East African Safari 1985 Lake Nakuru

On the move again we crossed the equator at Ham and arrived at Lake Nakuru on the 4th of January.

We made our way to Baboon rocks to look down over Lake Nakuru,the pink wash along it's shores
held thousands of Flamingos.

It was totally incredible,my only distraction was a Verraux's eagle as it flapped and glided below
us showing its white wing pattern.Passerines hopped around the rocks notably Cliffchat and Schalow's

Wheatear.Moving down to the shoreline and the wooded area we saw Bohor Reedbuck and Rothschild's Giraffe before setting up camp.Once  the tents were pitched again I scanned the
trees for Grey and Nubian woodpecker. A dark phased Augur Buzzard showed and  Long crested eagle near the camp  ended an unforgetttable day.

I must admit it was hard work to identify  all the species,J.G.Williams Birds of East Africa and the
Mammal plates in National Parks of East Africa were indispensable but I still made mistakes and

missed many species.T he morning of the 5th was one never to forget I awoke  before dawn,it was cold
and I shivered pulling a log across the fire, I gradually warmed  up. The sound of what I new to be Verraux's
Eagle Owl boomed across the camp site,but I could not locate it,I decided to risk a walk to the lake side,I
had my camera with me the orange dawn spread out before me with fire birds like bent sticks reaching

out for the sky.I used almost a whole film on this spectacle hoping for something that would
remind me of a dawn never to be forgotten.

After dawn I concentrated on photographing the less attractive Marabou stork which
stood like ghostly sentinels in the early morning mist.Pelicans,Stilts and European waders
were in abundance while cormorants nested in the tall trees.
We finally  took our leave of Nakuru it was such a wrench for me  as I was truly smitten by
this ornithologists paradise.