Pink-backed Pelican

 

The Pink-backed Pelican, although considered small by pelican standards, is still a very large bird. 

The adult is mostly pale gray with a pinkish bill.

Found in many wetland habitats with open water, including lakes, ponds, and coastal lagoons. Usually in small groups.

African Spoonbill

Another cool bird we observed was the African Spoonbill. The African Spoonbill is a distinctive pale water bird with long pink-red legs, a bare bright pink-red face, and an odd and distinctive spoon-shaped bill that is obvious even in flight.

The juvenile lacks the bright pink-red skin and has black tipped wings in flight.

The African Spoonbill prefers large, quiet, shallow waterbodies where it forages by swinging its head from side-to-side, slicing its bill through the water, searching for small fish and aquatic invertebrates.

It is mostly nomadic, wandering in response to local rainfall. eBird

It breeds colonially in heronries.

African Sacred Ibis

The African Sacred Ibis is a striking white ibis with a naked black head and neck and black legs and feet.

White wings framed by black wingtips and trailing edges. Can be encountered in almost any open habitat from wild wetlands to farmland and rubbish dumps.

Gray-headed Gull

 

The Grey-headed Gull, also known as the Grey-hooded Gull, is a small gull which breeds patchily in South America and Africa south of the Sahara. It is not truly migratory, but is more widespread in winter. 

This species has occurred as a rare vagrant to North America, Italy and Spain.

Breeding adults have a gray hood, pale eyes, and a red bill and legs.

Marabou Stork

 

I called this bird the “Larry David “of the birding world. The Marabou Stork is a huge, macabre-looking stork has a massive dagger-like bill and naked pink head and neck that appear severely sunburned.

A white ruff and loose inflatable skin on the neck add to its odd appearance. It soars effortlessly at great heights searching for food; note its white belly in flight.

Marabous are equally content in wetlands or in dry bush; they are most frequently encountered lurking near carrion, as they attend kills of major predators and will opportunistically snatch scraps. They also readily scavenge around humans and waste dumps. eBird

Hammerkop

 

Hammerkops are the smallest African Stork.

Their diet consists of frogs, tadpoles, small fish, worms and insects. The Hammerkop has an all brown body, a short tail, huge wings and partially webbed toes.

Great Cormorant

Great Cormorants are large-billed, blocky-headed cormorants have a white throat patch and in breeding season a white patch on the thigh.

They feed mostly on bottom-dwelling fish captured during dives. Like other cormorants their plumage has limited waterproofing, and they often stand on rocks with their wings outstretched to dry.

In the water, soggy feathers may be a bonus and not a liability, making the birds less buoyant during their dives. eBird

Long-tailed Cormorant

The Long-tailed Cormorant is a small, speckle-backed cormorant that is common and widespread in fresh water. The adult is blackish with a short black crest above the bill.

Although they share the same habitat with Great Cormorant, Long-tailed Cormorants can be separated by their much smaller size, red eyes, and proportionately longer tails.

Glossy Ibis

 

As we work our way towards the Masai Mara our next stop takes us to Lake Naivasha where we stayed at the Naivasha Simba Lodge. Our excursion around Lake Naivasha in a small fishing boat with just us and a guide took us into all kinds of small isolated bays where we were able to observe a wide variety of birds.

The Glossy Ibis is a medium-sized wading bird with compact body, long neck, long legs, and long, curved bill.

Glossy Ibises occur in flocks, both at nesting colonies and when foraging. They typically feed by lowering the bill into water, mud, or soil, to feel for prey, and they often feed among many other species of wading birds.

Common Zebra

 

Tomorrow we will move on to explore the birds and wildlife of Lake Naivasha, Kenya.