UGANDA HIGHLIGHTS JANUARY 11–30, 2020 “Mukiza” the Silverback, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, January 2020 ( Kevin J. Zimmer) LEADERS: KEVIN ZIMMER & HERBERT BYARUHANGA LIST COMPILED BY: KEVIN ZIMMER VICTOR EMANUEL NATURE TOURS, INC. 2525 WALLINGWOOD DRIVE, SUITE 1003 AUSTIN, TEXAS 78746 WWW.VENTBIRD.COM UGANDA HIGHLIGHTS January 11–30, 2020 By Kevin Zimmer Shoebill, Mabamba wetlands, January 2020 ( Kevin J. Zimmer) This was the second January departure of our increasingly popular Uganda Highlights Tour, and it proved an unqualified success in delivering up-close-and-personal observations of wild Mountain Gorillas, wild Chimpanzees, and the bizarre Shoebill. Beyond these iconic creatures, we racked up over 430 species of birds and had fabulous encounters with Lion, Hippopotamus, African Elephant, Rothschild’s Giraffe, and an amazing total of 10 species of primates. The “Pearl of Africa” lived up to its advance billing as a premier destination for birding and primate viewing in every way, and although the bird-species composition and levels of song/breeding activity in this (normally) dry season are somewhat different from those encountered during our June visits, the overall species diversity of both birds and mammals encountered has proven remarkably similar. After a day at the Boma Hotel in Entebbe to recover from the international flights, we hit the ground running, with a next-morning excursion to the fabulous Mabamba wetlands. Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 2 Uganda Highlights, January 2020 Opportunistic roadside stops en route yielded such prizes as Great Blue Turaco, Lizard Buzzard, and Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill, but as we were approaching the wetlands, the dark cloud mass that had been threatening rain for the past hour finally delivered. We remained on the bus, waiting out the rain, which, mercifully, moved through after an hour or so. With our allotted time for the marsh already cut nearly in half, we scrambled to board the boats, eager to get going before the still unsettled skies opened up again. Spread over two boats, we spent a magical couple of hours alternately motoring and being poled through a series of narrow channels in a vast papyrus marsh. Our primary target was the incredible Shoebill, a prehistoric relict constituting a monotypic family that is endemic to the African continent, and, for most first-time visitors to Uganda, the ‘most-wanted’ bird of the trip. We would have other chances for the species, but the chances of encountering another before reaching Murchison Falls (at the very end of the tour) were not great, so we instructed the boatmen at Mabamba to prioritize the Shoebill before spending time on the many other denizens of the marsh. We were less than an hour into our search when we scored big, with a superb, close Shoebill that allowed lengthy studies and gave a nice demonstration of its foraging technique by patiently waiting for lungfish to surface and then lunging with its massive bill, scooping up large amounts of vegetation and muck in the process. Eventually, the behemoth tired of us and lifted off, only to drop into a nearby but less accessible stand of papyrus. With the big prize firmly in the bag, we could now turn our attention to such fare as Malachite Kingfisher, Yellow-billed Duck, Squacco and Purple herons, African Jacana, Long-toed Lapwing, Blue-breasted Bee-eater, and Blue-headed Coucal. A flock of Weyn’s Weavers hurtled past while we were still looking at the Shoebill, but, sadly, there was no time to pole out into the more distant parts of the marsh to look for the rare Lesser Jacana. After returning to Entebbe for lunch back at our hotel, we made a late afternoon excursion to the nearby Entebbe Botanic Gardens, where we were greeted by an engaging group of Vervet Monkeys, including mothers nursing babies, and youngsters playing tentatively atop the fence. The next couple of hours were highlighted by nice studies of magnificent Great Blue and Ross’s turacos and their cousins, the Eastern Plantain-eaters; side by side comparisons of Long-tailed and Great cormorants; scope views of perched Gray Parrots; and a non-stop parade of weavers of six species, including some actively nest-building Orange Weavers. It was an amazing finish to what had been a highlight-packed first day. Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 3 Uganda Highlights, January 2020 Great Blue Turaco, Entebbe Botanic Gardens, January 2020 (© Kevin J. Zimmer) The next day, we hit the road, headed south and west, but not before picking off a number of goodies on the hotel grounds (including Double-toothed Barbet, Black-headed Gonolek, Red-chested and Green-headed sunbirds, and Splendid Starling), and making a brief stop just down the road from our hotel to look for a recently discovered pair of Bat Hawks. We had barely exited the bus before sighting our quarry—both birds were present, and although we could not see a nest, it seemed pretty apparent that the pair had settled on this site for that purpose. Over the next 45 minutes or so, they put on a real show, alternately perching side by side for several minutes, only to have one individual or the other periodically fly out of the tree, disappear for a few minutes, and then return. As I explained at the time, this species, although widespread in its distribution, is rarely seen this well, due mainly to its decidedly crepuscular habits. More often than not, it is seen only in dashing direct flight at dawn and dusk, as it strafes groves of trees with concentrations of roosting bats. The remainder of our morning and early afternoon was consumed with the drive to Lake Mburo National Park, which produced a few new birds, among them, most notably, multiple Long-crested Eagles perched atop telephone poles, and a mixture of Broad-billed and Lilac-breasted rollers on the wires. Once we turned off the tarmac, we were in a position to bird our way into the park. Highlights included a pair of magnificent Saddle-billed Storks, a Woolly-necked Stork, Wattled Lapwing, Water Thick-knee, our first Crested Barbet (a recent colonist to southern Uganda from Tanzania), a Tabora (Long-tailed) Cisticola displaying high above the road, a male Pin- tailed Whydah, and bunches of Red-necked Francolins. Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 4 Uganda Highlights, January 2020 Bat Hawks, Entebbe, Uganda, January 2020 (© Kevin J. Zimmer) The following morning was one of great excitement, as we spent a few magical hours aboard a small boat in exploration of the Lake Mburo shoreline and the fringing papyrus marshes. In addition to coaxing such skulkers as Sedge Warbler and Carruther’s Cisticola out of the papyrus, we were treated to dazzling studies of an absurd number of Malachite and Pied kingfishers, African Fish-Eagles on the nest, Hamerkop, Black Crakes slinking along the shoreline, a lovely pair of Double-toothed Barbets defending their nest cavity from a lurking Woodland Kingfisher, and a plethora of grunting Hippopotami. Best of all was our breathtakingly close (and prolonged) encounter with a male African Finfoot, the major target bird of our morning. In the late afternoon, we birded the savanna woodlands, picking up a number of new birds and mammals in the process. Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 5 Uganda Highlights, January 2020 African Finfoot (male), Lake Mburo NP, January 2020 ( Kevin J. Zimmer) Hippopotamus, Lake Mburo NP, January 2018 ( Kevin J. Zimmer) Then, it was on to Ruhija and the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. Most of the day was consumed with the drive, although we were able to do some productive roadside birding Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 6 Uganda Highlights, January 2020 on our way out of Lake Mburo (netting stellar views of male Copper and Mariqua sunbirds, a dazzling Sulphur-breasted Bushshrike, and an unusually sedate Red-backed Scrub-Robin, among others), and picked off a few forest birds after the entrance gate into Bwindi. Without doubt, our biggest prize once inside the park was the endemic Handsome Francolin that I spotted foraging at the edge of the road. This elusive Albertine Rift endemic seldom remains in view long enough for everyone in the bus to see, but this particular individual did not flee the scene when we came to a sudden stop, and even stayed long enough to be thoroughly documented by the photographers in the group. We also saw our first L’Hoest’s Monkeys (with their signature ‘question-mark’ tails) while traversing the bamboo zone of the park. We arrived at Gorilla Mist Camp with time to get settled in before dusk, in preparation for our big day ahead. Handsome Francolin, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, January 2020 (© Kevin J. Zimmer) Our morning was dedicated to gorilla tracking. After the briefing by our ranger-guide, we sorted out how many porters we were going to require, picked out our walking sticks, and then drove to the trailhead. With our ranger-guide, two armed guards (one at the front, one at the rear; a precaution against a chance encounter with buffalo or forest elephants), the 7 of us, another couple who was not part of our VENT group, and our 11 hired porters, we presented quite the expedition. The porters proved a wise investment, lugging not only all of our gear, but also assisting those that needed it on the steep portions of the trail, both going out, and, on the return. From the road, we dropped rather steeply downhill for about 35 minutes before our ranger-guide, in a masterful bit of understatement, stated, “Sometimes you hike for three hours before reaching the gorillas, and other times, it takes only 30 minutes—you are lucky!” And lucky we were! The “Mukiza group” (one of 5 groups of habituated gorillas in the Ruhija sector of the forest), to which we had been assigned was scattered on either side of the trail, some feeding high Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 7 Uganda Highlights, January 2020 in the trees, and others on the ground, but all actively engaged in foraging, and, hence, on the move, leaving us quickly behind.