African Birds of Prey

 Birds of prey were numerous in Kenya, but, unfortunately, quite tricky to photograph! Over the course of the week we managed to see 12 species, including 3 vultures.

Birds of prey seen were (in order of being seen): Black Kite (over Nairobi), African Harrier Hawk and Bateleur (both seen on the  ride from Nairobi to Maasai Mara), Lappet-faced, White-backed and Ruppel's Vultures,

White-backed Vulture

White-backed Vultures

Ruppel's (Griffon) Vulture

Black-chested Snake Eagle (all seen in the Maasai Mara), Augur Buzzard (by the roadside between Maasai Mara and Lake Nakuru, also at Lake Nakuru), 

Augur Buzzard

African Fish Eagle (Lake Nakuru), 

African Fish Eagle

Tawny Eagle (roadside between Lake Naivasha and Amboseli), Eastern Chanting Goshawk (on roadside post in Amboseli) and African Black-shouldered Kite (on roadside, just outside Nairobi).

African Birds - Storks, Egrets, Ibises and Herons

Whilst in Kenya, Jayne and I managed to see many different storks and herons.

The first species we saw was the Saddle-billed Stork (seen on our first drive in the Maasai Mara). Hamerkop, Secretary Bird and Black Heron were also seen in the Maasai Mara.

Saddle-billed Stork

Yellow-billed Storks were first spotted nesting, en-route to Lake Nakuru.

Yellow-billed Stork

One of the most common birds were saw was the African Sacred Ibis, the first ones flying over the hotel in Nairobi! We also had many birds at Lake Naivasha.

African Sacred Ibis, Lake Naivasha

Two other species of Ibis were also seen: Hadada and Glossy.

Hadada Ibis

African Openbill and African Spoonbill were also seen at Lake Naivasha, along with Little, Squacco and Great (White) Egrets. Black-headed Heron was spotted at Lake Nakuru.

African Openbill, Grey Heron, Little Egret and Yellow-billed Stork

African Spoonbill

Cattle Egrets were plentiful, especially around the larger mammals, such as African Elephants and Cape Buffalo.

Cattle Egret at Amboseli

Maasai Mara Birds - Part 1

Where do I begin? In the 2 days in the Maasai Mara, we saw 50+ species of bird, pretty much all of them lifers! I can't list them all here, but I've included a few photos of my favourite species.

One bird that I have to include is the Superb Starling. It's one of the most obvious, common and stunning birds that you see on a trip to Kenya. They're everywhere!! We saw them pretty much everyday, including just along the roads as we were driving. Very impressive birds.

Superb Starling

Another bird that must get a mention is the national bird of Kenya - the Grey Crowned Crane. We saw this species a few times on the Mara, including once when we saw a pair with a chick.

Grey Crowned Crane (adult and juvenile)

The bird with the best name must be the Bare-faced Go-away Bird! We were lucky enough to see one that landed right next to the jeep on our first drive.

Bare-faced Go-away Bird

Other species seen included: African Pied Wagtail, Lilac-breasted Roller and the superb White-browed Robin Chat (seen coming out of the toilet in a roadside services!!).

African Pied Wagtail

Lilac-breasted Roller

White-browed Robin Chat

The final bird for this post is the Marabou Stork. This is another iconic species of the African plains, and one we saw on all our drives in the Mara. Not the most attractive species (!), but one that plays an important role in keeping the environment clean and healthy.

Marabou Stork

Linacre WeBS and Ringing

 This week, I have been down to Linacre a couple of times to carry out this month's WeBS count and for a ringing session.

The WeBS count was as follows: Mallard (46), Tufted Duck (28 adults, no breeding again this year), Mandarin Duck (5), Coot (8; 5 adults and 3 juveniles), Moorhen (8; 5 adults and 3 juveniles),  Grey Wagtail (4), Cormorant (1), Grey Heron (1), Great-crested Grebe (4: 1 adult and 3 juveniles) and 1 adult Lesser Black-backed Gull. Other birds seen were: Goldfinch, Bullfinch (heard), Robin, Dunnock, Chiffchaff, 1 Mistle Thrush, c.8 House Martins and c.20 Swallows.

The ringing session, held on 23rd, was the best one so far this year, with 80 birds ringed. Totals were (new/retrap): Chiffchaff (19/0 - all juveniles), Willow Warbler (5/0 - 4 juveniles), Blackcap (14/1 - the retrap being a juvenile first ringed here in July), Blackbird (1/0 - an adult), Blue Tit (20/1 - the retrap being a bird ringed in box c.26 on 18th May 2025), Great Tit (6/0 - all juveniles), Long-tailed Tit (1/1 - the retrap being a bird first ringed here in November 2024), Robin (2/0 - both juveniles), Wren (2/0 - 1 juvenile), Goldfinch (1/0 - 1 juvenile), Dunnock (1 juvenile) and Goldcrest (5/0 - 4 juveniles).

Other birds seen were: House Martin (c.17), Swallow (2 over) and Crossbill (10 over).

5 butterflies (3 Red Admirals, 1 Speckled Wood and 1 Painted Lady) were also seen.

RSPB Frampton Marsh - 22nd August 2025

 Every year, at about this time, Jayne and I drive over to RSPB Frampton Marsh to catch up with a few passage waders, that can be seen, at this time of the year. It also gives us a chance to catch up with a damselfly that I haven't yet manged to find in Derbyshire.

This year has been very dry all across the UK, so most of the usual pools at Frampton were dried out. This meant that the birds that were there, were concentrated onto the few, remaining wet areas. We visited one, by the side of the reedbed, where we spotted a very obliging Wood Sandpiper (193) and 2 less obliging Green Sandpiper (194), that flew straight off!! 

Wood Sandpiper

After lunch, we went across to the Reedbed Hide were we spotted c.100 Greylag Geese,  Black-tailed Godwits (c.30), Lapwing, 3 juvenile Shelduck, Ruff (6), Avocet (1), juvenile Little Ringed Plovers and 4 Little Stint (195).

Little Stint

Our final stop was the dragonfly/dipping pool, where we spotted a couple of mating Migrant Hawkers and a pair of Willow Emerald Damselflies (in tandem). Common and Ruddy Darters were also seen, as was a pair of Common Blue Butterflies and a single Small Copper.

Migrant Hawkers

Willow Emerald Damselflies

Rufford Gulls - 20th August 2025

 After a couple of weeks away, I had a 2 hour visit to Rufford yesterday afternoon. There were approximately 75 Black-headed Gulls present (c.20 juveniles) and 6 of "own" ringed gulls.

The Black-headed Gulls seen were: 283B (ringed in November 2022, as an adult, and last seen on 4th September 2024), 

283B

207C (3rd sighting this "autumn/winter"), 

207C

245C (ringed in October 2023, and the first sighting since January 2025), 

245C

258C (3rd sighting this "autumn/winter), 

258C

2V03 (ringed in January 2025, and the first sighting since March 2025) and 2V16 (ringed in February 2025, as an adult, and the first sighting since 8th February 2025).

2V03

2V16

Other birds seen were: c.100 Canada Geese, including 1 ringed bird; 5230434., 4 Greylag Geese and  2 adult, unringed Mute Swans. 

Maasai Mara - Part 2

On day 2 of our time in the Maasai Mara, we spent the entire day out on safari (7.30am - 5.00pm). We saw all the usual suspects (see previous post), and also added the following species: Coke's Hartbeest, Cheetah, Warthog, Nile Crocodile (on the Mara River) and Vervet Monkey. 

Cheetah

Nile Crocodile

Warthog

Vervet Monkey (taken at Lake Nakuru)