Twitching in the wilds of Uganda

Published Jul 10, 2009

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Bird-watching is the fastest growing interest in the world. According to the US Fish and Wildlife service, there are 50 million people in America who consider themselves to be twitchers.

Research in Britain shows the same trend there, with millions of people scanning the skies, fields and shorelines in search of migrating and domestic birds.

And while some bird-watchers may never venture beyond their own backyards, others will travel the world in search of rare birds.

I admit that I'm no bird expert, but seeing the strange bird on the cover of my Uganda guidebook, I had to see it. But finding a shoebill is not easy. According to a birder friend, some people fly to Uganda especially to see the shoebill - and many go home disappointed.

The easiest way is to go to the Wildlife Educational Centre in Entebbe. But I found a gem of a twitcher in Medi Lwere of Uganda Tours & Safaris. "He's been there since yesterday," laughed our guide Ismail Katumba. He was referring to what must surely be the most extraordinary bird, the shoebill, Balaeniceps rex, also known as Whalehead or King Whalehead.

The name of this giant bird beast, with a wing span more than a metre wide, comes from its massive, shoe-shaped bill. No wonder it's the most sought-after African bird.

Setting off from Kampala at cock's crow, we made for Mabamba Swamp. Although only 40km west of Uganda's capital, the journey took almost two hours, mostly on dirt roads passing through rolling hills covered in plantain, sweet potato, villages and friendly people.

The 2 424ha Mabamba Swamps extend more than 100km2 from a shallow, marshy bay on the northern shore of Lake Victoria.

Listed as a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance, Mabamba is possibly the most reliable place in the country for shoebill sightings.

The local community has taken advantage of this and now see the financial benefits from ornithology visits. Medi phoned ahead to book bird expert Ismail, who had been out at sunrise to scour the area in preparation for me.

Climbing into a dugout canoe, we rowed through a narrow channel lined with papyrus.

A malachite kingfisher perched on reeds before moving along with us. On the way, we came across fishermen returning with their catch.

Rounding a corner we startled a family of yellow-billed ducks near a woven fish-trap basket, semi-submerged and surrounded by ferns.

A little further was a fisherman's hut constructed from wood, thatch and reeds, its floor most likely a waterbed. Another turn took us into a narrower channel, thick with water lilies as our boat scraped the bottom.

As lesser jacanas lived up to their common name of lily trotters, Ismail pointed in the distance, and sure enough, there it was - the most bizarre, prehistoric-looking bird I've ever seen.

Dull grey and larger than I imagined, 150cm high and around 6kg in weight, it's the feeding apparatus that dominates - a huge and powerful appendage, 20cm long and half as wide - apparently the largest beak of all bird species.

Despite its smiling appearance, it was deadly serious and focused on catching a fish.

"It will stand in the same place until it traps one," said Ismail.

He explained that shoebills preferred lungfish, but would prey on whatever moderately sized aquatic creature came their way, including toads, water snakes, monitor lizards, turtles, young crocodiles - even Lechwe calves.

Ignoring our presence, it stood frozen, staring into the water.

Suddenly its neck lengthened and I zoomed in my binoculars, expecting to catch it in the act of piercing a large fish with its ferocious, nail-like, hooked bill. But no - it simply went back to its semi-frozen state.

Ismail told us that he'd even seen shoebill parents using their beaks to pour water over their overheated nestlings.

Next day we went to the Entebbe Botanical Garden, established in 1902, where Medi and I ambled along a road enjoying a gentle breeze from Lake Victoria. Pointing to the palm-fringed waterway we peered through binoculars at a palm-nut vulture, similar to the fish eagle.

Its plumage is all white except for black areas in its wings and with a red patch around the eye.

"In flight it resembles an eagle more than a typical vulture," said Medi. "And it can sustain flapping flight so it doesn't depend on thermals. It gets its name from its favourite food, which uniquely for a bird of prey isn't meat but the nut of the oil palm.

"It will also take dead fish."

Hearing screeches and bending bamboos we went to investigate and found a family of black and white colobus monkeys, their cheeky faces peering between leaves.

Uganda is saturated in colour, outstanding natural beauty and friendly people with landscapes that will impress. From tropical forests to snow-covered volcanic ranges, Uganda is known for its population of mountain gorillas but it also has the finest bird-watching in Africa.

Whether you're a birder or not, the shoebill is one of the great African species to encounter and anyway, Uganda is full of surprises.

If you go...

- Flights: SAA flies to Entebbe daily, from Joburg, R6 573 and from Durban, R8 621, inclusive.

- Visa: US$50 at the airport.

- Health: Uganda is a malaria area and there is billharzia in most rivers and lakes. A Yellow Fever vaccination is compulsory.

- For birding trips contact Escape Tours & Safaris, e-mail [email protected] or see escapeuganda.com

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