Trail Log 1995-1997 - Lamar at Colorado State University

13
I took a bird walk on my own, as the naturalist was too expensive.
Blacksmith plover. The call, a tink, tink, tink, is said to be like the sound of a blacksmith hitting an
anvil.
Yellow-billed stork
Superb starling
White bellied go-away bird (a turaco), nicely seen perched on a bare limb. Large crest, grey, and
white, long tail.
Yellow-necked spurfowl (a francolin)
Golden-breasted bunting
Black-winged plover
There are 19 black rhinos on the reserve. All the indigenous rhinos in Kenya were black, though
some whites have now been sent to Kenya from South Africa.
There are 60 elephants here, on an experimental basis for family planning.
An eland came in to drink at the waterhole.
Senegal plover
Scarlet-chested sunbird
baboons at the edge of camp
In late evening, we took a dusk and night game drive:
zebras
elephants
some kind of eagle
jackal - black-backed, running across the road
Grant's gazelle
giraffes
waterbuck
Jackson's hartebeest
Bushbaby (Galago) - hardly seen, just eyes in the dark. But this was the only such occasion on
the trip. This is a lower primate, or prosimian, with large ears, greatly elongated hind limbs, and
long tail. Active at night. Call said to be like a human baby. (call is on Calls of the Bushveld tape.)
Serval, a slender, long-legged cat (genus Felis), seen briefly in the dark. Again, the only such
occasion on the trip. About the size of a house cat with extra long legs.
Spotted hyena, seen reasonably well in the dark. Lots of hyena seen later in the trip. (British
spelling - hyaena)
buffalo. Two seen pretty well in the dark. So far I have not seen a buffalo by day, but more were
to come later in the trip.
June 26, Monday. We drove back to Nairobi and took the flight to Masa Mara.
There was a lovely view of Mt. Kenya from the tent in the early morning. The mountain tended to
become cloudy during in the day, but was clear in the early mornings.