By Daniel Lien
Daniel Lien is a birder from southern Norway, and he thinks about birds most of the time, when not playing with his two daughters and wife. His true passion is travel and birding in new habitats around the world. He has birded in over 20 countries, but in his own style, never focusing on numbers. His latest trip was to Kenya, and next up is Vietnam, bringing his family this time!
The best thing for me, and I think for a whole lot of birders, is to wake up in a new country, with many amazing new birds to see. Simply no better feeling, right? I am one of those who can stare endlessly online and in books and conjure up my dream-lists, birds I am particularly keen on seeing in the wild. Be it simply due to their looks, their rarity, or their oddity. Sometimes my targets are typical, like wanting to finally see the Secretarybird, or the simply exquisite Golden-winged Sunbird. Other times they are perhaps harder to explain (especially to a non-birder). Like, why was a Uganda Woodland Warbler way more exciting to me than other birds? Yes, I love leaf-warblers, but the way some birds become important targets to me is sometimes mysterious even to me, and I honestly love that.
Rondo Retreat, Kakamega
Ok, enough of these reflections. Kakamega is a truly great patch of rainforest in the western part of Kenya. It lies around 1000 meters above sea level, which makes the climate good for birding. No real need for the mid-day break often required in the lower-lying rainforests I have been to. On June 25th we woke up and had our breakfast at Rondo Retreat- a great lodge right in the middle of good habitat. Our guide Joseph Aengwo had teamed up with local birder Ben. Kakamega has a huge list of possible birds. I had written my most wanted birds for the day on a piece of paper- the important thing is to at least try. And of course, we love all birds and take whatever we see along the quest with great joy. When I gave the list to Ben, he smiled and said, “You will be happy soon”. I simply smiled and said, “Oh great, I like being happy”. Little did I know that Ben’s words were almost an understatement!
Target 1: First, we wanted to look for the smooth-looking Lühders Bushshrike. We had already seen the elegant Gray-green Bushshrike the previous afternoon. We stopped along the dirt road and immediately heard a growling call from the Lühders, and soon had it in our bins, allowing great views. Awesome creature with an awesome sound. We heard and saw plenty of them through the rest of the day
This terrible photo does not do this Bushshrike justice!- More: Lühder’s Bushshrike – eBird
Target 2. Next up, we walked another dirt road close by. After just a minute, we heard the wonderful thin whistle of the beautiful and elusive Black-faced Rufous Warbler. I love warblers and especially atypical ones. Having already seen Grey-capped, Grey Wren and Buff-bellied earlier in Kenya, I was very keen on this very local forest-dependent bird. After some pointing and neck-turning, we had great views of both male and female. This warbler prefers thick undergrowth and is a skulker. We heard surprisingly many during our stay here.
Check it out here: Black-faced Rufous-Warbler – eBird
Target 3: Our next and much-wanted was the big Black-and-white casqued hornbill, especially important to me as I am quite hornbill-obsessed. We quickly saw 4 Great Blue Turacos – a true gem and symbol of good African forest, as well as a smart Yellow-billed Barbet (remarkably common here). Then we finally heard the barking calls of the hornbill, and sure enough, a pair glided in! (Hornbill number 33 in the world!). Spectacular, and the feeling that this day was special really started to kick in.
Big and badass
Target 4. After this early success, we relocated to another spot to try for one of my dream-birds, the uniquely coloured Blue-headed Bee-eater. A true forest bee-eater, Kakamega is surely the best place in the world to find it. And sure enough, Ben came through again, and after a quick walk (more a bouncy run) into the forest, we had a truly fantastic encounter with a pair of these feeding in a small clearing, luckily for us quite low down and in good light. A third bird appeared now and then, and we stood, magnified, enjoying the show for almost 30 minutes. On our walk back we saw another pair much higher up in poor light, and we reflected on our luck. 5 individuals of this species in a small area shows how unique Kakamega is.
Holy Merops!
Target 5. Next on my list was the Bar-tailed Trogon. African trogons have been somewhat of a nemesis group for me, never having seen one despite birding in location they can be found. My mind started playing with the thought that, “hm, if there ever was a day”. Well played, mind, because of course Ben and Joseph knew where in Kakamega we might hear them, and soon enough we heard at least 4 of them. They are hard to spot in the greenery, but a walk into the bush off the trail soon had our bins filled with vivid red, combined greens and bluish from the face. A real trogon, right in front of us! Elation, before we almost stepped on an Alethe on our way back to the trail. Check it out: Bar-tailed Trogon – eBird
Target 6 was a bird I did not expect us to get, but how can you not want to try for the Yellow-bellied Wattle-eye? It looks like something out of Madagascar. A tiny round bird, with a lemon belly and a ridiculous, almost shining lime-green wattle around its eye. Funky as they come. We had already seen Chestnut wattle-eye and were happy with all the other targets, but then there was just something about this day, right? So, not too far from the trogon site, we stopped, listened, played a second of its call, and yes, obviously a real wattle-eye responded. We ventured off trail and soon enough had great views of this outrageous gem! YES! Yellow-bellied Wattle-eye – eBird
Target 7. We returned for lunch, truly satisfied. The list now only had two remaining birds, the powerful Crowned Eagle and the strangely beautiful White-headed Wood-Hoopoe. The eagle had previously nested in a tall tree right on the grounds in the lodge. We had (mis)understood that the nest was empty now. Thus, when we heard the wailing call of a young eagle in the middle of our lunch, we ran in shocked mode out and soon had it located at the nest. They were still here! And not too long after, the calling intensified, and a massive, magnificent adult female Crowned Eagle came in to feed the young. For me, this is the best raptor in all of Africa and one we had longed for. Incredible.
The powerful Crowned Eagle
Target 8. After some relaxing in the shade and lunching while enjoying the barbets, sunbirds, weavers and saw-wings around the cabins, we set out again. Before we left, Ben and Joseph said they wanted to just play a quick call of the White-headed Wood-hoopoe right there at the lodge because sometimes they are observed in the area. After 4 seconds, two livid individuals came right into the tree where we were standing. They called non-stop and showed up superbly. At this point, even our guides just started laughing. This is not really a bird you expect to just show up when you want to. We enjoyed the birds, and we all laughed and looked back at this day. EVERY target we had written down to show our guides had shown brilliantly, and perhaps even rarer, without too much hard work. Don’t get me wrong, I love finding a bird after hard work, but days like this are something that has almost never happened to us, and it was our only full day here! A brilliant and too good to be true type of day. Thank you, Ben and Joseph, for your intimate knowledge; thank you, epic and cooperative birds; thank you, Kakamega and Kenya! A must-visit location if you are ever in Kenya. Our Guides: Joseph: joe@kenya-birding.com, Ben: obandaben5@gmail.com
Loud and local!
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