Thursday, July 24, 2008
Ringing in the Albertine Rift Valley
Guide-training workshop and ringing demonstration
5 – 18 June 2008
I had just opened a set of mist-nets and went to find the 7 guides I was training here in the spectacular montane forest at 2590m asl.
It had been raining all night and in the bitter cold of dawn the far carrying screams of a distant group of chimpanzees, made me think what a dreadful night the beasts must have had.
The day before we had had a wonderful day spotting no less than 15 Albertine Rift Endemics in one morning, there are 28 in Nyungwe.
Montane-masked Apalis, Rwenzori Apalis, Red-faced Woodland Warbler, Red-throated Alethe, Handsome Francolin, Rwenzori Turaco, Strip-breasted Tit, Grauer’s Warbler, Rwenzori Batis, Dusky Crimsonwing, Archer’s Robin-chat, Blue-headed, Rwenzori double-collared, Purple-breasted and Regal Sunbirds. All before noon!
The symphonia trees were in flower creating magnificent dashes of crimson across the steep forested valleys. In each of these trees were a resident pair of Purple-breasted Sunbirds and views of this spectacular bird were perfect from the steep sided slopes.
Rwenzori Turaco’s were everywhere making their explosive whistling calls.
During the morning we caught 3 Red-throated Alethe including a juv with single tale-tale brown feather in the head.
Yellow-whiskerd Greenbul were by far the most vocal and common, but caught only three.
We caught a White-starred Robin, African Yellow White-eye, an adult male and female Rwenzori Double-collared Sunbird, the male in breeding plumage everything now breeding, as it was the end of the rainy season.
A pair of Rwenzori Batis offered a great opportunity to hold side by side to see the subtle difference in eye colour, the guide-books make it so obvious, but apart, the sexes are not so easy to distinguish.
But the most exciting catch of the morning was a Strange Weaver, an albertine rift endemic and living up to its name by being quite different to any other weaver I have caught. For a start it was the most well behaved weaver I have ever handled with a remarkably long bill.
During the morning I got to a net to find a sparrowhawk bouncing around in the net which I got to just as the bird got out, wrong side of the net. Probably an African Goshawk, but hopefully a Rufous-chested Sparrowhawk if it were to come back for the mangled white-eye it left in the net, bugger.
Closed at noon and tried to entice a pair of White-necked Raven with some mints, with the idea of trapping them in a cube net. The birds gave me a look as if to say, ‘you need counselling’.
However they appeared at lunch and polished of a good two cupfuls of rice. But then once I got the net out it had the effect a shotgun would have had if I had taken a few pot shots at them!
In the afternoon I opened up again and fist off caught an Olive-breasted Mountain Greenbul, Andropadus kikuyuensis which in these parts used to be, A. nigriceps, Mountain Greenbul, now Black headed Mountail Greenbul, a Tanzanian endemic, altogether a complicated group at the best of times without them all having to be split further!
Other new birds were an adult male Regal Sunbird, arguably one of the most spectacular sunbirds, the accipiter which turned out to be an African Goshawk, which had still been lurking round the nets and this time I was the right side of the net.
It was a second year/plumage bird and a male on size at 217g.
We set off for here at the disgraceful time of 0700hrs as the driver had arrived late. We got to the track leading down to the swamp, a 20minute descent to 1950m and stood in awe in the middle of a great expanse of swamp vegetation surrounded by thick forest rising up form the swamp edge.
This small sea of sedges and rushes was a paradise for crakes, rails and small warblers. As we stood there the extremely localised endemic Grauer’s Rush Warblers called as they conducted their short display flight, flying 5-10m over the rushes to drop out of sight. A Red-chested Flufftail called at our feet from the depths of the rushes.
It was here that the first Grauer’s Rush Warbler nest was described.
I slowly walked into the spot and found a natural depression in the vegetation and put up a line of 3 single panel nets and retreated to the small base we had made in the edge of the forest.
We next put up a line of 60’ nets along the perfectly managed trail system here. This done it was time to check the singles and walking out to them I felt very privileged to be in this famous place. The first net was empty as was the second and my spirits sank, but there right at the end was a small brown job. With a shakey hand I took it out and indeed there it was, a bird I have seen only a handful of times and only dreamed about catching.
The bird is a typical Bradypterus with an amazingly worn out tail, the middle 4 tail feathers just spines! It weighed 17g and had a wing of 63mm. I quickly photographed it and walked it back out to the site to release where it dived back into the rushes.
The incessant calling of the Red-chested Flufftail was starting to bug me for ideas when all of a sudden a plan occurred to me.
Putting a single panel on the ground along the excellent boardwalk, I played the call on the ipod leaving it in the middle of the net and backed off to watch with the guides. Approximately 10 seconds later were rewarded with an adult male flying across the track and straight into the net! I have only seen this bird twice in my life whiz across a narrow ditch in the reeds and never flying so to have the thing in the hand was wonderful!
Only in this position can one see the ‘fluff-tail’!
Doing a net round along the 60’s we were lucky to get a juvenile Archer’s Robin-chat, and in its mottled plumage very difficult to separate from any of the other forest akalats, alethes and robin-chats, but the clincher was size.
Also caught were 3 Yellow-whiskered Greenbuls and a pair of African Hill Babblers of the endemic race ‘atriceps’ which is considered by some to be a true species, ‘Rwenzori Hill Babbler’ and if so an albertine rift endemic.
Back out in the marsh I couldn’t believe it when there again this time in the first net was another Grauer’s!
During the rest of the day we caught a wonderful assortment of birds, Archer’s Robin-chat, White-bellied Robin-chat (smaller and with the distinctive black central tail feathers of the robin chats). We caught a pair of Equatorial Akalat, tiny legs for the size (2.3mm ring for a 17.7g 75mm wing bird) and a pair of Cinnamon Bracken Warbler at last, having been hearing them all over the place. They had such a rich rufous coloured plumage and typical Bradypterus worn tails, although nothing like the Grauer’s.
At midday I went to take down the single panels in the marsh as it was getting too warm and there again was another Grauer’s Rush Warbler!
In the afternoon we proceeded to catch in the forest nets, 4
Sitting in our little spot in the forest we heard the beautiful and evocative calls of a displaying Crowned Eagle and the subsequent nervous starts of a troop of L’Hoest’s Monkeys these animals also being an albertine rift endemic.
Other raptors hunting over the swamp were a pair of Mountain Buzzards (collecting nesting material) and a single Long-crested Eagle.
Hiking down into this beautiful swamp I had dreaded the hike out but it went by in a dream, especially when finding another Albertine rift endemic, Yellow-eyed Black Flycatcher!
That evening back at Uwinka I put up a new line of 60’ and got a White-starred Robin before closing. A huge flock of swifts were going over and reckoned they were Scarce Swift, among them I spotted at least 4 Mottled Spinetails, the typical fluttering flight quite distinctive. These birds constitute a new record for Nyungwe national park and possibly even
Uwinka
Opened at 0530 and got a Yellow-whiskered Greenbul then an unfortunate incident of a troop of Blue Monkeys taking out a bird from the net, from the remains of the feathers I deduced it was a Yellow-whiskered Greenbul. I closed the nets.
In the afternoon we prepared a site at 2000m below Uwinka to get the birds used to the disturbance over the next 24 hours and walked back the long way round and spotted a Western green Tinkerbird and a flock of White-headed Wood-hoopoe.
The following afternoon we set 5 x 60’ nets and got a pair of Equatorial Akalats before closing for the night.
I climbed down at 0500 in the dark which was exciting to say the least, especially with the blood-curdling screaming of a few Tree Hyrax going on! I could hear a group of Angola Black and White Colobus starting up in the distance, a huge group of 500 came through the previous day.
During the morning we caught some crackers! We got 5 Yellow-whiskerd Greenbuls, 2 Olive Sunbirds of the race vincenti, another Equatorial Akalat,a Red-faced Woodland Warbler and a Lemon Dove of the race jacksoni, a Montane Oriole, Chestnut-throated Apalis and a Doherty’s Bushshrike.
In the afternoon we set a couple of nets in another site near Uwinka and got a retrap
New birds were a pair of Red-faced Woodland Warbler and a new endemic, a Dwarf Honeyguide!
This little bird is so unobtrusive, even when calling it is so hard to see and was a lifer for all the guides and my 3rd having caught one some years ago in Bwindi, Uganda. What I found interesting was that I had been playing the call of a Strip-breasted Tit at the net and this possibly attracted the Honeyguide that was looking for a breeding pair to parasitize.
The last day was a birding day and we hiked up the Bigugu trail and found a flock of 6
We caught 65 birds altogether of 26 different species including 9 Albertine Rift Endemic.
I also discussed plans with ORTPN (Rwanda Office of Tourism and National Parks) to return with groups of ringers and birders to continue ringing related projects and guide-training activities.
Next time I would like to camp in the Kamiranzovu Swamp and mist-net again in that fantastic forest for things like Kivu Ground-thrush, Shelly’s Crimsonwing, Rockefeller’s Sunbird and Yellow-crested Helmetshrike.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Limpopo to Kalahari Raptor Ringing Expedition
11 to 20th March 2008
Dr Richard Charles and Malcolm Wilson
March has proved by far to be the better month for a good abundance of migrant birds of prey and in particular Black-chested Snake-eagles in
After a successful pick up at the airport we were soon heading north to the
On route we saw a few Steppe Buzzards and Amur Falcons but best was a Booted Eagle 50ks north of
We took the scenic route through the
Just outside the town of
We found a Pale-chanting Goshawk and dropped for it but not a glimmer of interest and next flushed a BSE off a pole with too much faffing about, bit rusty was one excuse, getting warmed up another!
We soon found ourselves on one of the most productive back roads I know, 'Beauty Boulevard' a stretch of dirt road running parallel to a train of tower pylons from the village of Beauty to Beska for 30kms where in the past I have had great success. If there are any snake-eagles in the area they will more than likely be perched on one of these pylons.
First off a BCSE presented itself and a trap dropped, but again no interest, started to blame the sluggish mouse in the trap but this reaction does happen sometimes.
A couple of km's later we found another and dropped again, this time the bird was off the pylon before I could turn the vehicle round! We had a few minutes wait before we got the bird. It was in transition from first to second plumage, so just over a year old and weighed 1250g. Unfortunately the mouse had not been so lucky and had got nailed by a party of Raider ants.
Ten minutes later we came across a two adult BCSE and an adult African Hawk-eagle, the latter closer to the road on a pole where it was devouring a Guinea fowl. This called for a couple of traps and we backed off to wait. The BCSE showed no interest, but just then all eyes went skyward to announce the presence of a marauding Wahlberg's Eagle.
The bird came in over the traps and suspiciously circled them getting lower and lower and finally hitting one trap a couple of times but not actually settling on it.
It may have built up the confidence but the African Hawk-eagle was having none of it and chased off after the Wahlberg's with the typical aggression of this species.
Couldn't believe it, here we were with 4 eagles of 3 species and nothing to show for it!
As it was getting late we had to press on and 2 pylons later found another BCSE which once dropped for came in like a rocket and again before I could turn round, a hungry bird! It got caught quite quickly and we had our first adult. Stunningly fresh plumage and on the large side at 1300g which took a 16mm ring unlike the usual 14mm.
We arrived at our lodge in the riparian forest of the
Sitting round the fire with some cold beers and poking the steaks every now and then, a Verreaux's Eagle Owl started up its deep resonating call nearby and we reflected on what a fine way it had been to celebrate my birthday!
12th March
Opened the nets at 0500hrs and got an interesting bunch first round, a Woodland Kingfisher, Meves's Starling 3 Red-billed Wood-Hoopoe, Emerald-spotted Wood-dove, Ring-necked Dove a Fork-tailed Drongo and a Shikra!
During the next few rounds we picked up a pair of Long-billed Crombec, a Laughing Dove, White-browed Scrub Robin, Red-headed Weaver, Lesser Honeyguide, Chin-spot Batis and Blue Waxbill.
Ringing here is done in an idyllic setting from the deck of the main lodge overlooking a backwater of the river. A Goliath Heron was perched up on a dead tree opposite keeping a beady eye on us.
A Wahlberg's Eagle and two BCSE were soaring overhead which bode well as we set off on a raptor run mid morning. As we got to the farmland some few kms on, we suddenly saw that the whole field was covered with hunting Amur Falcons and Lesser Kestrels, which I think had come in during the morning as they were not there last night and would have still been hunting before roost.
We found a Lanner Falcon on a pole next to the field and dropped for it, noticing it had a huge crop, so hopefully still feeling hungry before the food reached the stomach. It came in for the mouse a couple of times but not too keen, tried a Zebra finch but still no good. We decided to push on and then noticed a half eaten Guineafowl in the track!
We tried a BSE on the main road but not interested and a Pale-chanting Goshawk, also not having any of it.
At the top of the 'Boulevard' we dropped a trap for a Purple Roller and after a couple of attacks the bird settled onto the trap and proceeded to stab away at the mouse, getting nowhere other than caught! This usually happens when you have dropped a trap for something big and exciting such as a Martial Eagle and have to deal with the pesky roller which has just spoilt the chance of a lifetime! In this case it was a welcome diversion and it was duly ringed. There is some evidence to suggest this is a local or irregular afro-tropical migrant, moving in response to weather related food abundances or shortages, so well worth the effort.
First bird we came across was a BCSE and the ensuing post-drop adrenalin-filled wait, soon turned into a deflated and frustrated one! Onwards to the next two birds that were BSE’s and could have been stuffed for all the interest they showed!
Finally and a bit jaded, we had a go for a BCSE again, this time we were rewarded. The bird kindly waited for us to turn round and settle down with bins-on-bird to watch the extremely exciting moment when it spots the mouse and the next when it opens its wings to launch off and down to the trap. A straight-forward catch and an adult weighing 1405g and off we went. Next was another BSE, again another stuffed bird for all the reaction it showed. It began to rain at this point so we batted on to get supplies (more beer) in Lephalale.
On the way back we saw a pair of distant BCSE’s on a pylon and dropped for a Shikra that would have been a doddle had the dam zebra finch not been so smart and froze deathly still!
Given our recent success with the roller, we tried for 6 Lilac-breasted Rollers, some hitting the trap, others flying over, fun to watch at least.
Back on the Boulevard again we flushed a BCSE or it had just decided to go as we passed, shame. Then we found the GPS lying in the middle of the road from the last BCSE 3 hours before, it must have fell off the tail-gate in all the excitement!
It was still raining lightly and for the next 60 kms we dropped for no less than 8 BSE and 2 BCSE to no avail, the rain playing a big part in the need to feed and the need to keep feathers dry. Birds flying to the ground to feed may not be able to take off again.
We did see a very odd thing when waiting for a pair of BSE to do something with the mice, they began to display to each other, craning their necks bowing and weaving very snake-like in fact. Still didn't get one!
Crossing the fields to the lodge, we were amazed to find hundreds of Amur Falcons and Lesser Kestrels, hunting over the fields prior to roost. The birds had obviously moved into the area during the day as a Steppe Buzzard was among them indicating they had been moving together.
As we got back to the lodge we spotted a BSE on a dead tree at the end of the net lane! We tried to get a trap close enough but too confined and the bird took off.
After supper we went out on a dazzle following the river. We were just too late to spot a huge Verreaux's Eagle Owl which was sitting in a large Nyala tree just to the side of the track, I just managed to get a trap down and start to back off before the bird flew, just too closely confined on the small track. After a while we put up a Water Dikkop that managed to stay put whilst I got the landing-net over the bird. Such curious creatures with huge frog-eyes and big head to keep them in!
Not long after we put up another bird this time a Spotted Dikkop, but was too wary and flew off.
13th March, along the
The rain started at 0430hrs in a steady downpour and so all we could do was take down at dawn to get on the road by 0800.
We tried for a few soggy Lesser Kestrels on the way out but it was too cold and damp for any insect activity or excitement.
Likewise with a BSE on the road, wet wings hanging out in a vain attempt to dry them.
Heading down the Boulevard we spotted a distant BCSE and then no other sake-eagles, a first! However we did find a rather large and splendid Tawny Eagle sitting low-down on a dead tree. We dropped and backed off and didn't have long to wait before a heart-in-mouth moment when the bird began to react to the mouse. After what seemed hours, the bird launched itself in the trap direction and as it got to the trap, casually passed over having a good look at the mouse before landing in a Marula tree across the track. We gave the bird, which appeared to have a full crop, another 30mins before giving up and moving on. Picking the trap up I noticed further on a road kill of a Jackal, which I presume the Tawny had fed on.
We tried a new short cut through some nice bush country, very sandy tracks and after a short while nearly put the car into a Sickle-bush thicket as there, sitting up on a pole in all its glory was a huge juvenile Martial Eagle! Here was the perfect prize, but not an easy drop. We put the trap up on a sandy bank as the angle and distance were quite acute.
After 30mins of waiting there was still no reaction so we decided to try another angle. This involved opening a farm gate (risky business round these parts) and driving a little way towards the bird where we got the trap down in clear view of the bird. After anther age and no reaction we began to get a little desperate when out of the grass, right under the Eagle’s nose, came a pack of 8 Banded Mongoose! Now here was the perfect meal on a plate, but not a single bob or the faintest sign of interest, just too damn cold and wet.
Next up was a juv BCSE and couldn't find a clear area without army ants to drop, so just dropped anyway and still no interest, the mouse was very relieved to be picked up again.
Then we came across a pair of Wahlberg's Eagles and a good response with two traps down and two birds on the ground. But just too wary, we had the male bird have a stab and get caught briefly but got off and flew away.
300 yards later a BCSE flew off a pole before we could get close enough and along the top road dropped for a BSE who came in and kept going! Boy, we were having an unlucky morning to say the least, but it was the 13th today!
Finally after passing a few Pale-chanting Goshawk (had to prioritise) and seeing some distant BSE, an African Hawk Eagle with food, a juv Lanner (not interested) and 12 White-backed Vultures with 4 Lappet-faced Vultures, I spotted a Walberg's Eagle lurking inside a Marula tree.
Got the trap out and in it came much more confident then the last two and after a minute we had it, albeit caught by one back toe only!
An adult of 1200g and a female with 3 moult centres in the primary tract.
Greatly encouraged with this we found a juv BCSE 20 minutes later and after lots of half-hearted passes over the trap and sitting on the fence for ages we caught the bird, again by one toe! It was a big bird at 1505g and halfway through its first primary moult, so a second year bird. What did not help the whole process were the mice not moving in the cold, therefore not getting the required response from the birds.
At 1400hrs we dropped for a BSE and the bird came in for the trap, a straightforward catch of a big juvenile of 2.1kg. At last our luck seemed to be turning, but now we had spent a lot of time on soggy unenthusiastic birds and were now way behind schedule and so at 1600hrs pulled into the lovely Atherstone Nature Reserve for the night, not before flushing a last BCSE from a pole.
We dumped the essentials in the fridge and set off on a game drive for the last hour of the day and promptly came up against the track-filling shape of a large elephant’s backside. We had been told there was a dodgy rouge male in this area and we unanimously decided that this was indeed the creature and that the other track looked far better.
We spotted a couple of Steppe Buzzards in the distance and a small group of Wildebeest near the track and were seen off by an extremely fruity bull who charged across the track right in front of the vehicle a few times.
Whilst we got the camp organised I set a 40’ and African Scops Owl call on the ipod and came back 10mis later to collect an extremely cheesed off little bird! It was an immature with an interesting contrast between the outer and inner primaries.
14th March,
Off first thing in the rain and found a pair of Wahlberg’s Eagle in a dead Ironwood. We had the female come in and dance round the trap, wing flicking but just too wary. Not to be late again as we had a long drive we continued and decided we really were going to be late again, particularly when finding an enormous adult Martial Eagle sitting up right next to the track. Trap down and backed off to wait, adrenalin surging (who needs coffee). The bird did show a bit of interest and actually bobbed a couple of times, but eventually and agonisingly it flew off. We were really up against bad weather affecting our catch rate so not much we could do about it.
We tried for a Black Kite that flew over the trap a few times, but not an easy bird to catch like this. We passed plenty of Steppe Buzzards in this area, but these can waste so much time we again prioritised for the bigger raptors.
The tracks were in very bad condition and we were driving sideways a lot of the time as we ploughed through mud and wet sand in true
But eventually on the edge of
After about a minute the female bobbed and came straight in and got caught well and truly in less than a minute. An adult female and a big bird of 1800g with a wing of 465mm and 4 moult centres in the primary tract.
We battled on now in really bad conditions often loosing sight of the track but eventually reached the tarmac road and quickly put in some kms skirting round Zeerust and Mafikeng.
We seemed to have gotten to the edge of the bad weather now quite a bit further south into
The track we followed now passed through some lovely country, green and lush savannah and great poles. Lesser-grey and Red-backed Shrikes were everywhere and Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters all moving north.
We had a Lanner on the trap that was not hungry enough, just curious and a BCSE caught, I even got my hand on the back of the bird but it slipped a noose and was off.
The weather caught up with us again and we really tested the vehicle on the outrageous track that had become a river with sudden huge sink-holes looming out of the driving rain at the last minute.
Eventually the rain cleared and we found a BCSE on a pylon far out in the middle of a vlei (Pan) and we drove the 400m over seriously bad hummocks to drop the trap seriously testing the springs of the vehicle. The bird came in fast and was obviously hungry and we got the bird. It was an average individual but with an old break in the leg, possibly a survivor of a gin trap accident.
We ringed the bird, which was an adult weighing 1105g with a wing of 532mm and released it, where it flew up onto a pylon to continue drying its wings.
The next leg of the journey took us to the border of the
It was getting too late now and so we did the last 100kms as the sun was setting to reach the very inviting and pleasant Kalahari style bush lodge.
What a day and we didn’t wait too long for the fridge to sort the beer out!
15th Molopo Nature Reserve and the
We set off first thing with the brooding rain-clouds lurking on the eastern horizon and headed towards
We were now into Kalahari sand and the bush reflected this with herds of Gemsbok, Springbok and Red Hartebeest all over the place. We spotted a Secretary bird up in a tree and a Wahlberg’s Eagle, which is at the westernmost edge of its range.
Coming round a bend we flushed a juv BCSE but were lucky to find it again a little further on sitting low down on a Candle Thorn and just managed to squeeze a trap into a gap on the track.
The proceeding events were quite interesting as initially the bird saw movement and flew over to have a look, settling in a bush nearer to the trap and then showed no interest. Looking at the mouse through the bins, I could see it had frozen and so we had to wait for that to change. After some 10 minutes of the mouse sitting completely still it suddenly moved causing the most impressive response from the eagle. It dived onto the trap immediately and after a little while we had the bird. Just goes to show how important the movement is.
The bird was a ‘7’ meaning in its second year with just over half of its first primary moult completed.
It was in good condition for a juv at 1290g with a wing of 532mm.
A little further on we found a male Lanner on a dead tree and got two traps down for him, a mouse and a zebra finch, the mouse proving to be the better option. He came in soon enough and got caught quite quickly. Indeed a 7 male in centrifugal primary moult as in true falcon form with a few retained juvenile greater coverts.
The next hour or so was frustrating, dropping for no less than 4 BSE’s with just the one coming over the trap to have a look. We had another lanner on the trap but flew off frustrated. We flushed what I think, was a Red-necked Falcon off a dead tree, saw it just too late.
At one point on the drive we found ourselves driving along the dried out
It was a female given its size of 1660g, wing of 447mm, bit shorter than the last.
At noon we headed back going south via the little outpost of Terra Firma and on this track spotted an adult Martial Eagle going over at some height. We spun the car round and screamed off in the direction to intercept the point the bird would cross the road and out went the trap at 100km per hour! A bit hit-and-miss this method but I did once catch an adult Martial in this fashion. This time however the Martial seemed to have a pressing engagement in
Just after this we came across an adult BCSE sitting on a dead tree a perfect distance from the track and we got two traps down.
The bird almost launched immediately but composed itself to wait a whole 15 minutes before it was finally convinced of which trap to choose.
We got the bird after a short wait and what a smashing specimen! 1570g with a wing of 566mm and 4 moult centres in the wing, it was in pristine condition.
For the remainder of the drive we had a Lanner on the trap and dropped for a few Steppe Buzzards (ha!) and dam and blast flushed a huge Tawny off a pole next to the road, we were just too near when we saw it. It had been feeding on a dead Bat-eared Fox in the track and had a full crop.
The loop we had driven today was over 400km and species observation tally was good with;
30 Pale-chanting Goshawk
5 Black-shouldered Kite
4 Gabar Goshawk
4 Greater Kestrel
1 Walberg’s Eagle
1 Tawny Eagle
1 Martial Eagle
1 Bateleur
And an assortment of 20 vulture, mostly White-backed with a couple of lappet-faced.
We stopped to have a look at a roosting flock of kestrels all tucked away inside a Boscia tree and to my surprise discovered they were all Red-footed Falcons! These are not at all a common site in the east so we dug out the scope and had a good look at these beautiful birds.
16th Cullinan – Askham – Kalahari trails
At 0700 we set off on a glorious morning which had a cold ‘snap’ to it and not a cloud in sight. We followed a terrific road with great poles but not a single raptor to be found, probably as a result of the sudden cold front, bird were not moving from traditional roosts as yet and so no perch-hunting was happening. Eventually we did see a few vultures and an adult Martial Eagle far off, thermalling on the first whispers of warm rising air.
We found virtually nothing all the way to Askham, except a couple of Pale-chanting Goshawks of which one we dropped for 4 and caught one that I filmed coming into the trap some 15m from the vehicle. It was an adult male which put up a great aggressive display on the trap after the mouse.
We then spotted a real treat for this area in the form of a little Pygmy Falcon. It was sitting out on a dead branch in a huge acacia erioloba (Camelthorn) which was sagging under the considerable weight of the huge haystack-like Sociable Weavers nest.
The small trap came out and we got it down under the bird. We waited a while and noted the considerable lack of interest the bird had in the mouse. Quickly shoving a Zebra Finch in another small trap we got that down too and backed off to watch. Talk about fussy! The falcon came in immediately hitting the trap several times but just that, no chasing the quarry so little chance of being caught. It eventually gave up and flew off.
Ok so we learnt something here!
Later we came across a family all sitting in another big Camelthorn but no one interested. Just about every bush had a Lesser-grey Shrike on it, I have never seen so many.
For the last 200ks we had been seeing, at an increasingly alarming rate, thousands, no millions of emerging Armoured Ground-crickets on the road. These particularly nasty and flightless little brutes are prone to live cannibalism and slowly devour anything alive or which had been alive and utter hell if one is unfortunate enough to have one climb up a guy-string into a furled net. However, great food for lots of birds!
We arrived at the home of Professor Anne Rasa who runs the guesthouse on the Askham to
On her desk in the office was a small glass tank with Parabuthus granulata, arguably the most deadly Scorpion in
However we had some daylight left so set off for a game drive on the reserve. We saw a few Pygmy Falcon here and there and lots of Namaqua and Double-banded Sandgrouse at the waterhole.
Other observations included Kori Bustard and a pair of Lappet-faced and several White-backed Vultures.
Fawn-coloured Larks were singing everywhere, and Spike-heeled Larks zipped across the track on our approach.
On the way back we flushed a Pygmy Falcon from a pole into a big Camlethorn where it joined another two. We got a selection of bait into two small traps which consisted of mice, zebra finch, mealworms and a highly irritated Armoured Ground Cricket.
Nothing interesting happened at all except the AGC put the mouse whose trap it was sharing through the paces a bit! Then after about 20 minutes suddenly an immature female made a dive for the trap and then back to the tree. It did this 3 times before finally getting caught! And it was the mouse trap which did the trick.
The bird was one I have wanted to catch very much for many years and here was this lovely little raptor, hardly bigger than the Lesser-grey Shrikes it had been sharing lizards and crickets with.
It was an immature female with fine buff fringes to the covers and a lovely chestnut mantle, It had a wing of 123mm and weighed 60g, so the wing of a swallow and weight of a thrush!
Just around the corner we found what was probably the male of this family group and we had him on the trap but not keen enough and he flew to the big Camelthorn to join the others.
17th
We set off at 0600 in the cool of the morning to try and get another Pygmy Falcon, but the breakfast had not warmed up yet so neither were the falcons.
The sky had continued to clear and we had about 30% cloud cover in the fantastic and intense blue sky of the Kalahari as we set off for the park.
Also staying at the guesthouse was Kobus who had come to work with Prof Rasa taking people out on night walks for scorpions. He had told us that on his way from
The drive to Nossob Camp follows the dried out
Here was a great example of timing and a ‘gathering’ of these nomadic birds that had come in from all over the region and possibly further to this part of the Kalahari to exploit the post rains abundance of their prey base. Some several weeks ago this area had received plentiful rain and the grass had matured with rich seed and greenery for a reaction in the food chain base to trigger off a rely of events to reach the top where all the predators had gathered to take advantage of this phenomenon.
On the way to the camp we spotted 50 species of birds, raptors included;
23 Black-chested Snake-eagles (2 juv)
6 Brown Snake-eagles
35 Pale-chanting Goshawk
5 Lanner
2 Booted Eagles
2 Tawny Eagles
1 Verreaux’s Eagle-owl
5 Secretary Birds
Springbok were abundant and had also made good use of the rains and were all fattened up with calves. Shaft-tailed Whydah were all over the place, males in full breeding plumage.
We got to camp and spent the rest of the afternoon with well earned G&T’s in the hide overlooking the waterhole watching Wildebeest and Gemsbok coming to drink and a pair of Lanner picking off Red-billed Quelea and laughing doves.
Other raptors which showed up here were an adult Gabar Goshawk which came to bathe.
18th Nossob to Kalahari trails
We left at 0700 and after about 5kms found a family of Lions on the side of the road but so well hidden in the long grass we left them to the more hard-core lion watchers!
This is a well known phenomenon in parks when the grass is too tall it is very hard to see anything. One of the reason we had not seen any Cheetah which this park is well known for.
We were now seeing loads more Tawny Eagles, where had they been yesterday was a mystery, possibly high up on the thermals as if they had been perched up in the big trees along the water course we would of seen some of them.
The following list was what we counted heading back south.
Black-shouldered Kite 11
Pale-chanting Goshawk 41
Lanner 12
Secretary Bird 2
Black-chested Snake-eagle 13 (Juv 2)
Brown Snake-eagle 5
Tawny Eagle 17
White-backed Vulture 5
Rock Kestrel 1
Bateleur 1
Lappet-faced Vulture 1
Steppe Buzzard 1
The presence of so many Black-shouldered Kites was interesting as this opportunistic and nomadic species would have also come into this area as a response to the prey abundance following the rains.
We came across a large Mole Snake and a Puff Adder on the track, obviously some of the rich pickings for all the raptors about.
Back at the guest house we went out after the Pygmy Falcons again and had 3 different birds on traps, but no success. One of the problems was a pair of Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill who took an interest in the trap and chased away the little falcons several times.
We found a pair of Pearl-spotted Owlets who showed great agitation and excitement to the trap but there was possibly a lurking Lanner nearby and so the little owlets would have to wait till dark and make do with their normal insectivorous fare.
19th
We set off early this morning, not before trying to find some Pygmy Falcons but it was still too early for the little raptors so we headed south.
On the 200km stretch of track to Van Zeylsrus we spotted 4 Tawny Eagles and little else, the rains from the condition of the savannah here had obviously not reached here and had drawn the birds to the north.
We stopped to try and catch a Lilac-breasted Roller and had a bird come in and hover over the trap a few times then loose interested. When going to the pick it up however we were somewhat surprised to find the mate caught! The remarkable thing about these birds is how worn they get. With the constant landing and taking off from gravel roads these bird really put their feather wear to the test.
Checking in with the farmer where we were going to stay this night, he told us how he regularly saw a Martial Eagle sitting on the poles along the road here, when we left him, and got back onto the road to go to our bush camp we were quite amazed when we saw a great big adult Martial Eagle on the very pole!
We got a trap down across from the bird and really felt like we had earned this bird, but after a few hart-stopping bobs and peering, the bugger took off! Quite sickening and utterly deflating after such a dearth of birds and this our 4th drop for a Martial.
Still if it were that easy it would not be so absolutely thrilling and rewarding when you do catch one of these awesome birds.
Arriving at our beautiful bush-camp we sat with G&T’s and watched the sun set over the vast horizon, listening to the grating calls of Northern Black Koraans and Monotonous Larks singing all round us.
All in we caught 18 Birds of Prey of which 8 were Black-chested Snake-eagles, not a bad catch considering the weather conditions and of course our luck!
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Trip Report Uganda 19 Feb-2 Mar 2008
19th February to the 2nd of March 2008
Participants
Malcolm Wilson
Chris Sharpe
Nick Tardivel
Jill Tardivel
Eugene Hood
Pieter van Eden
19th Entebbe-Kibimba
Mutebi Hassan arrived to help load the equipment into his stretch Landcruiser at 0700 at the Jane Goodall Institute and then after breakfast set off East to Kibimba Rice Scheme. Nick and Jill were to follow on, having missed their connection the day before so we were 5.
On the way we tried for two Long-crested Eagles, one actually landing on the trap but not long for enough and was off and away. These birds are so habituated to people that one can walk a trap right in under the pole the bird is perched on!
The second bird was so intent on its natural prey it even dived to catch a wild rat 5 metres from the trap!
We got to Kibimba in good time to set a line of nets out along a bund in block 2 on one of the large long paddyes. Jill and Nick arrived in time for the first net round so they missed nothing as a result of their 24 hour delay.
Catching was slow to start with, the usual birds caught being Painted and Common Snipe with a few Ringed Plover and Wood Sandpiper. We caught to midnight and closed.
20th Kibimba
Opened at 0500 getting a few more Snipe as well as a Black-winged Stilt and a Spur-winged Plover.
Going into breakfast we got side-tracked by a Grey Kestrel which we duly dropped a trap for, but as much as it was curious, it would only hover over the trap and once when it did land, there was the perfectly timed cyclist to scare the bird from the trap!
After breakfast we set out to look for a site in the afternoon and had a look to see who was in residence on the pylons. Quite a surprise, as it turned out. On approaching the pylon, we all saw a large falcon tearing across the rice fields and take a bird which had flushed from the rice. We watched it come round to land high up in the mainframe of the pylon and begin to pluck its prey. At first I was convinced it was a Lanner, the usual suspect here, but there was something not quite fitting and after a while I was sure we were looking at a Saker Falcon. What was even more extraordinary, the prey it was tearing to bits was a Spotted Crake!!
Saker Falcon is an extra-limital Palearctic migrant and this bird would constitute the second Ugandan record.
In the afternoon we found a good congregation of waders at the west end of the long paddy we had been at the night before and set 18 nets in one line.
Before dusk we picked up an assortment of diurnal species such as Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, Malachite Kingfisher and also set a line of 4 Taiwanese nets along the end of the paddy effectively blocking a flyway from the marsh behind which picked up a lot of snipe during the night. Putting a tape on we picked up a few Barn Swallows then at dusk a Slender-tailed Nightjar.
We caught till 0330hrs before closing and did quite well with over 80 birds with some exceptionable species notably Great Snipe, Black-tailed Godwit, Long-toed Plover, White-faced Whistling Duck and a re-trap Wood Sandpiper from last November. But the highlight by far much to my excitement and bemusement of the
21st Kibimba
After breakfast we tried the now suspicious Grey Kestrel a few times, tempting it to hover 2m above the trap, but too wary now. Richard Ssemmanda from Birdlife
We had a look round the site and decided to leave the line of nets for another night and set off on a raptor run on the main road. We found a Long-crested Eagle which was too low to drop for and Mutebi’s attempt at trying to walk a trap in was thwarted by a Black-headed heron which took off squawking in the Eagle’s direction which also followed suit.
We then tried our luck on a Black-shouldered Kite and after several attempts between herds of cows and a couple of trucks on this tiny track, realised we were in fact completely out of the stuff.
There were a couple of Steppe Buzzards floating north but if we could not catch a BSK, we most certainly were not going to catch a Steppe Buzzard being at times one of the most suspicious and exasperating of them all.
We opened at 1630hrs and picked up odd Wood Sandpipers and Painted Snipe and another Slender-tailed Nightjar. Putting up some single panels in a recently harvested paddy, we got a few Yellow Wagtails and 3 Red-throated Pipits.
The Taiwanese nets got a few Sand Martins and Barn Swallow with odd things like Winding Cisticola, Cardinal Quelea and a Sedge Warbler.
There were at least 8 European Marsh Harrier floating around, hunting over the paddies which proved very beneficial as sudden bursts of spooked waders would appear over a bund and invariably a few hit the nets.
As well as European Marsh there were a few Montague’s Harrier but oddly no Peregrine, the usual raptor to torment the wader flocks at this hour.
We caught till 0100hrs and did increasingly well for painted Snipe with 61 ringed and finally a few Little Stint which had decreased significantly since last November.
On the way back to base tried dazzling for a few Plain, White-tailed and Black-shouldered Nightjars, but the moon was too bright.
22nd Kibimba
Opened at 0600hrs and caught a few Wood Sandpiper, Spur-winged Plover and painted Snipe, then had fun catching a few male Fan-tailed Widowbirds in full breeding plumage, coming out of roost back onto the paddies and territories.
Back at breakfast we tried to catch a pair of Gymnogene which was building a nest in a large Terminalia tree in the compound. The birds however were far more consumed with each other’s amorous intentions so no luck there.
After scouting round the site we decided upon block 7 which consisted of several small paddies. This block had a good number of waders on including Spotted Redshank. We set 2 lines along parallel bunds and caught Wood and Marsh Sandpiper, Ruff and Snipe with a single Fulvous Whistling Duck till midnight.
23rd Kibimba
Opened at 0600hrs and started catching the same species as well as Barn Swallow, Sandmartin and 2 Green Sandpiper.
After breakfast we visited a recently harvested paddy where a lot of small birds were zipping in and out of the remaining stubble, including quite a few Red-throated Pipits. We set a line of single panels along the tracks of a harvester and retreated to a spot next to an irrigation channel. We set a net across it to catch the many Barn Swallows which were zipping up and down.
After a few rounds of catching Yellow Wagtails and Winding Cisticolas, we decided to have a push. What we realised immediately was that the Pipits were sticking to the small gaps in the 18 inch high stubble. Pushing them we realised also that there were many more. Unfortunately we only managed to bounce a few birds, most of which landed under the net and so took off out the other side.
The net in the channel did a bit better with a few Barn Swallows and a Malachite Kingfisher.
In the afternoon we set a few more nets at the end of the block and caught the usual waders but a few more Little Stint here and another Green Sandpiper. The Marsh Harriers were doing their stuff which was helping to catch in daylight and we had a moment when an adult male Euro Marsh Harrier hit the net and stayed in long enough to get half of us off the blocks in a mad dash before it got out.
In the night we heard the dreadful ruckus of a Black-headed Heron in a net and on getting to the line, had no difficulty telling which net the bird had been in, it looked like it had been trawling the paddy for frogs!
24th
We were packed up and off by 0800hrs and continued with our run of bad luck by dropping for 2 Long-crested Eagles, the first just plain suspicious and the second more concerned with two other birds circling overhead.
We got to Roger and Kathy’s house by 1500hrs and set four 60’s and four 40’s and began to catch, including 5 of the 14 species of sunbird here, Snowy-headed Robin-chat, Brown-crowned Tchagra and Pygmy Kingfisher.
After 4 days at the rice scheme, coming to ring here at the very kind invitation of our hosts really was ringing in luxury! After furling we sat back with G&T’s on the terrace and watched for Bat Hawk with African and European Hobby hunting round the house.
25th The Garden to
Opened up at 0630hrs and started catching while Great Blue Turaco and Black and White Casqued Hornbill flew across the garden and called out in the background.
Interesting and good birds included Grey-capped Warbler, Black-headed Gonolek, and a hybrid African X Red-bellied Paradise Flycatcher. We had fun when an Eastern Grey Plantain-eater came to the veranda to drink. Pieter and Nick crept round the back of the unsuspecting bird but it caught on and flew out the side and straight into the 60’ across the side of the lawn. This species is quite a novelty to catch however this soon wears off as the frightful screaming and projectile diarrhoea take its toll. Not a species to give to trainees if one wanted a ringing scheme to grow!
A Shikra made a brief appearance but was off before we could get a trap out.
At lunchtime we took the old
We counted 4 Wahlberg’s Eagles, 3 Brown Snake-eagle and a Bateleur, the last an encouraging sight outside of large protected areas.
We got to Kaniyo Pabidi in time to set eight 60’s and four 40’s and closed at dusk, but not before catching a pair of Bats. Nick had fast become the Bat expert and works with them in the UK so not only was it refreshing to have someone keen to extract the beasts, but also to shed some informative light on these mysterious creatures.
26th Kaniyo Pabidi,
We opened at 0630hrs in time to catch two bats again in the same net, obviously a roost nearby.
We began to catch and what was immediately apparent was the complete lack of Brown Illadopsis, only catching one retrap from last November.
But very excitingly we got a re-trap Puvel’s Illadopsis from November! Then even more exciting got a new Puvel’s which
New species this time were Western Black-headed Oriole, Olive-Green Camaroptera and Green Twinspot. A great bonus was getting an Eastern Forest Robin, the second from the site, which Chris had the privilege to ring.
We had 9 ranger guides with us to partake in the workshop and ringing demonstration we were giving. Since last November they had done a considerable amount of homework and had been taking very good notes on observations in the forest.
Nick and Jill went to track the Chimpanzees and returned flushed with success, having also seen Blue Duiker and Black and White Colobus monkey. Waking up to the latter an hour before dawn is always my favourite sound in the African tropics, followed by the warming up of the Great-blue Turaco.
Chris took some of the students and did a few Timed Species Counts (Lewis and Pomeroy) and got some interesting curves on the field sheets.
Over the forest were lots of Hirundines including African Black, Scarce, Alpine, Palm, White-rumped, Little and European Swifts. The occasional Western Bronze-naped Pigeon flew across as well as White-thighed Hornbill. A flock of Afro-tropical migrant White-throated Bee-eaters 200 strong also went over the forest clearing and the occasional Steppe Buzzard drifted over.
Not seen but heard was a Crowned Eagle, the distinctive rising and falling whistle causing the resident Red-tailed Monkeys to offer chirped concern!
27th Kaniyo Pabidi
A Wood Owl was calling out in the forest during the night and was still going when we opened the nets.
We caught many retraps over the time we had been here and also managed to remark on the interesting absence of previously very common species, notably White-throated Greenbul and Brown Illadopsis.
The Fire-crested Alethe was the commonest species this time.
New birds today were Red-tailed Ant-thrush, Red-tailed Bristlebill and TWO more Puvel’s Illadopsis!
28th Kaniyo Pabidi to
Opened again at the same time and got very little -- such is the decline in catch rate in forests. However, as we were taking down, we managed to get a new Dwarf Kingfisher from the site!
We packed up late morning and set off for the top of the falls at
As it was now in the dry season, large parts of the savannah had burnt with many areas still burning. Two months previously there had been a count of over 300 individuals of this Afro-tropical non-breeding migrant from the
Other migrants in their hundreds if not thousands were Abdim’s Stork, also joining others in the sudden bonanza of insects disturbed from the fires, Northern Carmine Bee-eaters, Black Kites and many hirundines. Another very noticeable migrant were hundreds of Grey-headed Kingfishers.
We got to the falls for lunch and watched the thundering
On the way out we spotted a Grasshopper Buzzard which came in to land on a tree next to the road. We got a trap down and backed off. As a primarily insect-eating species, I was more curious than hopeful to see the reaction. In a few seconds the bird spotted the mouse and dropped next to the trap then in typical buzzard/kestrel style, cautiously approached, then gathered up the courage and took a lunge. On the second attempt it got caught and we had a beautiful adult female Grasshopper Buzzard. Surprisingly small, it weighed 355 grams with a wing of 318mm and had 10 fresh primaries.
Chuffed with this success we carried on and 30 minutes later found another Grasshopper Buzzard high up on a tree next to the road. This bird spotted the mouse impressively quickly at probably 100m and was onto the trap in no time. A quick catch and we had a second bird, this time a young one lighter and shorter winged. It had an un-barred tail which was crossed with many fault bars and quite tatty, leading us to believe this was its first visit south of the
We stopped to watch hundreds of Uganda Kob and as many Abdim’s Storks around a large water hole. The Antelope and birds mixing together made an impressive scene.
Got to Nile Safari Camp and set six 60’ and four 40’ nets and caught a few Pygmy Kingfishers, Reed Warbler, Orange-breasted Bushshrike, Brown-crowned Tchagra, Grey-capped Warbler and a pair of Black-billed Wood Dove. Then went up to the bar overlooking the
29th
Opened at 0700hrs (a bit later to allow the roosting weaver and Quelea flocks to clear) while the Standard-winged Nightjars still displayed in the morning light. Long-tailed Nightjars were calling and we had a few close shaves with some low flyers coming to the sound system.
We got a few good birds this morning, including a Dusky Babbler, and at last a re-trap from this site of an African Moustached Warbler which had been ringed on the 13th of November 2002 by Chris! The wing and weight were exactly the same and the bird had been an adult when ringed.
Across the river from the ringing site was a herd of over 200 Elephant who at one point decided to have a huge dust-up with adult females chasing young males off and males going at each other, quite entertaining -- from this side!
The resident Hippos were not very impressed.
No Shoebill on the other side, just Grey-crowned Cranes and Saddle-billed Storks.
We closed late morning and went on a run to find more Grasshopper Buzzards and anything else around. Unfortunately the
After a few k’s we came across an area on fire, with hundreds of Abdim’s Storks walking in among the burning bushes, picking off the millions of Grasshoppers which were pouring out of thickets in droves. We found a Grasshopper Buzzard intently watching the smoking area and dropped a mouse to which the bird reacted immediately and we had our third Buzzard. This bird was even younger than the last with no chin stripe and lots of buff coverts and an unbarred tail but not in primary moult.
We found another but the bird did not see the trap before flying off. A considerable handicap for us was the wind which was blowing enough to move the vegetation to the extent that birds were not seeing the mouse movements.
The “burn” (as it’s called) here was alive with Northern Carmine Bee-eaters, Wahlberg’s Eagles, Black Kites and quite a few grasshopper Buzzards.
Carried on towards the falls and found a group of 6 Abyssinian Ground Hornbills and we tried for a Black-chested Snake Eagle high overhead.
Coming back for lunch we got another Grasshopper Buzzard, also a young one and no primary moult which was ringed by
Dropped twice more for birds but restlessness had set in and they were not sitting still for long -- the nature of the fires keeping them on the go. A noticeable factor with this species was their tameness, allowing us to get quite close at times.
We opened for the afternoon and got a variety of birds, notably a pair of Violet-backed Starlings, the male iridescence just incredible and a spectacular all White-morph African Paradise Flycatcher.
Then the most unexpected of catches occurred. The guard arrived for night duty and to light the fire and ward off dangerous animals for the poor helpless and defenceless campers. We asked him if there was anything in the nets worth running for and he replied that there was a large bird in the net with a yellow beak!
I was left alone with the guard after the ensuing response and in time the bird was brought back with animated and puzzled looks. To avoid any unseemly behaviour I took the bird out of the bag and found myself staring at the unimpressed form of a Yellowbill! This odd relation to the coucals was, I suppose, a denizen of riparian woodland although it is more often found in thick tangles in the forest.
After this we tried the sound system again for Long-tailed Nightjar and almost got one.
1st of March
The following morning the Standard-winged Nightjars were still frustrating us but we did come very close at one point to catching one which just missed the net. However a Rufous-morph Plain Nightjar was not so lucky!
Today being the last full day’s netting opportunity, we caught till lunchtime with new birds included a couple of Olivaceous Wabler, Red-winged Grey Warbler, Brubru, a beautiful Silverbird and a trio of lead-coloured Flycatchers.
After lunch we set off after more Grasshopper Buzzards and found a Dark-chanting Goshawk in the same burn area. We dropped and the bird soon came in, but was very half-hearted about it all. It took a couple of stabs at the trap before flying back to its perch. It did this a couple of times and actually got caught briefly for a moment before eventually flying off.
We went to check out the airstrip which yielded nothing and on the way back found a Grasshopper Buzzard 80 m back off the road and low. We put a trap down and amazingly the bird quickly saw the mouse and was in and onto the trap in seconds. We had our 5th Grasshopper Buzzard! This bird was probably the youngest so far as it had orangey eyes unlike the full bright yellow of the adult. It was in active primary moult with 4 new primaries and a feather at stage 4 and 5 old outer primaries. So the question here is: When do young commence their post juvenile primary moult? Probably at 1 year.
Back at camp we opened the nets and remarkably got another Yellowbill! Last thing, we got a Red-throated Bee-eater and a pair of Black-cheeked Waxbill.
2nd March Nile Safari Camp to
We got a few Reed Warblers in the morning then packed up and set off for
We dropped for a Martial Eagle near to the
We dropped right under the beak of a Western-banded Snake Eagle, a perfect drop, but the bird never reacted once!
South of Masindi we had a Long-crested Eagle on the trap, but it was just not aggressive or hungry enough and got off. Then we dropped right under the nose of a Brown Snake Eagle which didn’t budge.
So not the best trip for raptors, however the 5 Grasshopper Buzzards more than made up for the lack of common species.
Got to
See list of totals per site below
| 1 | Fulvous Whistling-Duck | 1 | Kibimba | |
| 2 | White-faced Whistling-Duck | 1 | Kibimba | |
| 3 | Lizard Buzzard | 1 | Masindi | |
| 4 | Grasshopper Buzzard | 5 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 5 | Greater Painted-snipe | 67 | Kibimba | |
| 6 | Black-winged Stilt | 1 | Kibimba | |
| 7 | Long-toed Lapwing | 9 | Kibimba | |
| 8 | Spur-winged Plover | 1 | Kibimba | |
| 9 | Common Ringed Plover | 35 | Kibimba | |
| 10 | Little Ringed Plover | 1 | Kibimba | |
| 11 | Great Snipe | 2 | Kibimba | |
| 12 | Common Snipe | 14 | Kibimba | |
| 13 | Black-tailed Godwit | 1 | Kibimba | |
| 14 | Marsh Sandpiper | 11 | Kibimba | |
| 15 | Green Sandpiper | 4 | Kibimba | |
| 16 | Wood Sandpiper | 40 | Kibimba | |
| 17 | Little Stint | 15 | Kibimba | |
| 18 | Ruff | 6 | Kibimba | |
| 19 | Black-billed Wood-Dove | 4 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 20 | Blue-spotted Wood-Dove | 4 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 21 | Eastern Plantain-eater | 1 | Garden in | |
| 22 | Yellowbill | 2 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 23 | Plain Nightjar | 1 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 24 | Slender-tailed Nightjar | 2 | Kibimba | |
| 25 | Speckled Mousebird | 4 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 26 | Malachite Kingfisher | 3 | Kibimba | |
| 27 | African Pygmy-Kingfisher | 11 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 28 | Dwarf Kingfisher | 1 | | |
| 29 | Red-throated Bee-eater | 1 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 30 | Swallow-tailed Bee-eater | 1 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 31 | Blue-cheeked Bee-eater | 1 | Kibimba | |
| 32 | Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird | 2 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 33 | Spot-flanked Barbet | 2 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 34 | Greater Honeyguide | 1 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 35 | Lesser Honeyguide | 2 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 36 | Brown-eared Woodpecker | 1 | | |
| 37 | Sand Martin | 23 | Kibimba | |
| 38 | Barn Swallow | 16 | Kibimba | |
| 39 | Yellow Wagtail | 6 | Kibimba | |
| 40 | Red-throated Pipit | 3 | Kibimba | |
| 41 | Common Bulbul | 8 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 42 | Little Greenbul | 1 | | |
| 43 | Plain Greenbul ( | 4 | | |
| 44 | Yellow-whiskered Bulbul | 3 | | |
| 45 | Yellow-throated Greenbul | 1 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 46 | White-throated Greenbul | 6 | | |
| 47 | Common Bristlebill (red-tailed) | 2 | | |
| 48 | Rufous Flycatcher-Thrush | 1 | | |
| 49 | Red-tailed Ant-Thrush | 2 | | |
| 50 | Brown-chested Alethe | 1 | | retrap |
| 51 | Fire-crested Alethe | 3 | | |
| 52 | Red-faced Cisticola | 1 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 53 | Rattling Cisticola | 1 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 54 | Winding Cisticola | 4 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 55 | Tawny-flanked Prinia | 2 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 56 | Red-winged Gray Warbler | 1 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 57 | Yellow-breasted Apalis | 1 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 58 | Gray-capped Warbler | 3 | Garden in | |
| 59 | Grey-backed Camaroptera | 7 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 60 | Olive-green Camaroptera | 1 | | |
| 61 | Moustached Grass-Warbler | 1 | Murchison Falls NP | retrap |
| 62 | Sedge Warbler | 1 | Kibimba | |
| 63 | Eurasian Reed-Warbler | 11 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 64 | Olivaceous Warbler | 2 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 65 | Buff-bellied Warbler | 2 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 66 | | 1 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 67 | Green Hylia | 3 | | |
| 68 | | 1 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 69 | Silverbird | 1 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 70 | Gray Tit-Flycatcher | 3 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 71 | | 1 | | |
| 72 | White-browed Robin-Chat | 1 | Garden in | |
| 73 | Red-capped Robin-Chat | 2 | | |
| 74 | Snowy-crowned Robin-Chat | 4 | Garden in | |
| 75 | Spotted Morning-Thrush | 2 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 76 | Brown-throated Wattle-eye | 4 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 77 | Chestnut Wattle-eye | 1 | | |
| 78 | Black-headed Paradise-Flycatcher | 3 | | |
| 79 | African Paradise-Flycatcher | 1 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 80 | A.Paradise x BH Paradise Flycatcher | 1 | Garden in | |
| 81 | Puvel's Illadopsis | 3 | | |
| 82 | Dusky Babbler | 1 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 83 | Green-headed Sunbird | 4 | Garden in | |
| 84 | Western Olive-Sunbird | 12 | | |
| 85 | Scarlet-chested Sunbird | 2 | Garden in | |
| 86 | Olive-bellied Sunbird | 8 | Garden in | |
| 87 | Beautiful Sunbird | 1 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 88 | Red-chested Sunbird | 7 | Garden in | |
| 89 | Variable Sunbird | 2 | Garden in | |
| 90 | Western Black-headed Oriole | 1 | | |
| 91 | Brubru | 1 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 92 | Brown-crowned Tchagra | 5 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 93 | Black-headed Gonolek | 2 | Garden in | |
| 94 | Sulphur-breasted Bushshrike | 2 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 95 | Violet-backed Starling | 2 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 96 | Spectacled Weaver | 3 | Garden in | |
| 97 | Village Weaver | 2 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 98 | Black-headed Weaver(yellow-backed) | 4 | Kibimba | |
| 99 | Golden-backed Weaver | 1 | Garden in | |
| 100 | Cardinal Quelea | 3 | Kibimba | |
| 101 | Red-billed Quelea | 2 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 102 | Fan-tailed Widowbird | 10 | Kibimba | |
| 103 | Green-backed Twinspot | 1 | | |
| 104 | Brown Twinspot | 3 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 105 | Red-billed Firefinch | 1 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 106 | Red-cheeked Cordonbleu | 4 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 107 | Fawn-breasted Waxbill | 1 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 108 | Black-faced Waxbill | 2 | Murchison Falls NP | |
| 109 | Orange-breasted Waxbill | 8 | Kibimba | |
| 110 | Bronze Mannikin | 1 | Kibimba | |
| 111 | Pin-tailed Whydah | 2 | Kibimba | |
| | total | 530 | | |
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