Tanzania beat Kenya for the first time ever in the decade that Kenya has been participating in the GBD.
Tanzania ranked sixth with 772 species and placed number one in Africa while Kenya took the ninth position with 739 species and placed second in Africa.
The South American giants – Columbia (1402 species), Peru (1328), Brazil (1240), Ecuador (1130) and Bolivia 9824) – took the first five spots.
The Global Big Day on October 12 saw hundreds of Kenyan birders compete for the most species of birds seen in 24 hours globally. While some serious birders started at the stroke of midnight to log in the nocturnals like the owls on the eBird app, the lazy ones like me chose to spend a few daylight hours afloat on Lake Naivasha’s beautiful blue waters, seated on the plush leather seats of Angel’s Ark, the luxury pontoon – a novel experience on the freshwater lake circled by the massifs of the Mau range, Eburru, Aberdares and the walls of the Rift.
On this fine morning, the African fish eagle stole the show, renting the air with that unmistakable call and swoop from the highest acacia to snatch a fish with outstretched talons. In three hours, we counted 25 of the regal raptor making Lake Naivasha a hotspot for this handsome bird.
