Kuruka
The Great Cormorant, known for being an efficacious fisher, was once hunted to near extinction because it was seen as too strong a competitor for humans.
Thankfully, conservation efforts have seen this great bird’s numbers rise once more, and an estimated 1.2 million now live across Europe. Once again, though, they threaten various fishing farms and other businesses. As such, in Britain – where cormorants now breed inland where once they did not – fish farms claim that they’re seeing high losses each year. Because of this, while illegal to kill the cormorant, it is possible to gain a licence to cull specified numbers of them.
In other parts of the world, such as China and Japan, local fishermen use them to do their work for them. The fishermen tie a line around the bird’s throat just tight enough to prevent the bird from swallowing a fish completely. After every seven or eight, the line is removed so that the bird can eat one of its catches.
Not every part of the world has it in for this wondrous bird, though. In Northern Norway it is seen as semi-sacred. If cormorants gather near your village, it is considered good luck. Legend has it that people who die far out at sea, whose bodies are never recovered, spend eternity on Utrøst – an island which can only occasionally be found by mortals. The inhabitants of Utrøst can only visit their homes in the form of cormorants.
The grey heron can be found widespread across the globe, from Europe, down to Africa and all the way over in Asia, and has been revered throughout history in various cultures.
In Ancient Egypt, the bird deity Bennu took the form of a heron and was associated with the sun, creation, and rebirth.
In Ancient Rome, the heron was a bird of divination that would warn of things to come by its call.
In Britain it was eaten.
But it was at least saved for special occasions.
Here is the black-chested snake eagle. While they look strikingly similar to the closely related Beaudouin's snake eagle, the black-chested snake eagles are spread throughout South and East Africa, where Beaudouin’s are in the West. This photo was taken in the Maasai Mara National Reserve, so just about as far east as east goes.
As the name suggests, they like to feed on snakes, though they’re quite happy to eat lizards, frogs, small mammals and insects.
Just above are some kingfishers, but we’ll get to them a little later.
Hartlaub's turaco, so named to commemorate the German physician and ornithologist Gustav Hartlaub. The tips of its wings form a beautiful display of red to match its eyeshadow.
The white-browed coucal, or lark-heeled cuckoo. They live in covered areas with scrub and bush, in eastern and southern Africa, as well as over in the southwestern part of the Arabian Peninsula.
Not too distantly related to the snake eagles are the Bateleurs. Its name is French for “street performer" and is thought to be the inspiration behind the national emblem of Zimbabwe.
The yellow-billed stork, sometimes also called the wood stork or wood ibis. Though it seems that it shouldn’t actually be called an ibis, as they decided to separate storks and ibises into separate families of birds, whoever ‘they’ are.
Still, they’re also wading birds, as seen here. This one was wading through the shallows of Lake Naivasha when it became interested in a boat docked by the bank.
Though, if we’re being pedantic, is it docked if there isn’t a dock?
Another grey heron, standing on the left, this time in the company of an egret.
Egrets come in a few forms, three of which are ‘great’, ‘intermediate’ and ‘little’. So just like your coffee, you can find the size that’s right for you.
Their name actually means ‘little heron’ in French, as a heron in French is ‘aigron’, and to make something ‘little’ in French you can add the suffix ‘-ette’, just as they did with ‘aigrette’ – little heron – which then became egret.
This particular kingfisher is a giant kingfisher, which of course happens to be the largest kingfisher in Africa. Both the males and females have wonderful red chests.
As demonstrated here and below, kingfishers sit on perches above a body of water, with gyroscope-like heads that stay still when a branch they’re perched upon may be swinging in the wind.
Just below is the pied kingfisher. As well as perching, it has a habit of hovering over clear lakes and rivers before diving for fish which distinguishes it from other kingfishers.
The dead trees of Lake Naivasha make ideal perches upon which all of the various birds can watch and wait for lunch to swim by.
This impressive display is given by the one and only secretary bird, which is usually found in the open grasslands. An adult can grow to be as tall as 1.3 m, or 4.3 ft. It features on the coats of arms of both Sudan and South Africa.
The Maasai call it Ol-enbai nabo – “one arrow” – referring to its crest feathers. It earns its English name from being called "Secretarius" by Dutch farmers who had domesticated the bird to combat pests, which may have been a corruption of its original name, sagittarius, the Latin word for archer. And for that we have the Dutch naturalist Arnout Vosmaer to thank, who thought its gait resembled that of an archer’s.
Secretary birds hunt and catch prey on the ground. When on the hunt, the feathers on the back of their head stands up to signify such. They stomp the ground to flush out insects and rodents, which makes up most of its diet, as well as sometimes snakes. It has also been reported to have killed baby cheetahs, stomping on whichever of its victims to kill them.
Hardcore.
A pod of pelicans making their way across Lake Naivasha. Pelicans are well known for having long bills and large pouches with which they scoop up their food and then drain out the water.
It was long thought that pelicans were related to cormorants and the like, but are now known to be related to shoebills, and cousins of herons and ibises. Like cormorants, though, they have also been hunted by commercial and recreational fisherman due to the competition they pose. Three of the eight living species of herons are now of conservational concern.
As with other birds, pelicans have also played their part in religion, mythology, and popular culture. In Ancient Egypt they were associated with death and the afterlife. Within Christianity the pelican came to be seen as a symbol of maternity, as they were thought to be particularly attentive to their young. Because of this, Elizabeth I of England adopted it as her symbol, portraying herself as the "mother of the Church of England".
The more you know.
Two Hildebrandt's starlings were having a little sup of water together, before they stood up together, then flew off together.
They are named for Johann Maria Hildebrandt, a German collector who was the first European to get hold of specimens. They look almost identical to the superb starling, however the Hildebrandt variety have red eyes, where the superb starlings have white.
Over here is one of only two species of hornbill in Africa, the southern ground hornbill. Like the secretary bird, they’re carnivorous and mostly hunt on the ground, eating insects and small animals. They are associated with death and unluckiness, as well as both rain and drought, lightning and general weather forecasts
Unfortunately their numbers have been declining and have been listed as ‘Vulnerable’ by the IUCN as of 2018, and ‘Endangered’ in South Africa, Lesotho, Namibia and Eswatini, formerly Swaziland, due in part to persecution, habitat destruction and cultural beliefs, among other things.
Quite small compared to other bustards, the white-bellied bustard is usually seen in pairs or family groups, as young stay with their parents much longer than those of other bustards in the region.
Heard mostly in the early morning and late evening, the bustard’s call has been described as a very loud and guttural one that goes;
‘k'whuka WHUKa, k'wuka WHUKa...
k'warrak, k'warrak’
The Tiny Sunbird.
This little beauty was a male, as the females are mostly different shades of brown. When the sunlight hits the feathers of the varieties of sunbirds with metallic wings, the colour is a striking one. The slightest change in angle, however, and they essentially turn black. Even just by turning their heads, their feathers will appear black.
Before taking off from his perch in the left photo, it was almost impossible to capture any meaningful colours from his place in the shadows of the tree, but once he came out into the sun to feed on some nectar, he could be seen in all his glory.
The tiny sunbird - so named as it is the smallest species in the sunbird family - feeds on insects and spiders as well as nectar.
This particular one was found by the river Mara one afternoon, and kept taunting me by flying away just as I had gotten my camera ready. Eventually he sat still long enough to get a few snaps in, however, so no hard feelings.