![]() ![]() He can be contacted on: or on +256 772482462.Shoebill stork is a magnificent, unique, prehistoric, ancient-looking bird that is sought after by visitors in Africa specifically Uganda. Tony at Mamaland safaris is highly recommended. I pictured him lurking safely in an inaccessible quarter of the swamp, standing stock still and alone, waiting for lungfish in the night. We didn’t see another shoebill and I didn’t expect to. We carried on in our canoe for another hour and a half as the sun lowered itself into the western rim of Lake Victoria. Then his box-like bill and tufted crest were airborne, and he floated away. For a moment he hovered, spider-webs of his feet poised above the swamp. His long wings flapped languorously, as if we were watching slow-motion footage of a bird gathering its powers. We watched as he levered himself into flight. One of our punting poles struck a branch, and although the sound was muffled the shoebill heard it. It stood completely still, its back toward us. It is slow-breeding and extremely sensitive to disruption by humans. Up to 5,000 of the birds exist in swamps that stretch from southern Sudan to Zambia. The shoebill’s population is classed as vulnerable. In flight they seem to be kneading the air. In flight its wings unfurl to nearly a metre in length its wing-flap rate, at 150 flaps per minute, is one of the slowest of any bird. The shoebill can stand 150 cm (nearly 5 ft) high and its feet are possibly the largest in the avian kingdom, with its middle toe alone reaching 18 cm in length. Part of the bird’s appeal is its gargantuan proportions. ‘Prehistoric’ is an adjective often attached to the shoebill. Its eagle-like gaze and hooked box of the beak is the last thing you want to see if you are a lungfish – the principal diet of the shoebill in Lake Victoria. Two round, yellow eyes blink slowly, protected by a nictitating membrane. Its thick, manila-coloured bill does look like a medieval peasant’s shoe. The name given to it by the first European taxonomists who saw it was ‘whalehead stork’. There, beyond a clump of vegetation, was a bird as tall as a twelve year-old boy. We stuck our poles into the thick papyrus reedbeds, hauling our boat toward a thicket. We had been searching for only ten minutes. ‘He is here,’ Ishmael, our scout said, clambering down from his precarious position balanced on the gunwales in the bow. We stood in the moving boat, scouring the swamp with our binoculars. ![]() Pygmy ducks took flight at the near-silent approach of our canoe. We punted along narrow channels dredged from the swamp that hugs the northern contours of the lakes. ‘It often takes many hours of patience,’ Tony said. It was late afternoon, and early morning is a more optimal time. ![]() ‘We will have to be lucky,’ Tony said.ĭespite his use of the imperative, I didn’t for a moment think we would actually see a shoebill. Only nine birds live in an area of 200 square kilometres. On our final day, a hot late afternoon, we boarded a wooden canoe and set out into the matted swamps of Lake Victoria near Entebbe. I have just returned from a birding safari to Uganda, facilitated by the buoyant and indefatigable Tony Byarugaba of Mamaland Safaris. In part because of its rarity and the impenetrability of its swamp habitat, it is frustratingly hard to see – needles and haystacks come to mind. The shoebill cuts a decidedly odd figure: a gunmetal grey body perched on Giacometti legs, an anvil head bent as if in supplication. ![]() Whatever its taxonomy, it remains a prize tick on any African birder’s list. The shoebill is more akin to a pelican or a heron, but its extraordinary long legs and size mean it is often classified as a stork. Many serious birders travel to Uganda with one thing in mind: to see a shoebill stork. The result – over half of all African bird species can be seen in Uganda. Its habitats include all the classic African biomes: wetlands, savannah, montane and tropical forests. The country’s location in central eastern Africa accounts in part for its extraordinary diversity, with over 1,000 species recorded in a landmass the size of the UK. ![]()
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