Morning bishops and sunbirds

A short morning walk in the immediate vicinity of our house yielded some superb encounters with the local avifauna, especially in the sunbirds and bishops departments.

Sunbirds I came across included olive-bellied (Nectarinia chloropygia), scarlet-chested (Nectarinia senegalensis), bronze (Nectarinia kilimensis), marico (Nectarinia mariquensis) and little purple-banded (Nectarinia bifasciata). Had particularly fine views of male bronze and marico sunbirds working their way up Leonotis stems as they breakfasted on nectar from the tubular orange flowers. Marico and little purple-banded can be difficult to distinguish from each other, and I have seldom if ever before seen both species on one outing.

Our principal bishop species here in town is the black bishop (Euplectes gierowii), and during breeding season it's not unusual to come across a male decked out in regal red, yellow and black, displaying in an area with long grass and shrubs. This morning I was surprised to see at least four and possibly six different males in full nuptial splendor, all in a fairly small area. I also noticed at female or two and some juveniles, evidence of some reproductive success this season.

Other highlights:

* Wire-tailed swallow (Hirundo smithii) collecting mud from a puddle margin for nest-building
* African green pigeon (Treron calva), a pair in a musasa (Sapium ellipticum) tree, one of them on a nest
* In the canary category, both African citril (Serinus citrinelloides) and yellow-fronted canary (Serinus mozambicus)
* Shrikes: brown-crowned tchagra (Tchagra australis) -- am used to encountering them outside of town, but this was the first instance for me in our neighborhood) -- and northern puffback (Dryoscopus gambensis)
* Red-faced cisticola (Cisticola erythrops)
* African blue flycatcher (Elminia longicauda)
* The African black kites (Milvus migrans) are back in force after their seasonal absence, and I also saw some of the first bronze-tailed starlings (Lamprotornis chalcurus) back in this area from their annual intra-Africa migration. If the bronze-tails return to roosting in the Markhamia and adjoining trees on the north side of our house as they did last year, our evenings and early mornings are about to become noticeably noisier!

Wetland outings

The past couple of Monday mornings some of us have visited a wetland area just 30 minutes' drive west from Mbale, on the southern border of Budaka district. There is a good bit of papyrus, other reed/grass species, some rice cultivation, and patches of open water with a couple of varieties of lily pads and other types of vegetation that thrive on the surface of the water. Here are some of the birds that we observed on these outings:

* Storks: Openbill, Yellow-billed

* Herons: Purple, Cattle egret, Great white egret, Yellow-billed egret, Hamerkop, Rufous-bellied, Squacco, Little bittern, Grey, Black-headed

* Hadada ibis
* Grey crowned crane

* Black-shouldered kite

* Waders: Black crake, Long-toed lapwings (plovers), Greenshank, African jacana

* Ducks, geese: Spurwing, White-faced whistling duck

* Kingfishers: African pied, Woodland, Malachite

* Swallows: Barn, Wire-tailed

* Doves: African mourning, Blue-spotted wood, Red-eyed

* Blue-headed coucal

* Warblers: Winding cisticola, Greater swamp warbler

* Swamp flycatcher

* Shrikes: Papyrus gonolek (many great views of these fellows, who are not found away from papyrus), Marsh tchagra

* Sunbirds: Red-chested, Copper

* Bronze-tailed starling
* Weavers: Northern brown-throated, Vieillot's black, Slender-billed, Yellow-backed, Black-headed

* Waxbills, etc.: Zebra waxbill (one of the most gorgeous in the family! -- watched them nest-building in the papyrus), Red-cheeked cordon-bleu, Common waxbill, Bronze mannikin

* Fan-tailed widow

In other news, European and Blue-cheeked bee-eaters are regular overhead these days in their southward migration. And we're beginning to have a few African black kites in the neighborhood again, and the small group of Bronze-tailed starlings that we saw while birding in the swamp today are the first I've seen in the area in a while.

Saddle-bill storks, Entebbe

I photographed this pair of saddle-bill storks in the shallows of Lake Victoria at Entebbe last week. They moved slowly away from us as we approached, but were not overly alarmed until someone's pet retriever decided to give chase. At this the enormous birds reluctantly started quick-marching through the water and finally took to flight with the dog in hot pursuit.

Overheard

Around dawn a few days back I heard a African wood owl (Strix woodfordii) call, the first I've heard in many months. Two days ago I heard but did not see my first European bee-eaters (Merops apiaster) of the season coming through on their southward passage from Europe. Yesterday we had grey crowned cranes (Balearica regulorum) calling in the distance (and it's been a couple of months since I have seen or heard these in Mbale). This morning I heard them again and was thrilled to see three of them fly almost directly over our house.

In other news...I came across the spectacular Levaillant's cuckoo (Oxylophus levaillantii) while walking in another part of our neighborhood the other day. We continue to hear, and occasionally see, western black-headed orioles. Still only the occasional African black kite (Milvus migrans) and no bronze-tailed starlings (Lamprotornis chalcurus) for a while; these are two of our intra-Africa or regional migrants and I'm still trying to work out exactly what are the normal limits of their seasonal presence with us.

Jonathan and I did a little birding last Monday morning in a narrow band of mixed-acacia woodland at the edge of a wetland just west of Mbale town. We had the pleasure of seeing, among others, African spoonbill (Platalea alba), white-faced whistling duck (Dendrocygna viduata) quite a number of red-headed lovebirds (Agapornis pullarius), white-throated and little bee-eaters (Merops albicollis and pusillus), marsh tchagra (Tchagra minuta), fan-tailed widowbird (Euplectes axillaris), and pin-tailed whydah (Vidua macroura).

Mburo, Mbarara, Entebbe highlights

A couple of weekends ago Nathanael and I made our way west from Mbale to Lake Mburo National Park, and then on to Mbarara town and back to Mbale with an overnight stop in Entebbe. Mburo is less welll-known (and less frequented) than the "major" wildlife sanctuaries in Uganda -- Queen Elizabeth, Murchison, and Kidepo -- but it has a number of distinctions, such as being the only protected area in Uganda that contains one or more lakes in their entirety.

We enjoyed excellent views of most of the park's main animal species, including zebra, impala, buffalo, oribi, defassa waterbuck, bushbuck, eland, topi, warthog, hippo, crocodile, and three species of mongoose.

Of course the birds were a treat, and herewith some highlights:

* Common squacco heron (Ardeola ralloides)

* Rufous-bellied heron (Ardeola rufiventris)

* Black-crowned night-heron (Nycticorax nyticorax)

* White-backed night-heron (Gorsachius leuconotos) -- These are secretive and seldom seen, even where they are resident, and my first sighting of them (a pair, alongside a couple of black-crowned night-herons).
* Saddle-billed stork (Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis) -- a pair in the shallows of Lake Victoria at Entebbe; eventually they were put to flight by someone's retriever that had great fun splashing after them for a hundred meters or so
* Glossy ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) -- Entebbe

* African finfoot (Podica senegalensis) -- In some ways this uncommon bird with bright red beak and feet is the most noteworthy member on our trip list, and especially so for me since I'd not seen them before. They require an aquatic habitat with overhanging vegetation, which makes them hard to see even where they do occur. I had hoped to see even one, and we were blessed to see several on two different days there.

* Long-toed lapwing (Vanellus crassirostris)

* African wattled lapwing (Vanellus senegallus)

* Yellow-billed stork (Mycteria ibis)

* Wooly-necked stork (Ciconia episcopus)

* Glossy ibis (Plegadis falcinellis) -- Entebbe

* Egyptian goose (Alopochen aegyptiacus)

* Spur-winged goose (Plectropterus gambensis)

* African fish eagle (Haliaeetus vocifer)

* African white-backed vulture (Gyps africanus), Ruepell's Griffon Vulture (Gyps rueppellii), Lappet-faced vulture (Torgos tracheliotus) -- We came across a mixed multitude of these scavengers, along with a tawny eagle (Aquila rapax) and a marabou (Leptoptilos crumeniferus), giving ravenous attention to a zebra carcass.

* Brown snake eagle (Circaetus cinereus) -- Saw three of these, one of them on a nest

* African marsh harrier (Circus ranivorus)

* Gabar goshawk (Micronisus gabar) -- an adult and immature at Entebbe

* African harrier hawk (Polyboroides typus) -- Mbarara

* Wahlberg's eagle (Aquila wahlbergi)

* Bateleur (Terathopius ecaudatus)

* Long-crested eagle (Lophaetus occipitalis)

* Black-shouldered kite (Elanus caeruleus)

* Grey Kestrel (Falco ardosiaceus) -- Entebbe

* Helmeted guineafowl (Numida meleagris)

* Crested francolin (Francolinus sephaena)

* Red-necked spurfowl (Francolinus afer)

* Black crake (Amaurornis flavirostris)

* African jacana (Actophilornis africanus)

* Grey crowned crane (Balearica regulorum)

* Black-bellied bustard (Eupodotis melanogaster)

* Water thick-knee (Burhinus vermiculatus)

* Emerald-spotted wood-dove (Turtur chalcospilos)

* Red-headed lovebird (Agapornis pullarius)

* Ross's turaco (Musophaga rossae)

* Bare-faced go-away-bird (Corythaixoides personata)

* White-rumped swift (Apus caffer)

* Blue-naped mousebird (Urocolius macrourus)

* Giant kingfisher (Megaceryle maxima)

* Malachite kingfisher (Alcedo cristata), African pygmy kingfisher (Ispidina picta) -- Unusually, saw both of these species on the same bit of lakeshore. Malachite is always tied closely to water, but the pygmy has no necessary connection to it.

* Little bee-eater (Merops pusillus)

* Madagascar bee-eater (Merops superciliosus) -- Entebbe

* Lilac-breasted roller (Coracias caudata)

* Green wood-hoopoe (Phoeniculus purpureus)

* African grey hornbill (Tockus nasutus)

* Crowned hornbill (Tockus alboterminatus)

* Spot-flanked barbet (Tricholaema lachrymosa)

* Red-faced barbet (Lybius rubrifacies) -- A bird of very limited distribution (one of the "East African endemics"), this attractive barbet is perhaps even more sought-after by birders than the finfoot. We had a splendid view of one bird, another first for me.

* Double-toothed barbet (Lybius bidentatus) -- Mbarara, Entebbe

* Mosque swallow (Hirundo senegalensis)

* Yellow-throated longclaw (Macronyx croceus)

* Sooty chat (Myrmecocichla nigra)

* Trilling cisticola (Cisticola woosnami)

* Grey-capped warbler (Eminia lepida)

* Yellow-breasted apalis (Apalis flavida)

* Chin-spot batis (Batis molitor)

* Brown-throated wattle-eye (Platysteira cyanea)

* African paradise-flycatcher (Terpsiphone viridis)

* Black-lored babbler (Turdoides sharpei)

* White-winged tit (Parus leucomelas)

* Grey-backed fiscal (Lanius excubitoroides)

* Fork-tailed drongo (Dicrurus adsimilis)

* Yellow-billed oxpecker (Buphagus africanus)

* Holub's golden weaver (Ploceus xanthops)

* Yellow-backed weaver (Ploceus melanocephalus) -- Entebbe

* African golden-breasted bunting (Emberiza flaviventris)

Greycap spotted

The grey-capped warbler (Eminia lepida) is widespread and fairly common through much of its range, but is so secretive in most places that its unusually loud and varied call notes are the only clue to its presence. When one does actually see one in a brief appearance on the edge of its usual bushy habitat (as I did yesterday), its striking grey, black and burnt-orange head-and-throat pattern is worth stopping to stare at. (I just discovered a very short video recording of one of these guys singing, here -- colors are not great, so it's hard to tell that his throat is not just dark; you can also hear a pair of black-headed gonoleks giving a signature combo-call in the background a couple of times.)

I noticed a lone black kite (Milvus migrans) overhead this morning. They've been absent for a while but I expect they'll be back in force soon.

We've continued to have green-headed sunbirds (Nectarinia verticalis) resident in the yard. These have usually been infrequent around here, so this has been pleasant.

Swallows et al.

There was a lone white-headed saw-wing swallow winging over our neighborhood this morning -- not an every-day, or even every-month, sight. I think I also caught a glimpse of a couple of lesser striped swallows in the Namakwekwe area of town today. A few days ago I came across a small flock of what were probably barn (European) swallows, although I saw them so briefly in passing that there's the possibility they were Angolas. It's about the time of year that the first of the Palearctic migrants should be making their appearance, so I'm going to consider these my first encounter with what will become in the next couple of months quite a wave of species coming to here or through here as they flee the cooling temperatures of the temperate zones.

Western black-headed orioles are calling frequently in the area these days, and occasionally one comes into view with its spectacular yellow and black plumage.

We continue to have green-headed sunbirds in our compound, and a pair of scarlet-chested sunbirds has an active nest in our young ficus (Benjamina) tree outside the front door. I've also been seeing what is most likely a little purple-banded sunbird just a city block or two from our house; could be a marico, but the beak seems too short.

A trip planned to western parts of Uganda next week should bring opportunities to see several bird species that I don't normally meet here on the eastern side of the country. Hope I'll have some interesting sightings to report after I get back!