Maasai Mara – Kenya

About

Maasai Mara is one of the oldest and most prominent wildlife conservation and wilderness areas in Kenya, Africa. It is a large national game reserve in Narok, Kenya and it neighbors the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. It covers 583 square miles, and its name honors the Maasai people, the ancestral inhabitants of the area, who migrated from the Nile Basin. Though it is world-renowned for its population of African leopards, cheetahs, lions, and African bush elephants, it is also famous for its Wildebeest migration every fall. Maasai Mara has wildlife all year round and has seasons for everyone. Lion season at the beginning of the year, green season early spring, migration season for wildebeest, zebras, antelopes at the end of June, wildlife season from mid-October to December, and festive season during December to the beginning of January, it is rich with wildlife species. Though visiting Maasai Mara during the green season, early spring is best for bird watching. The Mara receives and is home to over 450 bird species. The savannah receives the largest amount of rainfall during this season and it becomes free of dust, clearing the landscape for migrant birds that arrive in thousands for the blooming of trees and flowers, which creates ideal shelter and food for a lot of bird species. It is a perfect location to photograph Kenya’s savannah species like the 57 raptor species, Bateleurs, Usambiro Barbet, Kori Bustard, and Southern Ground Hornbill. Owen traveled to Maasai Mara, Kenya in October 2017 and has photographed over 60 birds from the Little Bee-eater, Lilac-breasted Roller, Saddle-billed Stork, Usambiro Barbet to many others.