Birds of Soysambu

The Black-bellied Bustard is also a very discrete bird, that one notices when it flies. A heavy flight where the color of the belly becomes apparent. After the fire that burned about one thousand hectares of Soysambu in March 2012, the grass was green like on a golf course in Ireland and the bustard easy to spot!

The Spotted Thick-knee is difficult to see during the day because of its color, but at night, it likes to be in the middle of the trails, and takes off at the last second blinded by the head lights. A very elegant and mysterious bird that is migratory.

The hoopoe is a fancy looking bird reminding me by some strange neuronal association of the ladies with grandiose hats at Ascot…!

The blacksmith plover is seen usually near the lake, and has a very similar behavior than his cousin.

The crowned plover is common in the plains of Soysambu. It nests on the ground often close to the trails. It flies away at the last minute, letting you know with its cry how displeased it is by your disturbance! The most bad tempered bird on the Conservancy!

The secretary bird is becoming fairly rare. Like the birds of prey, and the vultures, they are the victims of poison and pesticides. Soysambu is a safe haven for them, and we see them in couple in the open plains. They are not too shy, and with binoculars one can have a good look at this strange looking bird.

To be able to recognize an eagle in flight is often a challenge. It appears that this is a juvenile martial eagle.

This juvenile snake eagle had no problem spotting me, but it stayed a long time looking at this strange two legged thing that I must be for it.

The Long-crested eagle is also frequently seen on Soysambu. This one is perching on the top of an euphorbia candelabra, Soysambu has a little forest of these candelabras near the north of the lake.

This young Long-crested eagle is really wondering what I am doing!

This is probably a steppe eagle, but it is very close to the tawny eagle. In any case, it is big enough to kill a young impala.