Bulletin 379 - Uganda #23 - Thrushes, Shrikes, Starlings, Mongooses, Warthog

 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.

Thrushes are favorite birds of birders and non- birders alike due to theirs colors and beautiful songs. They are a worldwide family of 169 species. I photographed 2 new species in Uganda and of course both were life birds. The 8.5" African Thrush (Turdus pelios) is similar to our American Robin but with a paler breast.

African Thrush

The 7.5" Fraser's Rufous Thrush (Stizorhina fraseri) is a bright rufous bird with a gray head.

Fraser's Rufous Thrush

I also had 2 lifer shrikes in Uganda. The 10" Gray-backed Fiscal (Lanius excubitoroides) is all white below, with a gray crown and back and the typical black mask and wings. His hooked beak is readily seen.

Gray-backed Fiscal

The 8" Mackinnon's Shrike (Lanius mackinnoni) is similar but smaller and with a reduced size of the black mask.

Mackinnon's Shrike

Starlings form part of a large old world family of 118 species. I found 3 new ones for the trip.

The 14" Rüppell's Starling (Lamprotornis purpuroptera) is a glossy blue long tailed bird. He has a black face and yellow eye.

Rüppell's Starling

The 9" Waller's Starling (Onychognathus walleri) is a black starling with a red wing patch seen when the bird flies.

Waller's Starling

The last is the amazing 12" Splendid Starling (Lamprotornis splendidus). This is a glossy blue starling but in sunlight has all sorts of colors. He is difficult to photograph to see the various colors. He has a yellow eye.

Splendid Starling

Here is another in the sunlight.

Splendid Starling

And a third.

Splendid Starling

The Banded Mongoose (Mungos mungo) has dark stripes across the lower 1/2 of his back. We were birding and suddenly a large group of perhaps 50 animals ran across a grass airstrip. They ran right up to us and the babies played at our feet.

Banded Mongoose

The Common Dwarf Mongoose (Helogale parvula) was a life mammal for me. It is the smallest carnivore in Africa, with the adults weighing only 3/4 pound.  A mutualistic relationship has evolved between dwarf mongooses and hornbills, in which hornbills seek out the mongooses in order for the two species to forage together, and to warn each other of nearby raptors and other predators.

Common Dwarf Mongoose,

The ugly Common Warthog (Phacochoerus aethiopicus) I had seen before, but I had not seen one kneel down to eat like this. In short grass, they cannot browse as their neck is too short, so they have to 'kneel' down to reach the grass. Nature always has interesting behaviors if we look and have curiosity.

 

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

I have photos of 50 of the 169 species of thrushes

I have photos of 8 of the 33 species of  shrikes

I have photos of 18 of the 118 species of  starlings and mynahs

I have photos of 7 of the 35 species of  mongooses

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2021 David McDonald

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

Bulletin 324 - South Africa #1 - part 2 - Plovers, Sandpipers, Jacana and Mongooses

Continued from Part 1 

We also saw 5 sandpipers close enough to photograph. They were all in non-breeding plumage as they were migrants from Eurasia. Without the guide, I would not have been able to ID the birds. The 9" Marsh Sandpiper (Tringa stagnatilis) was a life bird for me.

Marsh Sandpiper

The 8" Wood Sandpiper (Tringa glareola) is IDed by the yellow base of the bill. 

Wood Sandpiper

The 12" Common Greenshank (Tringa nebularia) as the name implies has greenish legs.

Common Greenshank

The 8" Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos) has yellow legs, a white shoulder patch and bobs when he walks. When we first saw the bird on a boat ride, he was standing on the back of a hippo, but the hippo submerged and he jumped onto a branch.

Common Sandpiper

Lastly is another lifer, the 5" Little Stint (Calidris minuta). The book says this is the most common of the small sandpipers in southern Africa.

Little Stint

After these dull sandpipers, the colorful African Jacana (Actophilornis africanus) was a nice change. We saw several of the on the trip. It is an easy ID with the blue bill and shield on the forehead and long legs. It is endemic to Africa and another lifer.

African Jacana

Among mammals, I was surprised that we found 4 species of mongoose. All of them are native to Africa. The first was the Banded Mongoose (Mungos mungo). It is gray and brown with darker bands across the back of the animal. We saw several of these.

Banded Mongoose

The next one was the Slender Mongoose (Galerella sanguinea). It ran across the road and stopped on a log to look at us. It is yellowish in color. This was the only one of the species that we encountered.

Slender Mongoose

We saw 2 of the Yellow Mongoose (Cynictis penicillata). The first ran into his burrow before I could take a photo, but this one stood up to look around.

Yellow Mongoose

The last one is the Suricate (Suricata suricatta). It is also known as the Meerkat. You have probably seen groups of Meekats on TV shows all standing up.

Suricate
AKA Meerkat

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

I have photos of 24 of the 67 species of plovers

I have photos of 46 of the 93 species of sandpipers

I have photos of 4 of the 8 species of jacanas

I have photos of 5 of the 35 species of mongooses



Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2018 David McDonald

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