“Penetrating the Impenetrable” — Bwindi, Uganda

“We’re going to get some endemics today!”
“Well actually they aren’t endemic…”
“Well you can’t get into the DRC sooooo…”
“Albertine Rift endemics!!”
This was the conversation we had in the car on our drive to Bwindi, all of us excited to finally get into the montane forest, especially Julien. Up until this point we had spent the majority of our time in Uganda in savannah, grasslands, or miombo woodlands, with a little bit of lowland forest mixed in. Now we were headed into the mountains, the Rwenzori Mountains to be exact, a large mountain chain shared between Uganda and the DRC with 41 species of birds that are found there and nowhere else in the world. As is the case all over the globe, massive deforestation means the size has been reduced considerably. It’s kind of ironic that the “Impenetrable Forest”, the name given to the patch of forest we were going to, has been almost totally destroyed. I Guess it wasn’t so impenetrable after all. But clearly it has stood the test of time and now remains protected as a national park. Thankfully what forest does remain is now known amongst the locals to be very special, and certainly an opportunity to make some money because Gorillas, the largest primate in the world, live here.

While the forest does extend into the DRC, that part is inaccessible due to security concerns (read: extortion and almost certain death).
We had so many good birds to find here that Ross and Julien had given us four full days on our itinerary in this area to make sure we didn’t miss a single target! Oddly, we managed to do it all in two! Bwindi National Park is a considerably large park with two main access areas for visiting birders, one a slightly higher elevation than the other. Our first day we spent on the Buhoma side and our second in Ruhija. I made this map to show the forest:

Day 1: Buhoma
This forest truly is as picturesque as forests can be. Tall trees and vines interlaced with so many types of ferns (Over 200 different fern species can be found within the Albertine Rift.) Moss lines nearly every surface and a bubbling stream can be seen peaking through the vegetation as the trail essentially follows alongside it. Just knowing we were in a forest where Gorillas live made it even more special. The morning was cool and moist as we set off in search of some Albertine Rift endemics. While we did not need a guide, we opted to take one anyway, and Matthew Twongyeirwe was free to join us. We planned for a long, full day in the field and set off early morning with plans to eat a picnic lunch somewhere along the trail, and not arrive back to our camp until late afternoon. But then everything went so well. We quickly found Jameson’s Antpecker, and then walked a bit further targeting Willard’s Sooty Boubou and Neumann’s Warbler. By late afternoon we were wondering what targets we had left! Originally we planned to see Gorillas here, but our morning birding in Buhoma went so well that we opted skip Gorillas in this park to jump a bit ahead of schedule.

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Day 2: Ruhija
We were warned going into Ruhija that the hike down to the swamp was intense. People write about it in their trip reports and Michael Mills, and several of his tour participants that we had previously met in Buhoma, told us the same thing when we bumped into them on the trail. We were prepared for quite a hike. The biggest target in the area is African Broadbill, a small bright green and blue bird endemic to the Albertine Rift. It’s also adorable and is known to prefer the rainforest edge near swamps. It can be incredibly difficult to find so one local bird guide, Amos, has made a living out of keeping a close watch on the broadbills’ whereabouts. He was available to join us so the five of us, plus an armed ranger, set off early morning.
To get to the swamp we first climbed steeply upwards and then steeply down. As we neared the swamp, we ran into an exceptional flock and immediately saw our #1 target, African Broadbill. I almost don’t want to say this because I know everyone does not have this same experience, but we had the broadbill in the bag before 8AM! We all were shocked with how quickly we picked up our remaining targets as well. Honestly, I’m not sure the day could have gone any better with Dwarf Honeyguide cooperating on the hike out and finishing the day with point blank views of a pair of the stunning Lagden’s Bushshrikes as we walked along the road.

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Full eBird checklists for both locations can be found here and here.

This birding occurred 21-22 June 2021