UGANDA 2020 - A TALE OF 7 SPECIALS

[xelas]

WESTERN NICATOR

 

YELLOW-CRESTED WOODPECKER

 

BLACK-AND-WHITE NEGROFINCH

 

SCHMIDT’S RED-TAILED MONKEY

 

YELLOW WHITE-EYE

 

COLLARED SUNBIRD

 

[xelas]

Local cultivation here was mostly coffee. 

 

 

 

 

[xelas]

At this point Fred has left the group; we must have been too slow for him. Or taking too much time photographing bulbuls .

 

COMMON BULBUL

 

 

RED COLOBUS MONKEY

 

 

 

And Jo has met some local fans.

 

 

Arrived at the starting point at 13:30. Much of the second half of the walk was under the hot sun. When I have noticed that there were some interesting birds hoping around the trees near the visitor's centre, I have questioned my decision to walk that far when the birds (and monkeys) were waiting for us there . As often during this trip, Jo was relentless so she might have a couple of birds from that part of the wetlands to show. And monkeys.

 

Edited March 16, 2020 by xelas

[kittykat23uk]

So I think to get the best out of this swamp one needs to arrive around 8.00, we got there around 0930, looking at the time stamp for the Nicator. People on the trails had been there for quite some time. But time around the lodge was not wasted, and so we take a slower morning at Bigodi instead, and as @xelas has alluded to most of what we saw was back at the start of the trail with a feeding party of various monkeys. Including some new ones. 

 

But first the walk itself, we were told this was White-crowned Robin-chat, then I believe Fred was of the opinion that it  was Heuglin's.  But I think  it's actually our first view of Grey-winged, which we also saw later in Buhoma. 

 

P2120521 grey-winged robin-chat or grey-winged akalat (Cossypha polioptera) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

We saw one of my favourite birds again:

P2120566 Great Blue Turaco (Corythaeola cristata) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2120588 Yellow-crested Woodpecker (Dendropicos xantholophus) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2120589 Ashy Flycatcher (Fraseria caerulescens) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2120657 collared sunbird, (Hedydipna collaris) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2120676 collared sunbird, (Hedydipna collaris) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2120695 African Yellow White-eye  Zosterops senegalensis by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2120706  western plantain-eater (Crinifer piscator) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

On our way back we came upon the first of our new monkeys, Ugandan Red Colobus. These are a favourite prey of the Chimpanzee as they tend to foolishly stand their ground when the chimps attack, instead of running away, unlike other more sensible primates.

 

P2120779 (2) Ugandan red colobus (Piliocolobus tephrosceles) or ashy red colobus by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

Black and White Colobus, again in residence here as are the crested mangabies

 

P2120840 Black-and-white colobuses by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2120996 Black-and-white colobuses by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2120926 Uganda crested mangabey (Lophocebus ugandae) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2121036 Uganda crested mangabey (Lophocebus ugandae) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

Our second new primate, L'Hoest's Monkey, a shy animal here, that is rather terrestrial, preferring to travel on the ground , although they do feed in the trees. 

 

P2120866 L'Hoest's monkey (Allochrocebus lhoesti) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

 

Of course our red-tailed monkeys were also around:

 

P2121041 Schmidt's red-tailed monkey  Cercopithecus ascanius schmidti by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

I have a video of red colobus so will upload that next before we head back to the lodge for lunch and then out again for some more birding. But that will have to wait for tomorrow...

 

Edited March 29, 2020 by kittykat23uk

[Galana]

2 hours ago, kittykat23uk said:

So I think to get the best out of this swamp one needs to arrive around 8.00,

I agree. So why were we still photoing birds at the Guest house at 8.30? It's only a ten minute drive away?

 

 @xelas  Nice Nicator.

 

2 hours ago, kittykat23uk said:

we were told this was White-crowned Robin-chat, then I believe Fred was of the opinion that it  was Heuglin's.  But I think  it's actually our first view of Grey-winged, which we also saw later in Buhoma. 

Well the guide was obviously wrong as that is a West African species and whilst I did not pay much attention to the 'Heuglin's Robin' I am fairly confident that that is what it was. Happy to be wrong if anybody has other photos. Field Marks. Heuglins has rufous orange tail and black head/orange nape and Grey-winged's is brown with a grey head and nape.  I don't think it is in range as far north as Kibale.

 

Keep em coming. Nice to relive the walk.

Personally I was disappointed with Bigodi this trip. They have changed the layout with that 'new' walkway.

We saw lots more birds last time and it was the same time or even later.

Edited March 17, 2020 by Galana
Text amendments.

[kittykat23uk]

Well I'm definitely not an expert but according to eBird grey-winged robin chat does occur at bigodi and if you look at the videos on this link I think it's our bird.. 

 

https://ebird.org/species/gywroc3?siteLanguage=en_GB

[xelas]

We have taken two photos of two different birds, and I have both put them under Grey-winged Robin-Chat. Might be helpful for ID purposes. Those are non-processed files.

 

 

[Soukous]

13 hours ago, kittykat23uk said:

0649, before heading out for some pre-breakfast birding.

 

So much for early starts. 

[Soukous]

11 hours ago, xelas said:

starting our hike at around 9:00.

 

Like I said, so much for early starts - I think India may come as a bit of a shock to you  Did you look at the itinerary?

Edited March 17, 2020 by Soukous

[xelas]

6 minutes ago, Soukous said:

Did you look at the itinerary?

Nope. Do they serve early morning coffee?

[Galana]

9 hours ago, Galana said:

Happy to be wrong if anybody has other photos.

So it seems. As I said I did not pay too much attention to the bird other than dismissing the guide's call when I saw the two white brows from the rearmost position before getting  a close look.

Nice pics @xelas Bigodi or Buhoma?

[xelas]

Above are from Bigodi.

 

In Buhoma a similar bird but with white on wings, IDed as Lühder's bushshrike, Laniarius luehderi. I have not yet finished with all birds seen in Buhoma.

[elefromoz]

16 hours ago, xelas said:

And Jo has met some local fans.

 

 

 

 

@xelas, great photo,  so much going on with those kids. There's a bit of growing room in the shoes...

[TonyQ]

With so much going on in the world, what a pleasure to be able to relax, have a cup of coffee and read more of this wonderful report.

Thanks to all of you for posting.

[kittykat23uk]

Here's the video of the Ugandan Red Colobus

 

 

We returned to the lodge for a late lunch and I spent some of the early afternoon chasing birds around the lodge before we returned to the road for more birding.

 

P2121050 African Blue-flycatcher (Elminia longicauda) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2121056 skink by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2121068 Bronze Sunbird (Nectarinia kilimensis) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2121100 scarlet-chested sunbird (Chalcomitra senegalensis) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2121125 Black-crowned Waxbill (Estrilda nonnula) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2121129 Black-crowned Waxbill (Estrilda nonnula) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2121179 (2) Lizard Buzzard (Kaupifalco monogrammicus) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2120059 copy (2) Black-throated Apalis (Apalis jacksoni) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2121271 sooty flycatcher (Muscicapa infuscata) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2121299 black-and-white shrike-flycatcher (Bias musicus) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

We spent the late afternoon birding the road,  first we encountered a party of baboons. 

 

P2121390  olive baboon (Papio anubis) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2121438  olive baboon (Papio anubis) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2121456  olive baboon (Papio anubis) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2121511 common buzzard (Buteo buteo) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2121540 common buzzard (Buteo buteo) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

Birding the road gave me a chance to catch up with some birds I missed, including the shiniest bluest kingfisher of them all!  Of course the bird was not in such a good position for me compared to @xelas and co. But still a beauty to see!

 

P2121629 Shining-blue Kingfisher (Alcedo quadribrachys) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

And of course as @xelas posted before, it was this afternoon that we had the Crowned Eagle. These pictures needed some work to look reasonable. 

 

P2121937 (2) copy Crowned Eagle or Crowned Hawk-eagle (Stephanoaetus coronatus) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2122010 (2) Crowned Eagle or Crowned Hawk-eagle (Stephanoaetus coronatus) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P2122021 (2) copy Crowned Eagle or Crowned Hawk-eagle (Stephanoaetus coronatus) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

 

 

Edited March 29, 2020 by kittykat23uk

[Chakra]

This TR has to be the perfect antidote to my daily work  at present which is all doom and gloom while trying to follow the rule of 2020 , i.e. washing hands for twenty seconds for at least twenty times a day 

@xelas : you told me that photography was difficult !!!  If this output is the result of difficult conditions then I shudder to think what the output would be in ideal conditions.

You never told me that the shoebill almost landed on your head ! 

@xelas  @kittykat23uk @Galana : I now declare you guys joint winner of BY in the middle of March. One shoebill = 1000 other birds. One excellent shoebill photo = 5000 other birds and one flying Shoebill = 10,000 other birds.  Honestly these shoebill photos and the video by Jo are at par with the  shoebill shots that I've seen in Nat Geo programmes. 

@Galana I always thought you had some secret power. Now I know you are  "The Swamp Thing " : the mysterious misunderstood  tragic Superhero from DC comics  and the star of a few horror movies.  Nile crocs stand no chance against you.

I have to agree with Jo. Why would someone go to Uganda and not see those amazing creatures who share 98.8% of DNA with us ?  I'm not much into wildlife photography but I'd happily trek for an hour in sweltering heat to capture that pensive look on that chimp's face, straight from a painting by Frida Kahlo. 

And lastly thanks for educating me on the signs of spotting a chimp in the middle of oestrous.  I'm sure with 98.8% DNA match something similar must  be happening in their close cousins. 

Thanks a ton ! 

[xelas]

11 minutes ago, Chakra said:

I'd happily trek for an hour in sweltering heat

 

That long also I would be able to do. but as things are, gorilla trek rarely last less that 4 hours (both ways) and can easily extend to 7 hours .

 

Otherwise, thanks for your kind words.The world today is a different place to the world a month ago. 

Edited March 17, 2020 by xelas

[Chakra]

1 minute ago, xelas said:

 

That long also I would be able to do. but as things are, gorilla trek rarely last less that 4 hours (both ways) and can easily extend to 7 hours .

 That's why I'm telling you for a long time to forget the mountain gorillas in Uganda/Rwanda . Go for the lowland gorillas of Virunga and Congo. Flat terrain, less sweating 

[kittykat23uk]

Maybe next time, I would like to see mandrill too. 

[Galana]

9 minutes ago, Chakra said:

I'm not much into wildlife photography but I'd happily trek for an hour in sweltering heat to capture that pensive look on that chimp's face,

Thanks Chak. And I would happily help you put the trek together if requested. I might even throw a few Swamps into the itinerary too.

 

@kittykat23uk Nice BT Apalis.  How can I delete those darn baboons??

 

3 minutes ago, xelas said:

gorilla trek rarely last less that 4 hours (both ways) and can easily extend to 7 hours 

Nah.   Check the exif on these two. I was barely out of bed!

 

[Soukous]

10 hours ago, Galana said:

How can I delete those darn baboons??

 

I was wondering the same. Maybe we could persuade @kittykat23uk to post her chimps and baboons on a different thread (with an appropriate warning notice). 

[kittykat23uk]

34 minutes ago, Soukous said:

 

I was wondering the same. Maybe we could persuade @kittykat23uk to post her chimps and baboons on a different thread (with an appropriate warning notice). 

 

WHAT??!!!! NO CHANCE! this is a thread for all our wildlife sightings! Anyway if I can control my arachnophobia enough to bring you all pictures of the amazing David Bowie spider and other eight-legged freaks I think some of you should be prepared to handle a few cute baboons... sigh... 

[Soukous]

7 hours ago, kittykat23uk said:

you should be prepared to handle a few cute baboons.

 

Sorry Jo, there is no such animal. 

[Galana]

1 hour ago, Soukous said:

handle a few cute baboons.

And if I had to handle them I would be tempted to carry a large rope.

[xelas]

Well, well, you two, behave! I might switch from posting bulbuls to posting baboons .