UGANDA PART #2

A couple of days later than intended due to the trials and tribulations involved in trying to sort out my next immensely complicated trip to Indonesia (Halmahera, Sulawesi, Peleng, Bali, Sumba, West Timor, and Flores,) Northern Australia, (Darwin and Cairns) Manus (off PNG) and Santa Ysabel (in the Solomons, NE of Australia.) If all goes smoothly that will net me another 7.5 species of pitta, (Ivory-breasted-, Sula-, (which may or may not be a good species,) Elegant, ‘Javan’ Banded-, (that’s the 0.5, may well be split as a separate species in the the not-too-distant), Superb-, Black-faced-, Rainbow and Noisy.) Four travel agents were involved at the last count, and a dauntingly complex schedule is taking shape; it’s coming together at last though. Anyway, before we get into the joys of Asia once more, here’s the second half of the retrospective blast from Africa...

Since I saw Green-breasted Pitta early on, I was able to throw together a whirlwind SW Uganda 8-day itinerary to include Queen Elizabeth NP, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest NP (3 sites, separated by c80kms: Buhoma, The Neck and Ruhizha), and Lake Mburo, with a final morning at the Botanical Gardens in Entebbe. Lots of travelling, moving accomm. almost every day, long days in the field, so pretty exhausting but rewarding. (Kalema) Livingstone (http://www.tours-uganda.com) who organised the ground arrangements is that rare combination, an excellent birder and an organizational powerhouse. A few of the UWA (Uganda Wildlife Authority) guides based at the National Parks specialise in birds as well as gorillas and other animals, and the ones who do so are usually very good. Since it is necessary to hire a guide at most NP’s anyway, I worked with them where required e.g. at Kibale and Bwindi.

Flights in and out were via Dubai, UAE and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. This saved me c£500 (Emirates throughout, pretty good,) but 27 hours door to door on the way out and c20 hours on the way back so a bit of schlep. Travelling via Nairobi instead would mean 2 flights instead of 3 and much shorter transit times, but I couldn't find a fare under £1,050 routing that way. Non-financial benefits were limited to 2 roadside Laughing Dove in Dubai and 2 runway Pied Crow in Addis!

My c326 species count (120 new birds total) was limited by a few factors: a tight schedule (I basically did the classic SW Uganda 11-day tour in 8 days) a limited number of habitats visited (I choose forest over savannah wherever possible to maximise endemic species/new-for-me species having already birded Kenyan savannah a fair bit in the 1990's) and especially, by my having zero species on tape (apart from the pitta. And even that recording is useless for triggering displaying birds- it's the contact note of a captive bird, probably an imm. I did not hear the sound (an upslurred 'suiieep') in the field, and the guides told me it rarely gets the birds to respond when they are displaying. It may be a contact call used by male/female when feeding?) I really should have got my audio together ahead of this trip and sourced calls etc, and reeeeelly should have bought a new recording device as my vintage MD player is 100% dead after getting soaked in Malaysia. Nonetheless I managed to scrape most of the key birds together.

If you visit Uganda, make sure you get hold of John Roussouw and Marco Sacchi's "Where to watch birds in Uganda (1998)", a mine of information. I highly recommend Uganda as a destination, 2-3 weeks including Murchison NP should net the keen birder 450-600 species.

Bird highlights included:

• The pitta needless to say, see previous post.

• African Finfoot- super-easy at Lake Mburo, though you need an 8am $40 US boat ride to get out to them. Once out on the lake you just cruise the edge until you find them, couldn’t be easier. I had a male and 3 females in half an hour, swimming around and posing for photos, see photo above. (Uganda is no longer super-cheap to bird BTW, every park you enter costs $40-$50, then you have $10 guiding fee per day, tips for guides and armed guard etc (Elephants, water buffalo, gorillas etc a real threat at some sights.)

• Albertine Rift Endemics. There are approx. 36 in total, but only 26 are in Uganda (the rest only in Congo, so not see-able under the present unstable conditions, though I did meet a couple who had just driven right across Congo without hitting any major problems. Advice on the ground in Uganda re: Congo was that large areas of Congo remain unsafe, and that safe/unsafe areas shift radically from week to week.) 24 of the 26 A.R.E. species occur at Bwindi, though a few are very tough there. I scored 17 of the 24 in my 3 days at Buhoma/Ruhizha within the Bwindi NP- a pretty pleasing strike rate! I saw:

-Archer's Robin-Chat (Archer's Ground Robin ) Cossypha archeri. 1 at Ruhizha, taped in using audio from my guide (Medat)'s mobile phone, gawd bless 'im.

- Blue-headed Sunbird. Cyanomitra alinae. 1 male at Ruhizha in a mixed flock.

- Collared Apalis Apalis ruwenzori. A few at Ruhizha.

- Dusky Crimsonwing Cryptospiza jacksoni. 2 + 1 seen in flight at Ruhizha. A cute small forest finch.

- Grauer's Rush Warbler Bradypterus graueri. 1 seen after a 75 mins. wait at the swamp at Ruhizha to get views of an occasionally-calling bird. Typical bloody-minded Bradypterus behaviour.

- Grauer's Warbler Graueria vittata. 2 seen in trail-side vine tangles at Ruhizha after hearing 4 at The Neck and failing to score views despite crawling around in the undergrowth.

- Handsome Francolin Francolinus nobilis. A difficult bird, I was lucky, bumped into two at the highest spot on the trail at Buhoma.

- Montane Masked Apalis Apalis personata. A few after a lot of searching at Ruhizha.

- Red-faced Woodland Warbler Phylloscopus laetus. Fairly common in mixed flocks etc at Buhoma/Ruhizha. A glamorous Phyllosc.

- Red-throated Alethe Alethe poliophrys. 2 at Buhoma, not easy. Another small cute thrush.

- Regal Sunbird Cinnyris regia. A few at Ruhizha.

- Rwenzori Batis Batis diops. A few at Ruhizha after missing them at Buhoma.

- Short-tailed Warbler (Neumann's Warbler) Hemitesia neumanni. 1 seen well on the Waterfall trail at Buhoma- I was very jammy to score this species without tape, we stalked a singing bird at a site known by my guide 'Sunday' and were lucky to have a bird come up right next to the trail, perch for a brief bins view, then fly across the trail. It then reverted to type, calling from the understorey off trail, and no amount of pishing, call-imitation, careful stalking etc would bring it back within range. Tail-less (the field guide even describes it as ‘pitta-like’ which is pushing it a bit...) with a massive super, this is one of the star birds of Bwindi.

- Strange Weaver Ploceus alienus. a juv. and a pair of adults at Buhoma and Ruhizha respectively. A forest weaver species that is easy to miss. Having found the latter pair I ran to get Livingstone, as I knew both his US clients who he was guiding and who happened to be on the same Ruhizha trail as me had missed it thus far. Luckily the birds hung around and everyone got views.

- Stripe-breasted Tit Parus fasciiventer. 2 singles at Ruhizha.

- Yellow-eyed Black Flycatcher Melaenornis ardesiacus. 2 at Buhoma after an hour's wait whilst having a trail-side lunch. Then jammed in on one in the swamp at Ruhizha.

Missed ARE's:

- Kivu Ground Thrush- very tough at Bwindi, guides say they do not often see them even with tape.

- Purple-breasted Sunbird- appeared to be absent, may well be nomadic based on availability of their favourite flowers.

- Rwenzori Turaco- extremely tough at Bwindi, not always there.

- Rwenzori Nightjar (split from Montane NJ)- went out at night for them but did not even hear them on a rather windy night. Local guide said he had not heard them in recent weeks, and since I didn't have tape...

- Dwarf Honeyguide- rare at Bwindi.

- Shelley's Crimsonwing- only a few recent records, very tough.

- African Green Broadbill. Bwindi (the upper Ruhizha section, in the clearing 50m above the swamp on the 'short swamp trail' (the 'long swamp trail is now closed apparently,) is THE place in Africa to see this very difficult species. Birds had bred and were seen with juvs. in May '09, but had not been seen for over two months when I visited. Not a sniff for me despite intensive searching at the stake-out.

• Other good stuff seen:

Afep Pigeon- 1 at Kibale.

African Emerald Cuckoo- 1 at Bwindi.

African Grey Parrot- a few flyovers at Bwindi and 1 at Entebbe Botanical Gardens.

Allen's Gallinule- 1 juv. at Mburo, on the edge of the park in remnant flood.

Black Bee-eater- stunning, but strangely scarce. 1 at Buhoma, 3 at The Neck at Bwindi after dipping at other sites.

Cassin's Blue Fly- 2 on a river inside Kibale.

Chapin's Flycatcher- a pair of this rare but dowdy species at The Neck.

Cinnamon Bracken Warbler- 1 in the bamboo zone at Ruhizha after lots of pishing.

Collared Pratincole- 2 on burnt ground nr Ishasha, a scarce species in SW Uganda.

Doherty's Bush-shrike- 1 near Ruhizha.

Dusky Blue Fly- 2 on a river just outside Kibale NP.

Dusky Twinspot- a pair near Ruhizha, a scarce species. Elliot's Woodpecker- 2 females at The Neck and Ruhizha.

Equatorial Akalat- relatively easy cute small thrush-thing on the Waterfall Trail at Buhoma, c6 in total.

Great Blue Turaco. Rather common and spectacular!

Greater Painted-Snipe- 2 females and a male on flood at the edge of Mburo NP.

Grey Kestrel- 3 singles total, after a lot of raptor-checking.

Horus Swift- 2 over a river crossing nr Ishasha, en route to QE NP.

Bocage's Bush-Shrike- 2 at Buhoma.

Lappet-faced Vulture- 2 overhead at Mburo with a large flock of African White-backs, nice views.

Mountain Black Boubou- 2 at Ruhizha.

Mountain Buzzard- 2 at Ruhizha.

Mountain Illadopsis- 2 at Buhoma. Furtive floor-dwellers, not exactly a riot of colour but funky nonetheless.

Northern Olive Thrush- 2 in a mixed flock at Ruhizha.

Olive Long-tailed Cuckoo- 1 at Buhoma.

Orange Weaver- a male and a female at Entebbe Botanical Gardens after a 3 hour search. Not really worth the effort ;)

Orange-tufted Sunbird. One female Entebbe, Bot. Gdns., also after a long trawl.

Palm-nut Vulture- 4 in total at various sites.

Pink-footed Puffback- c4 at Bwindi, both Buhoma and Ruhizha.

Red-capped Lark- 1 on burnt ground nr Ishasha en route to QE NP.

Red-faced Barbet- 1 sought out at Mburo- the star bird at the site after the Finfoot.

Red-tailed Antthrush- 3 at Maramagambo Forest, Queen Elizabeth NP. Top birds.

Rufous Flycatcher-Thrush- 1 at The Neck. I jammed in on one whilst searching unsuccessfully for a calling Dusky Long-tailed Cuckoo. It flew over my head and I clocked the Zoothera-style underwing bar, then it perched above my head and sang, stellar stuff.

Rwenzori Hill Babbler- a possible split (the race atriceps at Ruhizha etc has a black head) from African Hill Babbler, 2 seen at Ruhizha.

Sabine's Spinetail- 2 over forest at Kibale.

Scaly-breasted Illadopsis- 2 seen very well and photographed at Maramagambo Forest, QE NP.

Scarce Swift- a flock over forest at Buhoma, Bwindi NP.

Toro Olive Greenbul. A few at Kibale. Yawn.

Velvet-mantled Drongo- 1 at Kibale. V. dull.

Western Nicator- 1 at Bwindi.

White-breasted Negrofinch- a few at Buhoma, Bwindi.

White-tailed Antthrush- 1 seen very well in the understorey at Maramagambo Forest, Queen Elizabeth NP.

White-starred Forest Robin- 3 at Ruhziha, including birds hopping about in the road early morning in the bamboo zone. Cracking things.

White-winged Warbler- heard at the community papyrus swamp at Kibale, never got close to seeing one, then jammed in on one from the boat at Mburo whilst looking unsuccessfully for 1 of the 2 pairs of White-backed Night-Heron. The latter had not been seen for a month, they regularly move roost-sites apparently, and roost inside lakeside tree cover so are a b*gger to locate.

Willcock's Honeyguide- 2 seen, 1 at The Neck, 1 in a mixed flock at Ruhizha.

Yellowbill- 1 at the Neck, a last-gasp save having missed them everywhere else. An aberrant malkoha.

• Gorillas- They are at both Buhoma and Ruhizha. I didn't try as had only one full/part day each at Buhoma (lower Bwindi at 1500m), The Neck (middle Bwindi at 2000m), and Ruhizha (upper Bwindi at 2500m.) Budget was also a major issue; an attempt (almost always successful as trackers go out at dawn daily to find the group then radio in the location so that Gorilla-watchers can be escorted to view) costs $500 US per person per day. Accomm. at Buhoma/Ruhizha Bwindi is also very pricey at $150/night minimum full board... Accomm. at Lake Mburo was by far the best deal, $5 a night + dinner at $5...pit latrines and basic shower block (with warthogs feeding 1 metre away!) but all you need, plus Fiery-necked Nightjar calling in the campsite (I missed them despite getting very close pre-dawn at the edge of the campsite, you cannot go outside the campsite unless you stump up another $40 for a night drive, we sought permission to use our own vehicle and were not allowed to do it unless we paid the same fee.)

Other nice tented camps etc at Kibale, Queen Elizabeth NP were only $45-$50 a night full board, excellent value.

NB You also need to book WEEKS in advance for the gorillas. It's possible to bump into an unhabituated group whilst birding at Buhoma or Ruhizha, though sadly I didn't. I reckon that's the only way you can count them on your mammal list anyway, the habituated groups that the monkey-tourists see are effectively like visiting a safari park... ; )

I did jam in on Chimpanzee at Kibale, (where chimp treks can be arranged for much less than $500 US) and an unhabituated one at that!

That’s it for Uganda, hopefully more of interest for non-birders in the next post...