Counting birds at Mida Creek...and other adventures

Mida Creek (mee-dah, not my-dah) is the large tidal mangrove area which opens into the sea just a 30 minute walk south of our Mwamba and then circles north, so that where we are is almost a peninsula of land bordered on the east by the Indian Ocean and on the west by Mida Creek with the SW corner touching the mouth of the creek.

Why should you care about Mida Creek? Because birds love it. Thus, birders love it. For this reason, on Saturday morning I found myself wading through the mud flats, following our birders, who were of course following birds. I saw the famous crab plover, which aggregates in this region in higher numbers than anywhere else in the world, several greater flamingos, and as scribe (again), I wrote down many names that I didn't know and don't remember. In total I think I recorded over 400 birds.

With the work over, we packed up our books and scopes and went to explore the boardwalk. Like the tree platform at the Gede ruins, the Mida Creek boardwalk was constructed by ARocha Kenya in order to benefit the ASSETS program (quick refresher: ASSETS encourages conservation of the Arabuko-Sokoke forest by paying school fees for local children (through eco-tourism) in exchange for agreements from families to not cut trees in the forest, etc.).

This lovely plaque explains the ASSETS program

It's a pretty great boardwalk. It's 260 meters long and in constant need of repair. A thorough renovation is in progress, but for now It's wonderfully swingy and askew, with some boards broken or loose or missing. It's truly an adventure to cross it.

no one has fallen through...yet!

On the walk, I met a lovely lizard friend.

They also have mangrove tree nursery at the creek, run by a local woman's group!

In other news, I met a giant snail.

And had to wonder why there we no horror movies about giant snails taking over cities. We have giant spiders, reptiles, monkeys, even giant swarms of birds, but no snails? Look at this picture and tell me it wouldn't be horrifying:

I'm selling this movie idea. I'm thinking, "Snails take over Manhattan" or "People-Eating Escargot," set in Paris. Winner? I think so. Coming soon to a theater near you.