Mpanga Forest and Lake Mburo National Park

After we left Entebbe we headed to the southwest and stopped overnight at the small, Mpanga Forest Reserve. The place did'nt have much wildlife but it had extremely wide, well maintained trails. Gary peers up at the large trees while standing on the main trail.

A beautiful Lizard Buzzard. The term buzzard is often used to describe vultures in North America but it is properly applied to 'buteo'-type hawks.

There were good numbers of hornbills in Mpanga Forest, but there are lots of hornbills just about everywhere in that part of Uganda. The bird above is an African Pied Hornbill.

This spider seems to have a face with a moustache on it's back.

When you can't find a bird to photograph, you turn your attention to butterflies.

Tom, (right) and Gary, (left) search out the birdlife in the scrub habitat in Lake Mburo NP. We got lectured for walking along the road without an armed guide. We would have been hanged for that offense in Kruger NP in South Africa.

Topi is an antelope species that is related to the Hartebeest clan. The pile to the left is a termite mound.

Lake Mburo is the only place where we saw Zebras.  National parks in Uganda have been ravaged by war and poaching in past years. Now they suffer from being woefully underfunded. Poaching is still a major problem in some areas as well. That is one reason that there is not a full compliment of species in any of the national parks.

Red-necked Spurfowl and other francolins were far less prevalent in Uganda than in South Africa, but I should quit comparing the two countries.

Striped Kingfisher is a new species that we picked up in Mburo. It is a relative of the Woodland Kingfisher and also does not fish.

We also first saw Olive Baboons in Lake Mburo.

They were not at all shy, and did'nt hesitate to make use of our rental car.

A Black Kite rummages through trash like the Ravens do around my part of the world.

A Dung Beetle doing it's thing.

Stay tuned because the best is yet to come from Lake Mburo.

Mabamba Swamp

There is one bird species that is the main target of virtually every birder that comes to Uganda. It is a very uncommon, and unique bird that basically can be seen nowhere else. Mabamba Swamp, about 40 km out of Entebbe is the most reliable and accessible place to see it. Local entreprenuers have taken note of that fact and set up a small industry that caters to visiting birders.
They see you coming down the bumpy dirt road leading to the swamp, and race ahead of you on their motorcycles. At the end of the road is a small collection of rickety wooden boats. The several competing guides eagerly try to win you over by bragging about their expertise as bird guides. I believe they have a set, (reasonable) price and I imagine that any one of them would be an excellent guide. You actually get two guides for your money, one to talk, the other to paddle the boat.

I'll get to THE BIRD later but first you have to read about some of the more common denizens of Mabamba Swamp, like the African Jacanas trotting atop the lily pads in the above photo.

A Squacco Heron also forages amoung the lillies.

Another view of a Squacco.

A bird that I first saw in Cambodia, where it is quite rare, Purple Heron. Bigger than a Squacco, but smaller than the Black-headed, and Grey Herons that share the same habitat.

The Purple Heron, closer to our boat.

A new bird for me, Black Crake. It is less shy than other rails and crakes.

Another new one, Long-toed Lapwing, (plover).

Here it is, the Shoebill. It looks like a cartoon version of a heron to me. Shoebills are like California Condors in that they are scarce, long-lived and slow to breed. They specialize in eating mainly lungfish. They are quite large. I got to witness one of them catching and eating a fish. It took several tries to get the fish down it's throat.

This bird is worth a second look. This is a male.

The common bee-eaters around the swamp were Blue-breasted Bee-eaters. They really only have a small dark patch below their throat that looks bluish in certain light conditions.

After we disembarked our guide showed us some local land birds like this African Pied Wagtail on a termite mound. One very odd behavior we noticed on our trip was that wherever we parked our silver colored rental car, a Pied Wagtail would land on out roof almost immediately. This happened virtually everywhere. We never saw them on top of other vehicles.

Entebbe and the Kingfisher Tree

Entebbe lies on the shore of Lake Victoria.  The lakeshore is very much like being on the beach. The town itself is very green with many large trees and many, many birds. There are also Vervet Monkeys, and Black and White Colobus Monkeys around town.

Aquatic birds abound along the lakeshore. Above are a pair of Spur-winged Plovers and Black-winged Stilts.

Little Egret

Yellow-billed Ducks

African Fish Eagles patrol the lakeshore.

Walking along the shore we came to this tree growing out over the water. We counted more than 50 Pied Kingfishers perched in that tree. Most were resting deep in the foliage.There were several species of weavers nesting in the same tree.

Pied Kingfishers hover above the water before they strike, like most kingfishers.

Orange Weavers were nesting in the kingfisher tree. I did not see Orange Weavers anywhere else on the trip.

Woodland Kingfishers do not associate with water. They are forest dwellers that do not eat fish.

African Firefinch

Common Bulbuls were so common they almost clogged up our binoculars so we could'nt see the other bird species.

An odd little bird, Black and White Shrike Flycatcher. This is the female. Next we will visit the destination of many birders, Mabamba Swamp.

Adventure in Uganda, it starts in Entebbe

On the evening of Feb. 16th, 2011, Gary Lyon, Tom Choate, and myself arrived in Entebbe Airport from Amsterdam. Since it was dark I was very anxious for morning to come so I could see what the place looked like. I was especially excited to see the birds of Uganda.
It was mostly a sleepless night but I dropped off to sleep towards dawn. When I did wake up I could hear vigorous bird song outside our hotel. I stepped out onto the balcony of my room and shot the above photo.
There were birds flitting in the trees below but it was hard to get decent views of them in the thick foliage.
     Uganda is a small country in the middle of the African continent. It is right on the Equator, wedged between Sudan to the north, Kenya to the east, Tanzania to the south, and the DRC to the west. It is densely populated, 34+ million people, most of them living in small, rural villages that lack electricity and running water. There are relatively few paved roads in the country. The people we encountered were universally friendly and helpful.

The highest mountain range in Africa, the Rwenzoris, border western Uganda. The Nile River starts in Lake Victoria, (Africa's largest lake), in Uganda. There are comparatively few tourists in Uganda, and most of them come to Uganda to see Mountain Gorillas. There are many species of primates in the country. We saw 11 species on our month long trip. Uganda has amoung the highest bird diversity in the world with a good mix of East African, and West African birds.

Before I go to a new country I spend months studying the birds that occur there. Some of those birds really stand out for one reason or another and I hope to see them most of all. One bird that I missed seeing in South Africa last year was the stunning, Scarlet-chested Sunbird. From my hotel balcony it was the first bird I could see well enough to identify. We ended up seeing many of them in various parts of Uganda.

Hammerkops were abundant near water everywhere we went. This individual was on the roof of the giftshop in the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre in Entebbe where we spent several nights.

Ring-necked Doves are everywhere.

There were many Broad-billed Rollers around Entebbe. The photo does not adequately depict it's striking pattern, especially when it flies.

Viellot's Black Weaver is an unusual example of the many weaver species that we saw. It looks like a North American grackle or blackbird although there is no relation.

Crowned Hornbill is one of nine species of hornbill that we saw. These guys were very shy when I first saw them in South Africa, but much more approachable in Uganda. Hornbills look especially pre-historic to me.

A large and common hornbill was the Black and White Casqued Hornbill.

Another of my target birds was the very exotic Ross' Turaco. They were easily seen at the Wildlife Education centre. This bird was in a tree right next to our banda,(hut).

Years ago I was fascinated by a documentary about an expedition into the most remote region of the Congo. The wildlife film makers got great footage of many strange and beautiful jungle creatures. The thing that impressed me the most was the wonderful, Great Blue Turaco. How I longed to go on an expedition someday to see the Great Blue Turaco. I first saw them in the park across the street from the Wildlife Centre. So much for a trek into the unknown wilds of West Africa. They turned out to be very common. The bird above was in a tree above the road. More about them later.

Another target bird that I missed in South Africa, but saw on this trip. The elegant, Lizard Buzzard.

Not a new bird, but a welcome sight, Collared Sunbird. There is more to come on Entebbe's birdlife soon. Also I need to mention that because of the altitude, about 1500 meters or more, Uganda was warm, but not hot. The exception being our last stop, Murchison Falls National Park.

All Good Things Must End

Puerto Jimenez, on the Osa Penninsula in Southwest Costa Rica marks the last stop on my extended trips. Although Puerto Jimenez is the largest town on the Osa Penninsula, It's tiny. There is an airstrip, a short wharf, some small restaurants and hotels, not much more to it.
The Osa Penninsula is home to Corcovado National Park, which is Costa Rica's most pristine, and one of the largest parks.

The Chestnut-mandibled Toucan in the photo above was eating a Papaya in someone's yard in the middle of town. The neighborhood children could not understand why I would want to photograph such a mundane sight as a toucan. They wanted me to take photos of them. I popped my camera's flash at them a few times to make them think I was taking their photo.

A small Orange-chinned Parakeet. They are often seen in large flocks. They are the most abundant local parrot.

Speaking of abundant. A Tropical Kingbird. They are everywhere.

I saw a lot of Yellow-bellied Eleanias in different parts of Costa Rica and assumed that this bird was just another one. Now I'm not so sure, it may be a Lesser Eleania. Eleanias are a kind of flycatcher.

Female Black-crowned Tityras have brown crowns.

A lot of my Costa Rica photos are too dark. This is because the high humidity of the place caused all three of the cameras I used on the three trips to malfunction. This is a Cherrie's Tanager.

A Green Heron stalks a fish in a Mangrove swamp at the edge of town.

This is the unusual fish that the Green Heron was after. It had luminous headlights above it's eyes. Way cool.

I worked hard to get this photo. There were several Gray-necked Woodrails skulking around the edges of the same Mangrove swamp where the Green Heron was. I sat quietly for an hour or more, letting the mosquitos have a feast, hoping for a photo like this. It was a lucky shot, my favorite of the whole trip. The original slide looks so much better.

The countryside around Puerto Jimenez was the first place that I ever saw a Yellow-headed Cara cara. Their range has expanded northward because of widespread deforestation.

Roadside Hawks are another common raptor in the area. This one is perched on someone's thatched roof.

I went to Puerto Jimenez because I read that Scarlet Macaws occur in the area. Since I really wanted to see them in the wild, I had high hopes of catching a glimpse of them. I arrived on to the Osa Penninsula at night and heard them calling at first light in the morning. I walked in the direction of their raucous screams and found them in a tree overhanging the main street in the middle of town. They were completely unafraid of people.

This is going to be my last blog post for about the next six weeks or so,  because I leave for Uganda on Monday night. I really hope to have some new adventures to write about when I get back.