Mabamba Bay Swamp is a popular wetland birding site in Uganda, well known for the Shoebill, the most sought-after bird in the country by both nature lovers and birdwatchers.
Mabamba Swamp covers 2,424 hectares and has thick marshes of papyrus, water lilies, and other wetland grasses. It is located on the northern shore of Lake Victoria, west of Entebbe.
Mabamba Swamp is an Important Bird Area (IBA) and a Ramsar site. It is home to over 300 bird species, including many that are internationally threatened. Seven of Uganda’s twelve bird species that are restricted to the Lake Victoria biome, including the Papyrus Gonolek, can be found here.
The wetland is also visited by large flocks of Palearctic migrants from October to March each year.
There are several routes to Mabamba Swamp. The easiest way from Kampala or Entebbe is through the Nakiwogo landing site in Entebbe. From there, you take a 10-minute ferry to Kasanje landing, followed by a 20-minute drive past large fields and farms where many garden birds can be seen.
At Mabamba Swamp, birdwatchers use a motorized wooden boat to move through a network of water channels that pass through the thick marshes.
Mabamba Wetland is home to the Shoebill, the most wanted bird by birdwatchers in Uganda. Because of its large size and unusual look, the Shoebill is also of interest to tourists who are not birdwatchers.
This rare bird can only be seen in a few places in Uganda, and Mabamba Swamp is the most reliable and easiest place to find it, possibly in all of Africa.
The best time to see the Shoebill in Mabamba Swamp is early in the morning, around 7 a.m., before the wetland becomes too busy. At this time, the Shoebill is also hunting for fish. It stands still for long periods, waiting for fish to pass by.
When the moment is right, it uses its large, powerful shoe-shaped bill to quickly catch and crush the fish.
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