Are you a birder or intend to become a birder?

Kampala - NatureUganda with pleasure to announce yet another Uganda Big Birding Day (BBD) scheduled for 18th October, 2013 as the BBD launch at Uganda Museum, 19th October as the BBD Count which is to be conducted country-wide and it a 24 hour activity, and 26th October as the BBD festival.  9th October 2013 to take place at Kitante Primary School-Kampala.

The Big Birding Day (BBD) is a special day when every person in Uganda is encouraged to go out birding in any part of the country, with the main aim of increasing awareness on the potential of birds to promote tourism in Uganda. This event also aims to promote domestic tourism, by involving Ugandans in such an exciting exercise.

The first BBD was organised in 2003 followed by the events in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. The BBD comprises of three events; the Launch which is in form of a public lecture; the Birding Day, where we all go out for birding in the whole country in sites of our choice; and the Big Birding festival, which is the final day where we announce the results from the birding event.

This year the BBD events will take place as follows; the Launch at the Uganda Museum on 18th, Bird watching day all over the country on 19th and the Big Birding Festival in Kitante Primary School Gardens on 26th October. The sub-theme for this year is "Birding, Our livelihoods, Our economy". This theme targets to promote birding as one of the leading source of livelihood for the country.

NatureUganda is inviting you to be part of the Birding teams and also to attend the other BBD events. It is also requesting to arrange for birding in a site of your choice on the birding day 19th October and let me know which site you have chosen. You need a team with at least two birders if possible and other interested participants for your site. Birding will be a 24hr exercise starting at midnight (19th at 0001 hours) to midnight (20th at 0000 hours). 

This is a competition is the longest bird species list recorded during the 24hrs.

The winners stand to win different prizes so you should be in that team.

You can register your BBD participation at NatureUganda or via the NatureUganda website or contact us on our email addresses below or on bbd@natureuganda.org

We look forward to celebrating the birds of Uganda with you.

A new site for Grauer’s Swamp Warbler in Uganda confirmed

Grauer’s Rush Warbler (GRW) Bradypterus graueri is restricted to highland swamps in the mountains around Lake Kivu and Edward in the Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, South -Western Uganda, Rwanda and Northern Burundi. The Grauer’s Swamp Warbler is described as globally endangered by the global Red data list of IUCN.

Grauer's Rush Warbler

The specie is endemic to the Albertine rift and can be identified by its medium sized dark brown plumage with white spots on breast. Its outstanding trill for a song cannot be missed in its swamp habitat. Little is known about their population, size, feeding behaviour, and there is scanty information on breeding biology.

Until recently, the species was only known from Muchuya swamp in Echuya Forest Reserve, Mubwindi Swamp in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Kagezi swamp in Mgahinga National Park.

NatureUganda monitors the population in Echuya forest and a survey of the swamp early this year, recorded 65 individual birds in 10 days.

Early this year, Zoreka Keresi one of the field based staff of NatureUganda reported of hearing calls of Warbler from two degraded swamps of Mukinombe and Kinyarushengye along the Kashasha stream that flows from Echuya Forest down to Lake Bunyonyi. Zoreka is conversant with the call and identification of the warbler since he has been working in Echuya Forest for over 15 years.

Swamp degradation

A team from NatureUganda headed by the ED, Mr Achilles Byaruhanga, visited the two remnant swamps on 11th August 2013 to confirm the earlier observation. Twenty eight (28) individual birds were recorded from Mukinombe swamp. This swamp that measures about 5-6 acres is highly degraded with less than two acres of vegetation above 3ft. The birds were easy to see or flush from the vegetation. At several occasions the warbler flew from the swamp into the sorghum gardens that provided better cover. This particular patch is heavily encroached on despite the fact that it is believed to be community owned and protected.

At Kinyarushenge area, the swamp measuring about 3 acres looked more degraded like it had been cultivated before. Although the swamp is dominated by Cyperus species, there was hardly any water. The swamp is partly owned by an individual and a Primary school. Here the birds were even more exposed preferring to hide in marginal bushes between gardens and the wetland. At this swamp 16 individuals were counted.

In both (Mukinombe and Kinyarushenge) swamps, the birds were calling an indication that there was breeding activity and probably explaining the high number of individuals recorded as well as the fact that birds are restricted to a small area. This is probably the highest number of individuals ever to be recorded from one site making these two patches of the swamp globally important and critical for the survival of the species. These new sites could be host to a lot more individuals considering the individuals that were not seen and thus not recorded and that Kashasha river belt continues to join Lake Bunyonyi with wetland pockets of similar habitat to those that were visited.

Until August 2013, this specie was known to occur in pristine swamps and was interesting to observe that Grauer’s Swamp Warbler can survive in such highly degraded and marginal swamps. This may present an opportunity to conserve this population outside protected areas. There has been a lot of swamp attenuation in many parts of the country as a result of drainage for agriculture and the cutting and burning of marsh vegetation. NatureUganda is planning for extensive surveys of the species along the Kashasha stream and other remnant swamp around Echuya Forest and Lake Bunyonyi to locate any other pockets of swamps that may contain other populations. Although working with communities may protect the swamps in the short run, there will be need for a landscape plan to protect the whole catchment of the Echuya Forest and accord these little swamps a high level of protection. These swamps qualify as Important Bird Areas (IBAs) and developing community conservancies through partnerships with community land owners and local governments for the protection of these critical sites for the Grauer’s Swamp warbler is paramount.

Marabou Stock: The major City Cleaners in Uganda

©Marabou storks. Photo by Achilles Byaruhanga

Marabou stocks (Leptoptilos crumeniferus) are residents and local migrants throughout tropical Africa from Senegal to Somalia, South to Botswana, but rare in extreme South.  While mainly scavengers, they can also be active predators, catching rats and mice with a swift snap.  They can swallow whole lumps of food of up to 1kg.  The only other two close relatives are found in Asia, thus the Marabou is the only one of its kind we have in Africa.

Marabous prefer open or semi desert areas, there are rare within forested and true deserts.  They are associated with man near fishing villages.  Records show that the population of Marabous has been increasing since 1969 when the first count of the breeding population was made.  In Kampala, the breeding population has increased from 11 pairs in 1969 to over 500 pairs breeding population 2007.  The total breeding population in the country is well over 1,000 breeding pairs.

Marabous can be seen elsewhere on rubbish dumps and abattoirs in the towns where they forage for food. They nest in close proximity to wetlands usually swamps where they forage for aquatic prey for their young. Today, Marabous can breed even more successfully near human settlements like towns and cities.  This has been the case with Kampala, Masaka, Hoima, Masindi, also Kikube, Kakooge to mention but a few. This is associated with easy availability of food (artificial) and good nesting sites around human populated areas. They are most numerous in the areas of moderate rainfall near the equator, and central Uganda is favorable.

Kampala town offers the following to these birds:-

• Easy food availability for both adults and young. People in town around Market centres, institutions and hotels have lost sense of cleanliness, proper deposition of garbage and remains which leaves the city dirty, and in some places stinking awful.  This, ironically, provides easy food availability to scavengers including Marabous. God forbid, some human beings have benefited from this carelessness.  Abattoirs, butcher areas, garbage heaps, rubbish dumps, dust bins are all scattered around the city. This cannot be blamed on innocent birds looking for survival like everybody else.
• Security - these rather docile creatures have lived with people for long without any problem until recently when KCC decided to discredit them, just as a displacement act of their negligence.  The birds are harmless and have learnt how to associate with people.  This can be realised by the location of their nesting sites close to most densely populated areas around Kampala city.  Others are located on less expected public places like City Square, Nile Hotel, Standard Chartered Bank and Stanbic Bank, CPS, Uganda High Court, Makerere University and others.  Feeding places are anywhere remains, uncovered dust bins, uncovered KCC rubbish skips can be found.
• Fledging success - Nesting sites of marabous are located on such places that when the young fledge they easily find food, thus near food sources.  These places must have no predation pressure for both young and adults, also should minimize natural hazards like wind breaks because of storms and winds.

Kampala City Council should have appreciated the work the Marabou is doing in the City.  These birds being scavengers eat virtually every piece of tissue whether rotten or fresh.  The residents of Kampala seem to have learnt to live with their garbage.  Food remains are scattered everywhere in now the latest way of deposing waste, that is wrapping and packaging  waste in polythene bags which are then thrown anywhere along main roads, streets, floors and yards of flats.  It’s only the responsible marabou that picks and cleans the potential health hazard! It’s only that Marabous are a little few with a small capacity that they cannot cope with the 1,000 metric tones of waste deposited daily in Kampala.

In some pastoral nomad societies, Marabous and Vultures have been associated with the time of much death in domestic animals.  This is because these animals being scavengers flourish when other animals are dying.  The appearance of large numbers of these birds close to human settlements is believed to forecast an approaching mass death of domestic livestock on people due to drought or war.  This is definitely not the case with Kampala, but it is an indication that the garbage waste has reached a dangerous level and poses a great health hazard to Kampala city. Marabous, therefore, become indicators of the pollution level in town.

It will be unfair if I do not mention the value of nature conservation.  As previously mentioned, Marabous are part and partial of our environment (nature), and are attracted to places because of the favourable feeding and breeding conditions that prevail.  It’s our duty to protect and preserve our natural heritage.

There is only one positive, environmentally friendly and easily acceptable solution, keep the City clean and Marabous will go by themselves.  Lack of transport to ferry the rubbish will not be a reason for prosecuting and exterminating the population of the innocent creatures. Failure to cover, burn, incinerate all the rubbish on KCC’s depository areas will not stop scavengers from making use of them.

Achilles Byaruhanga, Executive Director, NatureUganda

Excursion to Queen Elizabeth National Park

Lions basking in the morning sun

It was on a warm and sunny day that a group of NatureUganda members including young explorers set off for an excursion to Queen Elizabeth National Park. They included those with a keen interest in plants, birds, butterflies and mammals, as well as those who wanted to learn a bit more about their countryside: all the right ingredients for a successful excursion. NatureUganda organizes excursions and field trips with a purpose of fulfilling her mission “Promoting the understanding, appreciation & conservation of Nature”.

In pursuit of this mission, NU strives to:

• Create a nature-friendly public;
• Enhance knowledge of Uganda’s natural history;
• Take action to conserve priority species, sites and habitats and
• Advocate for policies favourable to the environment;

A Nile croc on the banks of Kazinga Channel

Queen Elizabeth National Park is understandably Uganda’s most popular tourist destination. The park’s diverse ecosystems, which include sprawling savanna, shady, humid forests, sparkling lakes and fertile wetlands, make it the ideal habitat for classic big game, ten primate species including chimpanzees and over 600 species of birds.

Set against the backdrop of the jagged Rwenzori Mountains, the park’s magnificent vistas include dozens of enormous craters carved dramatically into rolling green hills, panoramic views of the Kazinga Channel with its banks lined with hippos, buffalo and elephants, and the endless Ishasha plains, whose fig trees hide lions ready to pounce on herds of unsuspecting Uganda kob.

Katwe Salt lake

Day 1: Members had a morning and evening game drives through the Kasenyi plains and Kikorongo crates lake area respectively. Once within the site boundary, members started making their species lists. A wide range of mammal species including; the wild pigs, Waterbucks, Uganda Kobs (many of which were females) Lions among others were seen. The sight of a pride of 4 lions was a fascinating one. A number of beautiful birds were sighted, interesting of all was the Verreaux’s Eagle-Owl that was spotted perched on a tree branch.

Day 2: The boat ride, commonly known as the launch cruise was another interesting activity. It was indeed an exciting cruise along the Kazinga channel and what was known to be a two hours drive ended without every body’s notice. Interesting to see was a variety of different water birds and one particular specie that has got a permanent smile; The Nile Crocodile.

Members also visited the salt mines in Katwe and Bunyampaka salt lakes. Though there were no activities going on because of the wet season. Members were taken through the processes of salt mining and were able to reach down at the salt collection sites. The other activity was the evening walks along the Mweya peninsula. Indoor games for the young explorers were organized and this made their stay in the park so enjoyable.

Buffaloes

By the end of the excursion over 20 species of plants, 5 species of mammals had been recorded in addition to 39 species of birds.

Overall, it was an interesting trip. Thanks to the members who managed to participate, you surely made it an interesting outing.

Top left, beautiful Buffaloes, elephants, a group photo at Katwe salt mines, for a boat ride at kazinga channel, a couple of cranes that entertained us in one of the drives and members getting ready for the evening walk.