Lake Nakuru a worlds renowned birds paradise is situated in Lake Nakuru National Park, located in Central Kenya, 140km north-west of Nairobi, in Nakuru District in the Great Rift Valley. It covers an area of 188 km2. Lake Nakuru National park was first gazetted as a bird sanctuary in 1960 and upgraded to National Park status in 1968. An additional area on the northern side was annexed to the park in 1974 and the lake was voted as a Ramsar site in 1990.
The vegetation found in this park mainly is wooded and bushy grassland with a wide ecological diversity and characteristic habitats that range from the lake waters to the escarpment and ridges. Lake Nakuru is a shallow alkaline lake with an area of 62 sq km. set in a scenic landscape surrounded by woodland and grassland next to Nakuru town. The landscape includes both marshy and grasslands broken with rocky cliffs and outcrops, stretches of acacia woodland and rocky hillsides covered with a forest on the eastern edge. The Unique vegetation is a major attraction with about 550 different plant species including the distinctive and biggest euphorbia forest in Africa, Picturesque landscape and yellow acacia woodlands.
The lake catchment area is surrounded by Menengai crater to the north, the Bahati hills to the north east, the Lion Hill Ranges to the east, Eburu Crater to the south and the Mau Escarpment to the west. The lake is fed by three major rivers, the Njoro, Makalia and Enderit together with treated water from the town's sewage works and the outflow from several springs along the shore. Normally water-covered surface of the lake occupies about a third of the park. The lake water supports a dense bloom of the blue-green Cyanophyte Spirulina platensis from which it derives its colour and which is the major food source for the flamingo.
Lake Nakuru is home to a myriad of greater and lesser flamingo flocks which frequently form a stunning pink ribbon along the edges of the lake. The best place to view the birds is from Baboon Cliff, where you can look out over the dazzling fringe of pink around the lake's shores. The world famous paradise abounds with the greatest bird spectacle on earth - myriads of fuchsia pink massive numbers of flamingos often more than a million - or even two million. They feed on the abundant algae, which thrives in the warm waters. Scientists reckon that the flamingo population at Nakuru consumes about 250,000 kilos of algae per hectare of surface area per year. There are two types of flamingo species, the Lesser flamingo may be distinguished by its deep red carmine bill and pink plumage unlike the greater, whose bill has a black tip. The Lesser flamingos are commonly featured in picture documentaries mainly because of their large numbers.
During the winter in the northern hemisphere the park becomes an important feeding ground for migrant wanderers includes the little stints, Curlew sandpipers, Marsh sandpipers and Greenshanks. Large numbers of Pelicans are seen on the southern and eastern shores. Verreaux Eagles can be seen around the updrafts on the western escarpment and other commonly spotted birds of prey include long crested eagles, Augur buzzards, Harrier eagles, Fish eagles, Gabar goshawks and Harrier hawks. The woodlands host many other species including the African hoopoes, Grey-headed kingfishers and Red-chested cuckoos. There are other species that can be easily spotted within the park like Hamerkops, Ducks, Geese, Falcons, Rollers, Shrikes, Sunbirds, Weavers and Starlings. This park is also home to other notable game such as hippo, leopard and of course the diverse bird life. Both black and white rhino are now resident in the sanctuary and Rothschild giraffe, buffalo, impala, eland, warthog, Mountain Reedbuck, klipspringers and Black and White Colobus Monkeys are all
|
