Well… it has been a loooong time since we were on the net and blogging. David has been “running all over” using his motorbike to do surveys for snares & cut stumps, visiting the elders and other villagers to encourage them to stand up for protecting the forest as well as being involved in bird monitoring surveys and helping with other research projects in and around the forest.

In April David was called to Naivasha - a lake in the Great Rift Valley where the birding is awesome - for a week of training on bird guiding with about 20 other Kenyan bird guides. For this they had input on planning itineraries, marketing as well as further practice in bird identification which took them on a safari down to Tsavo West National Park and to Lake Jipe on the Tanzanian border. One of the typical birds of Tsavo is the Rosy-patched Shrike (pictured here by Simon Thomsett)

Otherwise most of the birding practise was done around the grounds of the Elsamere Field Study Centre where the course was taking place. This was Joy Adamson’s (of “Born Free” fame - the story of her lioness Elsa which became world famous in the 1970s I believe it was) old home. The old house is now a lodge / hotel but in the grounds a field study centre has been built that does a great job providing facilities for courses such as this one for the guides as well as a lot of environmental education with local school groups. Another bird seen regularly along the lake front of Elsamere is the world’s largest kingfisher - the Giant Kingfisher - pictured here in a shot borrowed from NatureKenya.

David has been working actively with Francis Kagema (the FoASF Secretary and David’s direct line manager) to fight against some of the quite serious corruption that has been going on in the forest especially with regard to illegal logging. Only a week or so ago a lorry loaded with illegally cut logs was caught leaving the forest and taken to the Police station in Watamu. One such lorry I remember that was impounded with illegal logs a few years ago was grounded and stayed put in the forest station for almost two years before the case was finally completed… This lorry (truck) was released within 24 hours…!! Also the guys who managed to escape when it was stopped were not followed, apparently on orders from “on high”. This sort of frustration is what we are facing almost daily though we were thrilled to hear of the Gede Forester being transferred to another forest as there have been a LOT of implications as to him being deeply involved with much of the illegal activity going on (why these guys can’t just be sacked mystifies us…!). Anyway, he’s gone which is great news - though we fear for where he’s gone…

We’re in the process of taking on a manager for Friends of ASF who will be able help David get his blogs posted on a regular basis which will be great news. Meanwhile, we’ll do what we can to get a bit more news of David’s activities up on the blog…

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