Nothing too dramatic but I had to visit the “100% guaranteed place to see them” three times before I was in luck. This is what I wrote at the time when I first shared the images:
One of the main things I really wanted to do while being in Entebbe was to go to Mabamba Swamp with my friend Obyara Emma. Everyone who has been there told me it is the best place to see the Shoebill,a rare and bizarre bird that appears to be a genetically manipulated cross between a stork and a pelican. My wife and I went there twice on our last trip but despite all the “guarantees” our only price was (probably) being the only people ever to go there twice and not seeing it. This time I just had to try again. “Three times lucky” and all that.
Did I see it this time? Boy did I SEE it! I must have watched it for nearly an hour. I did not even have to try and get closer because it just kept coming closer and closer by itself. If it would have come any closer I could not have been able to get the whole bird in my picture. It paraded, strutted its stuff, froze motionlessly in hunting mode, caught a couple of fish that each would have done me nicely for lunch and in the end flew off only to land again a little farther, in full view for a couple of other people to enjoy. What a poser! Yours truly meanwhile played the paparazzi and fully made use of the advantages the age of digital cameras offers and probably shot nearly 200 images. If I flick through them quickly they almost show a movie. I’ll worry about sorting and binning later.
