Uganda - Day 15 1/7/16

Ruhija - Bwindi

Today was the day we tracked the Mountain Gorillas. The Gorillas were probably the top priority for us so it was fair to say we were pretty excited about the whole thing. We assembled at the base where around 25 or so other visitors were. We were given a brief and then split into groups and given a Gorilla family we were to track. We were given the Bitakura Group that has three Silverbacks in. We started the trek with an idea of where the family had slept that night and they don't normally travel too far. It did take two hours of hard graft to reach the area where the Gorillas had been by hiking up steep hills through tangles and vines. However, despite the others fitness levels, we made it and soon we were watching our first Gorillas climbing down a tree, and then others were spotted on the ground. It was an awesome moment to finally set eyes on our first Gorillas, and over the next hour we were finally rewarded with unbelievable views of these gentle giants going about there own business by either just eating or rolling down the hill to get to their next favoured patch to eat. A real privilege to come face to face with the Mountain Gorillas in their natural habitat.

The afternoon was spent savouring the moment and then birding at a higher elevation where lots of species were on offer, including yet more Albertine Rift Endemics, that are capitalised below. The highlight being a Rwenzori Nightjar that showed well in the torch light after initially hearing it singing.

Ayre's Hawk Eagle - 1
Crowned Hawk Eagle - 4
HANDSOME FRANCOLIN - 2
Great Blue Turaco
Black-billed Turaco
RWENZORI NIGHTJAR - 1
Grey-throated Barbet - 2
Mountain Greenbul
COLLARED APALIS - 3
Black-throated Apalis
MOUNTAIN MASKED APALIS
GRAUER'S WARBLER - 1
White-starred Robin - 1
Black-tailed/Montane Oriole - 2
Sharpe's Starling - 15
STRANGE WEAVER - 2
Yellow-mantled Weaver
Olive Thrush

 Mountain Gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest

Regal Sunbird near Ruhija

 Ian making the hike look easy

Ian and Jake watching a Gorilla (in the tree to the left and near the top)

Uganda - Day 16 2/7/16

Mubwindi Swamp Trail - Bwindi
This trail was the one I had been looking forward to the most as the potential for endemics and generally good birding was excellent, and for me it certainly lived up to it. Upon arrival at Entebbe airport Paul told us that the Broadbills were already on eggs, and us not knowing how advanced the eggs were, I was tense in thinking the youngsters would fledge before our arrival there. Anyway, today we were told the Broadbills were now feeding young, that actually gave us an even better chance of seeing Africa's most sought after species.......the African Green Broadbill. Unfortunately to get there, we had a blooming long walk. First highlight was a singing Archer's Robin-Chat and after this a couple of other good bits were seen. Our local guide kept stopping to show us species either seen before, or new but likely to encounter them again, so I kindly asked him to march on towards the Broadbill nest so at least I could relax for the rest of the day. The whole area was much larger than I had imagined and finding the Broadbills without a nesting tree seemed unlikely, so we were all relieved when we arrived at the nest, and just above it sat an African Green Broadbill. You know a bird is good when most of the group gasp at just how stunning it is, and this was one of those birds. The Broadbill sat motionless whilst we fired our machine guns/cameras at it. Over the hour we watched, a second bird came in and sat outside the nest where a chick was seen begging for food. No way was I expecting such an incredible encounter. We were also relieved as we could all now buy the Broadbill shirt we had seen at our lodge earlier. Again the whole day was spent around the swamp and also negotiating the enormous climb out of the valley that took a couple of hours. By the end of the day we were totally battered, but having cleaned up it was never an issue. A brilliant day!!

Dusky Long-tailed Cuckoo - 1
Blue-headed Coucal - 1
White-headed Woodhoopoe
Olive Woodpecker - 1
AFRICAN GREEN BROADBILL - 2 (not including a chick)
Cape Wagtail - 2
Yellow-streaked Greenbul - 5
Carruther's Cisticola - 3
GRAUER'S SCRUB-WARBLER - 1
Black-faced Rufous Warbler - 1
RED-FACED WOODLAND WARBLER
YELLOW-EYED BLACK FLYCATCHER - 2
White-starred Robin - 2
ARCHER'S ROBIN-CHAT - 1
Chinspot Batis
RWENZORI BATIS - 2
STRIPE-BREASTED TIT
Green Sunbird - 1
Northern Double Collared Sunbird
REGAL SUNBIRD
Montane Oriole - 2
Lagden's Bush-Shrike - 2
Waller's Starling - 5
STRANGE WEAVER
DUSKY CRIMSONWING - 3
Black-headed Waxbill
Western Citril - 1

 Archer's Robin-Chat

 our first view of the Broadbill

African Green/Grauer's Broadbill - known as one of the most sought-after species in the whole of Africa. It is endemic to the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.

 Mubwindi Swamp located deep in the valley

this meant a long walk out but with staggering views, this one looking back down onto the swamp

Uganda - Day 17 3/7/16

Bwindi to Mgahinga
Today we travelled from Bwindi to the far SW of Uganda where The Congo and Rwanda are in touching distance. We based ourselves about 45 minutes from Mgahinga National Park. We left our lovely lodge in Ruhija and birded a couple of spots on the way out of Bwindi, but despite having targets set, we didn't spend too long searching. (From one of the spots along a single track road, we came across a large lorry and then the stale-mate started. No one moved, Paul got out, the other driver got out, all to no avail and it took some time for Paul to realise the lorry wasn't going to reverse uphill on a dodgy handbrake. It was all worth it though as a Doherty's Bushshrike showed well). This meant a dull and very slow drive SW towards Lisoro where the speed didn't really exceed 30kph. All very annoying as there wasn't much to see and time elsewhere at known spots would have been more productive. We dipped on Papyrus Yellow Warbler which was a big target for me with this species being critically endangered. Lunch was had at Bunyiyo Lake where a few common species that hadn't been seen for a while were nice. A couple more roadside stops in good secondary forest produced a Mountain Yellow Warbler and a heard only Barred Long-tailed Cuckoo. We descended from some hills and from a distance birded a shallow lake, then continued to our hotel driving past a refugee camp that has been present since the problems that occurred in Rwanda over twenty years ago. The atmosphere amongst the locals towards us again wasn't the most welcoming I've encountered in this continent, but hey ho. At the hotel, Mottled Swifts were flying around displaying their impressive size. A frustrating day today with a call home being a much needed task to try and cheer me back up. Dinner was eventful with a huge power cut that meant initially no dinner, and when it came they might as well have not bothered. The Goat course was pretty much a bone course!!

HANDSOME FRANCOLIN - 5
Grey-crowned Crane
Common Moorhen - 1
Mottled Swift - 10
African Pipit
Mountain Yellow Warbler - 1
White-browed Crombec
Swamp Flycatcher
Cape Robin-Chat
Red-chested Sunbird
Doherty's Bushshrike - 1
White-necked Raven
Slender-billed Weaver
Spectacled Weaver
Brown-capped Weaver
Fawn-breasted Waxbill
Yellow-crowned Canary - 6

 Pin-tailed Whydah

 Yellow-bellied Waxbill

 Chubb's Cisticola

 Handsome Francolin

Grosbeak Weaver

Uganda - Day 18 4/7/16

Mgahinga Gorilla National Park
This was a site I had been excited about visiting for a number of reasons, one of which is that its not on too many birding group's radar, and secondly its the best site in Uganda to find the Rwenzori Turaco, a family that I'm particular fond of. Today the area was very windy that certainly hindered the number of species seen, though we found some good stuff including the Turaco. Carrying on from last night, breakfast was a disaster with manky fruit being provided and the food in general taking an age to get to us, so we gave up and headed for Mgahinga. The best site for the Rwenzori Turaco is the gorge, accessed on the Batwa Trail. The walk up was slow going and other then plenty of Dusky Turtle Doves there wasn't a great deal going on. A couple of so far un-identifiable Orchids were spotted, and for a while we were following some very large Forest Elephant footprints, but alas these remained unseen. The habitat wasn't what I was expecting with mainly low bushes and lots of Bamboo, though it wasn't until we reached the gorge the mature trees came into view and straight away we heard the raucous call of a Rwenzori Turaco, but Turacos being Turacos it took a while for the bird to come into view, and when it did it was rather distant, but careful viewing produced good enough views, and confirmed what the book read as being the smartest Turaco in East Africa. The scenery all the way was stunning, with three ancient volcanos dramatically breaking the landscape. The local guide heard what he thought was a good candidate for a Shelley's Crimsonwing, and despite a lengthy search, we successfully dipped. On the long walk back down we remarkably came across an endemic that we thought we had missed elsewhere, the bird in question being a very smart Blue-headed Sunbird. But just in front of the Sunbird, I somehow noticed a slight movement on a lichened branch, and it turned out to be a Rwenzori Side-striped Chameleon. So in the end a productive visit to the smallest national park in Uganda, and on the way back hundreds of kids waved at us, some spat at us again (windows closed thankfully) and we very nearly drove into a kid not looking at the road. All very eventful and by the time we reached the hotel, the Yellow-billed Kites were flying into the back garden to roost, but even better, there was power in the hotel.

Dusky Turtle Dove - 15
Speckled Pigeon
RWENZORI TURACO - 2
Double-toothed Barbet
Cinnamon Bracken Warbler - 3
Mountain Yellow Warbler - 6
ARCHER'S ROBIN-CHAT
African Hill Babbler
White-tailed Crested Flycatcher - 4
African Dusky Flycatcher - 2
STRIPE-BREASTED TIT
BLUE-HEADED SUNBIRD - 2
RWENZORI DOUBLE-COLLARED SUNBIRD - 4
Mountain Sooty Boubou - 1
DUSKY CRIMSONWING - 5
White-necked Raven
Streaky Seedeater
White-starred Robin - 1

Dusky Turtle Dove - the only bird photo taken today, and not a very good one at that

 the gorge walk

Uganda - Day 19 5/7/16

Lisoro to Lake Mburo NP
We left Lisoro district early stopping at the same small wetland we had visited on the way down. The journey to Lake Mburo was long, hot and pretty much birdless until we reached the outskirts of the national park where at long last we encountered some Lilac-breasted Rollers and White-faced Whistling Ducks, two species I felt we should have encountered already. Once at Lake Mburo we were pleased with out accommodation and then we enjoyed a boat trip out on the lake slowly cruising along the banks. It was really enjoyable and proved to be a fitting finale to the trip, especially as we saw lots of good birds, the best being two African Finfoots showing incredibly well. The remaining light was spent searching in vain for a Red-faced Barbet but with no luck, though once dark we had flight views of a vocal Black-shouldered Nightjar. Dinner was a pizza........enough said!!

Little Grebe
Pink-backed Pelican
Goliath Heron
Striated Heron
Sqaucco Heron
White-backed Night Heron - 3
White-faced Whistling Duck
Yellow-billed Duck
Hottentot Teal - 30
African Marsh Harrier - 1
Mountain Buzzard
Red-knobbed Coot - 1
African Finfoot - 2
Three-banded Plover - 1
Bare-faced Go-Away Bird - 1
Black-shouldered Nightjar - 2
Lilac-breasted Roller
African Grey Hornbill
Tropical Boubou
Northern Brown-throated Weaver
Yellow Bishop - 1

 African Jacana - cool feet!

 Grey-crowned Crane

 White-backed Night Heron

 Striated Heron

 awesome views of an African Finfoot

 Pied Kingfishers lining up

Bushbuck

Uganda - Day 20 6/7/16

Lake Mburo to Entebbe
Our last day of a very memorable trip. We had one last target to snap up, this being the range-restricted Red-faced Barbet. We packed all our gear into the car, had breakfast and commenced on a small game drive which would lead us out of the park and onto the tarmac back to Entebbe. The game drive was productive both for birds and the limited game present in the park. However, the Barbet remained elusive and it wasn't until we were out of the park when somehow we lucked into one. A huge relief to nail the last target bird. At this point, the memory card was full and was not needed anymore, so the camera was packed away and for me signified the end of the trip. The journey back to Entebbe airport was once again long, and a short cut around the edge of Kampala was perfect and brought us back close to where we had seen the Shoebill. Familiar sites were spotted in Entebbe and finally we arrived at Entebbe Airport, bidding farewell to our guide Paul. Our Emirates flight departed on time to Dubai, and the 4-hour wait in Dubai went quickly. Our A380 back to LGW was as good as new though we got on stand a few minutes late, but with security being quiet and baggage reclaim being speedy, we were home only 2-hours later.

Woolly-necked Stork
Shikra
Crested Francolin - 2
Red-necked Spurfowl
Meyer's Parrot - 6
Spot-flanked Barbet
Red-faced Barbet - 1
Nubian Woodpecker - 1
Rufous-chested Swallow
Red-faced Crombec - 3
White-winged Black Tit - 2
African Penduline Tit - 4
Wattled Starling - 20
Green-winged Pytilia - 2

 Zebra

 Red-faced Barbet - endemic to East Africa and only found in S Uganda or N Tanzania

a very cute Vervet Monkey

Cuckmere Haven 19/7/16

A very warm walk in the Cuckmere this morning produced only a juvenile Yellow-legged Gull and a second-summer Mediterranean Gull of note. The two Oystercatcher families were still present. A Grey Wagtail and Sedge Warbler were by the scrape. Also 130 Black-headed Gulls is the first largish number of the autumn for me.

The next instalment of Uganda will be on tomorrow.

juv. Yellow-legged Gull along the river