Best time to go birding in Queen Elizabeth national park
Best time to go birding in Queen Elizabeth national park is that time of the year when bird lovers can have a great birding experience within the park. Every birder intending to have a safari to Queen Elizabeth national park must know when it’s the most appropriate time to visit the park so that they get to have a good birding experience.
Best time to go birding in Queen Elizabeth national park
Well, today we are going to look at different months of the year when bird overs should visit Queen Elizabeth national park have a great time within the park. The national park is open for bird watching at any time of the year but there are seasons that are good for the activity.
Queen Elizabeth national park has got the dry season which happens from June to September and December to February and it has a lot gotten the rainy season which happens from March to May and October to November. These seasons are all good because birds will still be seen in the park.
The dry season is good because it has no rainfall, the vegetation is short and dry, and birding trails are dry at the same time the rainy season is good because there are so many bird species in the park including the migratory ones because of plenty of food since it’s always the fruiting season.
What makes the dry season good for bird watching is little or no rainfall, short vegetation cover, and the dry walking trails. The rainy season might not be good because the trails are muddy and slippery, vegetation is tall and the rainy fall is much but tourists do get discounted accommodation facilities. The lodges reduce prices to attract a few tourists that are within the park and this will reduce on the safari budget.
The birding seasons in Queen Elizabeth national park
The dry season: One of the best times for bird watching in Queen Elizabeth national park from late May to September and this is because there is little or no rainfall in the park and the food is plenty. The temperature in the park is warm and the birding trails are dry and easily passable. During the dry season, the weather is very good with good sightings, and photography is very clear so you will be able to take good pictures of the birds.
During the dry season, the vegetation is very short in that birds that are very far can still be seen using a pair of binoculars. There are few or no migratory birds within the park but there are over 600 birds that good birders will be able to see in the different birding spots within the park.
Bird lovers that are intending to visit Queen Elizabeth national park for bird watching ad other activities should look at visiting the park in the dry season when there is little or no rainfall, vegetation is short and the trails are dry and passable.
The rainy season: The rainy season is not good for birding in Queen Elizabeth national park but there are months that are very good and these are from November to April. They are rainy months with a lot of rainfall which makes the birding trails muddy and slippery, the vegetation is tall with unclear views of the birds that are far but what makes these months good for birding is that there are migratory birds within the park.
When the migratory birds are in Queen Elizabeth park, the number of bird species does increase so you will be able to see those birds that come from very far places and also those that are always in the park every day. The migratory birds in Queen Elizabeth national park are those that come from Europe and Asia escaping the harsh winter conditions and these include black terns, raptors, flamingos, storks, waders, and passerines among others.
The bird watching activity in Queen Elizabeth national park
Bird watching is a guided activity in Queen Elizabeth national park where armed ranger guides take birders to different areas of the park. The bird watching exercise in Queen Elizabeth national park is done in areas such as Kasenyi plains, Katunguru bridge, Lake Kikorongo, Katwe area, Ishasha, Kyambura gorge, Maramagambo forest, and Kazinga channel among others.
Different bird species do live in different areas of the park and therefore you will be able to encounter as many as you can during your nature walks. Bird lovers are asked to move with the sounder recorders, camera, and a pair of binoculars to see distant bird species. A visit to three or more birding spots will enable you to see most of the bird species if you are a good birder.
Bird species of Queen Elizabeth national park
Over 600 bird species have been recorded in Queen Elizabeth national park and these include Africa pygmy goose, shoebill stork, pennant winged nightjar, comb duck, yellow-throated cuckoo, Greater flamingo, yellow-billed stork, Senegal coucal, squacco heron, heron, klaas’s cuckoo, little bittern, African palm swift, African darter, Mozambique nightjar, little swift, rufous billed heron, striated heron, Nubian nightjar, black cuckoo, mottled spine-tailed swift, Diederik cuckoo, scarce swift, and freckled nightjar.
Other birds of Queen Elizabeth national park include handsome francolin, white-rumped swift, allen’s gallinule, African crake, lesser moorhen, abidim’s stork, red-knobbed coot, common swift, black-crowned night heron, red chested cuckoo, African swift, mottle swift, African cuckoo, plain night jar, African rail, common cuckoo, African emerald cuckoo, European white stork, water thick-knee, slender tailed nightjar, African finfoot, woolly-necked stork, sabine-tailed swift, Eurasian thick-knee, and African sacred ibis.
Spur-winged lapwing, long-tailed cormorant, white-brown coucal, great white pelican, white crested turaco, black heron, dwarf bittern, denham’s bustard, white crested tiger, buff-spotted fuff tail, pacific golden plover, African spoonbill, alpine swift, hilderbrandt’s francolin, bare-faced go-away bird, fiery necked nightjar, black billed turaco, pied avocet, black-winged stilt, common ringed plover, grey crowned crane, and hamerkop.
Great blue turaco, Eurasian spoonbill, dusky long-tailed cuckoo, white-fronted plover, nahan’s francolin, grey heron, swamp nightjar, African black coucal, kittlitz plover, black-billed bustard, Senegal thick-knee, common quail, little ringed plover, yellow bill, hadada ibis, spotted thick-knee, glossy ibis, white-spotted fluff tail, great cormorant, little egret, Madagascar pond heron, marabou stork, and common moorhen.
Long-toed lapwing, Caspian plover, red chested fluff tail, intermediate egret, helmeted guinea fowl, horus swift, jacobin cuckoo, purple heron, ross’s turaco, cattle egret, saddle-billed stork, little grebe, goliath heron, forbe’s plover, black-headed lapwing, black crake, levaillant’s cuckoo, grey plover, three-banded plover, black-headed heron, great egret, blue-headed coucal, great spotted cuckoo, eastern plantain eater, and African open bill.
