Watching birds at Lutembe Bay Wetlands on the edge of Lake Victoria

By Timothy Ijala

One of the things I have discovered with bird watching is that you need a sharp eye to spot a bird you have never seen before. Or maybe the patience to sit it out and wait for that rare sighting or maybe

White faced Whistling Ducks

both. It maybe just that I was in an area with so many birds and still having seen many of them before I was going from disappointment to triumph as I spotted a bird I had never seen before. Avid bird watchers know how hard it is to describe that moment when you see a bird you have never seen before. That was the experience I had when I visited Lutembe bay wetland. Just outside the city of Kampala on the edge of Lake Victoria is Lutembe bay which is said to be one of the best bird watching places in Uganda. Just outside the entrance to Lutembe beach (from where you can access the bird watching sites by boat) is a faded sign that declares that Lutembe wetland is a Ramsar site. That should say it all. It means that it has been listed under the Ramsar Convention as a wetland of international importance. Uganda Wildlife Authority website says that “these sites are recognized by BirdLife International as Important Bird Areas as well as providing a vital habitat for other threatened plants and animals”. We arrived there around 11.30a.m and were informed that it was not the best time to see birds but see them we would anyway. Half an hour later we were in this dugout canoe with a motor engine on the open waters of Lake Victoria on our way to see birds. It was amazing how although near the city the place could be so quiet when the engine of the canoe was turned off. The silence gave us an opportunity to get as near to the birds as possible. Having no guide we had to rely on the bird books we had carried and the knowledge of birds that we had. Soon we were feasting our eyes on birds like the Grey headed gull, long-toed lapwing, long tailed Cormorant and the Yellow-billed duck. I also spotted birds I had never seen before like the White faced Whistling Duck, the Black Egret and the Glossy Ibis. Lutembe bay is also famous for the Shoe bill Stork although this time I did not get a chance to see one. But as we made our way back to the landing site passing more resident birds of Lutembe like the Squacco heron and little Egret I knew that I would come back to this place for some more bird watching.