  next is even more unbelievable...

 The female just lay an egg on the floor and go away... left this male Ostrich not sure what to do with the egg.

The male Ostrich just roll the egg from one place to another. We didn't wait to see until the end. Not sure what the male Ostrich did with the egg...

I guess this is an unfertilised egg and that is why the female just drop it and go away? If the female just mated with this male for the very first time, chances is this is an unfertilised egg. But again, I'm not sure.

Birds of Masai Mara - Grassland and Open Areas

One have to really keep in focus of what they really want when out on a photography trip. especially in Masai Mara. There are so many interesting thing to shoot. From landscape, cultural, and the most famous Big Five!

While shooting animals, I'm also always on the look out for other feathers friend that are nearby. I shall start with birds of grassland and open areas.

I saw this Southern ground hornbill fly pass  overhead while I'm busy shooting a cheetah. However, this hornbill prefer to have our full attention and willing to wait for us to finish with the cheetah! She make sure we have good photo of her before she fly away. What a good way to start by African birds collection!

 I'm so excited when I first saw this  Pied Crow. All the crow in Singapore are black in colour.

I have seen this Helmeted Guineafowl many times. But this is also my first time seeing one in their natural habitats.

Unmistakable,  Ostrich  is the fastest running birds in the world. The only animal that fast enough to catch them is cheetah.

 Another very common bird in Masai Mara is Anteater Chat. I see them almost every day.

African pipit is another new bird for me. So far all the birds that I spotted are new to me! Going at this rate, seeing 30 or 40 new birds for this trip is not a problem at all.

Temminck’s Courser have a rather short tail compare to the body size. May be that is the reason they prefer to run from any threat rather than take flight...

Yellow-throated Longclaw have a very distinctive yellow throat that set them apart from pipit.

 Black-bellied Bustard is also a new bird for me.

Kori bustard is one of the largest bird that can fly. Although Ostrich is much larger but they have lost the ability to fly.

Very First Trip to Masai Mara, Kenya, Africa

I can’t remember when, but ever since I first came across the documentary that featured the rich wilderness of Africa. I told myself one day, I want to visit this place and see it with my own eyes. Watching the movie Born free further fueled my desire to wanted to visit this wonderful place on earth.

Thanks to my friend Ling, I finally get to visit this wonderful place in October 2018. We started our preparation way back in February, and all the trouble is worth it.

There is no direct flight from Singapore to Kenya and we have our transit in Bangkok, Thailand. After crossing the Indian Ocean, we finally arrived at Kenya! My very first visit to Africa continent.

 It was a dream come true for me to set foot on this continent!

 As soon as I am out of airport, I was greeted by this Superb starling! What a great way to start my trip.

 Yes. I want to see the huge African elephants! So far I have seen the pygmy elephants of Borneo, elephants of Thailand and never seen a African elephant yet.

 Once we are out of the city of Nairobi, I have a first glimpse of  the African savanna.

 The place that we are going, Masai Mara, sits right in the middle of the Great Rift Valley.

Will Africa be split into 2? There are lots of debates going on and my take is it will happen one day. Not if, but when. Our earth is moving and changing everyday just that it happen so slow that we didn't notice it...

Just a few months ago, a mysterious crack happens in Kenya. Not sure if it is related but it just add to the ongoing debates of the Africa splitting into 2 theories...

 Masai people with their cattle.

We stay in Talek for one night, a small village on the outside of the Masai Mara entrance. Feeling excited, I woke up at 3am and took this photo of the African night sky with the 4WD that we will be using to explore Masai Mara for the next few days.

The gate is not even open when we arrive. Can't wait to get into Masai Mara.... to be continued