Posts in Category: birds
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.
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.
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.
Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird
Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird: Jet Dream Suites, Entebbe, Uganda — Our first morning in Uganda, along with the Black-headed Gonolek in the courtyard of our lodgings, there was this tiny, very noisy little bird bouncing around deep in the branches of the same tree. I managed a couple of shots, and Gordon, our birding specialist trainee guide for the trip, identified it as a Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird. We were to see lots of Tinkerbirds during out trip around the southwestern sector of Uganda, but this was, as far as I can remember, the only Yellow-fronted. Sony Rx10iv at 591mm equivalent, Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 400 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Plus 1EV exposure compensation.
Pied Kingfisher
Pied Kingfisher: Mabamba Marsh, Lake Victoria, Uganda, August 2022 — There are 15 different species of Kingfishers in Uganda, and in our 14 days of travel we saw 9 of them…but the most numerous and widespread has to be the Pied Kingfisher. They were pretty much everywhere, along every lake and river…and they were present in what can only be described as “large” numbers. Several times we saw trees or bushes with more that 10 birds perched together, and they were so common hovering over water while hunting that after a while it would have seemed more strange not to see a Pied Kingfisher than to see one. And they are hard to miss…about the size of the common North American Belted Kingfisher, and with that bold black and white plumage pattern, and their habits of actively hover hunting over water. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 250 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Black-headed Gonolek
Black-headed Gonolek: Dreamjet Suites, Entebbe, Uganda, August 2022 — On our first night in Uganda we stayed at the Dreamjet Suites on the hill overlooking the lake, because there were no rooms at the Dreamjet Cottages, where we generally stay and it was only a few hours of rest after our long flights anyway. They had a postage stamp garden and I was greeted by this Black-headed Gonolek, certainly a treat on any morning, and a great welcome to the birds of Uganda. It is a cousins of the Bulbul, which is probably the most common and widely distributed of East African Birds, but, of course, much more colorful Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 1000 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Plus 1 EV exposure compensation.
Blue-breasted Bee-eater
Blue-breasted Bee-eater: Mabamba Swamp, Entebbe, Uganda, August 2022 — Another one of the many bee-eaters we hope to encounter in Uganda. This the Blue-breasted seen from our Shoebill boat in Mabamba Swamp on the shore of Lake Victoria. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 250 @ f4 @ 1/500th.