Ugandan Primate special: Red-tailed Monkey
This Red-tailed (White-nosed Black-faced Monkey) observed us passing along the Royal Mile in Bodongo Forest next to Murchinson Falls National Park. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 1250 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Plus .7EV.
African Pygmy Kingfisher
African Pygmy Kingfisher: The Royal Mile, Bonyoro, Uganda, August 2022 — One of my hopes for our visit to the Royal Mile (and if you did not read my post yesterday, you should check it out for more information on the Royal Mile) was Kingfishers! The Mile is famous among birders, among other things, for the frequency of sightings of the rarer Ugandan and African Kingfishers, including the Chocolate-backed…which is a bird I really want to see. You can probably guess from the tense in that sentence that I did not see it this trip…but I did get good looks a Kingfisher I had only glimpsed by chance in 2019, and added two new Kingfishers to my African Kingfisher list…and that despite the fact that the light remained poor all morning under the dense and very high canopy of the Bodongo forest. This is an African Pygmy Kingfisher…not all that rare a bird…but one I had only seen for a moment when no one else was looking (but managed a photo of) in the Botanical Gardens of Entebbe on my first Ugandan adventure. I was still delighted to see one sitting in the open along the Royal Mile. There were other Kingfishers calling there…both the Chocolate-backed and the Blue-breasted…but we had to settle for visuals of the Pygmy. Settle! 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications and multi-frame noise reduction. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. It was very dark, as I mentioned, so even with multi-frame noise reduction engaged the nominal exposures were at ISO 6400 @ f4 @ 1/200th and 1/160th. Plus .3EV. And I still had to use Pixelmator’s AI noise reduction to get acceptable images.
Widowbirds of Budongo
Red-collared and Yellow-mantled Widowbirds: Bodongo Forest, Uganda, August 2022 — In the 1950s the king of Bonyoro in Uganda was exiled to Scotland, and while there he saw the famous Royal Mile in Edinburg. When he returned home he had a similar road constructed through the Bodongo forest between his place and the parliament of the kingdom, which he had built along the lines of the Scottish building. The Bodongo Royal Mile is now one of the most famous birding destinations in the world…known for regular sightings of a number of rare East African specialties. We set aside a morning to bird it, but you really need a couple of days there to improve the odds of seeing the birds you want. Worse, the forest was socked in under low clouds when we arrived and our local guide, hired for the excursion, advised us to spend a few hours in the fields of the community at the edge of the forest until the light improved. My companions, all on their first trips to Uganda (and two of them on their first trip to Africa) were just happy to be seeing new birds, but it was a struggle getting good photos in the brush at the edges of the cultivation. The panel above shows two shots of the Re-collared Widowbird and two shots of the Yellow-mantled Widowbird. Both are somewhat variable by region. Apparently the Red-collared shows very little red and the Yellow-mantled shows a lot of yellow in the kingdom of Bonyoro. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent (cropped and enlarged to 1200mm at the least). Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos.
Bonus: Giraffe in the late sun
On our way to Murchinson Falls National Park, on our third full day in Uganda, we drove to the top of Murchinson Falls on the Nile for the view, and then crossed the new bridge over the river on our way to our lodge for the night. That put us in the park in the soft light of late afternoon/early evening, as the wildlife was settling and taking care of last chores for the day. This was our first giraffe of the trip. Sony Rx10iv at 371mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
African Green Pigeon
African Green Pigeon: One of the more common and widespread birds of Africa, with a range that includes all but the driest areas south of the Sahara: from the Congo of West Africa, all of East Africa, and down the eastern edge of South Africa all the way to the Cape. It is easy to find in the woodlands, parks, and yards, pretty much wherever there are mature trees. On both trips to Uganda, I have seen it in the Entebbe Botanical Gardens, and I saw it in both Kenya and South Africa when I visited there. Just a pigeon, you might say, but green and red and yellow, and uniquely African! Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 250 and 320 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Plus 1.3EV exposure compensation.
Grey Crowned Crane
Grey Crowned Crane: Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, Uganda, August 2022 — The Grey Crowned Crane is the national bird of Uganda and features on the Ugandan flag. It is a striking bird by any standard. I find it interesting that the brightest colors, the white and red on the face and neck, are actually bare skin. We were losing the light to an oncoming storm when these photos were taken, but the colors are still brilliant. Though it is resident over much of sub-sahara Africa, the Grey Crowned Crane was recently listed as “endangered” due primarily to habitat loss. Sony Rx10iv at 340, 354, 534mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 5000 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Plus 1ev exposure compensation.
Bonus Pic for today: Black and White Colotuses Monkey
We did not see as many different species of primaries on this trip to Uganda as we did in 2019, but we saw way more individuals. The Black and White Colobuses, in particular, seemed to be everywhere we went. This was our first one, at the Entebbe Botanical Gardens on our second full day in Uganda. I really like the Colobuses…with their 70s fringes and mutton chops and that long tail. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 800 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Plus 1EV exposure compensation.
Black Kite
Black Kite: Entebbe Botanical Gardens: Entebbe, Uganda, August 2022 — by far the most common raptor we saw in Uganda was the Black Kite…and we saw it every day, where ever we traveled in our loop through the parks of the south-west corner of the country…mostly in the air, but occasionally, as here at the Entebbe Botanical Gardens, perched. Sony Rx10iv at 591 and 600mm equivalents. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/500th and 1/640th. Plus 1.3EV exposure compensation.
Great Blue Turaco
Great Blue Turaco: Entebbe Botanical Gardens, Uganda, August 2022 — The Turacos, according to Wikipedia, are a uniquely African family of birds that includes the named Turacos, the Plantain-eaters, the Mousebirds, and the Go-Away-Birds of South Africa. The Great Blue is the largest by far. They are all weak flyers, but strong runners and climbers. The young of the family often have spurs on the wings to help them climb. (And, according to some authorities, they are best tasting of the wild birds of Africa. Amazing what you can find out on Wikipedia. 🙂 These were very far away and high in a huge tree along the shore of Lake Victoria at the Entebbe Botanical Gardens when we visited the second morning of our safari. Still, just close enough for an acceptable photo with my Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent (with a little help from the Machine Learning Resolution tool in Pixelmator Photo.) Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 200 and 640 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Plus 1.3EV exposure compensation.
Shoebill Stork Chick
Shoebill Stork: Mabamba Swamp: Lake Victoria, Entebbe, Uganda, August 2022 — I already featured one photo of the Shoebill Stork chick currently drawing birders and conservationists from all over Africa and the world to the Mabamba Swamp on the edge of Lake Victoria in Uganda. It is a rare and wonderful event to have a Shoebill chick were so many people can observe it. As I said before, Shoebills only nest once every 5 years on average, and only lay two eggs, and only raise on chick. They are threatened due to habit loss, but, honestly, with such a parsimonious breeding habit, there never were that many Shoebills. Sony Rx10iv at 547mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 160 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Plus 1EV exposure compensation.