6th - 8th July Royal Mile to Kibale
6th July
The usual early start today and then we drove to the nearby Budongo Forest in order to bird the famous Royal Mile for the whole day. This is a long straight driveable avenue through pretty dense forest and was named as being a popular leisure spot for Uganda’s royalty. We were accompanied by a local guide who was excellent, and Herbert became the mover-of-the–bus. Basically we walked then moved on a bit then walked etc. A picnic lunch on fallen logs was taken halfway though the day. Birding was fairly intense, as getting people on to birds in dense tall forest wasn’t easy, but we had many new birds. The star bird has to be the White-spotted Flufftail. Flufftails are notoriously difficult to see, being birds of dense undergrowth in damp areas in thick forest, plus they are very small, related to rails. Our guides identified a likely looking wet ‘run’ in the undergrowth near the track, having heard a bird calling. I can’t quite remember exactly how this worked but we were all told to line ourselves up with the narrow ‘run’ and stare at it without deviation. Then with one guide in the undergrowth one side of the run and the other imitating the call on the other side, we were treated with an excellent but all too brief view as it scuttled across the open run and back into cover. Another hard bird to get was Narina Trogon – again the call was heard and we did succeed in getting excellent views of one perched in a tree. Another speciality of this area was Chocolate-backed Kingfisher, a rain forest bird – again thanks to our excellent guide we had good views of one. White-thighed Hornbill and Yellow-crested Woodpecker [aka Golden- crowned] were new birds for the list, as were: Speckled Tinkerbird, Yellow-spotted Barbet, African Shrike-flycatcher, Marsh Tchagra, Brown-crowned Tchagra, Dusky Tit, Slender-billed-, Little-, Spotted-, and Little Grey Greenbuls, White-chinned Prinia, Buff-throated Apalis, Olive- green Camaroptera, Rufous-crowned Eremomela, Purple-headed Starling, Fraser’s Rufous Thrush, Fire-crested Alethe, Fraser’s Forest Flycatcher, Ashy Flycatcher, Sooty Flycatcher, Snowy-crowned Robin-chat, Grey-chinned Sunbird, Collared Sunbird, Bronzy Sunbird, Variable Sunbird, Chestnut-capped Flycatcher, Spectacled Weaver, Red-headed Malimbe, Cardinal Quelea, African Firefinch, Village Indigobird, Western Citril, and Brimstone Canary. Quite a list! We retired back to our hotel in Masindi.
The usual early start today and then we drove to the nearby Budongo Forest in order to bird the famous Royal Mile for the whole day. This is a long straight driveable avenue through pretty dense forest and was named as being a popular leisure spot for Uganda’s royalty. We were accompanied by a local guide who was excellent, and Herbert became the mover-of-the–bus. Basically we walked then moved on a bit then walked etc. A picnic lunch on fallen logs was taken halfway though the day. Birding was fairly intense, as getting people on to birds in dense tall forest wasn’t easy, but we had many new birds. The star bird has to be the White-spotted Flufftail. Flufftails are notoriously difficult to see, being birds of dense undergrowth in damp areas in thick forest, plus they are very small, related to rails. Our guides identified a likely looking wet ‘run’ in the undergrowth near the track, having heard a bird calling. I can’t quite remember exactly how this worked but we were all told to line ourselves up with the narrow ‘run’ and stare at it without deviation. Then with one guide in the undergrowth one side of the run and the other imitating the call on the other side, we were treated with an excellent but all too brief view as it scuttled across the open run and back into cover. Another hard bird to get was Narina Trogon – again the call was heard and we did succeed in getting excellent views of one perched in a tree. Another speciality of this area was Chocolate-backed Kingfisher, a rain forest bird – again thanks to our excellent guide we had good views of one. White-thighed Hornbill and Yellow-crested Woodpecker [aka Golden- crowned] were new birds for the list, as were: Speckled Tinkerbird, Yellow-spotted Barbet, African Shrike-flycatcher, Marsh Tchagra, Brown-crowned Tchagra, Dusky Tit, Slender-billed-, Little-, Spotted-, and Little Grey Greenbuls, White-chinned Prinia, Buff-throated Apalis, Olive- green Camaroptera, Rufous-crowned Eremomela, Purple-headed Starling, Fraser’s Rufous Thrush, Fire-crested Alethe, Fraser’s Forest Flycatcher, Ashy Flycatcher, Sooty Flycatcher, Snowy-crowned Robin-chat, Grey-chinned Sunbird, Collared Sunbird, Bronzy Sunbird, Variable Sunbird, Chestnut-capped Flycatcher, Spectacled Weaver, Red-headed Malimbe, Cardinal Quelea, African Firefinch, Village Indigobird, Western Citril, and Brimstone Canary. Quite a list! We retired back to our hotel in Masindi.
7th July
Today was basically a transfer day. An early start and we set off on the long journey south to Kibale. It was a pretty uncomfortable trip it has to be said as the roads were mainly dirt and very bumpy. There was evidence of road improvement being carried out, quite clearly by a Chinese company. We stopped for lunch and also had a welcome coffee and loo break at the busy town of Fort Portal. We were entertained here by Marabous and Pied Crows in the trees above our heads, and a selection of sunbirds feeding in the café’s flowering shrubs – Olive-bellied, Beautiful and Copper Sunbirds. Very near the café by a roundabout was a small marshy area where we stopped and found Moustached Grass-warbler, Little Rush Warbler and White-winged Swamp Warbler. We eventually arrived at the Kibale Guest Cottages at 6:45 p.m. The cottages were a delight, being spacious and set well apart in large grounds with a central building for meals etc. Another nice dinner, quick checklist and bed ASAP after a tiring day.
Today was basically a transfer day. An early start and we set off on the long journey south to Kibale. It was a pretty uncomfortable trip it has to be said as the roads were mainly dirt and very bumpy. There was evidence of road improvement being carried out, quite clearly by a Chinese company. We stopped for lunch and also had a welcome coffee and loo break at the busy town of Fort Portal. We were entertained here by Marabous and Pied Crows in the trees above our heads, and a selection of sunbirds feeding in the café’s flowering shrubs – Olive-bellied, Beautiful and Copper Sunbirds. Very near the café by a roundabout was a small marshy area where we stopped and found Moustached Grass-warbler, Little Rush Warbler and White-winged Swamp Warbler. We eventually arrived at the Kibale Guest Cottages at 6:45 p.m. The cottages were a delight, being spacious and set well apart in large grounds with a central building for meals etc. Another nice dinner, quick checklist and bed ASAP after a tiring day.
8th July
Today was primate tracking day. Breakfast was at 7 a.m. and then we left for the Chimp tracking registration centre to complete the formalities. A briefing session laid down the rules about not getting too close, no flash photography etc, and we were introduced to our ranger Sheila. Quite a number of groups of people with different leaders set off into the forest. Sheila led us along various tracks, telling us on the way about the various species of tree, other primates, chimp behaviour etc. We had brief views of L’Hoest’s Monkeys and Red-tailed Monkeys. After hearing chimps vocalizing and a fair bit more walking around, we eventually arrived at a spot where the Chimpanzees were active, as did the other groups. There was quite a lot of activity in the trees but individuals were difficult to see and photograph. After a short while we moved to a small clearing where the alpha male of this group, whose name was apparently Torti, was chilling out fast asleep on his back on the ground. He was surrounded by people with cameras clicking away and was suddenly jerked into alertness by a clumsy person trying to get a better position and stumbling, and I swear he gave a very human like “tsk tsk” look, turned over and went to sleep again! He eventually got bored, got up and sauntered off to a nearby log for a bit of peace and quiet, brushing right past Anne as if she wasn’t there. It was a great experience to see them in their natural surroundings.
In the afternoon we birded along the road that wound its way through the forest. We saw a good selection of by now familiar birds, but Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird was new, plus Plain Greenbul, Honeyguide Greenbul, Toro Olive Greenbul, the tiny tail-less Green Crombec, Dusky Blue Flycatcher, Superb Sunbird, White-breasted Nigrita, and Grey-headed Nigrita. The most spectacular for me though, was a pair Great Blue Turacos nest-building in a tree right next to Anne & my cottage.
Today was primate tracking day. Breakfast was at 7 a.m. and then we left for the Chimp tracking registration centre to complete the formalities. A briefing session laid down the rules about not getting too close, no flash photography etc, and we were introduced to our ranger Sheila. Quite a number of groups of people with different leaders set off into the forest. Sheila led us along various tracks, telling us on the way about the various species of tree, other primates, chimp behaviour etc. We had brief views of L’Hoest’s Monkeys and Red-tailed Monkeys. After hearing chimps vocalizing and a fair bit more walking around, we eventually arrived at a spot where the Chimpanzees were active, as did the other groups. There was quite a lot of activity in the trees but individuals were difficult to see and photograph. After a short while we moved to a small clearing where the alpha male of this group, whose name was apparently Torti, was chilling out fast asleep on his back on the ground. He was surrounded by people with cameras clicking away and was suddenly jerked into alertness by a clumsy person trying to get a better position and stumbling, and I swear he gave a very human like “tsk tsk” look, turned over and went to sleep again! He eventually got bored, got up and sauntered off to a nearby log for a bit of peace and quiet, brushing right past Anne as if she wasn’t there. It was a great experience to see them in their natural surroundings.
In the afternoon we birded along the road that wound its way through the forest. We saw a good selection of by now familiar birds, but Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird was new, plus Plain Greenbul, Honeyguide Greenbul, Toro Olive Greenbul, the tiny tail-less Green Crombec, Dusky Blue Flycatcher, Superb Sunbird, White-breasted Nigrita, and Grey-headed Nigrita. The most spectacular for me though, was a pair Great Blue Turacos nest-building in a tree right next to Anne & my cottage.