Red-throated Bee-eater
Bee-eaters are always among my most wanted species on any trip to Africa, and we saw 6 different species on our #Epic_Uganda_Vacations birding and wildlife safari through the National Parks and Reserves of Uganda. This is the Red-throated Bee-eater, or as the guide on our Nile River tour boat, from which this photo was taken, said, “the rainbow bird.” If you look at this bird in “Birds of East Africa”, the red will be much more subdued, but on every bird we saw in the field it was this same bright shade, and we saw this species several times. Red-throated Bee-eaters nest in great numbers in the tall clay cliffs along the Nile below Murchinson Falls. We saw close to 50 clinging to the cliff walls and on branches overhanging the water in this location. Sony RX10iv at 1200mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Dark Chanting-Goshawk
I was impressed by the numbers and variety of birds we saw in Uganda with #Epic_Uganda_Vacations when compared to my previous trips to either Kenya or South Africa. This is the Dark Chanting-Goshawk which we encountered at Murchinson Falls National Park early in our trip. I looked it up, since I had to wonder why this is a “chanting” Goshawk? What I could find indicates that the name comes from the mating call, which is along, increasingly rapid, series of notes that turns into a tremolo at the end. We did not hear the call, but I am willing to believe in my sources 🙂 It is certainly a striking bird. Both it and the Eastern variety are possible in Murchinson Falls, but the orange cere is the identifying feature here. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm and 1200mm equivalents. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr.
The Generous Eye: Giraffes in the sunset. Happy Sunday!
“If your eye is generous, your whole being if full of light!” Jesus
Towards the end our first day at Murchinson Falls National Park in Uganda, while we were on our way back to the lodge after a cruise on the Nile to the base of Murchinson Falls, we encountered a journey of Giraffes just before sunset on the crest of a hill in that golden light. Who could resist? Giraffes, to my eye (my generous eye) have a strange beauty at the worst of times, and bathed in glory, as they were at that moment, they are certainly creatures that demand, and reward, our attention. What eye, but the most generous and loving eye of the Creator, could have seen in imagination, and shaped in the flesh, the Giraffe? It is such an unlikely critter…and yet, once seen, so perfectly essential and necessary and right, that you can no longer imagine the world without it. That is the way with the creations of our loving God…each perfect, each undeniable once seen.
It can only be my fervent prayer, reinforced by faith, that I am such a creation…and can live in the world with the same grace as the Giraffe…sunrise to sunset. And that, of course, is my prayer for you as well.
Uganda Kob
A classic shot of the Uganda Kob…the antelope species that replaces the Impala and the Gazelles in much of Uganda. It is, to my eye, a bit sturdier than the Impala…more like a Grant’s Gazelle in body proportions. We saw herds of 50 or more grazing in the lush grasses of September in Murchinson Falls National Park. This is likely the dominant buck of this particular herd. Sony RX10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr.
Petas Monkey
Our third (out of 9) primate species on my September #Epic_Uganda_Vacations birds and wildlife safari in Uganda’s National Parks and Reserves. This fellow is in Murchinson Falls National Park. He climbed up to greet the first rays of the rising sun (and maybe to keep a better eye on us as we stopped on the road near him). They are more commonly seen foraging on the ground, and, indeed, that is where we saw our first one. This one presented itself a half hour later and further into the drive. Given their common social structure…they live and forage in troops of up to 25…there were probably a lot more of them out of sight in the long grasses under the acacia trees below. Sony RX10iv at 600 and 1200mm equivalents. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. The heavy brow and the dark eye-sockets make the eyes hard to recover but you can see a hint of them in the closer view. 🙂
Rothschild’s Giraffe
Among Uganda’s National Parks and Reserves, Murchinson Falls is the only one that supports the kind of herds of the bigger animals that you associate with Kenya or Tanzania or South Africa. In fact, I have never seen larger herds of Giraffes than we saw at Murchinson Falls. Giraffes generally go in bunches to graze…not as solitary individuals…and bunch of Giraffes in the landscape together is called a “herd” or a “journey” or a “tower”, depending on which authority you check. Tower is pretty obvious in its derivation, but not, in fact, very descriptive. While Giraffes might tower as individuals, they don’t group up into anything like a tower. Herd is too prosaic for consideration. Which leaves a “journey of Giraffes,” which certainly captures more of the feeling of Giraffes as you actually see them in the verdant expanse that is Murchinson Falls in September when the rains have started. The Murchinson’s Giraffes are Rothschild’s Giraffes, the most endangered of the three sub-species of common Giraffe…the Masai (the most widespread in Kenya and Tanzania), the Reticulated with a limited range in Kenya, and the Rothschild’s, common only at Murchinson Falls National Park here in Uganda and in a healthy introduced herd in Lake Nakuru National Reserve in Kenya. The panel presented here tries to capture both the felling of the mass of Giraffes at Murhinson Falls, and the grander of the creature. These are from our first encounter with Giraffes on this trip with #Epic_Uganda_Vacations. Sony RX10iv at various focal lengths. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos, and assembled in FrameMagic.
Defassa Waterbuck
The first official day of our #Epic_Uganda_Vacations safari was spent getting to Murchinson Falls National Park, with a stop at the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary along the way for Rhino Trekking, and we drove through the Murchinson gate at sunset, did not reach the Nile Ferry until 7PM, and Pakuba Safari Lodge deep in the park until well after dark. We woke the next morning to a herd of Defassa Waterbuck feeding around our cabins. These shots were taken before sunrise, using the Sony RX10IV’s Anti-Motion Blur mode for the low light levels. Two of the young bucks were testing their combative skills. 600mm equivalent. Processed in Polarr.
African Jacana
As we were turning the boat around after our first Shoebill sighting in the Mabamba Wetlands near Entebbe, Uganda (no easy task as the channel was choked with water plants), one of the African Jacanas that had been feeding nearby decided to come really near. This shot, taken at 1200mm equivalent (2X Clear Image Zoom) is cropped only for composition. The bird was close! Note that unlike most water-weed-walking birds, the Jacana does not have webbed or lobbed toes. It relies on the huge spread of its foot to support it on floating vegetation. Sony RX10IV. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr. #Epic_Uganda_Vacations.
Shoebill in the rain
One of the participants on my #Epic_Uganda_Vacations safari in Uganda decided to come in a day early to look for the Shoebill Stork in the Mabamba Wetlands near the airport in Entebbe. Though I had already made my flight arrangements, on mature reflection (the only kind I am capable of at my age) I decided it was worth the money to change my flight to join her. It turned out to be a magical day. We saw, not one, but two Shoebill Storks, and many other interesting birds, both at the Mabamba Wetlands and at Entebbe Botanical Gardens. And we got our only good soaking of the trip. A storm came up as we were watching the first Shoebill and we huddled under a beach umbrella in the boat and tried to take photos through the rain. This bird mostly just stood and endured the wetting, but it became more active toward the end of our observation, stalking slowly forward and obviously intent on something below water level. If you look closely you can see the rain in the air. 🙂 Shoebills are solitary, except during their mating season, which only comes around once in 5 years. That, and habitat reduction, accounts for their small numbers and isolated distribution. We did see a third Shoebill on the trip…an isolated individual in the Delta of the Victoria and Albert Niles in Murchinson Falls National Park…and that is a high count for any trip to Uganda. Sony Rx10iv at 1200mm equivalent (2x Clear Image Zoom). This is stretching the limits of what the camera can do…using digital enhancement in low light for distant shots…but it was the only way to get the image. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
More White Rhinos
A few more shots from our visit to the Riwa Rhino Sanctuary in Uganda. First, to give you some perspective, some of our group (plus a random tourist who was also assigned to our guide) with the guide. The Rhinos are under the shade of the bushes on the left. Second frame is the male Rhino on the move. The third is the view of a Rhino you do not want to have, though I was still too far away for the Rhino, with its near-sighted, grazing adapted vision, to be aware of me. And finally, one of the Rhino calves nursing. Again, Rhino Trekking is a unique experience, and one not to be missed when you visit Uganda. Sony RX10iv at various focal lengths. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in polarr.