Bird Watching- A Therapeutic Escape In The Wild, With Your Fantastic Feathered Friends

A car stopped next to me and asked ‘Where are the lions?’ I answered them in the way I often do and said “Well actually I usually pray before going to the park, that God will allow us to see the glory of creation, then we just go bird watching, and really enjoy our fantastic feathered friends, and amazingly, often larger creatures like lions just “get in the way” of the feathered friends!” It is very rewarding to drive very slowly and watch and sometimes wait, to see many different species, each area of the park has birds that are unique and localized, in the forest, in marshy water areas, grasslands, shrub-veld etc. Some time ago I saw an Augur Buzzard (a kind of eagle) devour a green snake and then fly away. Birds are often doing something interesting if you watch them. Secretary Birds are also very rewarding to watch especially when they are hunting. When watching birds it is always useful to have a good pair of binoculars, and if possible a good camera.

Ahead of me a number of colourful birds flew, as they swooped and dived in the air, grabbing insects in their beaks as a reward of hunting success. I sat and watched them for a while as they continued to catch insects, their wonderfully vivid colours contrasted with the bleak surroundings. I identified them as the Little Bee-eater (Merops pusillus) species they are like other bee-eaters, a richly coloured, slender bird, with green upper parts, yellow throat, black throat ring, and rich brown upper breast fading to blended ochre on the belly. The wings are green and brown, and the beak is black. It reaches a length of 15–17 cm, which makes it the smallest African bee-eater. Sexes are alike. Often silent, their call is a soft “seep”.

Sometimes it is very therapeutic to just sit in a quite place and listen to the sounds of nature. On a beautiful fresh morning, I watched the sunrise over the plains. I then decided to park in one of my favourite places, in a small forest glade near the edge of the Langata forest section in the park and the beginning of the grasslands. Sitting quietly with the vehicle switched off I sat and listened to the sounds around me. It was really wonderful to have such a variety of so many bird calls, that were so soothing to my weary soul, like a symphony of songbirds singing in natural unison like a magnificent feathered orchestra. Some sounds echoed in the distance, while other species were close and clearly audible, and even visible. For me this is also the perfect time to pray and spend time seeking God . I always find it a joy to see birds when driving in the park, creation has such amazing diversity. So remember when you go on into the Nairobi National Park it can be very therapeutic to escape from this fast and furious world for a moment, find a quite place, and let our feathered friends, sing for your souls. It is truly a ”soul tonic” or a “dawa” for our innermost being.

The park has a great variety of birds when compared to the world. Worldwide it is estimated that there are about 10,000 bird species, in East Africa it is estimated that there are just under 1,500 bird species, and a tiny little place of less than 117sq km, that we call the Nairobi National Park has as many as 550 species at certain times, and some of them like the bee-eaters have beautiful colours, birds like Kingfishers, Narina Trogon, Bush Shrikes, Grey Crowned Cranes, Saddle billed storks, seed eating birds  various ducks and many more. A bird identification book for East African species is also useful to keep in the car when driving. The park is looking different at the moment due to the change of seasons and many migrant bird species are visiting at the moment.

I always find it a joy to see birds when driving in the park God has created so much amazing diversity. When we go with the attitude of “bird watching”, all too often the larger species like Rhino, Buffalo, and even Lions  just “get in the way!“

The park is open daily from 06h00 to 19h00.