4 Days Bird Watching in Murchison Falls National Park
Description
This 4 days Bird Watching trip in Murchison Falls National Park, one of Uganda’s most popular parks for both game viewing and birding. Bird through this amazing park on game drives, launch trips along the Nile and on nature walks. This will offer you an opportunity to come across distinct bird life. Over 650 bird species have been recorded to be existing in the conservation area classified in broader categories of Savannah forest birds, water birds and Albertine endemic. The commonest of the large birds found in the plains include the marabou storks, ground horn bills, secretary birds, black-bellied bustards, Open-billed storks, Widow birds, wheatears, bishops and weavers among others.
Closer to the river where there are more thickets and woodlands, the commonest bird varieties include the black bee- eater, swallow tailed bee-eater, red-throated bee- eater, woodland king fisher, francolins, hornbills, grey heron, hamerkop, doves, mousebirds, shrikes, flycatchers, cuckoos, coucals, woodpeckers, crombecsand warblers. The area close to the river is also home to ducks, geese, stilts and plovers.
Bird Watching in Murchison Falls Highlight
Day 1: Birding from Kampala Masindi via Mabamba Bay – Shoebill Stork
Day 2: Birding budongo- royal mile and transfer to northern Murchison
Day 3: Birding northern Murchison falls
Day 4: Birding to Kampala
Itinerary
1
Day 1: Birding from Kampala Masindi via Mabamba Bay – Shoebill Stork
Early transfer to Mabamba Swamp, 50 kms west of Kampala. Look out for many different birds on our way to the swamp like the Papyrus Gonolek, White Shouldered Tit, Red Cap, Western Banded Snake Eagle, White Winged Warbler and Weyns Weaver. This Swamp is one of the best places to spot the exceptional Shoebill Stork. But also many other species can be found here, like the Allen’s and Purple Gallinule, Grey herons, Jacanas, Rufous Bellied Heron, Squaco, Purple and Goliath Heron, the Globally threatened Pallid Harrier and Blue Swallow a migrant species, a variety of egrets, ducks etc. we later drive backwards to Kampala then transfer to Masindi where we shall spend our night via the Luwero triangle passing through undulating grasslands and mosaic woodland where we drive looking out for the White-crested
Turaco, Bronze-tailed Starling, lesser Blue and Great Blue Eared Starlings, Black, Yellow Mantled and Black Winged Bishops, White Headed Barbet, Cardinal and Nubian Woodpecker, Lesser and Greater Honeyguide, Grey Capped Warbler, White Shouldered Tit, Brown Throated Wattle Eye, Brown Twin-spot, Eastern and Dark Chanting Goshawk, Banbed Snake Eagle, Broad Billed Roller, Lizard Buzzard, Shikra, Wahlberg’s Eagle, Grey Kestrel, Lesser Striped, Angola and Barn Swallow, Village and Black Headed Weaver, Red Throated Bee-eater, Sooty Chat, Black Headed Batis among others. BLD
2
Day 2: Birding budongo- royal mile and transfer to northern Murchison
Depart early for the nearby Budongo Forest, birding along the Royal Mile, a truly spectacular road with forest canopy towering far overhead. There is a good system of trails in the forest, today we expect skulking birds like the Nahan’s Francolin, excessively noisy White-thighed Hornbill, graceful Cassin’s and Sabine’s Spinetail, Blue-throated Roller, Yellow-browed Camaroptera, Forest Flycatcher, Chestnut-capped Flycatcher, Ituri Batis, Lemon Bellied Crombec, Tit Hylia, Uganda Woodland Warbler, Forest Robin, Yellow Billed, Grey Throated, Hairy Breasted and Yellow Spotted Barbet, Great Blue and Black Billed Turaco, Dusy Long Tailed
Cuckoo, Spotted, Plain, Slender Billed, White Throated, Little Grey and Little Greeenbul, Red Tailed Bristlebill and Black-capped Apalis among others. Lookout for the Blue, Red Tailed and the black and white Colobus monkey. On lucky days the chimps cross the trail. Dinner and overnight at Nile Safari Camp for 2 nights. BLD
3
Day 3: Birding northern Murchison falls
A highlight of the visit will undoubtedly be the boat trips to the bottom of the falls and on the game drive as we make it to the delta, on lucky days we have great views of the Shoebill Stork. There will be other birds including the Red-throated and Northern Carmine Bee-eater mammals such as Rothschild’s Giraffe, Cape Buffalo, Elephant, Waterbuck and many others will be viewed. Other birds to look out for include the Saddle-billed, Yellow Billed and African Open Billed Stork, Hauglins Francolin, Senegal Thick-knee, Rock Pratincole, Giant, Woodland, Grey Headed, Malchite, Pygmy and striped Kingfishers. On the game drive we look out for Heuglin’s
Francolins, Black Billed Barbet, Northern and Red Faced Barbet, Swallow-tailed, Little Bee-eaters, Abyssinian Rollers, the giant Abyssinian Ground Hornbills, Black Winged and Northern Red Bishops, Chestnut Crowned and the White Browed Sparrow Weaver, Northern Crombec,
Namaqua, African Morning, Ring Necked, Red Eyed dove among others . The Patas Monkey will be the primate to look out for on this day. A night drive today is very advisable looking out for nocturnal mammals and birds. BLD
4
Day 4: Birding to Kampala
As we transfer to kampala we shall make a visit to the top of the falls.
After visiting the top of the falls, then continue to Kampala/Entebbe enroute as we look out for species that we might have missed our way in and explore more secret spots of your guide. BL
Location
Related Tours
-
7 DAYS - 6 NIGHTSThis birding tour takes you bird watching in North Western Uganda
-
3 DAYS - 2 NIGHTSBird through wetlands, lakes, savannah, rolling hills & acacia trees
-
5 DAYS - 4 NIGHTSThis 5 Days trip takes you birding through Entebbe & Mabamba Wetlands
