Uganda Day 4 - Semuliki NP

  Our plan for the day at Semuliki was very simple really; walk 14 kilometers through the forest to the river that borders the DRC in order to see the rare White-bibbed Swallow, and then walk back. It was going to be tough but we hoped that it would pay off. Less than two hours after we started we were hit by a tropical storm, leaving us stranded for an hour. Then we spent at least an hour traversing a swamp that the trail crossed. Then my trousers tore in half. But then, after everything, we reach the Ox-bow lake where the swallow could be found, and to our joy, we found two of the birds hunting over the waters surface. There was a small fishing community based there and the fishermen kindly took us out in their small boats so we could get closer to the birds. This swallow is very hard to find due to its preference for forested habitats, and was one of the key targets for our trip. The ranger with us informed us that we were only the second group of tourists that he had ever taken to see the bird, during his ten years at the park.
  Although much of the walk was spent marching through the forest to try and keep good time, we enjoyed a large number of good birds along the way including an impressive 6 species of Hornbill, four of which were new for me; Red-billed Dwarf, White-crested, Black-casqued and Piping Hornbills. There were also a few species which, in this region at least, are specialties of the forest; Yellow-throated Nicator, Yellow-eyed Bristlebill, Chestnut-capped Flycatcher and Crested Malimbe. There were also six species of Monkey in the forest, including the endemic Semuliki Red Colobus. It was an exhausting but extremely rewarding days birding. 

-Yellow-eyed Bristlebill

-White-bibbed Swallow

-Giant Kingfisher

-Yellow-throated Cuckoo

-European Honey Buzzard

-Black-casqued Hornbill

-Hypolycaena sp.

-African Fish Eagle

-Grey-cheeked Mangabe

-Semliki Red Colobus Monkey

-Frog sp.

-Hemidactylus sp.

Species List:
Semuliki National Park: Tambourine Dove, African Green Pigeon, Great Blue Turaco, Yellow-throated Cuckoo, African Palm Swift, African Jacana, Common Sandpiper, White-winged Tern, Striated Heron, Western Osprey, African Harrier-Hawk, Palm-nut Vulture, European Honey Buzzard, African Fish Eagle, African Wood Owl, Narina Trogon, Red-billed Dwarf Hornbill, African Pied Hornbill, White-crested Hornbill, Black-casqued Hornbill, Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill, Piping Hornbill, Woodland Kingfisher, Giant Kingfisher, Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, Blue-throated Roller, Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird, Hairy-breasted Barbet, Western Oriole, Chestnut Wattle-eye, Red-bellied Paradise Flycatcher, Yellow-throated Nicator, Green Hylia, Grey-backed Camaroptera, Buff-throated Apalis, Sand Martin, Barn Swallow, White-bibbed Swallow, Yellow-eyed Bristlebill, Red-tailed Greenbul, Xavier's Greenbul, Dark-capped Bulbul, Chestnut-capped Flycatcher, Brown Illadopsis, Scaly-breasted Illadopsis, Fraser's Rufous Thrush, White-tailed Ant Thrush, African Thrush, Grey-headed Sunbird, Crested Malimbe, Vieillot's Black Weaver, African Pied Wagtail, Mantled Guereza, Semliki Red Colobus Monkey, Grey-cheeked Mangabe, De Brazza's Monkey, Dent's Monkey, Schmidt's Red-tailed Monkey, Alexandra’s Squirrel, Red-legged Sun-Squirrel,

Uganda Day 3 - Kibale NP & travel to Semuliki NP

  Having got our main target for the area yesterday there was no need to pay to enter the National Park and instead opted to bird around the NP edges and from the road that cuts through the forest. On the way we found a few smart birds by the side of the road, including Black-shouldered Nightjar, Shining-blue Kingfisher, Meyer’s Parrot and Village Indigobird.
  Once we were birding alongside the forest road we had a few nice species but the overall composition of species was very similar to the previous days birding. The absolute highlight of the morning happened when a biker pulled over to tell us that an African Forest Elephant was feeding on the roadside just a couple of kilometers further. We made haste and soon found the animal gorging itself on the forest vegetation. We did not attempt to get too close, but to get fantastic views of this shy forest resident was more than we could have asked for on the trip. On the bird front we were lucky to find Afep Pigeon, as well as Sabine’s Spinetail and Ayre’s Hawk-Eagle. We tried another location for a few species and we had a few nice birds such as Jameson's Wattle-eye and Western Nicator.
  Having been very successful in our time at Kibale we decided to leave a day earlier in order to give ourselves more time at our next National Park; Semuliki which was far more remote and we only had a single full day there. The drive was only two hours in total and we arrived there early evening allowing us to do a little birding before bed. That said, we found nothing particularly different, with only common species to show for it.

-Meyer's Parrot

-Schmidt's Red-tailed Monkey

-African Forest Pigeon

-Afep Pigeon

-Olive Baboon

-Magpie Mannikin

-Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird

-Brown-eared Woodpecker

-Western Nicator

-Jameson's Wattle-eye

Species List:
Bigodi General Area: Blue-spotted Wood Dove, Tambourine Dove, Black-shouldered Nightjar, Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird, African Grey Woodpecker, Brown-eared Woodpecker, Meyer’s Parrot, Shining-blue Kingfisher, Jameson's Wattle-eye, African Blue Flycatcher, Western Nicator, White-chinned Prinia, Buff-throated Apalis, Lesser Striped Swallow, Little Greenbul, Dark-capped Bulbul, Green White-eye, Brown Illadopsis, Violet-backed Starling, Green-headed Sunbird, Black-necked Weaver, Vieillot's Black Weaver, Magpie Mannikin, Village Indigobird,
Kibale Forest National Park: Afep Pigeon, Tambourine Dove, African Green Pigeon, Great Blue Turaco, Black-billed Turaco, Blue Malkoha, Sabine's Spinetail, Ayres's Hawk-Eagle, Steppe Buzzard, Black Bee-eater, Blue-throated Roller, Grey-throated Barbet, Speckled Tinkerbird, Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird, Petit's Cuckooshrike, Western Oriole, Chestnut Wattle-eye, African Shrike-flycatcher, Red-bellied Paradise Flycatcher, Green Crombec, Grey-backed Camaroptera, Buff-throated Apalis, Sand Martin, Plain Greenbul, Toro Olive Greenbul, Dark-capped Bulbul, Purple-headed Starling, Collared Sunbird, Green-headed Sunbird, Grey-headed Nigrita, African Forest Elephant, Mantled Guereza, Schmidt's Red-tailed Monkey, Olive Baboon,
Semuliki National Park: African Palm Swift, Palm-nut Vulture, African Wood Owl, Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill, Dark-capped Bulbul, Purple-headed Starling, African Thrush, Vieillot's Black Weaver,

Uganda Day 2 - Kibale NP

Our main target for our first full day in Uganda was the stunning Green-banded Pitta, a rare species which can only be easily found in the National Park in Kibale. We had a local guide with us for the day to assist us, as well as our experienced park ranger. However before we even got to the National Park we had some incredible luck when a Spotted Eagle Owl perched on the side of the road next to us right in the middle of town. It helpfully remained perched while I dug my camera out of the back and grabbed a few photos. 
To find the Pitta we needed to be in the forest extremely early to try and locate the bird singing before it stopped and began feeding on the ground. As such we spent a good hour walking through the forest in near darkness following the bizarre noises of a displaying Pitta. The bird was very mobile and hard to find but we got a few brief glimpses before it stopped its display. At this point we knew roughly where the bird was and we were able to find it a few more times on the ground before it scuttled off into the undergrowth. Eventually we lost it, so we left it to persue its Pitta lifestyle.
After our success with the Pitta we began more general birding in the forest area. It was difficult due to the large nature of the trees and dense understorey, leaving us with only a few additional species. Most notable of these was a very elusive White-spotted Flufftail which we found in a marshy area. Sadly it was too quick for pictures but was still good to see as it scuttled between taller stands of vegetation.
We left the park by lunchtime and afterwards went birding in an area of community land which consisted of open fields and small stands of trees. Although a lot of the species we saw were common African birds many were new for me and we enjoyed a large number of species with some excellent highlights. Personally, seeing my first wild African Grey Parrots was probably the highlight although the views on offer were limited to flyovers. In addition it was nice to see Grosbeak Weaver [Thick-billed Weaver] as this was one of the species that had first struck me in the book during my first visit to African back in 2019.

-African Spotted Eagle Owl

-Green-breasted Pitta

-Narina Trogon

-Chestnut Wattle-eye

-Ansorge’s Leaf Pansy

-Western Blotched Leopard

-Western Red Charaxes

-Hobart's Red Glider

-Neave's Banded Judy

-Grey-headed Nigrita

-Brown-throated Wattle-eye

-Olive-bellied Sunbird

-Yellow-whiskered Greenbul

-Yellow-crested Woodpecker

-Blue-headed Agama

-White-chinned Prinia

-Yellow-throated Leaflove

-Northern Fiscal

-Walhberg's Eagle

-Veillot's Black Weaver

-Village Weaver

-Bronze Mannikin

-Thick-billed Weaver

-African Grey Parrot

-Violet-backed Starling

-Green-throated Sunbird

-Blue-spotted Wood-Dove

-Great Blue Turaco

Species List:
Kibale Forest National Park: White-spotted Flufftail, African Harrier-Hawk, Lizard Buzzard, Narina Trogon, Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill, Hairy-breasted Barbet, Spot-flanked Barbet, Yellow-crested Woodpecker, Green-breasted Pitta, Western Oriole, Chestnut Wattle-eye, African Shrike-flycatcher, Velvet-mantled Drongo, Buff-throated Apalis, Grey Apalis, Black-faced Rufous Warbler, Lesser Striped Swallow, Slender-billed Greenbul, White-throated Greenbul, Willow Warbler, Scaly-breasted Illadopsis, Red-tailed Ant Thrush, Brown-chested Alethe, Red-headed Malimbe, Black-necked Weaver, Vieillot's Black Weaver, Yellow-mantled Weaver, Grey-headed Nigrita, Northern Grey-headed Sparrow, African Pied Wagtail, Mantled Guereza, Red-legged Sun-Squirrel, 
Bigodi Community Walk: Red-eyed Dove, Blue-spotted Wood Dove, African Green Pigeon, Great Blue Turaco, White-browed Coucal, Klaas's Cuckoo, White-rumped Swift, White-spotted Flufftail, Hamerkop, Black-headed Heron, Long-crested Eagle, Wahlberg's Eagle, Lizard Buzzard, Speckled Mousebird, Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill, White-throated Bee-eater, Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird, Double-toothed Barbet, Speckle-breasted Woodpecker, Yellow-crested Woodpecker, Buff-spotted Woodpecker, Grey Parrot, Red-shouldered Cuckooshrike, Brown-throated Wattle-eye, Black-and-white Shrike-flycatcher, Northern Puffback, Red-bellied Paradise Flycatcher, Northern Fiscal, African Blue Flycatcher, Green Hylia, White-chinned Prinia, Grey-backed Camaroptera, Red-faced Cisticola, Barn Swallow, White-headed Saw-wing, Yellow-throated Leaflove, Yellow-whiskered Greenbul, Little Greenbul, Toro Olive Greenbul, Dark-capped Bulbul, Green White-eye, Violet-backed Starling, African Thrush, Snowy-crowned Robin-Chat, Collared Sunbird, Green-headed Sunbird, Blue-throated Brown Sunbird, Green-throated Sunbird, Olive-bellied Sunbird, Copper Sunbird, Red-headed Malimbe, Baglafecht Weaver, Black-necked Weaver, Vieillot's Black Weaver, Village Weaver, Black-headed Weaver, Thick-billed Weaver, African Firefinch, Bronze Mannikin, Black-and-white Mannikin,