African Green Broadbill

Is the African Green Broadbill Uganda's best-looking bird? In 2016 I spent a lot of money coming to Bwindi with Martha to see one, which we did and it was epic. 

Therefore it would make sense to skip Bwindi this time or at least look for something else like Chapin's Flycatcher or something. But I wanted Steve and Wilson to experience the awesomeness of the Broadbill as well as the hospitality of Broadbill Forest Camp again because I knew they'd love it. 

Our visit did not go exactly as planned due to the rains. We were at the height of rain season and the road in was in poor shape. Driving in was easy, all you had to do was Tokyo drift down the hill and try your best not to ram the bank. 

The next morning was a different story. We were unable to leave the lodge because it had rained so heavily (and continued to rain) so we had to make due with birding on foot. To be honest, the birding was quite good! We found a Strange Weaver nest , Mountain Yellow Warblers and got my lifer Archer's Robin Chat and Sharpe's Starlings (nesting). Shockingly, we even heard a pair of Green Broadbills on the main road, but they took off before we could see them. By the end of the day, with the help of local residents, we managed to get the Land Cruiser up the hill but it was too late in the day to go anywhere. 

Strange Weaver making his nest

The rains brought a huge earthworm to the surface

Note: the 4-wheel drive was not working so if you have a 4x4 you're totally fine! Plus, this was the height of wet season. 2 years ago we drove this road in a Toyota Corolla. 

Fun times! 

Adding traction to the road surface

Contemplating our next move

Originally we'd planned to hike the Mabwindi swamp on day 1 then do the neck or Buhoma on day 2 (like last time) but since we'd lost a day we decided to just go for the Broadbill at the swamp.

Of course, before seeing any rare bird in Uganda you need to first show your passports and pay at the office.

A charging rig to rival Steve's

"Two non-residents, two East Africans and our guide" I said to the clerk, and presented him with our passports. He examined Ramata's passport, perplexed. "This is Senegal" he said. "I was born in Nairobi" replied Ramata, pointing at the 'city of birth'. Unexpectedly, he then addressed her in French and they cracked up a conversation about Senegalese wrestling coaches, footballers and musicians. Everyone in the room agreed that Senegal has great music, Sadio Mané is an amazing footballer and that Ramata is definitely an East African. Therefore, she paid 10$ as opposed to the 70$ that Steve and I shoveled over, respectively. This saved her a good amount of money throughout the trip, which made me in turn feel less guilty about spending longer looking at birds, hehe. Not that I had to though, look at her discovering the joys of birding:

(with Green Broadbill camouflage)

Broadbill trekking, so much cooler (and cheaper) than gorilla trekking

Every morning, gorillas poop in their bed then make a new one the next night

It was hard to live up to last trip's hike (perfect views of Red-chested Flufftail and Great Lakes Horned Viper) but we worked hard and did well nonetheless. Emmy scouted ahead in stealth mode while we took a rest on the bench as Steve had an injured knee. To be honest, it was impressive we'd made it this far but the group was determined to not leave a man behind. We heard a loud yell from quite far away and so off we went down the hill, hoping Steve would not completely tear a ligament and we arrived to the scene of two beautiful Broadbills weaving together a nest of lichens. This could be one of several nests, we were told, but only use one of them once they figure out which one is in the safest location.

The first nest of 2018 - found by us! 

Team Mfalme post Broadbill tick 

Looking on toward  Mabwindi Swamp. We would not make it in the end, due to lack of time

This is not your British beach holiday 

Lake Mburo

Lake Mburo, or as we call it, Lake Mbolo (see https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=mbolo), is a small but spectacular park if you know how to execute it properly. 

And execute we did. 

Having spent long at Bwindi due to too much faffing in the morning and then more faffing in Kabale finding the perfect T-shirt, we pulled in to the park after dark. If you've ever been to Uganda, you will know that driving anywhere takes 1-3 hours longer than you anticipate. 

We drove through some ranch lands on the way in. Sadly, the government had given away 60% of park's land to previously evicted and landless pastoralists in 1986 (for reasons too complicated to get into here), but the remaining portion of park is still a gem worth visiting. 

If interested in the conflict, read this paper: 

https://www.awf.org/sites/default/files/media/Resources/Books%20and%20Papers/CC-DP-6_pastoralists_fishermen.pdf

Black-shouldered Nightjar

Wattled Lapwing

Rhinoceros Beetle

At the park entrance, we tiredly set up our camp, ready for a much-needed sleep. Then a ranger came by to offer us a night game drive for a fee. Obviously, we could not refuse. But instead of finding a leopard, we got the Land Cruiser stuck in some mud and it required our best use of brush wood and a single spade to get us out. I realized later that for leopard (and nightjars), you really have to start before dark, otherwise they've probably finished hunting and it's not worth spending the money and losing sleep.

Our lesson on night game drives learned, we started out into the park at dawn and began our game drive in earnest. We admired some of Africa's largest and most majestic animals: Topi antelope, Impala, Zebra, Giraffe, Dung Beetle...

The distinctive Topi

Waterbuck, my favourite antelope

Burchell's Zebra

Rothchild's Giraffes

Dung Beetle

The only problem with these beautiful and majestic animals is that they are too easy to see. My real quarry was the Red-faced Barbet, endemic to a thin strip of wooded grassland shared with Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania. Side-cast members were Tabora Cisticola, Crested Barbet and Speckle-breasted Woodpecker. Emmy upped the ante by bringing us into birding overdrive. Upon detecting a distinctive tooting sound, Emmy engaged the culprit, a bold Pearl-spotted Owlet which unleashed a pandemonium of enraged songbirds, one of which was our Tabora Cisticola.

Pearl-spotted Owlet

Tabora Cisticola

Brubru

Black-headed Gonoleks

The birding climaxed with the spotting of a Crested Barbet by Emmy. Spotting any bird before Emmy is an extremely rare occurrence. 

Stretching our birding time to its limit, we made for the lake for the much-anticipated boat trip. It was expensive but Lake Mburo is the best place Africa (therefore, the world) for the legendary African Finfoot, Steve's nemesis. I first wet my Finfeet in 2016 at the Semliki River so it was not a lifer but I knew that Steve's rage-o-meter would explode if we saw them so that's why I chose Lake Mburo on the itinerary (over Queen Elizabeth). On our way over, we snagged my ultimate East African nemesis...the Saddle-billed Stork, soaring over the lake. BOOM, nemesis conquered. 

Saddle-billed Stork

Emmy carefully 'briefed' the boat driver to make sure he had his priorities straight! As I've learned before, if you don't make sure you get a guy who knows birds then you're in for a boring boat ride. 

We started with some ever-watchful hippos: 

Baby Hippo

Emmy had the juice on a White-backed Night-heron roost. As we stealthily crept up to the roost, Steve got a little over-excited by an African Black Crake as seen in this clip...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9nEYwc7GOc&feature=youtu.be

Classic Emmy! Also, did you notice Ramata is the one who first identified it as a crake?

Ramata's birding skills went up a level with the crake ID

Despite the shouting, three very shy White-backed Night Herons revealed themselves in the thicket...

White-backed Night Heron

Stoked by this epic lifer I did NOT expect us to get, we cruised onward and so easily found a male African Finfoot! We ended up snagging 4 Finfeet on the lake, culminating in an intimate encounter of a preening male on a branch while our driver cut the engine and let us coast toward him. 

Further down, a broad-bellied Croc basked in the afternoon sun, his veteran status evidenced by a stump for a left arm. Something tells me he doesn't need it. 

Nile Crocodile

Toward the end of the lake, our driver showed us a massive Rock Python all balled up in the papyrus, along with a medium one. Steve's rage-o-meter was hovering on a 6. 

Rock Python

Malachite Kingfisher

Cape Buffalo

Back on land, we continued our quest for the elusive Red-faced Barbet by trying our luck at the Rwakobo Lodge where they sometimes visit a huge fig tree on the property. 

Red-faced Lovebirds

Crested Barbet

A lack of figs and the presence of a Crested Barbet (the Red-faced's more aggressive competitor) suggested we were in the wrong neighborhood, so we made the most of the situation with a cold Stoney at the bar. Then, one of us noticed another bird who appeared to be in breeding plumage. 

They say a bird at the bar is worth two in the bush

With darkness setting in soon, it was time to drive to the park campsite but since it just "happened to be evening" it turned into a 'drive involving some game at night.' 

So there we were, me wielding Steve's professional grade game light out of the rooftop. Wherever I pointed, it was day. I felt like God. Short story, we found one! It was stalking some Impalas so after getting good looks, we directed the light toward the prey so as to not betray the leopard's presence. What happened then was the leopard started trotting toward them with purpose but as soon as it picked up the pace it disappeared behind some thick shrubbery so we were unable to know whether or not it succeeded. Impalas alarm-called everywhere. Reversing the vehicle was in vain as the show was over, either it retreated into the night or it got one, who knows. 

Verreaux's Eagle-owl

Leopard in full hunt mode

It was time for us to to retreat to our Bandas and get some sleep, some more than others. 

How much for those Lesser-striped Swallows?

The next morning, we had to leave the park by a certain time to avoid exceeding our 24-h pass and having to pay again, which we made by about 15 minutes once Emmy finally drew the line on stopping for pictures of warthogs. To give you a sample of what he was up against:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko-RFlXirTw&feature=youtu.be

Was this goodbye forever Red-faced Barbet? Perhaps, but there was still a possibility in the ranch lands. These distinctive Ugandan cows were at once a fun photo-op, someone's livelihood and a sober reminder of how cows are taking over Uganda's nature.

This should be illegal

Suddenly, Steve shouted BARBET! and right there in a thicket beside the road was a gorgeous Red-faced Barbet eating some fruits. We maneuvered through some barbed wire to track a family of 3 right before the habitat ended. Talk about 11th hour birding! I was the last of multiple climaxes in the last 24 hours.

Red-faced Barbet eating fruits

Red-faced Barbet