East African Wildlife

Lynn and I visited the east African countries of Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania in August 2019. Whilst the main mission in Uganda was to interact with a family of Mountain Gorilla and to photograph the pre-historic looking Shoebill, we still managed to see over 180 different species of birds. The national bird of Uganda, also depicted on the national flag, is the Grey-crowned Crane. These are highly revered and protected birds as their colours of black, red and yellow depict the skin colour of the people, the blood of brotherhood and the yellow sun. Our first couple of days were spent staying just outside Entebbe. We went on a half day boat tour across Lake Victoria to a swampy inlet where we connected with one Shoebill. They are the only member of Family Balaenicipitidae and are closely related to herons. With a wingspan of up to 2.33 metres and a height of up to 1.5 metres these are one serious looking bird! As well as fish, they will also eat young crocodiles.

Shoebill Three days were then spent staying on the Nile River in Murchison Falls NP, north-west Uganda. Game drives and boat trips ensured we came across a large variety of birds and animals. Kingfishers, bee-eaters, herons and raptors were prevalent. Giraffe, Hippopotamus and Red Hartebeest were the common animals. Although more streamlined than a Shoebill, the Goliath Heron has remarkably similar height and wing dimensions to it and is the largest heron in the world. Next was another small plane flight to Bwindi Forest in the south-west of Uganda. Here we had a fantastic encounter with a family of 14 Mountain Gorilla. To be up close in the wild to these magnificent animals was both humbling and absolutely awesome. We were also able to bird on foot outside the NP and a visit to higher altitudes along the Albertine Rift enabled us to see some of the endemic birds of that area, such as: Stripe-breasted Tit; Regal Sunbird; and Rwenzori Batis.

Wildebeest crossing After another couple of small plane flights, we arrived on the Serengeti Plains of Tanzania. Our mission here was to photograph river crossings of Wildebeest and Zebra. Open plains animals were prevalent here and in contrast to Uganda, only 71 species of birds were recorded. Highlights were the river crossings, watching a pride of lions, the vultures devouring a wildebeest and Cheetahs on the move. Cheetah Bird wise, a single sighting of a Greater Painted-snipe, a Pygmy Falcon, Ross’s Turaco and assorted francolins and raptors, including the impressive Martial Eagle. The Secretarybird, a large raptor in a monotypic family, roam the plains in search of food, including snakes.

Secretarybird

Onwards to our final destination of the Maasai Mara plains of Kenya, where we finished with some more amazing birds (85 species) and great encounters with Leopard, Cheetah, Stripe-sided Jackal and Spotted Hyena. A single Zebra crossing pursued by a Nile Crocodile, watched by a herd of Zebra, and cheered on by the crowds in the game drive vehicles was a thrilling end to our adventure when it successfully negotiated the hazards. The camera gear that I used for this trip was a Canon 5DMKIV , Canon 300mmf2.8 lens with a Canon 1.4 MKIII extender. Dick Jenkin

Top to Bottom, left to right: Goliath Heron, Greater Painted Snipe, Leopard, Lilac-breasted Roller, Violet-backed Starling, Grey Kestrel, Northern Carmine Bee-eater, White-backed Vulture, Red-chested Sunbird.