Great Blue Turaco: Chimpanzee Forest Lodge, Kibale National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — One of my goals for this trip to Uganda was to see more Turacos and see them better (by which I mean, get better photographs). Turacos are wonderful, uniquely African, birds…large, brightly colored, and (as eBird says), slightly clownish…and like nothing we have in the Americas. (Some once tried to link them to the Hoatzin of South America, but that is now disputed.) The Great Blue is the largest Turaco and perhaps the most common, with a range in both West and East Africa in the band of rainforest south of the Sahara. Certainly they have the largest range in Uganda. We saw them in Entebbe, Kibale, and Lake Mburo. This one was roosting on the grounds at Chimpanzee Forest Lodge the afternoon we birded the area. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 160 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Scarlet-chested Sunbird: Chimpanzee Forest Lodge, Kibale National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — Sunbirds are among my favorite African birds…they have a hummingbird look about them, with their iridescent colors…and they fill pretty much the same niche as hummingbirds in the America, so it is a shock to the system, or at least my system, to hear them sing…and sing they do! There were half-a-dozen species of Sunbirds working the flowering shrubs on the grounds of Chimpanzee Forest Lodge and I was in photographer’s heaven 🙂 This is the Scarlet-chested Sunbird which has a range in West Africa south of the Sahara, then down on both sides of the rift valley, and on both coasts of South Africa above South African itself. It relatively large for a sunbird, and uniquely back and red, with that green/blue crown and throat, and that huge de-curved bill. Hard to miss. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 500 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Grey-capped Warbler: Chimpanzee Forest Lodge, Kibale National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — Every resource where I found the Grey-capped Warbler began by calling it “chunky”…a “chunky warbler” and I guess that is fair. It is a loud bird, often heard before it is seen, along the margins of yards and landscaped grounds and along forest edges, all through East Africa. Uganda is pretty much the center of its range. In these three shots you only really see the chestnut throat in the partially obscured singing bird. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. Singing: ISO 200 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Branch: ISO 100 @ f4.5 @ 1/1000th.

Violet-backed Starling: Chimpanzee Forest Lodge, Kibale National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — I often think that if our invasive Starling was as attractive as most of the African Starlings, they would get a lot more respect. (Though they would still be invasive.) This is the Violet-backed Starling, which can be seen throughout East Africa, except for northern Kenya. It is the smallest African Starling, often migratory or nomadic, and is mostly found along forest edges and in woodland, including riparian corridors. This was my first, and so far, only sighting. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 160 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Double-toothed Barbet: Chimpanzee Forest Lodge, Kibale National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — As I mentioned yesterday, I have a lot of bird photos from Kibale and the surrounding area, so I will be doubling up on bird post for a while. This is a Double-toothed Barbet from the grounds of our lodge, Chimpanzee Forest Lodge…an excellent lodge near Kibale National Park. The Double-toothed Barbet is perhaps the most common Barbet in Uganda (aside from the Tinkerbirds (which are so small it is hard to think of them as a Barbets). We don’t have any Barbets in North America, and even the Barbets of Central and South America are more closely related to the Toucans than they are to African or Asian Barbets. The Double-toothed Barbet eats a lot of fruit, figs especially, and also hunts insects…it even takes insects on the wing. We saw this one, typically, along the edge of the open grounds around the lodge, where the forest took over…but I have seen them in open brushy savannah as well. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

African-blue Flycatcher: Chimpanzee Forest Lodge, Kibale National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — Another common bird through most of Uganda. We got our best views on the grounds of Chimpanzee Forest Lodge near Kibale National Park…but we had to work for it. Two birds worked through the interior of large bush, barely showing through the foliage…very difficult to get binoculars or a camera on. At one point I circled around the bush to the far side of our group, and was rewarded when both birds worked their way to a small opening, still well inside the bush, but where I had a clear line of sight. 🙂 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.

Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill: Chimpanzee Forest Lodge, Kibale National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — We got to our lodge near Kibale National Park early enough to spend a few hours birding on the beautifully landscaped hill-top grounds. There were a lot of birds! We had seen Black-and-white-casqued Hornbills in the Botanical Gardens in Entebbe, but this was a much better view. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photos and Apple Photos. ISO 640 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Vieillot’s Weaver (or Vieillot’s Black Weaver): Kyenjojo District, Uganda, August 2022 — Along with the Village Weavers at the lodge where we stopped for a rest break between Hoima and Fort Portal, there were Vieillot’s Weavers…still sometimes (and by some authorities) called Viellots’s Black Weaver. There are two forms with separate ranges. West African birds have a chestnut back and are sometimes (and again by some) called Chestnut-backed Weavers. Some consider the Chestnut-backed to be a different species and give it a different scientific name, but the IOC and eBird list both birds as the one species: Ploceus nigerrimus. Being Uganda, this is clearly the East African form with the black back. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 400 @ f4 @ 1/500th. I would have liked to get a slightly better photo of this bird, but we were trying to get to Fort Portal for lunch, and some of were hungry!

Village Weaver: Kyenjojo District, Uganda, August 2022 — There is a little road-side stop on the highway from Hoima to Fort Portal, when leaving Murchison Falls National Park for the long drive to Kibale National Park…I think it is actually a lodge, but I have only seen the restaurant which is right beside the road. Safari vehicles stop for a toilet break and a coffee. It has mature trees overhanging the buildings and they are full of birds…mostly weavers (and a few sunbirds). There seems to be some confusion about the name of this bird…or at least I am confused. Birds of East Africa calls it the Black-headed Weaver, but Merlin and eBird call it the Village Weaver. It is Ploceus cucullatus in both, and Merlin and eBird have another bird called the Black-headed Weaver (Ploceus melanocephalus), which I am pretty sure we actually saw in Murchison Falls NP. Birds of East Africa calls Ploceus melanocephalus the Yellow-backed Weaver. I am not sure at this point what the “correct” English names of these birds are. ??? Anyone who knows for sure is welcome to chime in. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100, 160, and 250 @ f4 @ 1/500th.