Bulletin 369 - Uganda #13 - Herons, Crane, Ibis, Fruit Bat

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.

With many lakes, rivers and marshes in Uganda, herons were common and I photographed 2 new species.

The 33" Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea) is a common heron, but this was the first time I got one close by, for a good photo.

Purple Heron

The taller 38" Gray Heron (Ardea cinerea) resembles our Great Blue Heron.

Gray Heron

The giant 60" Goliath Heron (Ardea goliath) is a bird I had seen in the guide book. As the largest heron in the world, it was one I wanted to see. It has a gray body and reddish neck.

Goliath Heron

3 smaller herons include the 18" Squacco Heron (Ardeola ralloides). It is a squat beige heron.

Squacco Heron

The 20" Black Heron (Egretta ardesiaca) is all black. It is often found creating an umbrella like posture with its wings forward.

Black Heron

Lastly is the 22" Western Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis). This is the common white egret with a yellow bill and orange plumes in breeding season. It is widespread in the Americas.

Western Cattle Egret

Surprisingly, I only found a single ibis species, the 32" African Sacred Ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus). It is an elegant bird and an easy ID with its bare black neck and white body with black wings.

African Sacred Ibis

Probably the most elegant bird of the trip is the 44" Gray Crowned Crane (Balearica regulorum). It is the National Bird of Uganda.

Gray Crowned Crane

and another photo of this magnificent bird.

Gray Crowned Crane

The Straw-colored Fruit Bat (Eidolon helvum) is the most common African large bat. It is found in most of sub-Saharan Africa. They live in large colonies of 100 thousand to 1 million animals. And each year in the largest mammal migration on the planet, 10 million bats roost in a 5 acre forest in Zambia. Despite its relatively small size, 6-9 inches and 8-12 oz weight, many are hunted for 'bush meat' in Central and West Africa.

Straw-colored Fruit Bat

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

I have photos of 28 of the 66 species of herons, bitterns and egrets

I have photos of 11 of the 35 species of  ibises and spoonbills

I have photos of 7 of the 15 species of  cranes

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2020 David McDonald

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Bulletin 293 - Hong Kong #1 - birds around water

I had a quick 1 week vacation in Hong Kong last fall and had  1 day birding with guide David Dinkins of Hong Kong walks. We visited several locations in the New Territories.

Because this was my first trip to Asia, almost all the birds seen were lifers and new photos. So I thought I would start with the sandpipers and other water birds. For those bird listers, some of these names will be familiar.

The best sandpiper was the 10" Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago), This is the Eurasian counterpart to our Wilson's Snipe and were considered a single species until split in the last 20 years. If you have looked for the Wilson's Snipe, you know they flush and fly rapidly away and are hard to see clearly. Well we were on a boardwalk in a marsh. This bird flew in and landed on the boardwalk about 20 feet away, allowing a few photos before taking off again.

Common Snipe

The 9" Green Sandpiper (Tringa ochropus) is plain in winter plumage with dark wings.

Green Sandpiper

The 9" Wood Sandpiper (Tringa glareola) has a white eye stripe and dark spotted wings.

Wood Sandpiper

The 6" Little Ringed Plover (Charadrius dubius) is a typical small plover with 1 ring on his chest.

Little Ringed Plover

The Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus) is of course an easy ID with the long pink legs.

Black-winged Stilt

There were several herons and egrets, some of which have an obvious North American counterpart. The 38" Gray Heron (Ardea cinerea) is a large gray and white heron.

Gray Heron

The 24" Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) also has yellow feet like our Snowy Egret.

Little Egret

The 35" Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea) is said to be a secretive bird feeding in reed beds and usually only seen when flying between feeding spots as this bird.

Purple Heron

The 19" Chinese Pond Heron (Ardeola bacchus) is brownish with streaked neck in winter. It has no obvious New World counterpart as this genus is confined to the Old World.

Chinese Pond Heron - non-breeding

The 36" Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) is a Eurasian species that also appears on east coast of North America and is in the Sibley guide. The non-breeding adult here is black with a white throat.

Great Cormorant - adult non-breeding

The juvenile has white underparts.

Great Cormorant - juvenile

There are over 100 species of kingfishers but only 6 are in the Americas. Many of the Old World kingfishers are beautiful. The 6" Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) is blue above and orange below with red feet.

Common Kingfisher

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2017 David McDonald

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