This is the third post showing images from our trip to Shompole Conservancy’s hides. The main objective of the trip was to spend time in both the Plains and Kichaka hide. Typically, we entered the hide around 16h00 each afternoon, spent the night in the hide and returned to camp about 10h30 the next morning. So most of the time spent in the hide was at night. The only crepuscular/nocturnal birds we saw were Long-tailed, Slender-tailed and Square-tailed nightjars at dusk and dawn and a lone Verreaux eagle-owl at the Plains hide one night.

“Hidden behind each wildlife image are those years of perseverance, months of travel, days of preparation and hours of patience; all these to capture the wonders of wildlife within a spilt second.” ~ Alvis Lazarus

The focus of this post is to show a selection of birds that I photographed from the hides in afternoon from 16h30 until sunset and from dawn until around 10h00 the next day. The wonderful aspect of the hides is that the birds are not nearly as skittish as the mammals and they were close to us. This meant that there were multiple opportunities to capture different poses and bird behaviour.

“Through the lens, I enter a dialogue with the wild. Nature reveals its purest essence.” ~ Biju Karakkonam

A pair of Black-faced sandgrouse at the water’s edge in front of the hide. As with all the sandgrouse, this species is dimorphic The male has a distinctive vertical black stripe from its forecrown down to its throat and narrow black and white stripes curving above and behind the eyes. Underparts have a narrow black breast band above a broader white band across the chest.

Pairs and small flocks flew to the waterhole for a drink and to collect water late in the afternoon and again around 8h30 in the morning. They need water at least once a day and often fly great distances (40 to 60 kms) to get to water.

Sandgrouse are ground feeders and are mainly seed eaters. They intentionally swallow small stones and grit to help their gizzard grid up the hard dry seeds.

“Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder.” –E.B.White

Many Red-billed firefinches arrived at the waterhole to drink in the late afternoon and especially first thing in the morning just after sunrise. The male has the beautiful pinkish-red plumage.

Both sexes have a pinkish-red on the sides of their bill and a grey culmen on its upper mandible.

Namaqua doves were numerous at the waterholes. They drink quickly and rocket away from the water so the only way to capture a take-off is with the procapture feature on my OM1 camera. The male has the black face and neck and a beak that has a red base and yellow tip.

Like the Namaqua doves, the Emerald spotted wood doves also drank quickly and flew away from the water very quickly. This is probably a response to the ever present threat from Gabar goshawks or a Lanner falcon.

A pair of Yellow-throated spurfowl visiting the waterhole at each hide in the afternoon and after sunrise. They would stand about 20 metres from the waterhole and assess the risk before walking into have a long drink.

Bare-throated spurfowls are characteristic of open bushed and wooded grasslands. The female is usually smaller than the male and lacks the spur at the back of the legs.

Adult Guineafowl are easily identified by the upright bony casque on top of the head. This species is different to the southern African helmeted guineafowl as it has an elongated casque and no red wattles that hang down from its cheeks.

Chestnut bellied sandgrouse are dimorphic. The male has a yellow-buff head neck and breast that ends with a dark brown crescent shaped stripe across its belly which is brown.

This species of sandgrouse also flies long distances to reach water. While most birds feathers repel water, sandgrouse have a remarkable ability to absorb and retain water in their belly feathers which they carry back to their fledglings. Scientists have found that male sandgrouse feathers can hold about 25 milliliters of water, or about a tenth of a cup, after the bird has spent about five minutes dipping in the water and fluffing its feathers. (Source: news.mit.edu/2023/scientists-uncover-sandgrouse-hold-water-feathers-0411)

A male Chestnut-bellied sandgrouse taking off with his breast feathers soaked with water. Bird feathers in general have a central shaft, from which smaller barbs extend, and then smaller barbules extend out from those. Sandgrouse feathers are structured differently, however. In the inner zone of the feather, the barbules have a helically coiled structure close to their base and then a straight extension. In the outer zone of the feather, the barbules lack the helical coil and are simply straight. When wetted, the coiled portions of the barbules unwind and rotate to be perpendicular to the vane, producing a dense forest of fibers that can hold water through capillary action. At the same time, the barbules in the outer zone curl inward, helping to hold the water in. (Source: https://news.mit.edu/2023/scientists-uncover-sandgrouse-hold-water-feathers-0411)

The African mourning dove is the second largest ring-necked dove. It has a grey brown head with a distinctive yellow eye and a narrow red ring.

There were plenty of opportunities to use my camera’s procapture feature to capture take-off and landings with doves and sandgrouse at the waterholes.

At the Plains hide we had daily visitations by a lone Secretary bird. This raptor seemed unconcerned by the hide and spent long periods drinking. Usually when I come across a Secretary bird striding out in the open grasslands it is always walking away so in the hide we were able to get unusually close to this raptor.

Similar to most raptors, the Secretary bird cannot suck up water so needs to scoop water into its lower bill then tip its head back to let the water run down its throat.

Many Cut-throat finches arrived early each morning to drink at the waterhole in front of the hides. This species of finch is dimorphic where the male has a bright red throat band which the female lacks. Both male and female are a light gray-brown with breast feathers that make it look heavily scaled. Its head and nape are have distinctive dark brown barring.

Grey headed silverbill visited the waterhole in front of the Plains hide. This species is a large-billed distinctively marked waxbill. Its head is grey and its face and throat are covered in white dots. Its belly is a light ochre colour and its rump is white. This species is gregarious moving in small flocks and is predominately a seed eater.

We heard the Verreaux eagle-owl at night but I only managed to get a far away image of one. Other photographers in our group managed to capture images of a Verreaux eagle-owl drinking and bathing in the water in front of the Plains hide.

A pair of Kori bustards visited the Plains hide in the afternoon and after sunrise. Kori bustards drink while standing up and hock sitting. The Kori bustard sucks up water rather than scooping it up. They then raise their head to around a 45^o angle to gulp it down. This species spends some time drinking, taking long draws of water.

The Kori bustards we saw at the wterhole in front of the hide were unusually relaxed even with guineafowl, baboons and zebra milling around. This is a ground dwelling bird and is known to be the largest flying bird in Africa though it does not fly long distances, just enough to get away from trouble.

The Kori bustard has striking plumage which becomes evident when it starts to preen itself or when a male is displaying to a female. In display mode the male fluffs out his necks feathers and lifts his tail up vertically into a fan shape.

We only saw Yellow-billed oxpeckers in front of the hides which favour the larger herbivores.

Although we spent all our nights in the two photographic hides and tried to catch up on sleep during the day, there is plenty more to see and experience in Shompole Conservancy. One activity I want to do the next time I visit Shompole early in 2027 is to spend a day photographing birds at Lake Natron in the south of the Conservancy and Lake Magadi in the north.

The high alkalinity of the water dictate that these are soda lakes. As such they are home to large flocks of Greater and Lesser flamingos, pelicans and Grey crowned cranes. The lakes are home to around 450 birds species.

“Fresh air is as good for the mind as for the body. Nature always seems trying to talk to us as if she had some great secret to tell. And so she has.” ~ John Lubbock

Apart from the attraction of so many bird species, the lakes are known for their vivid red, pink and orange colours. The stunning colours are created by salt-loving microorganisms specifically cyanbacteria and halarchaea which produce pigments like beta-carotene which turn the water bright red.

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its interconnectedness and let it be.

Have fun, Mike