Overview.
Uganda is home to over 1060 bird species and of these the most sought-after bird is the prehistoric shoebill bird. Mabamba wetland is one of the places that lead in convenience and sightings of this bird. The wetland is located west of Entebbe town on Lake Victoria. It covers 2424 hectares with marshland, wetland grass, and the other side of the mainland is mainly savannah around Nkima Forest.
Mabamba Wetland is a Ramsar site and one of the 34 Important Birding Areas (IBAs). The wetland boosts with 260 bird species and hosts 7 of the 12 Lake Victoria basin biome species in Uganda the famous one being the Papyrus Gonolek. Mabamba wetland also attracts migratory birds from Europe and other places and these can be seen from October to March.
Itinerary in Details.
We will pick you up in the morning to Entebbe (Nakiwogo Landing site), which is the shortest route to the Swamp. We shall meet a site guide from Mabamba Swamp and board a motorized canoes to the swamp. Upon arrival we shall switch from the bigger canoe to small canoes that navigate through the small trails in the swamp. These are surrounded by tall and thick wetland vegetation. And then we shall start our search for the birds.
Some of the other species at Mabamba Wetland include the Papyrus Gonolek, Ashy Flycatcher, House Sparrow, Flappet Lark, Mosque Swallow, Weyn’s Weaver, White-shouldered Tit, Sand Martin, Brown Snake-Eagle, Eurasian Hobby, Grosbeak Weaver, Blue-headed Coucal, Fork-tailed Drongo, Feral Pigeon, Long-Crested Eagle, Striped Kingfisher, Common Stonechat, Common Greenshank, Little bee-eater, Whinchat, Grey Wagtail, Great Blue Turaco, Grassland Pipit, Orange Weaver, Northern Brown-throated Weaver, among others.