Sunday 16 September 2018

Asante Sana Kenya – Beautiful Birds



Welcome back lovely people hope you are doing well. I am sure Kenya is making everyone mad, the beauty of the place just cannot be described in limited words hence I decided to provide the information in phase manner so as nothing is left out and I can do justice to each day of the trip. Today I am delighted to present my favorite topic that is birds, lovely creature gifted by the God to us. Trust me birding is more difficult than the capturing wild animals but when you get them in such lovely land the scope of the frame is endless, exactly this is what we got here in Masai. So let us take a flight to the wonderland once again through blog airline which only require blessings and likes, no visa, no ticket only likes 😊😊😊😊

The Bold and Beautiful

Let me start from where we ended, from a wonderful time at Naivasha, which was net practice session for us we moved to Masai Mara with a lot of excitement, till the time we had experienced the Kenyan wilderness only on TV now it was time for live action in the real field so it was difficult to control ourselves. Finally, we reached the temple in the evening time where lovely weather greeted us on a high note.

The first half day safari was there to get the feel of the forest and to get accustomed to the vehicle and other factors so as we can enjoy the forest to the core but during the practice session itself, Mother Nature started throwing rewards towards us. There was a silent message to collect as much as you can, it is up to you how much you can digest but we all were so hungry that everything was consumed appropriately.

During whole journey we came across number birds but here will update you on some wonderful moments we saw with a special type of birds, we saw three types Vultures (White-backed Vulture, Lappet-faced Vulture, and Hooded Vulture) with a good count, which is rare because of its decline ration. The vultures being a scavenger bird were enjoying feast on carcass and at the same time, they were fighting within the group as well as fighting with Marabou Stork to show ownership over the carcass. The way both birds were fighting it was a treat to capture them with such behavior. isn't it the unique behavior of nature to enjoy? yes it is, to get such type of sighting is rare and like a treat of life, tried to display the same through pics as well, do visit the same and share your valuable comments.

After Vulture yet another treat was catwalk by the Secretary bird, if you want to believe James (our guide cum driver) the name is popularly thought to derive from the crest of long quill-like feathers, lending the bird the appearance of a secretary with quill pens tucked behind their ear, as was once common practice. When we saw the catwalk, we had to agree with James, even when you will the picture you will also agree with us. The appearance was such that you don't need any camera just enjoy the style and walk in its natural habitat with real eyes. This is why I love birds the most, they are so colorful and stylish which you will not get with most of the wild animals but still, we forget birds and run behind them, so next time when you visit any forest ensure that you capture birds as well. 


Now next in line is Eagle, we saw a Martial eagle in its typical style in its habitat, an eagle with aggression in eyes was looking around here and there may be searching and thinking of hunt. The way it was behaving and giving us the all kind of expression it was nothing but the right time to capture the frame and enjoy the behavior of this killer bird. We were lucky to get at least 15 minutes which itself is record long time that bird can offer after which it gave us flying shots while flying down for the hunt. 

The list is long so I am updating only on special moments, one more bird I have to mention without which blog is incomplete, the bird is White-bellied bustard, this is rare and is part of an endangered list and hence you cannot end the blog without such uncommon bird. We were lucky to see such a beautiful bird during this visit; it is a very stylish bird with different colors on it, which gives a superb opportunity for frames. The only unfortunate is that the count is declining very quickly which needs a high attention to save this stylish bird else the next generation will be able to see only in record books. 

During our visit we also had super sighting of Collard Dove, Lilac Breasted Roller, Marabou Stork, Superb Starling, Cori Bustard, Ibis, Ostrich and many more. Let me stop here else will continue to write on and on, let me also explain the part of the story through pictures as well. 

Dil se “Ashe”


Experts
Saurabh, Jogi and Team MT

Co-Travelers
Poorva, Deepti, Maria Mam, Chandana Mam, Suhas Kaka, Shripad Sir, Gopi Sir, Ananth Sir, Nitin Sir and Buru

Safari experts
James, Cyrus and Andrew

Hotels
Hotel Santrim

The message of the Day 

Wildlife is Mother Nature’s greatest treasure, To protect it, we must take every measure


Author:
BT Wild Art – Bhavesh Thakkar photography
Life is Safari. Enjoy it.

Photo Tour

White-backed Vulture

The big fight with Marabou and Vultures (Lappet-faced and White-backed)

White-Backed Vultures protecting the kill from others

The Secretary Bird

The famous cat-walk of royal Secretary 

The Angry look - Martial eagle

Ready to attack mode - Typical Eagle style

Fasten your seat belt, it's going to be a bumpy ride

Final call and flight took off

White-bellied Bustard - Male

White-bellied Bustard - Female 

Fighting with each other - White-backed Vultures

Hooded Vulture

OStrich - togetherness

Marabou Stork 

Superb Starling

Lilac Breasted Roller

Collard Dove

Lapwing 















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