Little Egret

Description:

All white wader, or small heron, with long neck. It sports a long and slender black bill, and long black legs with yellow-greenish feet.

Habitat:

Seen on edges of Turkana lake, foraging in shallow waters with many other shorebirds. Lake Turkana is surrounded by an arid semi-desert, at the time of visit, rather dry.

Notes:

Lake Turkana is saline desert lake and the biggest water mass of Rift valley lake system. Currently, this lake is in danger - over the past decade, Ethiopia has embarked on a massive plan which includes constructing dams, developing water-intensive irrigated cotton and sugar plantations, and irrigation canals and other infrastructure in Ethiopia’s Omo River Basin. These developments are predicted to dramatically reduce the water supply of Lake Turkana, as Omo River provides 90 percent of the water in it. Dramatic reductions in freshwater input from the Omo River into Lake Turkana will increase levels of salinity in the lake and raise water temperatures, decimating fish breeding areas and mature fish populations. Higher air temperatures will increase rates of evaporation, further increasing salinity while reducing biological productivity... which would later on influence the entire ecological system.