Hamza Yassin was left in awe after discovering a rare Sokoke scops owl in Kenya while filming his new BBC documentary, despite calling the jungle conditions "hideous" for his camera.
The former Strictly Come Dancing champion fronts Hamza: African Birds of Prey, which follows his journey across Kenya in search of some of Africa's most endangered birds of prey. The 36-year-old told the BBC Wildlife Magazine team that making the film was "an absolute dream for me", but the production was far from straightforward.
A week-long search for a tiny owl
During a visit to a forest, Hamza joined local experts to track down the Sokoke scops owl, the smallest owl in Africa, with only 1,000 pairs believed to remain. "Hardly anyone has ever filmed it," he said, as he ventured into the Kenyan forest with local guides and his camera equipment.
After a week of checks with no sign of the owls, he conceded: "This isn't going to be easy." He asked a local guide whether it was true that no one had ever found the nest of a scops owl, and was told that no nest has been seen since their discovery in 1965.
"Filming in the jungle is just hideous"
The search proved difficult as Hamza tried to navigate the dense woodland with his camera equipment. "I've been told, I'm making too much noise trying to squeeze my big body through all these little tiny gaps," he smiled. "The guides have had enough!" he added, before saying: "I really want to see these birds."
As the guides spotted one, they beckoned Hamza closer, though weaving through the branches with his camera was no simple task. "This is such a nightmare," he admitted. "Filming in the jungle is just hideous. My poor camera."
A precious discovery
He then glanced upward and spotted the bird, gasping: "I see it, I see it, I see it, I see it. Holy mackerel! It's so small." As he manoeuvred his large camera, he said: "Look at that bird. Oh my God!"
He continued: "Look how pretty this bird is. No wonder we couldn't find them. It's got an ant on its head that gives you a size comparison of how small these owls really are. They are diddly. I just want to take one of these home with me."
Visibly astounded by the discovery, he confessed: "I genuinely didn't think we were going to find them and here we are looking at one."
He added: "This guy is delicate, he's petite, dare I say it he is cute but the thing that I find hard is that this forest is a reminence of what it used to be and these guys are a reminence of what they used to be as well. So precious and they need to be looked after. Every single one of them counts. The face that these owls are still here proves that this is a healthy eco-system - it has to be protected."
Hamza: African Birds of Prey airs on BBC One on Sunday 30 August at 7pm.
