TBL Podcast - Season 15 Episode 3 - Finding Kenya's Lost Red Weaver

My guest today is Kenyan birder, guide and ornithologist James Apolloh Omenya, who was part of an expedition into the Boni Forest region of Kenya in search of two of the country’s lost birds, the Red Weaver and the Tana River Cisticola.

The expedition involved difficult travel, motorbikes, local guides, security concerns, armed escorts, and a search through a part of Kenya that very few birders will ever get to experience.

And then, on 3 July 2026, James and his team found what they had gone looking for. The Red Weaver, a bird that had not been scientifically documented for 12 years.

James also managed to make what is believed to be the first sound recording of the species, adding another important piece to what we know about this little known bird.

So today we are going to hear the story behind that rediscovery, what it took to get there, what we are learning about the Red Weaver, and what the experience has meant to James personally.

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Intro and outro music by Tony ZA https://soundcloud.com/tonyofficialza

Links from show:

James Apolloh Omenya links: https://birding-with-apolloh.com/ and https://terektours.com/

James Apolloh Omenya Https://www.facebook.com/james.apolloh.9

Birding_with_apolloh https://www.instagram.com/birding_with_apolloh