Selected species.

Mountain Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla berengei).
One of the main reasons why I chose Uganda as a birding destination was of course the possibility of seeing some of the world's last remaining Mountain Gorillas. Uganda has the privilege of having two locations where this can be attempted: Bwindi Impenetrable Forest (where I went) and Mgahinga National Park.
Mgahinga is located in the south-western corner of the country, in the border of Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and covers the northern slopes of the mythical Virunga volcanoes. Each of the bordering countries has established a protected area within their portion of the Virungas; Mgahinga comprises just 34 km2, around 8% of the whole area. It is in the Rwandan side of the volcanoes that Dian Fossey established her research station and studied and tried to protect the famed "Gorillas in the mist" groups for years, until she was murdered (presumably by poachers) in 1985. Altitude within the park ranges from 2,227 to 4,127 m, and the temperatures can be quite low, getting colder by around 1.6ºC with every 300 m climbed. Gorilla groups wander between the three countries, and chances to see them are therefore reduced. Also, it seems that infrastructure and facilities are more basic here than at Bwindi. However, I have met people who had a wonderful experience tracking the Gorillas here. Also, the montane forest landscape seems to create a more dramatic and unique scenery.


The engagingly named Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is located some 60 km further north, and is a much bigger park, covering 331 km2. It has a lower altitude, ranging from 11,160 to 2,607 m. Climate is therefore milder, and owing to their medium-altitude forest habitat, Gorillas here look quite different from those in the Virungas: their coat is not as dense and long, and therefore they look somewhat smaller. In fact, they were thought to be more closely related to the Eastern Lowland Gorillas (Gorilla g. graueri) that inhabit eastern Congo, until quite recently DNA research proved them part of the berengei subspecies.


Bwindi can be accessed from several points (see below), but in order to see the Gorillas one must enter the protected area through the village of Buhoma, at the northern end of the park. Permits must be secured well in advance through the Uganda Wildlife Authority in Kampala. The price of the permit allowing you to spend one hour with a group of Gorillas has been recently increased to US$ 275 per person. Not cheap, but understandable when one sees the infrastructure and means put together by the Government in order to ensure the safety of both the Gorillas and the tourists. Rangers are many and well-armed, and soldiers accompany every group that enters the forest beyond the reserve limits. However, the friendliness of the rangers and the nice disposition of Ugandans as a rule prevent the atmosphere from being oppressive. And when one remembers what happened in Buhoma a few years ago , and also the fate suffered by so many gorillas at the hands of poachers, the presence of armed guards is definitely well received.


Visitors are assigned to a six-person group and lectured for a while on the rules of the day. Then starts the hike up the mountain, that can take anything from one to eight hours depending on where and if the gorillas have been located by the trackers that left earlier and communicate with walkie-talkie with the rangers accompanying the group. We were lucky and found the gorillas after a 1 ½ hour hike. Once the gorillas are located by the trackers, rangers instruct the visitors to leave all food or drink items, or anything that might entice the Gorillas' curiosity. No matter how many documentaries and films you have seen, or how many books and magazines you've read; nothing prepares you for the first sight of a wild Mountain Gorilla glimpsed through the forest vegetation. We came upon a family group of one big - enormous- silverback male and several females with their young, with ages that seemed to range from 1 to 3 years. Adults mostly ignore people, but youngsters are very curious and will frequently establish eye contact. Practically anyone who has been so close to them will tell you that this is a life-altering experience.

Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes).
Chimps are another big attraction of Ugandan national parks. The main place to see them is Kibale National Forest, where a group has been habituated to people, but I had the extraordinary luck of spotting one at Bwindi, on the trail to the Mbwindi Swamp, near Ruhija at the eastern edge of the park. It was a young specimen, sitting on a branch and well aware of our presence, but seemingly unconcerned due to the great distance between us (the photo is taken through a Swarovski scope at maximum magnification; in the next photo you can see where the Chimp was sitting, without the scope). Bwindi Chimps are not habituated to people and are very difficult to see, let alone photograph.


I saw them again at Kibale Forest, where a group of adult males climbed down from the trees a mere 15 metres away from me. These Chimps belonged to the one group that has been habituated to tolerate humans, which means they don't flee when they see people, although they certainly won't allow you to come as close as you could with Gorillas. Whereas Gorillas are placid and easy-going, and transmit a feeling of peacefulness, there's something about wild Chimps that makes them much more intimidating. Especially after hearing from Harriet, the local ranger who accompanied me through my visit to Kibale, that only a week ago a band was patrolling its territory boundaries, came upon a trespassing adult male of a rival clan, and beat him to death. Also, they regularly kill and eat monkeys, particularly the very abundant Red Colobus (Colobus badius tephrosceles). On the other hand, they are frequently seen foraging together with Grey-Cheeked Mangabeys and Red-tailed Guenons, who seem totally unafraid of them, and never bother them. Maybe they have a bad taste?.


Hassan told me that a year before my visit a band of wild Chimpanzees attacked a group of three children while they were playing near the forest edge. They killed one of them and badly injured the other two. Apparently a number of Chimps had recently been killed by loggers while clearing forest, and local people were convinced that this was an act of revenge from the Chimps. This seems unlikely, but in any case stories like this make you look at Chimpanzees with caution, to say the least.

African Green Broadbill (Pseudocalyptomena graueri).
An Albertine Rift endemism restricted to Eastern Congo and Western Uganda, this is one of the most sought-after species in the country, and the great birding attraction at Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. At the time of my visit, none had been seen for weeks, and my hopes to find it were very low. At this time of the year their breeding season is over, the young have fledged and the birds tend to stay up in the canopy, where they remain motionless and silent for long periods, making them very difficult to detect. And yet, while we walked from Ruhija to Mubwindi swamp, Hassan thought he'd heard something that sounded like its soft, high-pitched call, and leaving the trail went into the dense undergrowth, looking up. After a while, to his great credit, and incredibly for a bird that is almost exactly the size and colour of a leaf, and stays motionless on top of a very tall tree, he found it: sitting high up on a branch, looking down to us with curiosity and offering much better views than my rather poor photos may suggest.


Forest    Ruhija camp is a small and very basic ranger station, without electricity or running water, situated at the eastern edge of Bwindi impenetrable forest. Apart from African Green Broadbill, the hike from the camp to Mubwindi swamp produced such great birds as Graüer's Rush Warbler (Bradypterus graueri), another Albertine Rift endemic; and White-headed Forest Hoopoe (Phoeniculus bollei), one of my favourite African birds. They forage in small groups on the higher branches and behave very much like monkeys, moving incessantly and exploring every crevice in the bark in search of arthropods and small invertebrates. They have a complex and sophisticated social life that includes cooperative raising of the young and communal feeding.

Green-breasted Pitta (Pitta reichenowi).
Another highly coveted species for visiting birders. As in the previous case none had been spotted for weeks when I arrived at Kibale Forest National Park. I was assigned Harriet (see photo above) as a ranger, and together with Hassan and Joseph we left in search of this elusive bird, again with our hopes rather low. Harriet led us into the area where it had been last seen, a patch deep in very dense forest. It was overcast and not much light reached the forest floor through the trees.
It had been raining until a few hours ago and water still dropped from the canopy, creating sound and movement illusions on the forest floor. Remembering my trip to Borneo many years before, I tried to concentrate on the areas where I would have expected to find an Asian Pitta: on the ground, perhaps near the huge protruding roots of a great tree. and incredibly, I found it. The initial excitement from having spotted such an elusive species gave way to wonder at the amazing beauty of its plumage. It kept skulking through the undergrowth, but at a certain point it stopped on a clearing where all of us could see it. The forest was rather dark, but the bird's feathers seemed to have a light of their own, especially the blue on the wings, that positively glowed as it jumped after offering excellent views. We all congratulated each other and relaxed, and saw some nice bonuses, like Brown Illadopsis (Illadopsis fulvescens) and Tambourine Dove (Turtur tympanistria). And as we turned back to the main trail, we saw not one but two Green-Breasted Pittas standing on a fallen tree that crossed the trail. They jumped around for a while giving striking views before finally retiring into the undergrowth. I was so amazed that for once I completely forgot about my camera and just enjoyed myself.

Brown-chested Lapwing (Vanellus superciliosus).
This species is a real treat for any Lapwing and Plover fan; small, uncommon and with a subtle, understated beauty. It's also the only African Plover with marked seasonal migratory movements: they breed in West Africa and travel eastwards in July, staying until December. They stay in small groups and are rather shy; I found it virtually impossible to approach them enough to take a decent photo. After several frustrating attempts, I found out that they seemed to become more relaxed as sunset approached and daylight faded (which of course made photos more difficult). These images were shot at 1/15 sec, after a laborious crawl with camera, scope and tripod.

Lake Mburo National Park is a dry savannah and open acacia woodland area that experiences seasonal fires that help renovate the soil. At the time of our arrival, the whole area around the tented Mantana Camp where I lodged was scorched black, giving the whole place an eerie feeling. The camp has nice permanent tents, but no running water or electricity, so it was a good thing that I had brought several spare batteries for my camera. Apart from Brown-chested Lapwing, we found a number of very nice dry savannah species, such as Senegal Lapwing (Vanellus lugubris), African Wattled Lapwing (Vanellus senegalus), African Grey Hornbill (Tockus nasutus). During a boat ride in the lake itself I saw a pair of Giant Kingfisher (Megaceryle maxima), mobbed by a group of angry Pied Kingfisher (Ceryle rudis), Lesser Swamp Warbler (Acrocephalus gracilirostris), and a female with an almost fledged young African Finfoot (Podica senegalensis). However, I missed Red-faced Barbet, one of the Ugandan specialties.

At the camp I met Adam Riley from Rockjumper Birding Tours in South Africa, who was leading a group of Americans (and one Canadian). I joined them one night to see African Scops Owl (Otus senegalensis) near the camp. Adam tipped us to what was one of the nicest birds in Mburo and the whole trip, Violet-tipped Courser (Rhinoptilus chalcopterus): they had seen a pair near the camp in a burned out area, and later we found them without difficulty. It was the first time this species was recorded at Lake Mburo, and it was a lifebird for Hassan.

Although never in the numbers found in Kenyan parks, hoofed mammals were abundant at Mburo: Oribi, Zebra, Impala, Topi, and Warthog were frequently seen. And unlike in Kenya, large areas of the park can be explored on foot. We came upon a herd of incredibly huge Eland this way.

Shoebill (Balaeniceps rex).
The biggest star of Ugandan avifauna, and one of the most unique birds in the world. Restricted to the extensive reed and papyrus swamps of Central Africa, nowadays the only safely accessible place to see it is Uganda. We first looked for it at Mabamba Swamp, not far from Entebbe.
The Ugandan Birdguides Club has established a guided paddleboat system that allows visitors to enter the marsh while benefiting the local community. The small boats follow an intricate maze of narrow channels through the reeds, on quiet waters covered by blue water lilies. While searching for the Shoebill we saw many African Jacana (Actophilornis africanus), Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio), Blue-breasted Bee-eater (Merops variegatus), and a small group of African Pygmy-goose (Nettapus auritus). Hassan (of course) was the first in seeing the head of a Shoebill protruding through the reeds, and we tried to approach it as quietly as possible. The bird flew away when we were some fifteen meters away, and what an amazing sight it was, its enormous size accentuated by the striking bluish-grey colour and surprisingly fast, powerful flight. I remained speechless for several minutes after that, and very happy to have a photo, however distant. Although I later took much better photos at Murchison Falls, to me this one retains a certain charm.


The other reliable site to look for this fantastic creature is Murchison Falls NP, where the Nile creates the spectacular waterfalls that name the park and an extensive, permanent marsh. Here we saw two Shoebills among the dense papyrus along the Nile shore, driving from Paraa Lodge. Luckily, one of them stood its ground while I crawled with my scope and tripod, enough to take a few decent images. These are the occasions that justify carrying the weight of scope and tripod half a world away. The park holds a great variety of birds and mammals.

The Nile running in the open after the waterfalls

Game drives from the lodge were very productive, and David knew the best ranger in the park for birds, Chris. We drove with him a whole afternoon and the next morning, and among many other species we saw Denham's Bustard (Neotis denhami), Northern Carmine Bee-eater (Merops nubicus), Swallow-tailed Bee-eater (Merops hirundineus), Pennant-winged Nightjar (Macrodypterus vexillarius) giving surreal exhibitions at dusk and, best of all for me, Abyssinian Ground Hornbill (Bucorvus abyssinicus), a bird that proved more elusive than I expected, until we found a pair at what looked like their nest into a broken tree.

We also saw a pride of young Lions and a large herd of Elephant, which looked rather upset by our presence. Unlike their Kenyan counterparts, Ugandan Elephants seem less used to being watched by people and try to get away from vehicles as fast as they can.


Shining-blue Kingfisher (Alcedo quadribrachys).
Not a particularly rare bird, but generally elusive, found in streams into deep forest, and stunningly beautiful even by kingfisher standards. For some reason it was one of my main targets for the trip, and I was very lucky to see one in the open, at a small pond not far from Masuvi. It was late in the afternoon and it had been raining until a few minutes before, so the light was very poor for photos. Still, shooting at 1/8 sec I was able to get some recognisable images.
Ground Hornbill male

Another nice find in the vicinity of this pond was a pair of White-thighed Hornbill (Bycanistes cylindricus), distinguished from its much more common cousin Black-and-white casqued Hornbill (Bycanistes subcylindricus) by its clear eye-ring and its whiter tail.