Field Notes

January - April 2025

There were a few storms in January and February. In late March and most of April rainfall was heavy, rivers overflowing, thick vegetation and high temperatures. In early April it was 34 to 37 degrees almost daily. In February hundreds of Quelea were nesting in the southern bull area. Also in the bull area were small flocks of Eurasian Rollers and Carmine Bee-eaters. In April large flocks of Barn Swallows were perched on power lines in bull valley. On several occasions Cattle Egrets surrounded groups of elephants, catching insects from the tall grass. Tsavo elephants typically don’t like birds around them. In one family an adult female tossed her truck at the birds startling her calf who was standing under her.

Bulls

Most of the bulls were in small bull groups or with families, very few were spatially alone. In April, Tweed spent three days joining several families and then headed east through bull valley. Moonlight (photo right) was named and photographed 20 years ago. He has a distinct scoop notch in the top of his left ear. He most often associated with other bulls in the same age class: Blazer, Helix and Jarvis. He has a strong bond with two bulls older than he is: Skylight and Sunray. For now, he favors the hills bull area often with other bulls. As he gets older, he may move to the eastern bull area as Rudolf did. In late April he was in an aggregation of 46 individuals traveling east through bull valley heading to Voi Riverine.

Families

Batik-Azalea family spent February and March in the Hills area. When the rains started, they moved away from the hills. When they returned in late April Batik was accompanied by a new male calf. Also in the Hills area were Spring and her calf (Curl), Chestnut-Maple and Boscia with three tuskless females including Teal feeding on vines with white and pink flowers. Teal (Photo left) was photographed and named seven years ago, with her female four-year-old calf. Teal has a distinctive short-twisted tail. In 2020 she had a new male calf. This year at the end of April she was accompanied by her previous calves and a newborn. The grass was too tall to confirm the sex of the new calf. Teal is often with Lilac, B2 and Jute.