Blue Eyed Birder: Uganda for Bird's Wildlife & Nature

We had breakfast early at Buffalo Lodge and were soon on the road back into the Queen Elizabeth NP passing a Hippo grazing to all intents and purposes in a garden on the way. Other ‘tourist’ trucks hammered passed us and I already had an inkling that we may be in for a Yala experience. Before too long we were pulling into a park entrance with a melee of trucks idling like animals nervously approaching a waterhole. Paul went off to check us in and I got out to stretch my legs. Another herd of trucks appeared from the other direction, jostling each other to get to the front and I then realised that they were following African Lions.

I poked my head back in the truck and told the crew. It initially looked like they were pushing the cats but it soon became obvious that they had purpose and these three females and five cubs kept ambling towards us. Word went round quickly and a jostling crowd soon gathered as the Lions – two of which wore tracking collars, reached the out buildings and made a b-line to an unseen small watering hole where they hunkered down to cautiously quench their thirst. We kept back but it was a slightly un-nerving watching the people acting like there was some sort of invisible magic fence between us and these apex predators and they kept inching closer with their phones. The oohs and aahs as the cubs played with dead shoes and bottles was just wrong. After ten minutes the matriarch called the cubs together and they melted into the scrub and were gone.

African Lions

African Lion cubs taking on a Croc - Angie Merrick

We assumed that this was a normal occurrence here but Paul said that although they do visit the spot to drink none of the guides or park staff had ever seen it happen when tourists have been around. Not the most natural of experiences but at least they came to us. As if by magic the crowd of people and trucks dispersed and I think many headed back to their lodges for breakfast as once out on the tracks we barely saw another vehicle all morning.

This was a different sort of savannah with more grass and less trees although vast areas were blackened following bush fires and fresh green shoots were pushing through the cinders to feed the large herds of Ugandan Kob that dotted the vista. There were smaller groups of Cape Buffalo, Waterbuck and the odd spotty Bushbuck and bristly Warthogs.

Ugandan Kob

Bushbuck

The fires made finding trackside birds a little easier and African Wattled, Crowned and Senegal Lapwings were all breeding. The latter were new to us and have particularly large, staring yellow eyes. The low light made their pupils even bigger.

Senegal Lapwing

Crowned Lapwing

Crowned Lapwing - nesting on the track is not a great idea - Angie Merrick

Yellow-throated Longclaws, African and Plain Backed Pipits were running in front and we found three Lark species with Flappet, Rufous-naped and White-tailed while Angie asked if we might see any Bustards and promptly found a small strutting Black-bellied that disappeared every time it stopped. While looking at the Larks a Spotted Hyena lolloped across the road in front of us and very quickly became one of the highlights of the whole trip. Marvellous.

Flappet Lark - Angie Merrick

Rufous-naped Lark

Black-bellied Bustard - Angie Merrick

Spotted Hyena - Angie Merrick

Spotted Hyena

Families of Helmeted Guineafowl crossed in front and Red-necked Spurfowl were obliging as at Mburu and scanning around we picked up not only Bataleurs, Brown-chested and Long-crested Eagles perched up on top of the Euphorbias and Acacias but a family of three Verreaux’s Eagle Owls with both adults and a fluffy headed juvenile in adjacent trees. Vervet Monkeys seemed completely unphased by them and shared their trees.

Brown-chested Snake-eagle - Angie Merrick

Verreaux’s Eagle Owl - Angie Merrick

Vervets and Verreaux’s Eagle Owl

A large herd of rusty Kob suddenly all put their heads up and froze. We followed the line and watched a large male Lion cross the road in front of us on a direct line with breakfast but the antelopes had seen him and they were off but he just kept on methodically following. Shortly after this we found a lone bull Elephant that came out of the bushes with flashing tusks and flapping ears. We had no idea the sort of encounters we would have later on.

African Lion - Angie Merrick

African Elephant

African Lion - Angie Merrick

The bushes held Mourning Doves, Black-lored Babbler gangs, dinking Yellow-fronted Tinkerbirds, Spot Flanked Barbets and Chin-spot Barbets, both Fiscal Shrikes and noisy Black-headed Gonoleks and amongst the Yellow-fronted Canaries, Red-billed Firefinches and Fawn-breasted Waxbills we picked up a single ‘there it goes’ Black-faced Quail-finch and a variety of Weaver relatives including Black-winged Red Bishops, Red-billed Queleas, Lesser Masked Weavers, Pin-tailed Wydahs and a small flock of White-winged Widowbirds.

Black-winged Red Bishop - Angie Merrick

Grey Backed Fiscal

Unsurprisingly there were Cisticolas and we got close views of Stout, Croaking, Wing-snapping and the familiar Zitting as well as at last getting the crew onto Tawny-flanked Prinias while Marico, Purple Banded, Olive Bellied and Red-chested Sunbirds added a counter balance of vibrant colours.

Wing-snapping Cisticola

With our time short we headed out of this part of the park adding Lappet Faced and White-backed Vulture and a couple of Grey Kestrels on the way and after crossing the main road onto another dusty track. White-browed Coucals hopped across in front and for some reason this stretch was home to many Grey Headed Kingfishers surveying the road from the telegraph wires.

A dried Salt lake below us

White-backed Vulture

Grey Headed Kingfisher

More paperwork and signatures were required at Mweya Lodge before we would be allowed out onto the Kazinga Channel. Clouds of chittering Little Swifts swirled around the building and were nesting under the water tower with White-rumped Swifts and Black-headed Weavers and Swamp Flycatchers were seen from the lobby.

It was a short drive down to the lake shore and before too long we were out on our boat (with a well-stocked chiller box AND nibbles). The next two hours were a memorable mix of wildlife encounters with the boat allowing a close approach to herds of protective Elephants, mud wallowing Buffalo and blubbery Hippos. The Elephants were foraging along the shoreline and coming down to drink and bath and were attended by Cattle Egrets while the Buffalo and Hippos had Oxpeckers and were being used by both Pied Kingfishers and Long-tailed Cormorants as mobile perches. A Hippo surfaced under the boat at one stage giving us a fair old jolt. I doubt it was deliberate. It all felt like a proper African experience.

African Elephants

African Elephants - you will see what's wrong in a mo... Angie Merrick

African Elephants

Bum up, tail flick, splish splash - nice!

Yellow-billed Oxpeckers

Cattle Egret

Pied Kingfishers not respecting their living perch

Hippo - Egyptian Goose

Cape Buffalo & Cattle Egret

Cape Buffalo & Yellow-billed Oxpecker

Cape Buffalo & Long-tailed Cormorant

The sheer number of Pied Kingfishers was ludicrous with hundreds nesting like deranged shouty Sand Martins in the hole dotted banks and amongst them was a stunning leucistic individual with just a hint of dark in the outer wings. Malachite and Grey Headed Kingfishers were also seen along with Madagascar and our first Red-throated Bee-eater.

leucistic Pied Kingfisher

Pied Kingfishers

Malachite Kingfisher

Red-throated Bee-eater - Angie Merrick

Madagascar Bee-eaters

Water Thick-knees, Spur-winged and African Wattled Lapwings were breeding on the flatter areas and Black-winged Stilt, Common Sandpiper and Greenshank added a touch of the familiar. Three Kittlitz’s Plovers stop start ran amongst the families of Egyptian Geese and roosting Marabou and Yellow-billed Storks.

Spur-winged Lapwing - Angie Merrick

Spur-winged Lapwing

Spur-winged Lapwings

African Wattled Lapwing

African Jacana

Black-winged Stilt

Spur-winged Lapwing

Kittlitz’s Plover

Water Thick-knee

Egyptian Goose

Egyptian Geese

Egyptian Goslings

Hamerkops, Hadada and Sacred Ibis, African Jacanas, Striated and Squacco Herons were in the Water Hyacinth beds where Hippos and Nile Crocs lurked and a couple of mighty Goliath Herons made even the Great White Egrets look small. African Fish Eagles were a constant presence and their wailing calls echoed around the lake.

Yellow-billed Stork

African Sacred Ibis

Hadada Ibis

Squacco

Goliath Heron

Hadada Ibis

Hamerkop

Squacco

Goliath Heron & Western Cattle Egrets

Little Egret

Squacco

Long-tailed Cormorant

Black Crake

A cloud of African Skimmers took off from a sand bank bringing back Pantanal memories and flew around us several times in a synchronised ballet with some half hearted skimming on their way back in. I am not sure if there is a size difference between the sexes but some were noticeably bigger than others. I am still not quite sure why Skimmers make me smile so much but they just do!

African Skimmers - Angie Merrick

African Skimmers

African Skimmers but I did not notice the huge Nile Croc below them

Nile Crocodile - Not cropped...

The last part of the trip took us towards the mouth of the channel where it flows into Lake Edward. There were flocks of roosting White-breasted Cormorants with the usual Storks amongst them and a blob of rich pink resolved itself into a party of Great White Pelicans. Pink-backed Pelicans drifted over and one on the water showed off a beautifully vermiculated pouch. There were even more Elephants and one bull was sucking up water alongside some fishermen tending their nets and it was wonderful to see such amiable co-living. All in all I tallied just over 80 of these gentle giants on this boat trip.

White-breasted Cormorants, Marabou & Yellow-billed Stork, Great White Egret and Hippos

White-breasted Cormorants, Spur-winged Plovers, Marabou & Yellow-billed Stork

Marabou Storks

Great White Pelicans

Pink-backed Pelican

Olive Baboons

Hamerkop waiting for scraps

and keeping away from this Marabou

We started to wend our way back with Stoney Tangawizi Ginger beer in hand but still quality birding to come. African Fish Eagles, Wahlberg’s and two Western Banded Snake-Eagles circled over head and an African Hoopoe was tossing down huge grubs and as the cloud dropped it brought hirundines lower with Wire-tailed, Angola and Barn Swallows, Plain Martins and White-headed Saw-wings.

African Hoopoe - stuff it in! - Angie Merrick

African Fish Eagle

Western Banded Snake-Eagle

As we docked there was a final bonus – albeit a rather drab one with two Lesser Swamp Warblers foraging in the short Papyrus just feet away. Apparently this is not how you normally see this elusive Acro.

Lesser Swamp Warbler

We had lunch being watched by Speckle-throated Skinks and Blue Headed Tree Iguanas and shared our crumbs with the Grey Headed Sparrows. Soon it was time to move on and hit the road towards Kibale.

Speckle-throated Skink

Blue Headed Tree Iguana

It was still a day that kept giving and our search for the elusive Brown Chested Lapwings continued as we moved through the recovering burnt savannah saw us finding more Angola Lapwings and a running Temminck’s Courser and a full suite a grey roadside raptors with Harrier-Hawk, Shikra, Black-winged Kite, Lizard Buzzard and Grey Kestrel in quick succession.

The ‘usual’ roadside birds followed as we passed through towns, villages and open farmed countryside and Village Indigobird was the only new species added. Some time later (I may have nodded) we pulled off in a forested area to look for Joyful Greenbul and within a few minutes we had found one and unlike its congeners it was not a dull olive but a vibrant yellowy green.

Time was pressing on and we had to move again but the final couple of miles before our lodge required some dallying around and checking for non-existent Purple Throated Rollers gave us Sooty Flycatchers and Purple Headed Starlings and a wet area held a large colony of Village and black Veillot’s Weavers along with heavy billed Grosbeak Weavers and just along the road we found a group of feeding Compact Weavers to add to the tally. A European Honey Buzzard circled overhead and Great Blue Turacos and Black and White Casqued Hornbills moved between copses. Our first Red-tailed Monkeys were seen in the jungly trees.

Veillot’s Weaver colony

White Chinned Prinias sang and a small party of Black Crowned Waxbills came up off the roadside as we slowly bumped along while a brown juvenile Northern Fiscal initially had us stumped.

Northern Fiscal

It was getting late when we got to Gueraza Canopy Lodge and before we had even got to the rooms we had seen a male Green-throated Sunbird feeding on blooms with Copper and Scarlet Chesteds. A short chill time before dinner revealed African Pygmy Kingfishers in the gardens and African Grey Parrots heading off to roost and I could hear Chimpanzees somewhere off in the forest below us.

Blue Eyed Birder

Thursday 22 August 2024

Uganda for Bird's Wildlife & Nature - Day 8 : 27th July 2024

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