FIM AFRICA CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP HELD IN SOYSAMBU

This year’s event was held in Soysambu Conservancywith participants drawn from Kenya,Uganda,Tanzania,Zambia and South Africa.The event was flaggeg off by Lord Delamere and Lady Ann Delamere on Saturday 16th October 20011.The spectators turned up in large numbers.The Vice President of the FIM graced the occassion where the quads and the bikes competed on a 48km long course,crossing the two rivers ,main Narobo-Nakuru highway and back to the Conservancy.

By Duncan Oduor

Flags ot the participating countries.

Flags of  the participating countries.

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Lord Delamere is getting ready to flag off  the participants.

PICTORIAL PRESENTATION OF THE HISTORY OF LAKE ELEMENTEITA

Have a look at  these pictures that were taken in 1950s and compare them to what we have on this great Kenya’s Wetland.

By Duncan Oduor.

The lake was a breeding site for the Sacred ibises.

The lake was a breeding site for these Sacred ibises.

Boat

A research Boat in 1957.

Nesting flamingos on nests left after rising water.

Nesting flamingos on nests left after rising water.

Newly hatched flamingo.

Newly hatched flamingo.

The young and the adult flamingos roosting on the islands.

The young and the adult flamingos roosting on the islands.

Nesting flamingo fighting off a threatening Marabou Stork

Nesting flamingo fighting off a threatening Marabou Stork

Great White Pelicans colonised some islands from Greater Flamingos which first occupied them.

Great White Pelicans colonised some islands from Greater Flamingos which first occupied them.Delamere Nose Hill in the middle ground.

AN egg in one of the scanty nests of feathers and straws on the lake made by Greater Flamingo due to inadequate mud.

An egg in one of the scanty nests of feathers and straws made by Greater Flamingo due to inadequate mud.

FUNCTIONS OF WETLANDS AS A HABITAT FOR WILDLIFE.

By Duncan Oduor.

Wildlife has special means to live in wetlands. Many species have developed ability to live under water for food and oxygen. Clams, crustaceans, fish and many more are all restricted to life under water for all or part of their life. Water depths in wetlands are shallow and wetlands often experience periods of severe drought and many species have special mechanisms to survive the periods. Some species have common survival mechanism of drought resistant eggs that respond to quick re-flooding and short life cycles.

Mammals and birds living in wetlands also have adapted special features for living. These features enable them to feed on rich food sources found in there. Swimming, wading and diving are the most common specializations. Special flying abilities like vertical take-off by ducks, and hovering by terns, permit these birds to fly and feed in small wetland areas. Special means of perching on vertical wetland plants like reeds by some birds is common. Some birds build floating nests .Some mammals have developed means to conserve oxygen and stay under water for long periods and with special fur that keeps the skin dry and easy water shed.

Basically, a principle of ecology does not allow same species to use same environment and food source without a form of competition. Wetlands are very rich in species abundance and diversity and without direct conflict because different species have evolved to use very specific portions of wetlands. Some creatures attach their eggs to plant stems; some have nests that scoop out on the bottom, constantly fan to remove sediments, and some lay eggs only in the shallow rapids between stream pools. Others use holes in rotten trees dying on the edge of a wetland and walk their young ones to the water on their first feeding after hatching. Some species reduce conflict by using special feeding behavior .Feeding at different times of the day or night, restricted feeding to different foods or sizes of food items are also reduce conflict. Swans feed on submerged plants, geese graze on grass on the shoreline, ducks feed on the water or mud surface or dive below the surface beyond the reach of swans. Some water birds move from one type of wetland to another during different seasons or at different stages of their lives. Migratory fish, birds and eels make certain dramatic seasonal movements. Salmon and eels use riverine, estuarine and marine systems at different stages of their life cycles. Certain ducks nest on small palustine wetlands, raise their young in lacustrine systems and spend the winter in estuarine and marine ecosystems. If the wetlands in one of these systems are lost ,these animals cannot complete their life cycle even if the wetlands in other systems remain available Some water fowls nest in trees away from wetlands and only fly to wetlands to feed meaning that not only wetlands but also uplands for nesting need to be preserved.

Within the wetlands there are four major features that are critical for fish and other wildlife. Pattern of different kinds water ,vegetation and substrate, Different life forms of plants, Amount of edge between different kinds of water, vegetation and substrate,· Timing of the seasonal rise and fall of water levels.

These four features in different combinations determine how much fish and wildlife will present in a wetland and how many different kinds of species will be there. Some species require only one kind of habitat but most of them need more.The Lake Elementeita is part of these wetlands in Kenya and needs protection because of its important functions in the ecosystem.

FLAMINGOES

How many species of flamingoes do you think we have in the world? They are divided into six races as follows:

  • Phanaecopterus  ruber-American flamingo=Ph. ruber ruber,
  • Phanaecopterus  antiquorium-European or Greater flamingo=Ph. ruber ruseus,
  • Phanaecopterus  chilensis-Chilean flamingo=Ph. ruber chilensis,
  • Phanaeniconaias  minor– Lesser flamingo
  • Phanaecoparrus  andinus-Andean  flamingo
  • Phanaecoparrus   jamesi-James’s  flamingo

Only the first three can be said to be of three separate species. The species of Phanaenicopterus have bills of swallow-keeled type which only a part of inner surface of the mandibles covered with fine filtering laminae.The other three all have bills of deep-keeled type with only a part of the inner surface of the mandible covered with the filtering laminae. Birds with deep-keeled bills are adapted to feed on very small organisms as opposed to those with swallow-keeled bills that can be more extensive in their tastes and the number of laminae per centimeter varies from species to species. The number of the laminae dictates the size of food that can be grabbed on the filtering mechanism but the laminae of the Greater flamingo do not all lie in the same direction but across each other in a way that they have a different action from three other species.

By Duncan.

Varreaux’s Eagle Owl Released

It was a beatiful and memmorable day  to witness the release of  a female Varreaux’s eagle ow

(Bubo lacteus) in Soysambu Conservancy yesterday.The eagle had been  staying in the Little Owl Sancrtuary in Naivasha where the bird experts ,Sarah Higgins  and Simon took great care of her following the injuries  she got from a fight with another eagle.The bird had been surgically stitched and  toes  on one of the legs could also not open as usual.The sanctuary  was able to help  this beautiful creature for some time and it was beautiful  to watch it fly to its natural habitat where it will unite with other Varreaux’s in Soysambu.The exercise was witnessed by Lady Ann Delamere,Madam Kat Combes(CEO Soysambu Conservancy),Simon among others.

By Duncan.

Sarah Higgins with the Varreaux's eagle ready for release.

Sarah Higgins with the Varreaux's eagle ready for release.The eagle perching on accacia after the release.