Posts in Category: Uganda
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.
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.
Bonus pic for today! White Rhino
Bonus pic for today! I promise that no little old ladies (or Rhinos) were harmed in the making of this photo 🙂 The lady is actually much closer to me than she is to the White Rhinoceros at the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary in Uganda. It happens that this is the only shot I have of an adult Rhino with its head up. At Ziwa the business of Rhinos is eating and groaning and reproducing…with time out for raising young. That’s all they have to do, as they are guarded day and night by armed rangers. So in most photos the Rhinos are very busy with their heads down grazing in the tall grass. 🙂 Such is life in the protected species lane. Ziwa now has 30 of the 50 Rhinos that the Sanctuary can support, and they are looking forward to releasing their first White Rhinos back to the wild in just a few years. 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.
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.