East African Eland

I did a post on the East African eland (August 19, 2014) after our first trip to Africa in 2014. We saw one in Nairobi NP and several at a long distance in Lake Nakuru NP. Shortly after, I had an opportunity to try eland meat I obtained through Anshu Pathak of Exotic Meat Market. I did a post on an eland roast: sous vide, grilled and fried (on June 21, 2015) and a post on eland osso buco crockpot stew (on June 25, 2016). I've wanted to get a better view of eland in the wild ever since. 

Earlier this year, in July 2025, we saw huge groups of eland at a distance in Kidepo Valley NP in northern Uganda. Even though they were far away, the number of them was quite exciting to me. I've not kept the photos that were of larger, more distant, groups. The photos here are of eland that we got closer to. 

My favorite photo was taken by my granddaughter. It is a great photo of an eland running. 

West African Crocodile

The West African crocodile has just recently been recognized as a species separate from the Nile crocodile using varying types of studies, including DNA testing. It was not widely recognized until 2011. It is smaller than the Nile crocodile (16 feet 5 inches compared to 9 feet 10 inches) and has a short and thick muzzle. It is also less aggressive. It is found in West and Central Africa, going as far east as South Sudan and Uganda and south to the DRC. Many of the crocodiles in zoos identified as Nile crocodiles actually turned out to be West African crocodiles. 

In Kidepo Valley NP in northern Uganda we crossed a section of road that had a substantial marsh on each side. We saw two small crocodiles which our guide told us was a smaller crocodile than the Nile crocodile. My granddaughter was the first one to see one on the north side of the road and she get a close-up photo of it in the weeds before it turned around and disappeared. She also got a photo of the crocodile on the other side of the road. 

Close-up, but obstructed, view. It was quite small.

I got photos of the crocodile on the south side of the road and have had an identifier agree on iNaturalist that it is a West African crocodile. 

Range of West African crocodile from Wikipedia.

Common Sun Skink

In July 2023 we were in Gunung Leuser NP in Sumatra, Indonesia with our guide Randi searching for orangutans. We stumbled across this beautiful common sun skink while we were walking along. 

This photo identifies it and indicates it is found in Indonesia. Its scientific name is Eutropis multifasciata and it is also known as many-lined sun skink, many-striped skink, East Indian brown mabuya and golden skink. It has an extensive range from India and southern China to southern Indonesia. It often shows prominent colored dorsal bands. They are brown or olive above and their backs have small dark spots sometimes merging into longitudinal lines. 

African Stiped Skink

The African striped skink is widespread in East and Southern Africa. It is brown or bronze colored with two yellowish stripes that run lengthwise on either side of the spine. I saw this lizard while I was sitting in a lounge chair on the porch of our tent in the Savannah Lodge on the outskirts of Kidepo Valley NP in Uganda. 

A photo of an African striped skink eating an agama lizard from Wikipedia. 

Red-Headed Weaver

I've been struggling to identify this bird and I think there is a reasonable chance I've now got it right now. I photographed it below Nkima Forest Lodge and above the Mabamba Swamp near Lake Victoria in Uganda and it was in a tree right next to a black-headed weaver (which I also struggled to name). iNaturalist gave it as the second suggested option, which caused me to look at it. What appears to have finally clicked is that it is an immature red-headed weaver.  

Illustration of a female red-headed weave, ssp. rubriceps, from Birds of the World. 

Birds of the World notes that it is highly distinctive, but geographically variable. Females and non-breeding males can be separated by their orange-red bill. However, immature birds of all subspecies have a browner bill. That was one issue I had with my photo. There is a photo of a female in Birds of the World that looks very much like my photo, except the bill is not as red and I have felt from the beginning that this bird is a fledgling.  

Range from Birds of the World. 

The male has a bright red head and looks nothing like this bird, but I'm not going to get into that right now. 

Black-Headed Weaver

Breeding male black-headed weavers have a greenish-yellow mantle and back plumage and the pale underpart plumage is suffused with a variable amount of chestnut. The iris is dark brown. The female and non-breeding male do not have the black head and resemble a female masked weaver, except they have dark eyes and a darker bill. There are five subspecies and it appears I saw ssp dimidiatus which is found in northeastern DRC, Uganda, southwestern Kenya, northwestern Tanzania, southeastern Sudan and western Eritrea. Dimidiatus has rich chestnut underparts with yellow restricted to the belly. 

Found on the hill between Nkima Forest Lodge and the Mabamba Swam on Lake Victoria in Uganda. It was with another bird that has given me fits and which I now think is a female red-headed weaver. 

Illustration of ssp dimidiatus from Birds of the World. 

I am really struggling with the weavers as there are many species and the same species can look very much different from each other. 

Range from Birds of the World. It does show it belongs on the western edge of Lake Victoria in Uganda. 

Finch's Agama

Agama lizards are some of the coolest lizards in the world. On our trip to Uganda in July of this year we ran into another species, Finch's agama (Agama finchi). It was quite common and we saw it in many different places. It was all over the grounds where we stayed at Pakuba Lodge in Murchison Falls NP, very prevalent at and near the boat dock near Paraa along the White Nile near Murchison Falls, and also very prevalent on the large rocks where we saw lots of hyrax near the Apoka Airport in Kidepo Valley NP. 

The first five photos were all taken in Murchison Falls NP. The fifth photo is of a female. 

This photo, and the next one, were taken in Kidepo Valley NP.

It is referred to as "small" in Wikipedia which would come as a surprise to anyone from the U.S. where the only lizards larger would probably be chuckwallas and gila monsters. It has a yellowish head, fore-neck and the upper three-fourths of the tail and the rest of the body is grayish black. It is found in the Central Arican Republic, Chad, the DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. 

Agama is a genus of lizards that includes at least 37 species in Africa, particularly sub-Saharan Africa, where most regions have at least one species. Colors differ between species, between genders, according to mood and females are usually less colorful. 

I previously posted on the Mwanza flat-headed rock agama (post on June 3, 2014) which we saw in Masai Mara NR in Kenya and Serengeti NP in Tanzania. The male is a pinkish-red and blue and I have photos of both the colorful male and very plain dark female. 

I am confused about the other Agama species I've seen. I did a post on the red-headed rock agama, also known as the common agama and rainbow agama (Agama agama), by which it is known on iNaturalist (post on June 4, 2014), which I saw in Ghana in Elmina, Cape Coast Castle and at our Coconut Grove hotel outside Elmina. I actually caught one at the outside restaurant we were eating at in Elmina and held it for a minute or so before letting it go. It looks quite a bit like Finch's agama and that's what I thought the Finch's was until notified otherwise by our guide. iNaturalist uses the term rainbow agama, but the only identifier to all of my photos of it on iNaturalist has said it is Peter's rock agama (Agama picticauda) which is also known as the redhead agama. I don't have enough information to make my own informed decision and I don't know anything about the identifier, but the photos I've seen look for like Agama agama to me. Whatever it is, these are all very cool lizards.