Uganda: Shoebill, Albertine Rift Endemics, Green-breasted Pitta, Gorillas and Chimpanzees in 12 Days

15 – 26 July 2013

Trip report written by Chris Lotz with input from the group

This was a truly wonderful trip in every way. Our group consisted of six friends from Ohio, all of whom I had previously thoroughly enjoyed traveling with in Namibia. And we were delighted with what we saw: 21 Albertine Rift endemics (including Grauer’s Broadbill and Ruwenzori Turaco), majestic Shoebill with the rare Blue Swallow flying around and beautiful Papyrus Gonolek serenading them, a pair of stunning Green-breasted Pittas, and, last but not least, 11 primate species, including gorillas and chimps. We saw a total of 363 bird species (this excludes any leader-only or heard-only species), including 21 Albertine Rift endemics, and 28 mammals.

Top birds: Red-chested Owlet, Shoebill, Ruwenzori Turaco, Green-breasted Pitta, Grauer’s Broadbill, Neumann’s Warbler


Shoebill (photo Niall Perrins)

Top mammals: Golden monkey (an endangered, rare, and very localized subspecies of the blue monkey), mountain gorilla, eastern chimpanzee


Mountain gorilla (photo Masa Wang)

Day 1, July 15. Birding Entebbe
The group had arrived the day before and had had spectacular views of Bat Hawks building a nest right outside the Boma Guest House. And today everyone had the opportunity to start getting re-acquainted with African birds since their last African adventures. Birding the grounds of the guest house and also at the Entebbe Botanic Gardens on the shores of Africa’s greatest lake, Victoria, generated a suite of good birds. The list included Pink-backed Pelican and many other waterbirds, various raptors, the first of many Grey Crowned Cranes (Uganda’s national bird), Grey Parrot (amazing to see wild-flying ones!), beautiful Ross’s and gigantic Great Blue Turacos, Eastern Plantain-eater, White-browed Coucal, our first three kingfisher species, two hornbill species, stonking Double-toothed Barbet, a surprise Willcocks’s Honeyguide along with Lesser Honeyguide, African Grey Woodpecker, two pretty robin-chat species, the fine Grey-capped Warbler, the bizarre Black-and-white (Vanga) Shrike-flycatcher, Brown-throated Wattle-eye, our first four sunbird species, strikingly-colored Black-headed Gonolek, six weaver species, and lots of others.
The first trip mammals we saw were the striking eastern black-and-white colobus (but we had to wait a few days before getting good views), vervet, and the bulky olive baboon.

Great Blue Turaco (photo Masa Wang) Eastern Plantain-eater


Grey Crowned Crane

Day 2, July 16. Mabamba Swamp and Shoebill, transfer to Lake Mburo National Park
With great excitement, we headed out of Entebbe (thankfully avoiding the 6-million strong Kampala) to Mabamba Swamp, probably the most famous site on the planet for the monstrous Shoebill. This vulnerable species is so bizarre that some authorities place it not only in its own family, but order! Arriving at the “swamp” (which does not have trees and by some definitions is thus technically not a swamp but a marsh), we piled into two tiny boats and headed through the papyrus, seeing all kinds of weavers, Swamp Flycatcher, and other birds, and eventually locating a Shoebill! And, ducking and diving through the papyrus and even around the Shoebill, we were thrilled to see another vulnerable bird, Blue Swallow, foraging in the swamp. This large, beautiful, swallow is an intra-African migrant that spends the southern summer in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Malawi and other countries with cool high altitude grasslands, migrating to Uganda during the non-breeding season, where it occupies a completely different habitat. After the Shoebill, we also located some other important birds, such as Papyrus Gonolek, Lesser Jacana, and Blue-breasted Bee-eater. We then headed to our nearby site for Orange Weaver, scoping one of them at its nest, and also finding the localized Weyns’s Weaver en route.
Eventually, we embarked on the long drive to Lake Mburo National Park, where we arrived in time for a late afternoon game drive, enjoying lots of new trip birds as well as mammals, including the likes of plains zebra, defassa waterbuck, common warthog (tons of them), impala, and topi. Good birds included Bare-faced Go-away-bird, Senegal Lapwing, Blue-spotted Wood Dove, Emerald-spotted Wood Dove, Meyer’s Parrot, and a lot of others.
Today we saw lots of other birds not mentioned here, including for instance eight different weaver species.


Papyrus Gonolek (photo Niall Perrins) Blue Swallow (photo John Caddick)


Blue-breasted Bee-eater (photo Masa Wang)

Day 3, July 17. Lake Mburo National Park, transfer to Kisoro
At dawn we heard and briefly saw two Nightjar species, Square-tailed and Black-shouldered. The main target of our morning walk was the highly localized Red-faced Barbet, which we eventually got great views of. But we also saw loads of dry-area birds we would not see later in the trip, including Spot-flanked Barbet, Blue-naped Mousebird (Speckled Mousebird, on the other hand, we saw virtually daily), and Moustached Grass Warbler.
Lake Mburo could be the easiest place on earth to see African Finfoot, and we saw good numbers of them during our boat trip. We also got close views of the elusive White-backed Night Heron, many other water-associated birds, and very entertaining hippos.
In the late morning we embarked on our drive to Kisoro, seeing some good waterbirds such as White-backed Duck, Knob-billed Duck, Red-billed Teal, and others at a short stop en route. The comfortable Travellers’ Rest at Kisoro was to be our base for two nights, from where we would explore the incomparable Mgahinga Gorilla National Park. This picturesque reserve, its landscape dominated by three of the spectacular Virunga Volcanoes, would prove to be a very exciting introduction for us to the Albertine (or Western) Rift Valley EBA (Endemic Bird Area). The Albertine Rift Valley is a branch of Africa’s famous Great Rift Valley and runs from Tanzania northwards to the Rwanda/Burundi/DRC/Uganda border region. Here at Mgahinga Gorilla National Park we could see into Rwanda and the DRC, and the mountain gorillas here cross the international boundaries regularly (and without bothering about visas!).


Red-faced Barbet White-backed Night Heron

Day 4, July 18. Birding Mgahinga Gorilla National Park
We spent the day doing a long walk, exploring Mgahinga Gorilla National Park on foot. The first stage of the trail traversed regenerating forest (previously farmland), where we found some good birds, including Western Tinkerbird, Dusky Turtle Dove, Mountain Yellow Warbler, our first of many Chubb’s Cisticola, and Black-headed Waxbill. Soon we entered the extensive bamboo zone and established forest, so we added new birds to our list, including Red-faced Woodland Warbler (an Albertine Rift endemic), Strange Weaver (another Albertine Rift endemic), Ruwenzori Hill Babbler, six beautiful sunbirds including two Albertine Rift endemics, arguably the most spectacular one being Regal Sunbird, Olive-breasted Greenbul, skulking Cinnamon Bracken Warbler, and White-starred Robin.
Ruwenzori Turaco really gave us problems, as we heard them but could not see any, until right near the end of the walk, where we eventually got absolutely amazing views of the bird perching as well as flying, with its unbelievable crimson wings. This turaco, so unique that it’s placed in its own genus, was the main target at Mgahinga, since it’s the only place in the itinerary where it can be seen reliably. Many bird tours to Uganda miss this important species/genus.
And, finally as far as birds went, we also saw “Kivu Ground Thrush” (now considered by most authorities as being a subspecies of Abyssinian Ground Thrush), a rare Albertine Rift endemic of the bamboo zone. Sadly, most group members did not see the bird well, but at times we were close to it as it crept on the forest floor and at one point sat singing high in the bamboo.
The day ended incredibly well, with fantastic views of the rare golden monkey!


Chubb’s Cisticola

Day 5, July 19. Birding Ruhizha
We had a short drive, birding en route, to Ruhizha, the high-altitude, cool section of the fabled Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Good birds we located before lunch were Hottentot Teal, Black-and-white Mannikin, and various others. We had lunch next to a papyrus swamp, where we found the localized Papyrus Yellow Warbler, but only had brief views of an overflying Papyrus Canary. Other birds that entertained us here included our first Mackinnon’s Shrike, Black-lored Babbler, African Rail (seen only by a couple of tour participants), Blue-headed Coucal, Holub’s Golden Weaver, and others.
One of the highlights of the day was incredibly close views of Barred Long-tailed Cuckoo – a bird we look for at its breeding grounds in southern Africa (especially Mozambique) during the southern summer, but which migrates northwards in July. We also found our first of several other star birds such as White-headed Wood Hoopoe, Black-billed Turaco, Cassin’s Honeybird, Yellow-whiskered Greenbul, Yellow-throated Leaflove, Grey Cuckooshrike, White-browed Crombec, Thick-billed Seedeater, Streaky Seedeater, Ruwenzori Apalis (an Albertine Rift endemic), Mountain Masked Apalis (another Albertine Rift endemic), Chestnut-throated Apalis, and more. We stopped at our site for Grauer’s Swamp Warbler (yet another Albertine Rift endemic), which would save us a kilometer on the fairly strenuous walk we were due to do the following day, since then we would no longer have to get to the very bottom of the swamp for this species. Red-throated Alethe (another Albertine Rift endemic) gave us a run-around but eventually showed well. The spectacular Doherty’s Bushshrike dazzled us towards the end of the day.
Good mammals today included long-awaited decent views of eastern black-and-white colobus, Stuhlmann’s blue monkey, our first L’Hoest’s monkey (which licks salt from the roadsides, where we saw it a handful of times during this trip), and Ruwenzori duiker. We also saw Boehm’s bush squirrel and Carruther’s mountain squirrel.


Eastern black-and-white colobus (photo Masa Wang)

Day 6, July 20. Mubwindi Swamp
Some tour participants opted to relax around Trekker’s Tavern, where we were spending two nights, while others walked down and down into Mubwindi Swamp, at the back of our minds knowing we’d have to walk up and up in the afternoon when we’d be tired… But what an absolutely exceptional birding day – the kind of day a birder dreams about – literally, the flow of incoming new birds hardly stopped the whole day! Some of the birds we saw were Red-chested Owlet (quite close!), Mountain Buzzard, Crowned Eagle, Handsome Francolin (startling us as it flushed; this is an Albertine Rift Endemic, which I’ll abbreviate to ARE here since there are lots today), Dwarf Honeyguide (ARE), five greenbuls, Archer’s Ground Robin (ARE), Evergreen Forest Warbler, lovely Banded Prinia, beautiful Black-throated Apalis, Yellow-eyed Black Flycatcher (ARE), White-bellied Crested Flycatcher, Mountain Illadopsis, Stripe-breasted Tit (ARE), Dusky Tit, Lagden’s Bushshrike (ARE), Mountain Sooty Boubou, Mountain Oriole, Stuhlmann’s Starling, Sharpe’s Starling, Strange Weaver (ARE), Dusky Crimsonwing (ARE), Yellow-bellied Waxbill, and Western Citril.
Oh, and I should mention Grauer’s Broadbill (ARE)!! This bird is only known from Uganda and the DRC and is endangered, with a small and declining population. Mubwindi Swamp is the best site on the planet to see it. It’s actually numerous towards the bottom of our long walk today, but this small green (with some subtle blue on it as well) bird looks exactly like a leaf, so it is tough to locate unless it’s moving. We saw and heard several of them, but got good visuals on them only a couple of times. We saw a nest as well, but it was apparently unoccupied.


Black Bee-eater

Day 7, July 21. Birding the Neck, transfer to Buhoma, birding on the way
After scoping Yellow-crowned Canaries around the lodge, we departed and birded “the Neck” and other sites en route to Buhoma, which is the lower elevation section of the magnificent Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Here we would spend three nights at the very comfortable Mahogany Springs. Today we found Woolly-necked Stork, Narina Trogon (truly excellent views of this dazzler), magnificently-plumaged, tiny Black Bee-eater (its colors are unreal through the scope!), equally beautiful Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater, Petit’s Cuckooshrike, Red-tailed Greenbul, Grey-winged Robin-Chat, Red-capped Robin-Chat, Brown-backed Scrub Robin, Grauer’s Warbler (an Albertine Rift Endemic), White-chinned Prinia, both African and White-tailed Blue Flycatchers (very spectacular birds!), Cassin’s Flycatcher (at the river where we had lunch), Mountain Wagtail (at the same river), Chestnut Wattle-eye, nine Sunbird species including Purple-breasted (an Albertine Rift Endemic), Brown-crowned Tchagra, Pink-footed Puffback, Lühder’s Bushshrike, Narrow-tailed Starling, Red-headed Malimbe, Black-necked Weaver, interesting-looking Black-billed Weaver (black with a yellow head – the reverse of most weavers!), two nigrita species, Dusky Twinspot, Red-headed Bluebill, Black-throated Canary, and Golden-breasted Bunting.
We added red-tailed monkey to our burgeoning list of primates.


Cinnamon-breasted Bee-eater (photo Niall Perrins) Narina Trogon (photo John Tinkler)

Day 8, July 22. Birding Buhoma
For energetic members of the group, we spent a full day birding Buhoma. Those who stayed behind at the very nice lodge also saw some good birds – Oriole Finch and Red-headed Bluebill – two incredible seedeaters with very bright colors! Those doing the long but quite easy walk were richly rewarded with several more Albertine Rift endemics. The pitta-shaped Neumann’s Warbler posed amazingly well, twice, and curiously peered at us as we peered back at it. Other good birds included Tambourine Dove, Grey Parrot, Ross’s Turaco, Grey-throated Barbet, Speckled Tinkerbird, Yellow-throated Tinkerbird, African Broadbill doing its unbelievable display (it hops off its perch and does a circular flight while giving its weird call), Shelley’s Greenbul, Honeyguide Greenbul, Toro Olive Greenbul, remarkably good views of Red-tailed Bristlebill, White-bellied Robin-Chat, fleeting views of Equatorial Akalat, gorgeous Black-faced Rufous Warbler (with its beautiful but strange call, too!), Green Hylia, Buff-throated Apalis, Grey Apalis, Olive-green Camaroptera, Sooty Flycatcher on a dead stick, the rare Chapin’s Flycatcher (an Albertine Rift endemic), Grey-throated Tit-Flycatcher, Tiny Sunbird, Many-colored Bushshrike, Bocage’s Bushshrike, Purple-headed Starling, and Brown-capped Weaver.
African giant squirrel was perhaps the most interesting new mammal of the day.