Uganda December 2016 (1 Viewer)

[Bokmakierie99]

In the first two weeks of December this year we took a trip around south-western Uganda, following mostly the typical birding itenerary:
Day 1: arrive Entebbe, drive to Semliki National Park
Day 2: birding hike in Semliki NP
Day 3: morning in Semliki, then drive to Queen Elizabeth - evening drive there
Day 4: Morning drive at QENP, then boat trip on Kazinga channel.
Day 5: Birding on drive out of QENP, then drive to Buhoma, in Bwindi Impenetrable NP
Day 6: birding hike in Buhoma area of Bwindi
Day 7: travel to Ruhija, birding "the neck"
Day 8: Ruhija swamp hike
Day 9: Bird on drive out of Bwindi, then drive to Mgahinga NP
Day 10: Hike up Mt. Sabinyo
Day 11: Birding in Mgahinga
Day 12: drive to Lake Mburo NP, evening drive there
Day 13: birding drive at LMNP, then drive to Mpanga Forest
Day 14: Mbamba Swamp, then back to Entebbe.

We travelled with a company called Roadtrip Uganda; we hired a car, along with driver/guide, camping gear, cooking equipment, etc. Including both the cost of the guiding/car and our food and lodging, we spent a little over $100 per person per day.
Our guide was an excellent birder named Luke - he was very knowledgable and quite keen to find us as many of our target birds as possible. He's a freelance guide, so while we hired him through Roadtrip, he presumably could be hired through other companies.
With Luke and a series of excellent local guides he arranged for us (he was a big help at Bwindi in particular, getting us guides who knew about the local birds rather than just about the gorillas) we managed a total of 372 species on this 14-day trip, including about 180 life birds for myself and 15 of the 25 Albertine Rift endemics.

I've started writing up a day-by-day report of our travels, and I'll post it here as I finish it.

 

[Bokmakierie99]

Day 1:
We arrived in Entebbe the previous evening, seeing Marabou Storks and Common Bulbuls at the airport.
We are met by Luke at 8 o'clock, and shortly thereafter start on the long drive to Semliki National Park, which lies at the far eastern edge of the Guinea-Congo forest and harbors a number of species restricted to this area in Uganda. On the drive between Entebbe and Fort Portal we see a few neat birds: a Lizard Buzzard, a White-throated Bee-eater, and a whole bunch of Long-crested Eagles - these turn out to be one of the most common roadside birds!
We pass through Kabale National Park east of Fort Portal, where we see our first Black-and-White Colobus Monkeys of the trip, but we can't stop long since we need to get to Semliki before dark.
In that we succeed, getting to the park cabins just at dusk.
Right outside the communal kitchen is a pair of African Wood-Owls; I hear them duet a number of times, and then get a look at one in the tree right by the building.

 

[Bokmakierie99]

Day 2:
We get an early start, leaving the cabins with Justice, our local bird guide, at 7.
We start out birding along the tarred road which forms the boundary of the park here, and see quite a few neat birds: a lovely male Black Bishop is displaying in the grass by the road. In the trees close to the road we see a Western Olive-naped Pigeon, numerous Woodland Kingfishers, and Piping Hornbills, the first Semliki special of the day. Another special species, the Orange-cheeked Waxbill, is in the grass by the roadside, along with Bronze Mannikins and Thick-billed and Vieillot's Black Weavers.
We then head into the forest itself, along the Kiruyma trail, which runs all the way to the Semliki River, 14 kilometers away. We take it only four kilometers or so in, turning around at an oxbow lake.
At first the woods are very quiet, but over the course of the rest of the day we see quite a few species, mostly in dispersed feeding flocks. We see a couple more Semliki specials: Black-casqued Wattled-Hornnbill and Lemon-bellied Crombec; but mostly we enjoy more "normal" rainforest birds, most of which are new for us anyway: Red-bellied Paradise-Flycatcher, Chestnut Wattle-eye, Red-tailed Bristlebill, Yellow-throated Tinkerbird, etc.
At the oxbow lake we look for the Hartlaub's Duck, but unfortunately it isn't there... we see a Shining-blue Kingfisher and a young Palm-nut Vulture, however. On the way back we encounter a feeding flock including a Yellow-crested Woodpecker, and several Helmeted Guineafowl run across our path.
By ~4 in the afternoon we're back at the road, and return to the cabins for a second night.

 

[Bokmakierie99]

Day 3:
We are up early again and do a couple hours of morning birding along the road before leaving Semliki; we can bird along the road without paying the park's rather expensive ($30 per person) daily fees.
Birding along the road is still quite productive. Along the main tarred road we see Green Hylia and a Western Nicator, as well as four species of monkey: Black-and-white Colobus, Red-tailed, Blue, and the Grey-cheeked Mangabey.
The highlight, however, is a couple of Red-billed Dwarf Hornbills which start calling from a tree right above our heads - this is another Semliki special and one we had heard repeatedly on yesterday's hike but never seen. We get good views of it here and then continue to an old road that runs up the hillside above the park; from here we get a great view out over the Semliki forest, and can see the steaming hot springs in the foreground as well. Along the road we see a Klaas's Cuckoo, as well as both Tambourine and Blue-spotted Wood-Doves, which we had heard but not seen yesterday. There's also an African Pygmy Kingfisher and a pair of Bronzy Sunbirds.
We leave Semliki NP and head back toward Fort Portal, taking an hour diversion to drive out to the bank of the Semliki River, where we do some birding and look over at the DRC on the other side. There's a family of Grey-backed Fiscals here, plus an African Mourning Dove and some shorebirds: Little Stint, Common Ringed Plover, and Spur-winged Lapwings.
We drive to Fort Portal and then south to Queen Elizabeth NP, arriving there at ~4 PM. We pay our entrance fees for the next 24 hours and then head off on an evening game drive in the Kasenyi loop area. Birding here is very productive, and we see a ton of new stuff. Highlights include a big flock of Collared Pratincoles which seem to be foraging between the feet of some Buffalo, several Yellow-throated Longclaws, loads of displaying Pin-tailed Whydahs, etc.