Red-throated Spurfowl: Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — A common bird of the grasslands of Uganda, and and grassland in Africa south of the Sahara, the Red-throated Spurfowl is a handsome bird, even with its head on backwards 🙂 Note the wicked looking spur from which it gets its family name. It is also sometimes known as the Red-throated Francolin, though in general terms the Francolins and Spurfowls have very different looks and behaviours…and this is certainly a typical spurfowl. Sony Rx10iv at 525 and 580mm equivalents. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photos and Apple Photos. ISO 160 and 320 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

African Wattled Lapwing: Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — For a photographer (or at least for this photographer) it just does not get any better than this. An interesting bird, right beside the Land Cruiser in great light. ! Oh, I could nit-pick and say I might have preferred an eye-level view…but honestly this is just fine 🙂 The African Wattled Lapwing is a very common plover all through East Africa and beyond…sometimes even seen on lawns and golf-courses. Still a very special bird to me. Sony Rx10iv at 320mm equivalent (this bird was really close). Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 125 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Yellow-throated Longclaw: Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — It was very hot by the time we finished our boat tour on the Kazinga Channel, but with only parts of two days in Queen Elizabeth, we pretty much had to get out on a game drive. We were rewarded with several interesting sightings, including these Yellow-throated Longclaws. I defy anyone from North American not to think Meadowlark when you see this bird for the first time. 🙂 But, it is actually a pipit. Go figure. They love to sign from the tops of the bushes and hunt in the grass. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. Bush; ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/1000th, grass: ISO 160 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Long-tailed Cormorant: Kazinga Channel, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — A Long-tailed Cormorant showing off its tail on the same island of reeds in the Kazinga Channel where we saw the Goliath Heron. Cormorants somehow are never graceful or elegant, no matter how they pose. Handsome, maybe, but even that might be a stretch. It is, perhaps, something about their eternally stern expression. Okay, enough with anthropomorphizing! Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f5.6 @ 1/1000th.

Goliath Heron: Kazinga Channel, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — We move from a small heron with a world-wide distribution to the largest Heron in Africa (and, I believe, in the world). The Goliath Heron stands almost 5 feet tall with a massive body structure and a huge bill and is found in small numbers at select locations all through sub-Saharan Africa. I had a glimpse of one on this same island in the Kazinga Channel on my 2018 trip, but I was delighted with this view this August! Sony Rx10iv at 458mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f5 @ 1/1000th.

Black-crowned Night-heron: Kazinga Channel, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — I know, I could just walk down to the pond or along the river right here in Kennebunk, Maine to see one of these…they are relatively common across much of North American, through Central America, and everywhere in South America except the Amazon Basin. They are also common in all of Europe, India, much of South-east Asia, and you can find them in select regions of Africa. The only thing special about this Black-crowned Night-heron is the location, in Queen Elizabeth National Park, in south central Uganda…and even that would not be special if I lived there, or visited more than every few years. 🙂 Still. Nice bird, and this one was photographically cooperative. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 400 and 500 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

White-throated Bee-eater: Kazinga Channel, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — Just down the channel from yesterday’s Madagascar Bee-eaters, we found this White-throated Bee-eater. The White-treated is another inter-African migrant, breeding to the north along the southern edge of the Sahara, and “wintering” from East Africa down to South Africa. I have seen it in South Africa, in grater Kruger National Park. Have a look at that tail! Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f5.6 and 7.1 @ 1/1000th.