Mabamba swamp – The birder’s haven
Mabamba is a 15km west of Entebbe and extends across more than100kms from a shallow, marshy bay on the northern shore of lake Victoria. Mabamba Swamp is one of the best places in Uganda to spot the highly sought-after shoebill in its natural habitat. Birdwatching is mostly via canoe, where you will navigate waterways comprising lily pads and papyrus swamp. Mabamba Bay Marshland was selected as a Ramsar Site as a wetland of international importance in 2006. The wetland is home to rare and universally susceptible bird species including the Shoebill, Papyrus Yellow Warbler. Besides Murchison Falls National Park, Mabamba Wetland is the only site where the elusive Shoebill can be speckled at any time. Among the 260 species in the region, other notable birds include the papyrus yellow warbler, pallid harrier and blue swallow. African jacana, Bee-eater – Blue breasted bee-eater, Cisticola – Carruther’s cisticola, Cisticola – Winding cisticola, Cormorant – Long tailed cormorant, Crake – Black crake, Duck – Whitefaced whistling duck, Duck – Yellow billed duck, Eagle – African fish eagle, Egret – cattle egret, Egret – Intermediate Egret, Egret – Little egret, Flycatcher – Swamp fly catcher, Gonolek – Papyrus gonolek, Hammerkop, Harrier – African marsh harrier, Heron – Black headed heron, Heron – Black heron, Heron – Common squacco heron, Heron – Purple heron, Ibis – Haddada, Kingfisher – Grey headed kingfisher, Kingfisher – Malachite kingfisher, Kingfisher – Pied kingfisher, Lapwing – Long toed lapwing, Moorhen – Common moorhen, Sand piper – Common, Sand Piper – Marsch, Sand piper – Wood, Storck – Shoebill stork, Swamphen – Purple swamphen, Tern – White winged black tern, Widowbird – Fan-tailed widowbird, Weaver – Northern brown throated weaver bird, Weaver – Black headed weaver bird, Weaver – Yellow backed weaver bird, Weaver – Vieillio. The swamp is internationally recognized and is conserved under the Ramsar Convention.
