Skimming along the Kazinga Channel
A colony of African Skimmers leaving the sandbank en masse as a Buffalo approached
One brilliant surprise on my recent trip to Uganda was to come across an unusually large colony of a favourite bird of mine. This bird is an elegant flier with long slim wings and it has a strange and unique feature of evolution: Its bill, which is a rather specialised tool. The lower mandible is much longer than the upper mandible, ensuring that this bird is instantaneously recognisable.
Notice the rather strange bill with its much longer and pin-sharp lower mandible ...
This is the African Skimmer (Rynchops flavirostris), an uncommon bird with only approximately 20,000 individuals in sub-Saharan Africa. These birds can be found along rivers and lakes and nest and roost on sandbanks.
The calm waters of the Kazinga Channel is ideal for skimming … Shot at 560mm @ f/5.6, 1/2500s, ISO 800
We discovered one such colony on the wide channel that connects two large lakes in south-western Uganda, Lake Edward and Lake George, near the border to the Democratic Republic of Congo. The 32km long Kazinga natural channel is a dominant feature of the Queen Elizabeth National Park and is a haven for wildlife and particularly birds. We spent a long afternoon and evening drifting along the shores with our cameras, when we had a surprise encounter with the African Skimmers.
Shot at 560mm @ f/5, 1/2500s, ISO 1100
They are called Skimmers as they fish by skimming across calm water with their long thin and sharp lower mandible just below the surface. When they encounter fish, the beak snaps shut and ‘dinner is served’. It is rather magical to observe these birds dashing along the surface ar speed.
Shot at 560mm @ f/5, 1/2500s, ISO 900
From a photography perspective the challenge is that they tend to do the ‘skimming’ either pre-dawn or at dusk and after sunset. This is demanding due to the lack of light and the ability to track these fast and busy birds at a sufficiently high shutter speed.
Shot ay 560mm @ f/5.6, 1/2500s, ISO 1000
After observing the birds resting on the sandbank during the afternoon we returned at dusk to see if we could capture the feeding activity … and we were not disappointed. It is rather rewarding when it comes off and you get the timing right as the light is beautiful at this time of day.
Shot at 560mm @ f/5, 1/2500s, ISO 1100
Shot at 560mm @ f/5.6, 1/3200s, ISO 2800
Shot at 560mm @ f/5.6, 1/3200s, ISO 2000