So a trip to the Bwindi impenetrable forest is a non-negotiable on any Ugandan Safari. To trek through this incredible forest in search of the magnificent Mountain Gorillas is a life changing experience, to say the least. However, there is more to Bwindi than just Gorillas!
There is a huge variety of other primates in the forest, the occasional forest Elephant, Giant forest Hog and an absolute plethora of birdlife. The local bird guides in Buhoma (a local village) are extremely good at finding a spectacular spread of feathered subjects. We did one such bird walk and notched up 50 species in 2 hours, and because we were interested in the photography of the birds, we took our time with the birds we found. We probably could have found even more in the 2 hours!
I found that the trick to forest bird photography was to be happy with the portraits that the birds gave me. Trying to get the nice clean flight shots would’ve been very difficult, for a number of reasons.
- The low light – it’s not called the impenetrable forest for nothing and the amount of light on the forest floor in particular is extremely limited.
- Plenty of obstacles – being an “impenetrable forest”, there is a lot of undergrowth and so a lot that can get in the way of that clean shot.
- Shy birds – A lot of the forest birds don’t give you much of an opportunity for a clean photo, and so getting a cleanish portrait of a bird is as much fun as trying the flight shots. You have to be quick!
When I was in Uganda last year, we did one afternoon dedicated to bird photography in the Buhoma section of Bwindi. There were a number of species that we didn’t manage to get photos of. And there are going to be a number of species to Google, because they are really fantastic but gave us the run-a-round. Species of note were the White-Breasted Nigrita, Luhders Bush-Shrike, Blue spotted Wood-Dove, Cinnamon Breasted Bee-eater and we heard a Black-billed Turaco.
We did however manage a few really good portraits of some great birds. Here are a few images that we got on the bird walk….Enjoy!
Love it, love the tambourine dove !
Thanks so much Diane. The birds in Uganda are truly astounding. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Absolutely BEAUTIFUL
Your writing has a way of making even the most complex topics accessible and engaging. I’m constantly impressed by your ability to distill complicated concepts into easy-to-understand language.