Nairobi National Park: My Favorite Birds . . . and Others Not So Favorite!

The Crested Crane is the national bird of Uganda.  When our little Faye saw this picture, she said, "A Ugandan Crane!"  Faye's mother is Ugandan and her father is British.

I'm not sure what the birds are with the Crested Cranes.  Some kind of water bird, obviously.  Does anyone know?

This is my favorite picture of the cranes with their lovely crests and the reflection in the water.

A Crowned Plover

An ostrich family walking toward us on the road.  Three babies and a mom and a dad.  This was definitely our day for families.  Later we will see a jackal family and rhino babies.

Here's a close-up of the ostrich babies.  How in the world do these tiny things grow up to be such BIG birds?

LeRon calls this a "father and sons outing."  The mother went the other way for some reason.  Check out the videos below.

I was so excited to see a secretary bird.  The quills on its head look like the pens that a secretary uses.  We first saw several of these birds in the Ngorongoro Crater.  (I have yet to post those amazing pictures.  Also a video of the secretary bird walking through the tall grass.)

Close-up of the secretary bird.

Now a vulture party.  These vultures had been feasting on a large dead animal.

I took some video of the vultures flying away but I was too zoomed in so it was blurry.  Their wing spans are LONG!  And the flapping sound is interesting.  Maybe I'll put a video on just so you can hear the flapping.