Kenya - The Rain Forest

Birding the rain forest

We drove west from Lake Baringo out of the Rift Valley and into the Tugen Hills. Along the way a stop for the locally restricted White-crested Turaco yielded positive results.

White-crested Turaco

We had lunch in the small town of Iten along the Elgeyo Escarpment. This area is the high altitude training grounds of many runners including the recent sub-2 hour marathoner Eliud Kipchoge.

We continued on to the Kakamega National Forest Reserve. This small ancient remnant of old growth rain forest is all that is left of a forest that once dominated the equatorial belt through Kenya and the continent. There are many near endemic and range restricted bird species here that exist nowhere else in Kenya. We did really well in our 2 days of birding picking up a large percentage of these species.

eBird list day 1
eBird list day 2

Rain forest photography is difficult, especially when you are focused on seeing all the birds. But I did manage a few images.

Black-faced Rufous Warbler

Black and White Hornbill

Grey-headed Nigrita

Grey-throated Barbet

Mackinnon's Fiscal

Red-tailed Bristlebird

Red-tailed Monkey

Snowy-headed Robin-Chat

White-headed Saw-wing

Yellow-billed Barbet

Our rain forest visit was over much too quickly but we had to continue on. We descended from the mountains to the shores of Lake Victoria for a couple quick outings for papyrus swamp specialties. Here too we did really well seeing nearly all of the target species.

eBird list 1
eBird list 2

Our swamp buggy

Papyrus swamp along the shore of Lake Victoria

Black-headed Gonolek

Papyrus Gonolek

Red-chested Sunbird

Slender-billed Weaver

As I type this entry of our travels, we've just completed two days and the incomparable Maaisi Mara National Reserve. That's next!