15th July - Lake Mburo NP: 16th & 17th July >home
15th July - spent all day at Lake Mburo NP
On getting into the bus, Anne discovered her bumbag jammed down the side of the seat she used y’day – huge relief all round! Breakfast was at 6:30 then we left for a bush drive around various tracks of the reserve at 7:15. We eventually ended up by the lake shore where we took a boat ride for 90 mins, then returned to the shore for picnic lunch, and then more bush driving in the afternoon. Lots of game here, with large numbers of Common Zebra, Warthog, Rothschild’s Giraffe, Cape Buffalo, Nile Bushbuck, Defassa Waterbuck, and lots of Impala, which we hadn’t seen at the other savannah areas. Two new game species were Topi antelope and a small group of Eland, the largest of the antelopes, and smaller mammals comprised Egyptian Mongoose and Dwarf Mongoose. At one point Granger had a very brief view of a Leopard skulking through the bush, its presence also advertised by an adult Impala loudly snorting in the direction it had been seen, but it didn’t reappear. Bush driving gave us some good birds, including more Red-necked Spurfowl, Senegal Lapwing and then a group of the scarcer Brown-chested Lapwing, Plain-backed Pipit, Bare-faced Go-away-bird, Lilac-breasted Roller, another Common Scimitarbill, Little Bee-eater, Lesser and Greater Honeyguides, Meyer’s Parrot, Red-headed Lovebird, White-winged Black Tit, Red-breasted Swallow, Red-faced Crombec, Trilling Cisticola, Long-tailed Cisiticola, Grey Tit-flycatcher, Southern Black Flycatcher, Red-headed Weaver, Red-headed Barbet, Golden-breasted Bunting, and Brubru [a tiny little shrike]. A big shape in a trackside tree drew my attention and we stopped. There staring at us was a huge Verreaux’s Eagle-owl, with its ridiculous pink eyelids. We watched it for quite some time, at one point in flight to a nearby tree.
On getting into the bus, Anne discovered her bumbag jammed down the side of the seat she used y’day – huge relief all round! Breakfast was at 6:30 then we left for a bush drive around various tracks of the reserve at 7:15. We eventually ended up by the lake shore where we took a boat ride for 90 mins, then returned to the shore for picnic lunch, and then more bush driving in the afternoon. Lots of game here, with large numbers of Common Zebra, Warthog, Rothschild’s Giraffe, Cape Buffalo, Nile Bushbuck, Defassa Waterbuck, and lots of Impala, which we hadn’t seen at the other savannah areas. Two new game species were Topi antelope and a small group of Eland, the largest of the antelopes, and smaller mammals comprised Egyptian Mongoose and Dwarf Mongoose. At one point Granger had a very brief view of a Leopard skulking through the bush, its presence also advertised by an adult Impala loudly snorting in the direction it had been seen, but it didn’t reappear. Bush driving gave us some good birds, including more Red-necked Spurfowl, Senegal Lapwing and then a group of the scarcer Brown-chested Lapwing, Plain-backed Pipit, Bare-faced Go-away-bird, Lilac-breasted Roller, another Common Scimitarbill, Little Bee-eater, Lesser and Greater Honeyguides, Meyer’s Parrot, Red-headed Lovebird, White-winged Black Tit, Red-breasted Swallow, Red-faced Crombec, Trilling Cisticola, Long-tailed Cisiticola, Grey Tit-flycatcher, Southern Black Flycatcher, Red-headed Weaver, Red-headed Barbet, Golden-breasted Bunting, and Brubru [a tiny little shrike]. A big shape in a trackside tree drew my attention and we stopped. There staring at us was a huge Verreaux’s Eagle-owl, with its ridiculous pink eyelids. We watched it for quite some time, at one point in flight to a nearby tree.
The boat trip was very enjoyable, with the usual Hippos, a couple of families of Warthogs with ‘hoglets’ in tow, and a few of the group saw a Giant Hog. Bird-wise it was very good. The first bird I saw was grebe-like and then as we got a better view, it turned into an African Finfoot paddling around the waters edge under the trees. This was a female, and later we had excellent views of a male sitting out of the water on a log, and then walking down into the water, showing off its huge bright red lobed feet. As we cruised around we saw at least 6 Striated- and Squacco Herons, a couple of Goliath Herons and the usual egrets, Long-toed Lapwings were on the shore, and two Water Thick-knees, countless Pied Kingfishers and a good few Malachites too. Granger found a Common Sandpiper on the shore, our only non-plover wader, and finally another new bird – Greater Blue-eared Starling. After the afternoon bush drive we got back to the lodge at around 4:30, had a cuppa overlooking the savannah, showered and got ready for dinner. The checklist was run through and then we headed out to a high point on the rock to wait for the Nightjars. Two calling and then appearing from a tree near us were
Freckled Nightjar and then a few Square-tailed Nightjars appeared, But the stars of the show were the male Pennant-winged Nightjars, at times coming right over our heads and looking like exotic Chinese toy kites. With the camera set at 10,000 ISO and max aperture I managed to get some albeit blurry shots of these amazing birds, sadly not good enough to print. As we were leaving for Entebbe and flights home tomorrow it was truly a grandstand finish. At dinner, sincere thanks were expressed to Herbert and Abia for guiding us on a truly wonderful trip. We were impressed by their knowledge of the huge number of species we encountered, and the ability to imitate the calls themselves, which enabled us to see quite a high proportion difficult species.
16th & 17th July
We sadly left the superb Rwakobo lodge early the next morning for the long drive back to Entebbe. The Brits of us had a flight to catch that afternoon, and Granger & Pam were due to fly the following day so had another night at the Entebbe Travellers Inn. Stops were had on the way including one at a town on the Equator which gave an opportunity for posed photos. With the prospect of the chaos of Kampala to get through, Herbert decided on a ‘short cut’. When we left the tarmac road onto a bumpy dirt road we did wonder whether it was a good move, but eventually we emerged back on to tarmac having avoided Kampala altogether so well done Herbert. We got back to the Traveller’s Inn in time for a picnic lunch and to drop off Granger & Pam for their extra night. Finally we made the short drive back to the airport and bade our sad farewells and offered thanks again for a true adventure.
Thanks of course also go to Neil & Ashley at Oriole Birding for organizing this amazing trip and for making it possible to run it with just 6 participants. The memory will be truly treasured.
We sadly left the superb Rwakobo lodge early the next morning for the long drive back to Entebbe. The Brits of us had a flight to catch that afternoon, and Granger & Pam were due to fly the following day so had another night at the Entebbe Travellers Inn. Stops were had on the way including one at a town on the Equator which gave an opportunity for posed photos. With the prospect of the chaos of Kampala to get through, Herbert decided on a ‘short cut’. When we left the tarmac road onto a bumpy dirt road we did wonder whether it was a good move, but eventually we emerged back on to tarmac having avoided Kampala altogether so well done Herbert. We got back to the Traveller’s Inn in time for a picnic lunch and to drop off Granger & Pam for their extra night. Finally we made the short drive back to the airport and bade our sad farewells and offered thanks again for a true adventure.
Thanks of course also go to Neil & Ashley at Oriole Birding for organizing this amazing trip and for making it possible to run it with just 6 participants. The memory will be truly treasured.