Shoebill!

I can come home now - I've seen my Shoebill!  For those not familiar with this bird it looks like this:

My bird was not quite so co-operative so I only managed distant flight shots:

Thanks to friend Terri (a non-birder) who spotted it first and thought "Will I tell Steve about the Fish Eagle heading this way?"

The Shoebill is probably the species on top of birders' wish list when they are planning an East Africa trip.  I didn't expect to see one because I wasn't planning on going to their regular haunts in Uganda.

"My" bird was near the bridge over the Ngono River about 30 mins drive south-west of Bukoba.  This is one of my regular survey locations and is turning up some other great birds: Western Marsh Harrier, Long-toed Lapwing, Red-headed Lovebird, Common Swift and Pin-tailed Whydah were new species added on yesterday's survey.

This is what a tiny section of this river and the associated swamp looks like:

Cheers
Steve
Bukoba, 1st November 2010