Black-headed Paradise-Flycatcher: Bigodi Community Birding Project, Bigodi, Uganda, August 2022 — There are two Paradise-Flycatchers in Uganda, the Black-headed and the African. The African can be seen pretty much everywhere in Uganda but the Black-headed is only in the south-west corner. This Black Headed played hard-to-get for a half hour in the little patch of remnant forest along the trail at the Bigodi Community Birding Project. It was dark under the canopy and the bird just would not sit still! The Black-headed was, until recently, called the Red-bellied, and it does have a solid rufous breast, without the white of the African, not that you can see that in this shot. Only some males have the long tails, though never as long as a long-tailed African, and it is a regional thing. 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. Equivalent ISO 6400 @ f4 @ 1/400th. Plus .3EV.

Yellow White-eye: Chimpanzee Forest Lodge, Kibale National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — One last bird from the Chimpanzee Forest Lodge outside Kibale National Park in Uganda. This is the Yellow White-eye, a bird that I only saw once on my 2019 trip, but that appeared to be everywhere in 2022??? Sony Rx10iv at 554mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 125 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Brown-backed Scrub-Robin: Bogodi Birding Project, Bogodi, Uganda, August 2022 — I had arranged this year to do the Bogodi Swamp Walk in the morning to, possibly, see more birds, and the Chimpanzee Trek in the afternoon. I figured the Chimps would be there all day, and the birds, maybe not so much. As it turns out our tour company does not do the actual Bogodi Swamp Walk, with is at one end of the village. We do the Bogodi Birding Project, a community run and sponsored endeavor, with is at the other end of the village, and takes us out into a patch of remnant forest and some agricultural openings. In my thinking I did not figure in that we would also have lower light levels to deal with in the early morning…not a problem so much for birding, but a problem for my photography. The photos I have from Bogodi are not that great, but the birds are interesting. This is, I think, a Brown-backed Scrub-Robin. It got recorded on the checklist for the trip as a Forest Scrub-Robin but that bird would be unlikely in Bogodi and had a very different wing pattern, and Merlin identifies these photos as either Brown-backed or Red-backed (White-browed)…and I am going with Brown-backed due to the lack of bold streaking on the breast. Again, anyone who knows better should correct me 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 160 and 125 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Backlit shot plus 1.7EV exposure compensation.

Black-crowned Tchagra: Chimpanzee Forest Lodge, Kibale National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — Tchagras are bushshrikes that spend a lot of time foraging low to or on the ground. We found this one on the grassy lawn at Chimpanzee Forest Lodge. It emerged from the brush at one edge and litterally ran across a few yards to the brush on the other side, so, while not perfect, I am happy with this shot. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 595mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 125 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Copper Sunbird: Chimpanzee Lodge, Kibale National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — This is the last of the sunbird species we saw at Chimpanzee Lodge on our afternoon walk around the grounds. One shot in the sun and two in the shade show off the full range of subtle rich colors on the bird. In coloration it is similar, of course, the the Bronzy Sunbird, but the extra long tail on the Bronzy is unmistakable. Sony Rx10iv at 600 and 540mm equivalents. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. Sun shot ISO 160 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Shade ISO 640 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Violet-backed Starling: Chimpanzee Forest Lodge, Kibale National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — The inset photo here of the Violet-backed Starling got more notice than any other recent post. I made it part of this image to show the extreme contrast between the female (main photo) and the male (inset). It would be easy to assume these are two different species…somewhat like the difference between our North American male and female Red-winged Blackbirds…only even more striking. Main shot: Sony Rx10iv at 517mm equivalent (heavily cropped and enlarged). Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 160 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Olive-bellied Sunbird: Chimpanzee Forest Lodge, Kibale National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — The Olive-bellied Sunbird did not do as well as some birds in the naming lottery 🙂 Olive-bellied is not the descriptor that springs to mind when looking at this bird! This is the 5th out of 6 different species of sunbirds we saw on the grounds of Chimpanzee Forest Lodge in a single afternoon. Sony Rx10iv at 567mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 400 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Marico (or Mariqua) Sunbird: Chimpanzee Forest Lodge, Kibale National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — Another gorgeous sunbird from our stay at Chimpanzee Forest Lodge, just outside Kibale National Park. It is the Marico Sunbird in the Birds of East Africa, and that is how I leaned it when I first encountered it in South Africa, but it is Mariqua Sunbird in eBird and, apparently, on the IOC World Bird Name List. (I should point out that there is also a possibility that this the Purple-banded Sunbird…they are almost identical expect for overall size and the length of the bill…neither of which are easy to judge from this photograph. I am pretty sure we called it a Marico when we saw it. Again, anyone who knows better please correct me.) Sony Rx10iv at 554mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 500 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird: Chimpanzee Forest Lodge, Kibale National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — Tinkerbirds are small barbets, mostly black and white with some yellow somewhere. I don’t remember seeing (or at least noticing) any tinkerbirds on my 2019 trip to Uganda, but they were everywhere in 2022. They are, in fact, very common throughout East Africa. We saw at least 3 different species. This is the Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird, which has more yellow than you can see in these photos. You can just see the yellow edging in the wings on the more profile view. There is, as you might suspect from the name, a bright yellow (varying in hue from lemon to gold, regionally) on the rump. Sony Rx10iv at 561mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 1250 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Green-backed Camaroptera: Chimpanzee Forest Lodge, Kibale National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — The Green-backed (or Grey-backed) Camaroptera is a wren-like warbler, common in much of Africa south of the Sahara…both west and east, and all the way down the east coast to far-South Africa. Some consider the Green-backed varieties (East Africa and south) and the Grey-backed (West Africa) to be separate species. To confuse matters, when it is considered a single species, some call it Green-backed and some call it Grey-backed (IOC has Green-backed)…and, to even further confuse, some call it Bleating Camaroptera. In the single species scheme there might be up to 8 subspecies. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 561mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 400 @ f4 @ 1/500th.