The Spring 2014 Turkana Basin Institute Field School has begun!
TBI Spring 2014 Field School Students!
We started our journey of discovery at Lake Elementeita in the Great Rift Valley where we took an evening walk along the lakeshore.
We got to see how incredibly high the lakes are – as lots of rain has fallen in the catchment areas over the last few years. In many places the Rift Valley lakes are flooding areas where there are large old trees and even farms and buildings.
Lots of different birds were gathered at Lake Elementeita, which is one of Kenya’s Important Bird Areas, and an essential stopover for many migrant species.
How many birds can you spot in the photo below?
(Hint: there are 6 different species: Cattle Egrets, Yellow-billed Storks, a Marabou Stork, African Spoonbills, Lesser Flamingoes and a tiny plover in the foreground):
Please click on photo for a larger version
From Lake Elementeita we went hiking in the amazing Hell’s Gate National Park and took a boat ride out onto Lake Naivasha. Here too the lake is unusually high and students got to observe the bird life and the impact of the water hyacinth, an invasive plant species that is growing in the lake.
Water Hyacinth, gulls and terns at Naivasha
The high water meant our boat ride had to negotiate between the Yellow-Fever acacia trees!
Water, water everywhere…
We are now at TBI on the South Turkwel campus and will be sharing more adventures and discoveries with you soon!
