3rd November 2007

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The Spur-winged Plovers with the nest down to the left of the house were besieged by all kinds of creatures today, which we were able to observe from our balcony. “Besieged” is the wrong word really, as none of those whom we saw were actually interested in the nest at all, or of any danger to it, they were merely passing by. First it was the Helmeted Guinea Fowl and the Impala, early morning on the sandbank right near the Plovers’ island – in fact, at one stage, the Plovers – off the nest and foraging while it was still cool, were surrounded by Guinea Fowl at one point.

Later on in the day, which was sweltering hot as usual with no sign of rain at all, a female Waterbuck came down to the river, again right by the Plovers’ island, and drank solidly for several minutes – she must have been very thirsty.

And in the afternoon, it was Ian and I wandering by the Plovers’ nest again, to check on progress…and progress there was too – Four Eggs! That’s one more than yesterday, and as Plovers generally lay one egg a day, we can deduce that this is Day Four of nesting. By watching the nest daily from now on, we will be able to discover exactly how long Spur-winged Plovers incubate their eggs for.

Talking of Plovers, my father and Ian had to collect water from the river with the tractor and bowser today (for until our new pump is installed and working, this is the only water we have). They collect it from the place where the other Plovers were nesting, a couple of kilometres upstream from the house. So I went along to see whether I could find the new chicks, and see how they were doing. We could tell by the behaviour of the parent birds that the chicks were there somewhere, but the parents were trying to lead us off in misleading directions. Eventually I spotted the chicks on the river bank some way away, and was only able to get a long-distance shot of one of them – but it proves they are there and doing well, and that is the main thing.

Once the water has been collected in the bowser, it has to be pumped into our main water tank. While this was happening, I browsed around with my camera, and took some random shots of whatever I came across – the discarded shell of a Giant Ground Snail, the remains of a Tortoise (who ate him, I wonder?) and the weird twisted shape of a huge thick creeper, growing in an acacia tree.

On the other side of the house from the Plovers’ nest, we saw a hefty Warthog boar (perhaps the same chap who was foraging along the river’s edge near the Plovers’ nest the other day?) – he looked quite impressive, with his long tusks, in amongst the beach flowers.

The Cuckoos have arrived from Europe – today I saw the Black and White (aka Jacobin) Cuckoo in the commiphora thicket behind the house. I only managed to get some appallingly bad shots of it, but until such time as I get some better ones, they’re going in nonetheless! My father also heard a Diederik’s Cuckoo calling, and yesterday we saw a Glossy Starling chasing a Great Spotted Cuckoo – not surprising, as Cuckoos parasitize the nests of other birds – they lay an egg in the nest of another nesting bird, and then allow the foster parent unwittingly to feed and raise the chick. Greater Spotted Cuckoos are well known for parasitizing the nests of Starlings, Crows and even Weaver Birds, so it’s no wonder they’re not popular with other birds.

More and more migratory birds of prey are arriving too – we’ve seen the Little Sparrow Hawk and a couple of other hawks which I did not get a good enough look at to identify. The Bee Eaters are here too – today we added the White Throated to our list, and of course the Sandpipers and other waders have been here for a while too.

It looks like a swarm of bees has moved into one of the beehives we have in the acacia trees down by the river. There have not been many bees around lately, so this is great to see. The beehives we have are the traditional kind made by the Wakamba tribe, of whom Muthoka (who maintains our hives) is a member.

I photographed some new white flowers, which have appeared in the thicket up behind the house – they have tiny waxy green-white petals, with a white trumpet shape emerging from them.

A huge and beautiful Lesser Kudu bull jumped across the road in front of us – what a magnificent fellow – and just by the house too. How lovely it would be if the Kudu started browsing around the edges of the Hippo Lawn, once they get used to the noises and comings and goings at the house.

While we were down on the beach in the evening, the geese were there, all six goslings still in tow, and a Fish Eagle was drinking on the river’s edge. It seemed a nice shot to take, of the eagle and the house up behind. The Dik-diks were out on the sandbank too, nibbling the grass. They do seem to be a little more cautious these days, since the Martial Eagles have been snatching a couple.

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