BIRDING IN QUEEN ELIZABETH NATIONAL PARK

Queen Elizabeth National Park is one of Uganda’s most popular parks and is reported to have more than 610 bird species the most prevalent of any protected area in Africa. The main camp at Mweya is attractively positioned at a peninsular separating the channel from Lake Edward, the fine views of Rwenzori Mountains to the north and spectacular sunsets over the lake. The main species include shoebill, martial eagle, papyrus canary, black rumped, martial eagle, black bee white winged warbler eater, African skimmer, verreaux’s eagle owl, buttonquail, white tailed lark papyrus gonolek.

In the vicinity o the airstrip and the camping site along the Kazinga Channel, there are birds like the mourning dove, grey headed kingfisher, swamp fly cater,grey capped warbler, the beautiful black headed gonoleck,red chested sunbird slender billed, yellow backed and lesser masked canary, Gabon and slender tailed nightjars are common along the airstrip.

Rapters, brown snake eagle, bateieur, African harrier hawk, marital eagle and the grey krestrel can also be seen.

The Kazinga Channel is a famous place for water birds and a launch cruise that operates twice every day can help you view them. The following birds can be viewed like Great  white and pick backed pelicans, great and long tailed cormonants,common squacco heron, African open billed stork, white faced whistling and knob-billed ducks, African fish eagle, black crake, Africa jacana, water thick-knee, spur winged and African wattled plovers,malachite,pied kingfisher, swamp flycatcher and yellow backed weaver.

The beautiful crater area lies north of the Katwe road and is a good place to search for wide spread grassland species such as common buttonquail, croaking cisticola, broad-tailed warbler and marsh tchagra.Migrants harriers including pallid Montagu’s and European marsh, uater the damp grasslands from November to March and can be seen in the evening at the shallow depression west of the road to baboon cliffs. The papyrus swamps also provide nesting sites for shoebill and can be seen at the soaring overhead or feeding at the edge of the marsh in the early morning or in the late afternoon.

GORILLA SAFARI NEWS