Sharon & I the moment we hit Africa were in a bird mood. Why? Well the Big Five for example are mammals all look for and most of the time, find during their safari (a Swahilli word for Journey). And some of the classic birds like the Little Bee-eater above or Lilac-breasted Roller are often seen, but the rest of the birds tend to get overshadowed. And something told Sharon and I that focusing in on the birds would reward us in the long run. Not that we knew anything special, it was just something in our gut. As it turned out, we learned something important going this route.
The vast majority of the time, birds or mammals, I was shooting with the D4s / 800mm with its 1.25x. This was out and often riding in the Zenelli on the tripod, at the ready for those quick moments with birds. Back to following the birds. As it turned out, when you go off on a game drive with birds being your focus, you find them. We saw 101 species and photographed 69 of them. We saw some very rare and some very common and both, the goal was to bring their life in the Mara home in the photos. And in the process of focusing in on the birds, we saw 30 different mammal species and photographed 26 of them! But if you focus in on the mammals, you only see a few of the birds and that’s a loss. While the mammals are a diverse group of critters, the birds are all over the map of diversity! All the pieces of the puzzle on the Mara need to be focused in on, all their stories told. We’re so glad we paid so much attention to the birds, they gave us lots of stories still to tell. Just find the birds