Feast or Famine? Feast! – Tsavo West – Kenya

I was told it was “feast or famine” with Friedmann’s Lark. During our visit, recent rains meant the larks were vocalizing and we heard dozens singing their hearts out from the tops of small shrubs in the middle of the grassy plains. When they aren’t perched up singing, Friedmann’s Larks spend their time feeding on the ground, nearly impossible to see considering one is not allowed to get out of his or her car in a National Park full of dangerous animals to try to flush them. For us, it was feast for sure and we saw dozens. In fact, Tsavo West was very green from the recent rains and grass-loving birds were seen everywhere. The stunning Straw-tailed Whydah was especially abundant. But with increased rains comes increased plant growth which means that any game we hoped to see would be able to conceal themselves immediately. Only the most obvious ungulates showed themselves and any animal even remotely inconspicuous went undetected. Thankfully we came specifically for the birds and were not disappointed. (Had we been here for game viewing I might have said otherwise. It is recommended not to visit during the rains unless you are here specifically for birds, per the website.)

We managed to find several Hartlaub’s Bustards, Taveta Golden Weaver, Singing Bush Lark, and Golden Pipit, among others. Our last remaining target, and a bird Ross had been stressing over since before we left for Africa, Fire-fronted Bishop, still eluded us. That evening we drove from the southern section of Tsavo West and crossed into the northern section where the allure of possibly seeing the gang of Wild Dogs that Michael Mills and tour spotted only a week prior, roped us in to drive two hours in the opposite direction of where we needed to be to see our bishop. Instead of camping down by the lake, we camped in the northern section by some mountains.

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I wish I had the time to have a campfire every night because the tomatoes and garlic I bought from a lady before entering the park simmered into a delicious pasta sauce for our pasta dinner, and the roasted peanuts we made for dessert/future snacking were made infinitely better over an open flame. The plus-side to camping closer to several mountains meant we had a chance to try for a few different birds, specifically nocturnal ones. The following morning we flushed several Sombre Nightjars from the road and connected with two Freckled Nightjars, making our drive to this side of the park a success, even if we missed seeing Wild Dog, a mammal very high up on the “wants list.”
It was nearly a two hour drive back down to where the grasses were seeding and upon our arrival we were again serenaded by an entire choir of Friedmann’s Larks. While Ross spent longer than was probably necessary taking audio recordings and photographs of the larks, the highlight was the two male Fire-fronted Bishops and a trail of 4 presumed females that flew right in front of our car in perfect light! With that target in the bag we hit the road for our next destination, Mount Kenya.

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