Some Game Drives gave us a thrill or two with a few other animals and some drives simply overwhelmed us with a huge variety of species. This third drive was one of those that provided a huge amount of species and so we have a huge amount of pictures.
At one point today we drove up to a high place and got out for a few minutes. Well, OK, it was a potty stop. Anyway, it was a good chance to look at the Samburu from above and these views are very typical of the area. This gives a moment to pause and honor our guides. In order, this Al, David, and Enoch. Earlier on this site we sang their praises but it can never be enough. These three guys simply made the trip for us. They were guides, drivers, and friends. We learned more than animal names from them and we will remember them fondly.
One of us was a little disappointed to see so few lizards so one of us took pictures of them. There is a group of colorful little birds called Bee-eaters and this guy with the green is a Somali Bee-Eater. We saw several impressive Grey Crowned Cranes walking around. The Von der Decken’s Hornbill was one of several species of Hornbills that we were see. Anyone who saw Disney’s “Lion King” remembers the mongoose and we stopped and watched this group of Drawf Mongeese living in a termite mound. (Well, the rent was probably cheap.) Kenya has Doum Palms which, unlike other palm trees we see, are forked; how odd. The geese are Egypian Geese and seemed to occur in very groups here and there. Eagles are fairly common on the savannah and this impressive bird is the African Fish Eagle. The Heron is a Goliath Heron and really seems no larger than our own Great Blue Heron here in North America.
Most hooved animals such as the gazelles and impala graze upon the ground but these guys have developed a behavior of browsing on the lower portions of trees and have, therefore, avoided competition with their otherwise very similar cousins. Speaking of cousins, the large grey guys are Beisa Oryx.
Another beautiful starling, this is the Golden-breasted Starling. Our guide, Enoch, pointed out the Silver-bellied Petrol Sucker at the airport later. The third image is that of a Grant’s Gazelle and the next two are Grevey’s Zebras which differ from the Grey’s Zebras we saw at Sweetwaters in that the strips on these do not go all the around their bellies. Well, it’s important a zebra. The wonderful bird is a Grey-headed Kingfisher.
Possibly the beautiful bird we was in Kenya was this Lilac-breasted Roller. Rollers get their name from their impressive courtship flight, a fast, shallow dive from considerable elevation with a rolling or fast rocking motion, accompanied by loud raucous calls. Once again, we have eagles and these are a Martial Eagle and a Tawny Eagle. A troop of baboons lived near our camp and these are a few of them. Technically, they are Olive Baboons.
The wonderful birds with the glowing blue are Vulturine Guineafowl and they make a great contrast to always lovely White-headed Vultures. Sitting up there on a branch is Northern White-crowned Shrike and the bird that looks like dinner is a Yellow-necked Spurfowl.
