Early risers catch the worm at annual waterbird count in the Great Rift Valley Thursday April 01 2021 Summary Baringo and Bogoria boast international ratings such as Important Bird Areas for hosting extremely large concentrations of waterbirds. Bogoria together with lakes Elmenteita and Nakuru were declared a Unesco World Heritage Site ‘as a natural property of outstanding beauty’ under the Kenya Great Lakes. Advertisement The count must start at the crack of dawn before the birds fly off for the day. By 6.15am, the teams meet at the starting point of Bogoria, at the "new" main gate of the alkaline lake that now measures 50 square kilometres, up from 30 square kilometres since the Great Rift Valley lakes began rising phenomenally in 2011.