Early breakfast, then out to nearby Mabamba Wetlands on the shores of Lake Victoria. This is one of the few remaining swamps in the country protected by the local communities – an extensive papyrus swamp with its labyrinth of channels and lagoons, classified as an Important Bird Area, and home to several pairs of Shoebills, Uganda’s most famous avian resident. This charismatic monotypic species is certainly amongst the most sought-after birds in Africa, and we’ll make special efforts today to find it by paddling through the channels by boat. There will of course be a good selection of classic East African water birds, including Long-tailed Cormorant, Goliath Heron, African Open-billed, Saddle-billed, and Marabou Storks, Hammerkop, White-faced Whistling-Duck, Yellow-billed Duck, African Fish-Eagle, African
Marsh-Harrier, African Water Rail, Purple Swamphen, Allen’s Gallinule, African Jacana, Long-toed and Spur-winged Plovers. Apart from the numerous water birds, we are likely to see a nice variety of open country and water edge species, perhaps including Speckled Pigeon, African Green Pigeon, Eastern Plantain-eater, Malachite, Giant, and Pied Kingfishers, Blue-headed Coucal, Blue-breasted Bee-eater, Crowned Hornbill, Angola and Rufous-chested Swallows, Winding Cisticola, Greater and Lesser Swamp-Warblers, Papyrus Yellow Warblers, Swamp Flycatcher, Scarlet-chested Sunbird, Papyrus Gonolek, Slender-billed, Northern Brown-throated, and Golden-backed Weavers, and Papyrus Canary.
In the afternoon we’ll travel to our first of many national parks, Lake Mburo. This park has varied habitats from open Acacia woodlands, to a number of papyrus-lined lakes and swamps.
We’ll have the afternoon and the following day to cover several different habitats. Some of the many species we’ll search for en route to the park, around the woodland in the immediate vicinity of Rwonyo (at lake Mburo) and within the park include Black headed, Squacco, and Rufous-bellied Herons, Hadada Ibis, Yellow-billed (Black) Kite, Spur-winged Goose, Comb Duck, Black-chested Snake-Eagle, Lizard Buzzard, Palm-nut and White-backed Vultures, Wahlberg’s and Verreaux’s Eagles, Crested Francolin, Crowned Crane, African Finfoot, Black-bellied Bustard, Temminck’s and Bronze-winged Coursers, Senegal, Crowned, Wattled, and Brown-chested Lapwings, Emerald Spotted and Blue-spotted Wood Doves, Brown Parrot, Red-eyed Dove, Bare-faced Go-away Bird, White-browed Coucal, Speckled and Blue-naped Mousebirds, Little, White-rumped and African Palm Swifts, Woodland Kingfisher, Little Bee-eater, Lilac-breasted and Broad-billed Rollers, Green Wood-Hoopoe, Common Scimitarbill, African Grey, Spot-flanked Barbet, Nubian Woodpecker, Angola Swallow, African Pied Wagtail, African and
Long-billed Pipits, Red-shouldered Cuckoo-shrike, Dark-capped Bulbul, African Thrush, Trilling Cisticola, Yellow-breasted Apalis, Tawny-flanked Prinia, Grey-backed Camaroptera, Grey-capped
Warbler, Red-faced Crombec, White-winged Black Tit, Chinspot Batis, Mariqua, Olive-bellied, and Red-chested Sunbirds, Pied Crow, Greater Blue-eared, Splendid, Rüppell’s
Long-tailed Starlings, Black-headed, Northern Brown-throated, Village, Vieillot’s Black, and Slender-billed Weavers, Northern Grey-headed Sparrow, Bronze Mannikin, and Yellow-fronted Canary. If we are lucky, we will even see the nomadic Weyn’s Weaver. Stay at Rwakobo Rock Lodge
