Blue Swallow in abundancy in Uganda. A team of members of nature Uganda and Uganda birdguides club have been on an expedition to justfy the occurance of the blue swallow in the lake Victoria Basin. Satisfactorily over 500 birds were recorded. Blue swallows breed in southern Africa during summer, and return to the Lake Victoria basin in Uganda during winter - they are thus termed intra-African migrants. It is thought that individuals return to the same area each season and may even make use of the same nesting site!
The birds arrive in southern Africa during September. They quickly find a mate and suitable nesting site which is usually a pothole, donga, or similar depression in the grassland.
MAY DAY BIRDING The Club President leads the Birding Excursion. As birding in Uganda is slowly and steadily picking more and more birders, saturday 1st May saw Johnnie Kamugisha the President of Uganda Bird Guides Club leading the birding excursion to Mabira Forest.The group included members of Uganda Birding Association, and other interested persons from Makerere University.
It all started at 7:00am from Makerere University. The black headed gonolek was here to see the enthusiastic birders take off. The university gate was opened by the Double toothed Barbet who looked in a clear pause for a photo.
By 8:25am we were at the forest registering our presence amid a seemingly rainy morning. Here Johnnie and his colleagues were already enjoying the early bird viewing of the elusive forest birds. Birding lasted 4 hours at the pond trail with the Dwarf kingfisher as the mega tick for the day. Others included yellow browed camaroptera, Hairy breasted barbet, Grey throated barbet, Red headed blue bill, Crowned eagle, Cameroon somber greenbul, Toro olive greenbul, Red tailed bristel bill, brown illadopsis, olive green sunbird, olive sunbird,
Bicoloured manikin, western black headed oriole, Brown crowned waxbill, Black necked weaver, Yellow mantled weaver, Forest robin, Blue shouldered robin chat, Dusky long tailed cuckoo. Lunch at Mabira was excellent. The seemingly tired beginners braved to visit Sezibwa falls. Here the special birds seen were the orange tufted sunbird, Great blue turaco, Bronze mannikin, and the Black and white casqued hornbill. In his address, the President welcomed the new participants into the bird watching activity.He appealed to them to put in more effort if they have be able to offer services as bird guides after their studies. The day was crowned with a visit to Kiwatule recreation center where the group was welcomed by the Grey parrots who kept flying in and out.
Reported by. Herbert Byaruhanga.
THE BIGGEST EVER birding excursion in Kampala. Sat 24th April. Over 70 participants gathered at Makerere University before 7:00am for a birding excursion. These included university lecturers, students, Journalists, expatriates living in Uganda, and other nature loving people.
We all headed for Lincoln trail just off Entebbe road. Do not be amazed. We all had less than 25 pairs of binoculars. Thank God the students are easy to organize. They all agreed to share the few that were available. The trick was to divide the group into small groups. It worked successfully for the whole day.
The first birds to show up were the Black bishop,shikra,whistling cisiticola, cattle egret, Tawny flanked prinia, splendid glossy starling, African hobby and so on up to 135 species recorded. The names of the birds such as the bishop attracted many participants who expected bishops to be only in churches.
The trail goes up to the top of the hill where one can have the best panoramic view of Kampala and lake Victoria. We were seen off trail by the scaly francolin just behind Lweza training centre.
Nsuki forest was the next stop for cooling ourselves in the natural forest from a hot sun. A visit to the former Zoo encountered us with the Nothern masked weaver.
The next excursion is on Sunday 2nd May 2004.
Reported by Herbert Byaruhanga.
The Uganda Bird Guides Club in conjunction with Uganda Birding Association has initiated a programe that introduces nature lovers to all birding sites in Uganda. On Saturday 3rd April over 30 students from Makerere University together with visitors from Holland were guided around the new found bird spot at Lutembe. Nsiku forest is still in its natural state and is privately owned by Charles Nsubuga and his family. It overlooks the Lutembe Bay. It has the best trails so far around Entebbe and Kampala. Over 100species of birds were recorded. The next excursion is on the 24th April
The Easter Weekend saw Uganda Bird Guides Club Members taking the lead of Nature Uganda Birding Excursion to Queen Elizabeth National Park. 15 members participated. See these counts, over 350 White storks, just near the Turn-off to Mweya. 310 black winged stilts, 147 lesser black backed gulls, 2 pairs of hotteton teals, 10 grey herons, 47 little stints, all at Lake Munyanyange.