8 Day Birding in Uganda

Check in your guesthouse and meet the bird guide driver. Early arrival will give a chance to do Entebbe botanical gardens birding introduction in Uganda. EBG is located on the northern part of Lake Victoria. The gardens harbor a collection of tropical, sub-tropical and temperate plants and shrubs which regenerate over the years. The place is a habitat of a large array of about 250 bird species. Among others, we shall have a chance to trace for; Great Blue Turaco, Ross’s Turaco, Saddle-Billed Stork, Golden-Backed Weaver, Yellow-Backed Weaver, Orange Weaver, African Palm-Swift, Winding Cisticola, Splendid Glossy-Starling, Northern Brown-Throated Weaver, Slender-Billed Weaver, Scaly Francolin, Green-Backed Heron, Tawny-Franked Prinia, Black And White-Casqued Hornbill, Back Kite, Yellow-Fronted Tinkerbird, Saddle-Billed Stork, Open-Billed Stork, Marabou Stork, Grey-Caped Warbler, Pied Crow, Little Egret, Black-Headed Heron, Cattle Egret, Spotted-Backed Weaver, Black And White-Manikin, Bronzy Manikin, Red-Cheeked Cordon-Bleu etc.

Early after breakfast, carry along with our packed lunch and drive to western part of Entebbe to Mabamba, a distance of about 50km. Mabamba is one of a few remaining productive wetland in Uganda protected by the local communities. extensive papyrus swamps with labyrinth’s channels and lagoons, classified as an important bird area (IBA), it’s a home of multiple Shoebills-Uganda’s most famous avian resident and the only representative in its family, is the amongst most sought after birds in the whole African continent! Its only traced by canoeing through the channels with a wooden boat. Other likes of Mabamba include; Papyrus Gonolek, Blue-breasted Bee-eater, Lesser Jacana, African Jacana, White-winged Black Tern, Grey-headed Gull, African skimmers, Little Egret, Long-toed Lapwing, Spur-winged Lapwing, African Fish-eagle, Goliath Heron, Purple Heron, Common Squacco Heron, Striated Heron, Blue-headed Coucal, Malachite Kingfisher, Black Crake, Hamerkop, African Marsh-harrier, Yellow-billed Duck, Hadada Ibis, White-browed Scrub-Robin, Swamp Flycatcher, Vanga Flycatcher, Weyn’s Weaver, Eastern Grey Plantain-eater, Sedge Warbler, Wood Sandpiper, Pied Kingfisher, Cape Wagtail, Rufous-Napped Lark, Green Backed Heron, African Snip, Croaking Cisticola, White-faced Whistling Duck, Spur-winged Goose, Black-crowned Waxbill, Scarce Swift, Bern Swallow, African-Dusky Flycatcher, African Yellow Warbler, Collard-Sunbird etc. After lunch, when time allows we may stroll along the edges of the wetland and try our luck for what we have missed at the boat. Transfer to Lake Mburo national park later in the afternoon, stopover at the equator, stretch legs and take photographs.

After breakfast report to the park entrance meet our site guide, and a short briefing, go birding in the park. Lake Mburo national park is one of the best birding destinations to see the acacia associated bird species among other national parks in Uganda. It is home of about 320 species of birds recorded making it a good place to look for the likes of African-Grey Hornbill, Black-Loward Babbler, Red-Headed Weaver, Greater Blue-Eared Starling, Trilling Cisticola, Green-Wood Hoopoe, Brown-Chested Lapwing, Scaly-Throated Honeyguide, Lesser-Masked Weaver, White-Backed Vulture, TaboraCisticola, Crestd-Spurfowl, Red-Faced Barbet, Little Bee-Eater, Green-Caped Eremomera, Black-Throatd Barbet, Black-Collard Barbet, Southern Ground Hornbill, Rufous-Bellied Night Heron. Of special interest to birders are the swamps, in which six papyrus endemics are resident including; Papyrus Gonolek, Blue-Headed Coucal, and the highly localized White-Winged and Papyrus Yellow Warblers, the last record nowhere else in Uganda! Later retreat to the camp for dinner and overnight.

After morning breakfast, transfer birding to the misty mountainous areas of Kigezi and Kisoro region in the southwestern Uganda, lunch break along Ntugamo. This journey being a bit long, it takes more hours of this day driving and birding.

After breakfast pack our picnic gear and start birding to Mubwindi swamp. Bwindi is home of about 350 species of birds including 23 Albertine rift endemics! And at least 14 species recorded nowhere else in Uganda! And ranks one of the best forest birding destinations in Africa with local bird guides most of them capable of identifying most species by call, and even calling up the more responsive species by their lips whistles! The likes in this forest (Albertine rift endemics) include; Red-throated Alethe, Archer’s Robin-chat, Yellow-Eyed Flycatcher, Chapin’s Flycatcher, Blue-headed Sunbird, Regal Sunbird, Rockeffeller’s Sunbird, Purple-breasted Sunbird, Strange Weaver, Dusky Crimson-wing, Red-collard Mountain Babbler, Chapin’s Mountain Babbler, Grauer’s Warbler, Neumann’s’ Warbler, Prigogine’s Greenbul, Black-faced Apalis, Collard Apalis, Stripe-breasted Tit, Grauer’sCukooshrike, Red-Billed Helmet shrike, Ruwenzori Batis, African Green Broadbill, Dwarf Honeyguide, Prigogin’sNght-jar, Albertine Owlet, Congo Bay-owl, Ruwenzori Turaco, Handsome Francolin and other birds. Later do birding back to the comp for dinner and overnight.

Early after breakfast, with picnic lunch we start birding to queen Elizabeth national park through Kanungu area where chances abound to trace for rarity of Rufous-Breasted Wryneck in this area, continue birding to the southern sector of queen Elizabeth where we can’t miss the likes of Whinchats, Greater Scimitarbill, Black Kit, Superb Sunbird, still on a way in ishasha area Little Button, Blue, Common, Harlequin Quails skulk in short grasses along the way. A couple of mammals like Cape Buffalo, Lions, Elephants, Uganda Kobs, Waterbacksetc thrill in this area. chances abound to find the lions of Ishasha sheltering from the fierce rift valley sun on the boughs of ancient fig trees!

Queen Elizabeth national park is the second largest after Murchison falls national park with 95 mammal species the highest for any Ugandan national park! and about 610 bird species a truly remarkable figure for a reserve that is relatively smaller by continental standards. The likes in this park include; Broad Tailed Warbler, Martial Eagle, African Skimmer, Verreaux’s Eagle-Owl, Amur Falcon, African Skimmer, Striated Heron, African Spoonbill, Water Thick-Knee, Three-banded Plover, Marsh, Green, Wood and Common Sandpiper, Gray-headed Gull, Plain Martin, Lesser Swamp-Warbler, White-Winged Warbler, Verreaux’s Eagle-Owl, OvamboSparrowhawk, Secretarybird, Caruther’sCisticola, African Skimmers, Black-Headed Gonolek, Papyrus Gonolek, Red-Faced Cisticola, Red-Chested Cukoo, Northern Puffback, Tropica Boubou, Diederik, Klaas’s, African-Emerald Cukoos, Little Stint, Temminck’s Stint, African-Wood Owl, Black-Shouldered Night-Jar, Yellow-Throated Long-Claw, East-African Swee, Common Waxbill, Crimson-Rumped Waxbill, Fawn-Brested Waxbill, Zebra Waxbill and Yellow-billed Ox-pecker etc. Later do birding getting back to the lodge for refreshment and overnight.

After breakfast, enjoy some final birding en route to Entebbe before catching your flight back home.