Bulletin 357 - Uganda #1 - Plovers and Lapwings

After the week in the Capetown area, the guide Casper Badenhorst, and I flew to Uganda and met a local guide. We started at Entebbe Airport on the southeast corner of Uganda and made a diagonal trip to Murchison Falls NP in the northwest corner. From there, we proceeded south through a chain of nature preserves and parks to the southwest corner at Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. We finished along the southern border back to the airport.

Plovers and lapwings are a favorite bird family of mine ever since I first saw a Kildeer as a child in Canada. We saw a total of 10 species in Uganda, of which 5 were lifers for me. The first 4 lapwings were lifers. 

The 12" Long-toed Lapwing (Vanellus crassirostris) has a white face, black hood, red eye and red legs.

Long-toed Lapwing

The 10" Black-headed lapwing (Vanellus tectus) has a black head and thin crest with white stripe across face. He has a yellow eye.

Black-headed Lapwing

The 11" Spur-winged Lapwing (Vanellus spinosis) is similar to the Long-toed above but the entire top of the head is black. None of the photos I took showed the spurs on the wing.

Spur-winged Lapwing

The last lifer is the 10" Senegal Lapwing (Vanellus lugubris). It is the plainest as has a gray head and brown body. It has a yellow eye.

Senegal Lapwing

The 13.5" African Wattled Lapwing (Vanellus senegallus) is an easy ID with yellow, wattled, legs and bill. Notice this bird does have spurs on the wings.

African Wattled Lapwing

The 12" Crowned Lapwing (Vanellus coronatus) is a brown lapwing with black and white top of head.

Crowned Lapwing

Uganda has several lakes in the Rift Valley and the largest lake in Africa - Lake Victoria. We had the pleasure of 3 boat trips. One was on the White Nile River to the base of Murchison Falls. It is famous for having the largest volume of water of any falls in the world.

The 8" Common Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula) was seen on the shore during one of the trips. It is a typical small plover and is a winter migrant here so the markings are muted.

Common Ringed Plover

We only saw a single 7" Three-banded Plover (Charadrius tricollaris). It seems poorly named as there are only 2 dark breast bands like our Killdeer. The red eye and bill are distinctive.

Three-banded Plover

We had the 6" Kittlitz's Plover (Charadrius pecuarius) again. But this was my closest photo of this bird. He is a beautiful little plover in breeding plumage and I love his name as well.

Kittlitz's Plover

The last was a real treat. The 8" Caspian Plover (Charadrius asiaticus) is another beautiful little plover. My luck is amazing as this bird can be difficult to find in Africa. The guide has a client in London who has come to Africa 4 times specifically to see this bird and missed it every time. We saw it on March 1st in non-breeding plumage. 

Caspian Plover - winter

Then a week later saw it in breeding plumage with the red chest.

Caspian Plover - breeding

And another bird was right beside the vehicle.

Caspian Plover - breeding

In all, we probably saw about 20 Caspian Plovers in several locations. Of course this was a lifer for me.

I put the different bird/mammal families in single folders for easy viewing


I have photos of 29 of the 67 species of  plovers and lapwings

I discovered a new book :"The World's Rarest Birds" by Hirschfeld, Swash and Still published in 2013. It lists all the 600 birds that are designated as Endangered or Critically Endangered or Extinct in Wild and only survive in captive breeding programs.

They have illustrations or photos of the birds, a brief description and reasons that they are endangered - pet trade, deforestation, logging, change in water areas, pollution, fishing, invasive species etc.

Also they have the estimated populations of each species at the time of publication.

I was delighted to see that I have photos of 42 of these birds already in my collection of photos. I knew some of them already, but the most surprising was the Chestnut-bellied Flowerpiercer in Colombia. It was rediscovered in 2003 after not been seen since 1965.

BirdLife International is an organizational of regional bird conservancy groups and works to protect these birds from extinction.

I put these 42 birds in a separate folder for your enjoyment.

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2020 David McDonald

To have these trip reports sent to your email, please email me at the above address and ask to subscribe.

Bulletin 356 - South Africa 2020 #10 - finishing up

I was enchanted with my first visit to Africa in November 2018 and so I scheduled another trip with the same guide Casper Badenhorst. As we had done the eastern part of the country from Durban to Kruger NP, we went to the Capetown area and the famous fynbos habitat.

The 17" Giant Kingfisher (Megaceryle maximus) is the largest kingfisher in Africa. It is similar to our Belted Kingfisher in North America. The male has and all rufous chest and belly. The female here has a blue chest and rufous belly. There is a huge bill and shaggy crest.

Giant Kingfisher - female

The 8" Alpine Swift (Tachymarptis melba) is dark above and all white below except for a dark throat band and tail.

Alpine Swift

Mousebirds are a 6 species African family of long tailed crested usually brown or gray birds. The 12" Speckled Mousebird (Colius striatus) is brown bodied with a whitish crest, black mask, and bicolored bill.

Speckled Mousebird

The 12" White-backed Mousebird (Colius colius) is all gray with a white bill with black tip. This was a life bird for me.

White-backed Mousebird

The 16" Cape Spurfowl (Pternistis capensis) is a dark brown spurfowl with a red bill and black tip to the upper mandible.

Cape Spurfowl

I finally saw a breeding plumaged Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis).. It is attractive with a black and mahogany head and neck, white cheek spot and white tip to the bill.

Little Grebe - breeding

The 5" Brown-throated Martin (Riparia paliducola) is a gray-brown martin with a white belly.

Brown-throated Martin

The 5" Gray-backed Cisiticola (Cisticola subruficapilla) is a gray cisticola with a streaked back and rusty crown. It is almost endemic to the fynbos area.

Gray-backed Cisiticola

Another small bird in the fynbos is the 5.5" Karoo Prinia (Prinia maculosa). It is a brown-backed bird with streaked breast and long tail.

Karoo Prinia

The 4" Orange River White-eye (Zosterops pallidus) is a typical white eye, but he has pinkish flanks.

Orange River White-eye

Lastly is the 3.5" Swee Waxbill (Coccopygia melanotis). Waxbills are colorful and popular as cage birds. The male has a black face, bicolored bill, olive back, and red rump.

Swee Waxbill - male

This completes the birds in the Capetown area. Next week we will visit a new country.

One thing that has interested me for a long time are national birds. Now that I have done photography on several continents, I decided to look up national or official territorial birds. Some places do not have designated birds, so if they have the bird on their coat-of-arms, I used that bird. Despite the fact I have I have photographed in just a dozen countries, I have photos of the birds of 83 countries or territories. 

I did the same for the USA states and territories as well as the Canadian provinces. You can see them here.

I put the different bird/mammal families in single folders for easy viewing

I have photos of 18 of the 113 species of kingfishers

I have photos of 8 of the 106 species of  swifts

I have photos of 4 of the 6 species of  mousebirds

I have photos of 19 of the 182 species of pheasants, grouse

I have photos of 10 of the 22 species of grebes


I have photos of 26 of the 88 species of  swallows and martins

I have photos of 29 of the 160 species of cisticiolas, prinias 

I have photos of 4 of the 129 species of white-eyes


I have photos of 23 of the 141 species of  waxbills, munias 

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2020 David McDonald

To have these trip reports sent to your email, please email me at the above address and ask to subscribe.

Bulletin 355 - South Africa 2020 # 9 - coastal birds

I was enchanted with my first visit to Africa in November 2018 and so I scheduled another trip with the same guide Casper Badenhorst. As we had done the eastern part of the country from Durban to Kruger NP, we went to the Capetown area and the famous fynbos habitat.

I photographed 4 species cormorants -  3 of which were lifers. The largest is 35" White-breasted Cormorant (Phalacrocorax lucidus). It is found inland as well as along the coast. The ID is easy as the only cormorant in South Africa with white underneath.

White-breasted Cormorant

The other 3 are all coastal birds, were all new to me and are all endangered because of overfishing by Chinese trawlers. The 22" Crowned Cormorant (Microcarbo coronatus) is all black with a small crest above the red eye.

Crowned Cormorant

The 25" Cape Cormorant (Phalacrocorax capensis) is all black with a blue eye.

Cape Cormorant

The 30" Bank Cormorant (Phalacrocorax neglectus) was only seen on the pelagic trip as it nests on offshore rocks.

Bank Cormorant

The huge 36" Cape Gannet (Morus capensis) is unmistakable. It was also seen on the pelagic trip.

Cape Gannet

There were 2 smaller gulls - very similar in appearance. The 16" Hartlaub's Gull (Chroicocephalus hartlaubii) is endemic to Angola and South Africa coasts. It has a dark eye which is the ID mark compared to the next bird,

Hartlaub's Gull

The 16" Gray-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus cirrocephalus) is winter plumage just has a small patch of gray on the ear. But the eye is pale.It occurs in Africa and South America.

Gray-headed Gull

The 25" Kelp Gull (Larus dominicanus) is the common huge black backed gull.

Kelp Gull

The 19" Greater Crested Tern (Thalasseus bergii) has a black head and shaggy crest. The bill is yellow. It is also called Swift Tern in Africa

Greater Crested Tern

The 16" Sandwich Tern (Thalasseus sandvicensis) has a long thin black bill with a yellow tip. Interestingly I discovered, as doing this bulletin, that the IOC has split Sandwich Tern with the one in Americas now called Cabot's Tern (although not sure if AOC has also split it)

Sandwich Tern - breeding

I put the different bird/mammal families in single folders for easy viewing

I have photos of 11 of the 41 species of cormorants

I have photos of 5 of the 10 species of  gannets and boobies

I have photos of 44 of the 101 species of  gulls, terns, skimmers

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2020 David McDonald

To have these trip reports sent to your email, please email me at the above address and ask to subscribe.

Bulletin 354 - South Africa 2020 #8 - Larks and other passerines

I was enchanted with my first visit to Africa in November 2018 and so I scheduled another trip with the same guide Casper Badenhorst. As we had done the eastern part of the country from Durban to Kruger NP, we went to the Capetown area and the famous fynbos habitat.

The larks are a family of brown-streaked ground dwelling songbirds. There are 98 species mostly in Africa and just a single member in North America. I found 3 new ones on this trip. The 8" Agulhas Long-billed Lark (Certhilauda brevirosris) is one of the 5 species in the split of "Long-billed Lark" complex about 20 years ago. This one has the smallest range along the coast east of Capetown. It is dark brown, but is best IDed by voice.

Agulhas Long-billed Lark

The 7.5" Large-billed Lark (Galerida magnirostris) is a heavily streaked lark with buffy eyeline.

Large-billed Lark

The only one identified by color is the 6" Red-capped Lark (Calandrealla cinerea). He has a red cap and shoulder and the breast is not streaked.

Red-capped Lark

The 10" Fork-tailed Drongo (Dicrurus adsimilis) is glossy black with a forked tail. For some reason I just like the name drongo, so I like to find these birds!

Fork-tailed Drongo

The 11" Pied Starling (Lamprotornis bicolor) is a brown-black bird with white vent and white eye. The bill is mostly yellow.

Pied Starling

The 9" Bokmakierie (Telophorus zeylonus) is a member of the bushshrike family. These birds are often brightly colored. This one has a gray head, yellow breast with a black bib. He reminds me of our meadowlarks in the USA. This cooperative bird was 15 feet from the car.

Bokmakierie

The 9" Olive Thrush (Turdus olivaceous) is similar to our American Robin.

Olive Thrush

I saw my first male Bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus). The males weigh up to 100 lb. Only the males have the corkscrew horns. Animals in the south are much darker then further north. For comparison, here is a reddish-brown female from Kruger Park.

Bushbuck - male

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2020 David McDonald

To have these trip reports sent to your email, please email me at the above address and ask to subscribe.

Bulletin 353 - South Africa 2020 #7 - Shorebirds, rails

I was enchanted with my first visit to Africa in November 2018 and so I scheduled another trip with the same guide Casper Badenhorst. As we had done the eastern part of the country from Durban to Kruger NP, we went to the Capetown area and the famous fynbos habitat.

The western Cape region is a semi desert. You may have read last year that Capetown was suffering from a multi-year drought and was on water rationing with the possibility of no fresh water at all. Fortunately they got some rain and refilled the reservoirs. But it is on the coast, so along with a wetland outside the city, many shorebirds can be found.

The best sandpiper was the 12" African Snipe (Gallinago nigripennis). This long billed, normally secretive bird, was in a marshy puddle beside the road. The guide said it was outstanding to see it in the open about 5 meters from the car. The guide is finally starting to believe how lucky I am when go birding.  Hahhaha. Another lifer for me. All snipes are exciting to find.

African Snipe

Several migrants from Europe were present as well. The whimbrel was finally split into 2 species. The 17"  Eurasian Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus) has a striped head and down curved bill. It has a white back that is not seen on this photo, I actually had photographed this bird in Galveston many years ago, before the split, when an astute birder realized this was the European species. The white back is easily seen. FYI the whimbrel in North America is now called the Hudsonian Whimbrel.

Eurasian Whimbrel

The 10"  Ruff (Calidris pugnax) is an uncommonn vagrant in the lower 48 states, although it breeds in Alaska. 

Ruff - non breeding

The 5.5" Little Stint (Calidris minuta) shown here in winter plumage is the reason I use a guide as I would never know which species this is.

Little Stint - winter

In the plover family, I finally got some close up of the African endemics. The 5" Kittlitz's Plover (Charadius pecuarius) has a black ring aroiund the head and in breeding a chestnut breast. This bird in molting into the breeding plumage and some color can be seen on his chest.

Kittlitz's Plover

The 6.5" White-fronted Plover (Charadius marginatus) is perfectly camouflaged on the beach.

White-fronted Plover

The 17" African Oystercatcher (Haematopus moquini) is all black with the typical long red bill of oystercatchers. This bird was a lifer for me.

African Oystercatcher

In the wetland along with the ducks we saw 2 weeks ago were members of the rail family. By driving on the dikes between ponds and taking photos out the window, I got my best photos of these species.

The 13" Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) is a gray and brown bodied bird with a short bicolored bill.

Common Mooorhen

The 17" Red-knobbed Coot (Fulca cristata) is a typical gray colored coot with white bill and shield. He really does have 2 small red knobs on the top of the shield. I cannot imagine the purpose of those knobs. This is an endemic bird in Africa.

Red-knobbed Coot

The last was a lifer as well. It is the 18" African Swamphen (Porphyrio madagascariensis). This is similar to our Purple Gallinule, but it is much larger and has a red bill and shield. 

African Swamphen

I put the different bird/mammal families in single folders for easy viewing

I have photos of 50 of the 93 species of sandpipers

I have photos of 29 of the 67 species of  plovers and lapwings

I have photos of 4 of the 11 species of  oystercatchers

I have photos of 18 of the 138 species of  rails, coots, gallinules

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2020 David McDonald

To have these trip reports sent to your email, please email me at the above address and ask to subscribe.