Budongo Forest

Budongo Royal Mile: once the traditional leisure spot for African Kings. A visit by this Mfalme was long overdue...

Our accommodation was the Nyabyeya Forestry College, a fairly run-down place which suited our budget. We could sleep peacefully at night knowing that our night watchman was packing some serious heat: 

Dinner was a team effort with all involved in chopping vegetables and preparing the least gnarly-looking goat meat we could find at the market.

All hands on deck

A feast fit for a king at the Royal Mile

Having said goodbye to Evie, who had joined us for a short but amazing 3 days all the way from Kenya, we eagerly anticipated the chimpanzee-filled super-fig just up the road which Emmy had driven her to see before her pre-mature departure. It was unbelievable. There were about 8 of them getting fat on figs and letting their genitals hang out in strikingly graphic manner. "So like us..." we observed. 

The MOTHER of all Fig trees

It was mating season and the females were in oestrus, as evident by their swollen genitals which looked like a giant wad of bubble gum. Steve and Emmy saw them mate! Raymond actually had to make an effort to get us focused back on birds as we were enthralled by the chimps' antics. 

Birding the Royal Mile

They make a nice team

We had only one precious morning to secure as many lowland specialties as possible, so we wasted no time. Our local guide Raymond proved invaluable in finding tricky species, from the minuscule, hyperactive Dwarf Kingfisher on the forest floor to the immobile, noisy Chocolate-backed Kingfisher in the treetops. Further lifers were White-thighed Hornbill, Ituri Batis, Dusky Long-tailed Cuckoo and Gray Longbill. 

Birding with local guide Raymond

Ituri Batis

Dwarf Kingfisher - the world's smallest

Chocolate-backed Kingfisher

Lowland tropical rainforest birding is never without its disappointments however, and I missed the Yellow Longbill for a second trip in a row (both times the guide saw it while standing right next to me). Likewise, Steve's stakeout by the stream never revealed the Shining-blue Kingfisher other than two quick zips over our heads. Such are its ways. 

The haunt of the Shining Blue Kingfisher

Back to that Fig tree. The chimpanzees here were absolutely nuts. Every time one would re-join the group, they all started screaming bloody murder. I caught it on video: 

(coming soon)

It was my second time seeing chimps, but for Evie, Ramata, Steve and Wilson, a first. It was hard to imagine them putting on a better show: eating figs, urinating, pooping, screaming and mating (basically doing what we do). 

Seeing her first chimpanzees - an amazing experience

Ready for action

Post-copulation

As the day got warmer, butterflies gathered to eat salts on the road. We enhanced their mineral feast with a splash of our own urine, sending them into a frenzy...

Always important to check behind you! 

The next day, we left the forestry college and birded the northern part of Budongo en route to Murchison. It was really awesome and culminated in Wilson and I staking out a Nahan's Francolin. Having had terrible views with a less than stealthy group, Wilson and I re-strategized. We placed the speaker to the side and put it on bluetooth to form a speaker/observer/subject triangle so the bird's attention would not be focused in our direction. Then, we hid behind a huge buttress of a tree so as to hide all but the tops of our heads and binoculars. It worked perfectly, and we got probably one of the best views ever of a threatened Nahan's Francolin foraging in full view. We didn't move an inch the whole time. Here are a couple other highlights from Budongo North: 

Fire-crested Alethe

Don't step on me!

Black-and-white Colobus