Uganda - Shoebills to Gorillas Naturetrek Tour Report 14 - 23 February 2018 Shoebill Leopard African Buffalo Papyrus Gonolek Report compiled by Jude Ainomugisha Images courtesy of Gerry Cross Naturetrek Mingledown Barn Wolf's Lane Chawton Alton Hampshire GU34 3HJ UK T: +44 (0)1962 733051 E: [email protected] W: www.naturetrek.co.uk Tour Report Uganda - Shoebills to Gorillas Tour participants: Jude Ainomugisha & Gerald Tumwekwase (Leaders) with eight Naturetrek clients. Day 1 Wednesday 14th February We left Heathrow on our late afternoon Kenya Airways flight to Nairobi, arriving early the following morning in time to catch our onward connection to Entebbe. Day 2 Thursday 15th February We arrived at Entebbe Airport where we were met by our tour leaders, and we then travelled to the 2 Friends Guest House in Entebbe. After checking in, we proceeded to the Botanical Gardens where we saw a number of bird species. Some of the birds that we saw in Botanical Gardens included Great Blue Turaco, Broad-billed Roller, Woodland Kingfisher, Northern Black Flycatcher, Grey Parrot, Black-headed Weaver, Eastern Grey Plantain Eater, Crowned Hornbill, African Paradise Flycatcher, Grey Kestrel, White-throated Bee-eater, Common Bulbul, Red-billed Firefinch, Pink-backed Pelican, Hamerkop, Hadeda Ibis, Marabou Stork, Sacred Ibis, Long crested Eagle, African Jacana, Tambourine Dove, Speckled Pigeon, Red-eyed Dove, Showy-crowned Robin-chat, Black-headed Gonolek, Pied Crow, Collared Sunbird, Bronze Mannikin, Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu, Water Thick-knee, Gabar Goshawk and Lizard Buzzard. A fantastic start to our holiday! Later in the evening, we headed back to 2 Friends Guest House for the night. Day 3 Friday 16th February After an early breakfast, we headed out going to the Mabamba swamp, crossing Lake Victoria by ferry. While on the ferry, we saw a number of species of birds including Open-billed Stork, Little Egret, Pied Kingfisher, Vieillot’s Black Weavers, Villages Weavers, Sooty Chat and Long-tailed Cormorant, among others. Having crossed the lake we drove for about 45 minutes to Mabamba swamp. Before boarding the canoes to explore the wetlands we found a few species in the grassland, such as Yellow- throated Longclaw, Black and White Casqued Hornbill, Crowned Hornbill, Lesser-striped Swallows, Broad-billed Rollers, Black-headed Gonolek and many more. Finally the boats were ready and we got aboard - everyone was ready to try to find the mighty Shoebill! We started our search which lasted for about an hour and as we were searching, we encountered a number of species. Most of them were water birds like Yellow-billed duck, Long-tailed lapwing, African Jacana, African Marsh Harrier, Lesser Jacana, Blue-breasted Bee-eaters, Pink-backed Pelican, Purple Heron and Winding Cisticola. Finally Jude sighted a Shoebill in the distance. Everyone was excited to see it and we planned on how to get closer so that we could get a better view of it. We struggled with the canoes to get more closer so the group could have a better view since the Shoebill was probably the most sought after bird of the entire trip. We watched it for about 30 minutes or more while everyone was busy taking photos and recording videos of the Shoebill. © Naturetrek December 18 1 Uganda - Shoebills to Gorillas Tour Report It was getting hot by now so we decided to leave the Shoebill in peace and we headed back to where we had left the vehicles. From there, we started the next part of our journey, heading to Lake Mburo National Park, with a break at the Equator where we had lunch. As we were driving, we kept on picking up a few species for the list along the way like Long- crested Eagle, Fork-tailed Drongo, Lilac-breasted Roller, Abdirn's Stork, Great Blue Turaco, Rossi’s Turaco, and Striped Kingfisher. Finally we turned off from the main road heading to Lake Mburo. We continued birding and we saw Red-necked Francolin, Arrow-marked Babbler, Wattled Plover, Senegal Lapwing, Spot-flanked Barbet, Trilling Cisticola, Crested Francolin, Double-toothed Barbet, Tropical Boubou, Blue-naped Mousebird, Speckled Mousebird, Grey- backed Camaroptera and many more Eventually we arrived at the Rwakoba Lodge where we had our evening meal and retired quite early after a long and exciting day. Day 4 Saturday 17th February We started today with an early breakfast and we began birding right away from the lodge and within the grounds. We saw African Green Pigeons, Red-billed Firefinch, Plain Pipit and Golden- breasted Bunting. As we were driving to Lake Mburo National Park, we saw the rare Red-faced Barbet and in the same area, we saw Yellow- crested barbet, which was very pleasing as it was among the birds on the “wish list” of some of the group. We had a full day in the park, seeing lots of species of birds, including White-throated, Little and European Beeeaters, Trilling Cisticola, African Grey Hornbill, Cardinal Woodpecker, Lappet-faced Vulture, Bateleur Eagle, Whalberg’s Eagle, Spot-flanked Barbet, Scarlet-chested, Variable and Red-chested Sunbird, Baglafecht Weaver, Senegal Lapwing, Wattled Lapwing, Western Banded Snake Eagle, African Fish Eagle, Black-bellied Bustard, Red-necked Spurfowl, Sulphur-breasted Bush Shrike etc Day 5 Sunday 18th February This was a special morning because we were going to search for other important species like the African Finfoot. Lake Mburo National Park is the best area to search for African Finfoot, so we drove to the lake and then boarded the boat. It took us some time to find a Finfoot but luck was on our side, and we finally saw it after a long search. Everyone had good views of this special bird, taking photos and videos. Other birds seen while we searched for and watched the Finfoot included Giant Kingfisher, Water Thick-knee, Rufous-bellied Heron, Black Crake, Swamp Flycatcher, Malachite Kingfisher, many Hamerkop, and Black-headed Heron. As we were searching for birds, we also saw some mammals, notably Zebra, Impala, Waterbuck, Bushbuck, Eland, Giraffe, Dwarf and Banded Mongoose, Warthogs and Vervet Monkeys. Later in the day, rather reluctantly, we had to leave Lake Mburo, heading to our next lodge at Igongo Cultural Centre, where we stayed for just one night. Day 6 Monday 19th February After breakfast we boarded the vehicles and started our journey to Queen Elizabeth National Park, birding as we went. Along the way we saw Village Weavers, Sacred Ibis and Arrow-marked Babblers. A short distance from 2 © Naturetrek December 18 Uganda - Shoebills to Gorillas Tour Report Igongo, we sighted Southern Ground Hornbill, which was well outside its usual range. It is normally found in the eastern part of the country towards the Kenyan border and near' Tanzania and this was the first ever record in this area. We continued birding along the main highway and we saw number of species like Fan-tailed Widowbird, African Firefinch, European Bee-eaters, Common Bulbul, African Harrier Hawk, Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater, Ring-necked and Red-eyed Doves, among others. We stopped along the way to check a spot where Jude has always found Papyrus Gonolek on previous occasions, and we were successful, the group being able to photograph this shy and retiring species. We had lunch at Mweya Safari Lodge, which was to be our accommodation for the next two night, and is located on the peninsular which separates the Kazinga Channel from Lake Edward, giving it spectacular views over both. This afternoon, we explored Mweya grounds before going for an early evening game drive in search of birds, which was very successful, the species seen including Black-headed Gonolek, Pin-tailed Whydah, Rufous-naped Lark, White-browed Robin Chat, Blue-naped Mousebird, Grey-backed Camaroptera, Common Fiscal, Fork-tailed Drongo, Sooty chat, Broad-billed Roller, Augur Buzzard, Copper Sunbird, Square-tailed Nightjar, Brown Snake Eagle and African Harrier-hawk. After a long day in the field we enjoyed our evening meal and a good night’s sleep back at the Mweya Safari Lodge. Day 7 Tuesday 20th February After early breakfast, we headed out for a morning drive seeing various species of mammals, including Elephants, Buffalos, Ugandan Kob, Waterbucks, Bushbucks, Hippos, Vervet Monkeys, Banded mongoose and Olive Baboons. We also saw plenty of birds, notable species being Black-chested Snake Eagle, Croaking Cisticola, Yellow-billed Kite, African White-backed Vulture, Wahlberg’s Eagle, Southern Red Bishop, Red- capped Lark and Martial Eagle. We returned to the lodge for lunch, then had an afternoon boat cruise on the Kazinga Channel, which is home to many water birds. We found Pink-backed Pelican, African Skimmers, Water Thick-knees, Malachite Kingfisher, Gull-billed Terns and Pied Kingfishers, while Red-throated Bee-eaters hawked for insects over the water and Palm-nut Vultures soared overhead. Mammals seen from the boat included more Elephants and Waterbuck, plus a Warthog. Back at the lodge we enjoyed another evening meal and retired quite early, ready for the next part of our adventure tomorrow. Day 8 Wednesday 21st February After breakfast, we started our journey to Kibale National Park, birding along the way. On our way to Kibale National Park, we saw several species which were new for the holiday including; African Moustached Warbler, Goliath Heron, Angola Swallow, Grey-backed Fiscal, Abdim's Stork, Black-shouldered Kite, White-browed Coucal, Eastern Grey Plantain-eater, and Cinnamon-chested Beeeater and eventually we entered Kibale forest. In the forest, as we were heading to Primate Lodge, we had several stops and we saw a number of species including; Purple-headed starling, Black and White Casqued Hornbill, Black-necked Weaver, Cassin’s Grey Flycatcher, Slender-billed Greenbul, Joyful Greenbul and Black Bee-eater.