Weather and grasslands

November marks the start of Kenya’s short rains; however, this is a superb month to see many migratory birds and epic predator dynamics during a quiet time in the Masai Mara.

Naserian of the Marsh Pride – photo credit Alisa Karstad

The weather has been fantastically predictable for a typical November, with dramatic skies promising heavy downpours and tranquil blue landscapes reminiscent of the wet season. Although the month started brightly with clear, rain-free days, by the second week, heavy downpours were a regular occurrence in the late afternoons and mostly overnight.

The Masai Mara in November – photo credit Alisa Karstad

The arrival of the rain brought a welcome relief for the grazers as the open plains transformed from mediocre green into a new flush of irresistible grasslands. Thunderstorms and rainbows have been a regular sight, while the heavy downpours have caused the Mara River to rise dramatically. In total, a whopping 230mm of rain was recorded for the month.

A November thunderstorm – photo credit Dan Palmer

A rainbow over the marsh – photo credit Dan Palmer

The Musiara Marsh is nicely saturated, pulling in all kinds of bird and animal species that cannot resist the perks of the rainy season. Many marabou storks, saddle-billed storks and herons descended upon this iconic wetland habitat, which is famous mainly for being home to the Marsh pride of Lions.

A saddle-billed stork – photo credit Alisa Karstad

The distinctive chorus of common reed frogs and Senegal running frogs could be heard in almost any pocket of water, especially along the roadside ditches during game drives. The high-pitched communication of these two frogs calling in unison, both native to most of Africa, is like the sound of someone running their fingers along the teeth of a fine comb.

Senegal running frogs (Senegal kassina) – photo credit Alisa Karstad

Early morning temperatures averaged 16°C degrees celsius before climbing as high as 30°C. As the rains fell heavy in the second part of the month, the temperatures dropped to around 24-26°C during peak times of the day.

The sun rose as early as 06:17 each morning and had set by 18:29 each day. We enjoyed some exquisite sunrises in November, from painterly streaks of pink and orange to solid banks of haze on mornings recovering from heaps of rain at night.

Sunrise – photo credit Dan Palmer

Sunsets were sometimes shrouded by clouds if rain was scheduled for the evening, yet the photo opportunities were always ample. Milky quartz formations of stratocumulus clouds towered from the horizon into the sky, and above them, altostratus clouds lay in flattened layers.

Milky quartz cloud formations – photo credit Dan Palmer

On the plains

The plains have welcomed an influx of newborns; all the impalas, topis, and gazelles born in October are thriving. There are some tiny babies about, particularly for the Tommys, who have plenty of vulnerable fawns amongst them.

An impala fawn – photo credit Dan Palmer

The onset of rain and the resulting, wider-spread pastures have lured many of the antelope species away from the Rhino Ridge areas and closer to Musiara; topis can now be seen in strong groups on either side of the airstrip where there is fresh green grass.

Hippos were frequently sighted out on the open plains due to the flooding, and some even took residence in the many new waterholes formed in the last two weeks of November. Up on Rhino Ridge, zebras settled in sizeable herds.

The massive herd of 600+ Cape buffalos, once resident to the Musiara Marsh, has moved east of Paradise Plains, where the red oat grasses grow well. They were also facing insurmountable pressure from the Marsh Pride, for which buffalo was the primary choice of prey. The herd seems to be moving further and further away, but we hope they will return.

A Cape buffalo – photo credit Dan Palmer

October brought wonderful sightings of a serval and her kitten, and thankfully, November delivered the same luck. Two adult servals were spotted on two separate occasions; one was seen hunting on Paradise Plains just as the sun rose above the horizon, and the other was moving through the dense grass in the 950-meter stretch between Private Camp and Governors’ Camp.

Servals are “ambush predators” – photo credit Dan Palmer

Elephants have a strong presence in the Mara, especially around the Musiara Marsh, where the squelchy terrain, muddy pools and tall reeds make for the perfect feeding ground. Having said this, they have also turned a portion of their diet to leaves and bark, which they pull from the trees, causing tremendous damage as they go.

In our Mara properties, Warburgia trees are in fruit, a favourite for the elephants. Also known as the East African greenheart tree, the fruits have a hot, peppery taste, drawing families and solitary bulls right into the camps. As always, there are several calves of varying ages amongst them.

Baby elephants love to interact with others in the group – photo credit Dan Palmer

Big cats of the Masai Mara

The November tracking data below, courtesy of the Mara Predator Conservation Programme, shows that the Marsh Pride spent much of their time in the northern section of the Musiara sector and beyond. They even crossed the border into Mara North Conservancy on a few occasions.

Kito’s tracking data for November – credit Mara Predator Conservation Programme

We can see that they also spent some time both sides of the Bila Shaka area, which is a key location for the Marsh Pride over many generations. The pride split up and regrouped depending on the movements of infiltrating males. The Bila Shakas continued to drop in and out, reinforcing their dominance and to perform obligatory patrols.

The Marsh Pride – photo credit Alisa Karstad

These males have perfected the art of dominating from afar. For a long time now, they have controlled access to both the Paradise Pride and the Marsh Pride, often splitting into groups of two to keep a hold of the Paradise females while checking up on the Marsh females. It is pretty impressive that they have retained this authority for so long.

Kibogoyo – photo credit Dan Palmer

Meanwhile, the Marsh pride continues to lose all their offspring. In early September, Kaleo brought three little cubs out of the den, but they were no longer by the beginning of November. It was very unfortunate that she lost her second litter in a year after demonstrating her perseverance as a mother, even with an injured cub.

Kaleo is a resilient lioness – photo credit Dan Palmer

Other lions have been seen in and out of the territory over the last while, and without any defence from dedicated males, there is little hope for young, vulnerable cubs. Sadly for the Marsh Pride, the Bila Shakas offer little protection and cause too much drama when they are in the area (watch video of patrols)

On the 10th of November, we found young Enkerai with a newborn cub. The cub was so new that it still had its eyes closed, and we watched it fumbling about blindly for a teat to suckle. This was the first litter for Enkerai, and bringing the cub along to a buffalo carcass was a big mistake typical of an inexperienced mother. Sadly, but unsurprisingly, the cub did not survive.

Enkerai – photo credit Alisa Karstad

Kaleo has also been mating with Oleku, the only male in the Marsh Pride, who naturally would have been chased away by now were it not for the absence of dominant males. Kaleo’s mother is Kabibi, and Oleku’s mother is Rembo. Although one might say that Kabibi and Rembo were not sisters, Kaleo and Oleku are possibly related at some point down the line – which is not ideal for pride dynamics.

On the 27th November, we enjoyed an exciting visit by the Marsh Pride at Governors’ Camp! A hippo with a badly injured leg had collapsed in one of the gulleys leading down to the river and quickly died, wedged tightly in the sides of the river bank.

That evening the Marsh Pride picked up on the scent from where they were sleeping just beyond the entrance to camp. Within minutes of figuring out that there was an easy meal not too far away, they walked straight into camp, past the spa tent and across the lawn, before settling on the edge of the bank above the hippo. A number of hyenas quickly vacated the scene and our guests who had been enjoying a quiet cup of tea were rather surprised to be looking across at six lions.

“Follow me guys” says Kito – photo credit Alisa Karstad

Heading into Governors’ Camp – photo credit Alisa Karstad

Since mid-October, the young Topi boys have been inching closer and closer into Marsh Pride territory. They settled on the west side of Bila Shaka, where they hunted and established a temporary territory of sorts, giving them unhindered access to the Marsh Pride females. Around the middle of the month, Kaleo and Lola were seen mating with some of these young males on several occasions.

One of the Topi boys attempting to mate with Kaleo – photo credit Dan Palmer

On the 27th of November, Dada was mating with M1, who seems more senior than the other males in the group. There are high hopes that the Topi boys will take over the Marsh Pride, while others are concerned that they are too young and inexperienced to establish dominance against the Bila Shaka males. How the situation evolves over the coming months remains to be seen.

Young Topi male with Moja moja resting beside – photo credit Alisa Karstad

Next door, the Paradise Pride have been doing well since the large herd of buffalos moved closer to them. They have also had a number of hippo kills, which provides more than enough sustenance for all of them, including the three young cubs. These females have been so successful in bringing home the goods, which is possibly why the Bila Shaka males prefer to stick with them.

Paradise Pride female – photo credit Dan Palmer

We had many sightings of the pride throughout November, particularly for the first two weeks, when they resided close to the Main Crossing point on the Mara River. They are doing a good job of raising the cubs, although their Bila Shaka protection would be a massive advantage in this regard.

One of the sweet Paradise cubs – photo credit Dan Palmer

Koshoke, Kiok, Kibogoyo and Chongo were all seen with the Paradise females. When the thought strikes them, they internally appoint a runner across to the Marsh territory for scent marking and mating activities. This is why we often catch them on the move in the early mornings between Paradise Plains and the Musiara sector.

Nagol, the female cheetah, became a mother in November and brought her five cubs out of the den on the 22nd of the month. In a tragic turn of events, she had lost four of the cubs during the night, in known hyena territory, just six days later.

Nagol – photo credit Dan Palmer

Park rangers monitored Nagol and her remaining cub, and we watched her successfully take down another impala just a few days after the incident. By the end of the month, the final cub had been killed by Jua, the collared lioness of the Topi Pride. This is a devastating loss not only for Nagol but also for the future of the Mara’s cheetah population.

Nagol’s cub – photo credit Dan Palmer

Birds of the Masai Mara

We could not have asked for better birding in November! All the rain has instigated a flurry of activity amongst the wetland species that could be seen across the marsh and even on some of the more saturated plains. Plain martins and barn swallows settled on roads, waiting to catch the disturbance of insects in the long grass.

A mix of barn swallows and plain martins – photo credit Alisa Karstad

These plain martins are likely residents or short-distance migrants – photo credit Alisa Karstad

During our game drives, saddle-billed storks and white storks, grey herons and black-headed herons, African jacanas, painted snipes, and various kingfishers were at every turn. This is such a special time of year for birds; not only is there an abundance of water species, but we also get to see some exciting migrants.

Female saddle-bills have bright yellow eyes – photo credit Dan Palmer

We also had incredible sightings of a crowned eagle (Africa’s most powerful eagle) on the 5th and the 26th of the month. She was perched high up in the tree line beyond Governors’ Private Camp.

We shared the images with Simon Thomsett of the Kenya Bird of Prey Trust, who advised that it was most likely a female due to reasons such as eye-to-head ratio and tails of females extending well below the branch (size of branch depending, of course!).

A crowned eagle – photo credit Frederic Ueberschaer

Another thing to note about crowned eagles is their reproductive biology and extended period of adolescence; at a year old, they start thinking about hunting, but their parents continue to accompany them on all hunts. By one and a half years old, they must establish their own territory. Given that they take six years to mature and lay one egg every two years, they are a particularly vulnerable species.

On the 26th of November, we spotted a pair of Wahlberg’s eagles gathering greenery for a nest high up in a giant diospyros. One was a pale morph – a rare variant making up just 5% of their overall population. These are Africa’s smallest eagles and their species comprise just a handful of true African migrant raptors.

A Wahlberg’s eagle – photo credit Dan Palmer

Seeing Wahlberg’s eagles nesting in the Masai Mara in November is interesting because it suggests they might be taking advantage of the start of the short rainy season. The rains bring an increase in insect activity, which in turn attracts more birds and small mammals which are their main prey. This abundance of food makes it an ideal time to raise chicks.

A pale morph Wahlberg’s eagle – photo credit Alisa Karstad

A pair of nesting Wahlberg’s eagles – photo credit Alisa Karstad 

Grey crowned cranes were also frequent around the marsh, with many early mornings providing excellent opportunities to capture their reflections in the water as they were looking for food amongst the marsh.

Grey crowned cranes time their breeding season with the rains – photo credit Dan Palmer

Our Masai Mara weather and wildlife for November 2024 is by Jess Savage, with supporting imagery by Dan Palmer and Alisa Karstad.