Wildlife of Lake Victoria, Uganda
2nd February 2026
Uganda is a superb country for wildlife, located right on the equator in tropical East Africa. I spent several excellent weeks in 2014 touring the country and taking thousands of photos, then in February 2026 I arranaged a return visit with local tour company Harrier Tours, to try and capture a few of the species I'd missed as well as some video. Brian Lokutae was my very impressive guide for the two-week trip and this report describes the first day... exploring the second biggest lake in the world, Lake Victoria (three times the size of my home country of Wales!)
Shoebill Stork (Balaeniceps rex) being mobbed by a Spur-winged Plover (Vanellus spinosus)
Arriving in the capital, Kampala at 06:00 in the morning, I was met by Brian and after a couple of hours photographing sunbirds in the hotel garden we headed out to Lake Victoria. My main target was the strange, primitive shoebill stork. I'd searched for them on my previous trip without any success, so it was a high priority this time... and I wasn't disappointed. We saw one flying in the distance, but a second was sitting calmly in the marsh, being mobbed by pair of noisy spur-winged plovers.
Obviously, a lake this big is home to much more than just storks and in addition to an inquisitive spotted-throated otter, we saw many different types of bird; from eagles and kingfishers to lively waders and little black crakes creeping along the shoreline. There were also several colonies of village weavers with their carefully woven nests hanging out over the water, one of which was being plundered by a young harrier hawk, oblivious to the attention of the angry weavers.
Spotted-necked Otter (Hydrictis maculicollis)
Malachite Kingfisher (Corythornis cristatus)
Black Crake (Zapornia flavirostra)
Young Harrier Hawk (Polyboroides typus) attacking a village weaver colony
Despite a severe bout of food poisoning, I really enjoyed the few hours I spent on Lake Victoria and would have liked to return for another visit the following morning. But we woke to heavy rain and with a long drive to Kibale National Park ahead decided to give it a miss. Reports on the rest of my visit to Uganda will be available soon, and you can see mammal species lists for the whole trip below.
Uganda Trip Mammal Species
(41 species, 11 primates)
Lake Victoria
Spotted-necked Otter (Hydrictis maculicollis)
Kibale Area
(Report link will appear here...)Red-tailed Monkey (Cercopithecus ascanius)
Grey-cheeked Mangabey (Lophocebus albigena)
Mantled Guereza (Colobus guereza)
Ashy Red Colobus (Piliocolobus tephrosceles)
L'Hoest's Monkey (Allochrocebus lhoesti, camera trap)
Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes)
Olive Baboon (Papio anubis)
East African Potto (Perodicticus ibeanus)
Boehm's Bush Squirrel (Paraxerus boehmi)
Black-fronted Duiker (Cephalophus nigrifrons, eaten by an Olive Baboon)
Semuliki National Park
(See Kibale Area report...)Red-tailed Monkey (Cercopithecus ascanius)
Grey-cheeked Mangabey (Lophocebus albigena)
Mantled Guereza (Colobus guereza)
Alexander's Bush Squirrel (Paraxerus alexandri)
Dwarf Scaly-tailed Squirrel (Anomalurus pusillus)
Giant Roundleaf Bat (Macronycteris gigas)
Bwindi Imprentrable Forest
(Report link will appear here...)Red-tailed Monkey (Cercopithecus ascanius)
Mantled Guereza (Colobus guereza)
L'Hoest's Monkey (Allochrocebus lhoesti)
Eastern Gorilla (Gorilla beringei)
Carruther's Mountain Squirrel (Funisciurus carruthersi)
Mgahinga National Park
(See Bwindi report...)Blue Monkey (Cercopithecus mitis)
Bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus)
Kisoro
(See Bwindi report...)Straw-coloured Fruit Bat (Eidolon helvum)
Queen Elizabeth National Park
(Report link will appear here...)Red-tailed Monkey (Cercopithecus ascanius)
Mantled Guereza (Colobus guereza)
Vervet Monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus)
Olive Baboon (Papio anubis)
Lion (Panthera leo)
Leopard (Panthera pardus)
Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta)
White-tailed Mongoose (Ichneumia albicauda)
Banded Mongoose (Mungos mungo)
Warthog (Phacochoerus africanus)
Giant Forest Hog (Hylochoerus meinertzhageni)
Hippo (Hippopotamus amphibius)
African Savanna Elephant (Loxodonta africana)
African Forest Elephant (Loxodonata cyclotis)
Kob (Kobus kob)
African Buffalo (Syncerus caffer)
Waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus)
Bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus)
Topi (Damaliscus lunatus)
Yellow-winged bat (Lavia frons)
Lake Mburo National Park
(Report link will appear here...)Vervet Monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus)
Olive Baboon (Papio anubis)
Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta, heard)
Marsh Mongoose (Atilax paludinosus, camera trap)
Dwarf Mongoose (Helogale parvula)
Warthog (Phacochoerus africanus)
Hippo (Hippopotamus amphibius)
African Buffalo (Syncerus caffer)
Waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus)
Bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus)
Topi (Damaliscus lunatus)
Impala (Aepyceros melampus)
Plains Zebra (Equus quagga)
Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis)
Yellow-winged bat (Lavia frons)
Black-winged Stilts (Himantopus himantopus) and Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) on Lake Victoria