Birdlife Part 1 - Birds of Tsavo East

The terrible drought that has affected East Africa over the last three years has had drastic results for the flora and fauna all over the region and Tsavo East National Park is no exception.  Having seen such a huge variety of bird-life in Tsavo East on previous safaris, we were unsure of what to expect on this visit.  Would the dessicated landscape have reduced the incredible bird numbers and variety that the Park is famous for?  Well, we did notice some reduction in numbers but the spectacle was still as breathtaking as ever.  The images below represent just some of the ones we were able to photograph and there were many more we saw but didn't capture in an image.

White-Headed Buffalo Weaver, stained orange by Tsavo dust

Parrot-Billed Sparrow

Pair of courting Red-Billed Hornbills

Superb Starling foraging for food

Crested Francolin

Little Bee-Eater with prey

Yellow-Necked Spurfowl - just for a change not on the ground!

Helmeted Guinea Fowl

Tawny Eagle

Crowned Plover

Long-Tailed Fiscal

Bateleur Pair

African Pied Wagtail singing its heart out at Luggard's Falls

Woolly-Necked Storks

Red-Billed Quelea - the bird equivalent of locusts!

Taita Falcon with Red-Billed Quelea for lunch

Lappet-Faced Vulture

White-Browed Sparrow-Weavers

Northern White-Crowned Shrike

Lilac-Breasted Roller

Kori Bustard

Secretary Bird

The Spice Girls of Tsavo - four female Somali Ostriches

Chestnut-Bellied Sand Grouse

Maribou Stork catching fish

African Mourning Dove

Male Somali Ostrich

African Orange-Bellied Parrot

As you can see, Tsavo East is still a bird-lover's paradise!  We will have more birds later but as the purpose of running a live blog during our safari was to raise money for Save The Elephants, our next post will be a collection of some of our favourite elephant images from the safari.

Thank you for reading this post.  We hope if you have enjoyed it, that you will consider making a donation to Save The Elephants through our Just Giving page, if you haven't already.