11th December:
I arose after a fitful night’s sleep but at least I had not
lost a pint of blood during the course of it.
It was still dark outside with a myriad of stars still glinting in the heavens
but before too long I was watching the first rays of Sol caress the sky over a
mirror calm Gambia River with no sound other than the thrum of insects and a
very keen village cockerel.
Two Pink-backed Pelicans drifted into view like mini
icebergs and Yellow-billed Kites and a solitary Hamerkop were descending to
check out the tide line for breakfast morsels.
Breakfast was taken overlooking the beach. It was bread with jam or cold
baked beans for most of us but I only wish I had had the camera ready for
Shawn’s face as he popped in a big fork of very fishy noodles... scarred for
life I reckon.
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immature Yellow-billed Kite |
A small lithe falcon dashed along the beach in a Hobby like
fashion. I only just got my bins on it but it looked two tone with dark uppers
and plain orangey underneath. We all got up to look but it did not reappear
until I was giving the beach a quick final look as we headed out for the day
when a final pass confirmed that it was indeed an African Hobby.
We only travelled a short way up the road and bumped back
off to view a lagoon known as Terminal One. It was actually quite pleasingly
fresh and we were greeted by two Double Spurred Francolins exploding from the
grasses while other called around us.
The shallow water held a small group of Pink-backed Pelicans
along with Grey Plover, Black-winged Stilts, Spur Winged and Wattled Lapwings,
three Common and a Wood Sandpiper. Two female Montagu’s Harriers were floating around and
a distant Darter was seen over the trees.
Both parrots were in the trees and Aby Rollers fly catched from the
tree tops in flashes of turquoise and Royal blue with tail streamers trailing behind them.
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Pink-backed Pelicans
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Aby Roller |
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Wattled Lapwing |
Solomon picked up our first, albeit, distant
Bronze-tailed Starlings while a female Subalpine Warbler sat in the sunshine
until a chunky dark female Red-chested Sunbird pushed it off.
As we neared the bus Ali beckoned us over as there was a
Helmeted Guineafowl sitting in the middle of the road a couple of hundred yards
down! This is a difficult bird to catch
up with in the Gambia and no sooner had I got the scope on this speckled ovoid than
it ran to the left – only to be followed by at least eight more who ran and
half flew across the road. It is funny how such a familiar bird can bring such
joy.
Onwards but I did not give us time to settle on the bus as I
found a couple of luminous Bruce’s Green Pigeons perched up in a tree top. It proved
to be a most productive little stop with at least six of these, olive, sulphur
and purple pot-bellied pigeons clambering around the trees. A party of social Yellow-billed Shrikes
surveyed the scene from the highest tree and our first proper view of a Bearded
Barbet was much appreciated. What a curious looking bird. Beautiful Sunbirds
flicked around and squeaked and a Gonolek sang from deep cover.
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Bruce’s Green Pigeon |
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Bruce’s Green Pigeon - Paul French |
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Yellow-billed Shrikes
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Bearded
Barbet and a Bruce's that I have only just noticed! |
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Vinaceous Dove |
The rest of the morning was spent wandering around the pastoral
land and scrub near the villages of Wurokong and Batteling.
Some Patas Monkeys staring at us in a supercilious manner got
things going nicely and no sooner had we ventured beyond the last dwellings did
we find eight Yellow-billed Oxpeckers doing what they do best.
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Patas Monkeys |
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Yellow-billed Oxpeckers |
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Yellow-billed Oxpeckers |
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Yellow-billed Oxpeckers |
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Yellow-billed Oxpeckers |
I have to admit that seeing these was one of
the highlights of the trip for me. A bit
like the spotty Guineafowl and double headed Hamerkop, the colourful ‘cage and
aviary’ finches, the dry savannah songs of the incessant doves, weaver nests
dangling from the palms, monkeys in tree tops and blue eyed mudskippers; they
all brought back childhood memories of wildlife parks and zoos, pet shops
(where you could buy anything...), my
nature books and David Attenborough introducing us to Life on Earth.
Lesser Blue Eared Glossy Starlings joined the Glossy ranks with
Greater BEGS and flouncing Long-tails adding to the general shininess of the world around
us.
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Lesser Blue Eared Glossy Starling |
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Lesser Blue Eared Glossy Starling |
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Long-tailed Glossy Starlings |
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Long-tailed Glossy Starlings |
Grasshopper Buzzards watched the ground from the edge of baobabs and up above House Martins were noted with the Red-chested Swallows and
Palm Swifts while keen ears picked up a couple of Yellow Wagtails and Tree
Pipits.
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Grasshopper Buzzard |
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Grasshopper Buzzard |
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Grasshopper Buzzard |
Woodchats and Whinchats were
dotted about – the former in interestingly pallid winter plumage, a mere
ghosting of the rich summer colours.
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Woodchat Shrike |
A Zitting Cisticola was only our second species of this
difficult tribe and a party of Green Wood Hoopoes flopped across the field we
were walking. A brief time back on the bus and then off again as a Black
Scimitrebill flapped alongside like a smaller Wood Hoopoe with similar white
wing bars flashing but it soon headed off and could not be
refound.
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Green Wood Hoopoe |
However, there were always other things to look at including
a phyllosc-like Senegal Eremomola, Grey and Fine Spotted Woodpeckers, Northern Crombec,
Greater Honeyguide, Beautiful and Pygmy Sunbirds and the still invisible
Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird.
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Fine Spotted Woodpecker |
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Fine Spotted Woodpecker - pesky trunk |
A cultivated ex-peanut field had several Rufous Backed
Sparrow Larks and a family party of Bush Petronias and Shikra and Harrier Hawks
joined the swirling masses of Hooded Vultures and Kites.
Striped Kingfishers was heard singing and the guides
expertly homed in on one as he sat demurely in a tree edge. A fat headed, big
billed Kingfisher and our fifth species so far.
Swallow-tailed Bee-eaters occupied the same perch type as
the kingfisher by flew up to catch their prey rather than down.
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Striped Kingfishers |
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Swallow-tailed Bee-eater |
Tinkerbirds were still eluding us but at last one of the
little buggers gave itself up as it ‘tinked’ from a treetop looking like a mini
Barbet. The same trees were just
beginning to open their flowers on otherwise naked boughs looking tulip-like
when closed and like a magnolia when open. Bulbuls and Sunbirds were
coming into collect nectar and amongst the latter were a pair of Scarlet
Chested.
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Scarlet
Chested Sunbird |
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... and a lizard up the same tree |
Another Eremomola gleaned leaves but I was still
having trouble with the name for some reason and they inadvertently became
known thereafter as Hairy Mammas for which I profusely apologise. Black-crowned Tchagras sang but remained firmly
hidden and it took nearly ten minutes to locate a singing Brown Rumped Bunting (which
of course is largely yellow) as it sat just in the edge of its chosen bush just
like annoying Cirl Buntings do.
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Brown Rumped Bunting |
Another flash of citrine and I called White-eye but I was
wrong, it was an even smaller Yellow Penduline Tit and we spent a few minutes
watching two of these little birds working their way through the dead herbaceous
lower levels. Apparently it is unusual
to get such good views of this species.
There were very few insects but I did discover a full flying
adult Praying Mantis which was cool but it kept running around the back of
trunks and staring at me so no photos were gained. I understood its desire to hide as we found another Striped Kingfisher perched up in the next tree.
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Striped Kingfisher - much closer views |
One last bundle off the bus before we headed back to the camp
for lunch, as a group of hirundines had looked interesting as we bumped along. Red-chested Swallows were joined by a couple
of House Martins and two large red rump types with richly coloured underparts
and pale underwings and thus Rufous-chested Swallow was added. Up above them a Wahlberg’s Eagle drifted one
way and an intermediate plumaged Booted Eagle the other and a Brown Snake Eagle
flew low over our heads catching us unawares.
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Wahlberg’s Eagle |
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Booted Eagle very high up! |
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Brown Snake Eagle |
Chicken and chip lunch at Tendaba with a smart adult Black Kite
amongst the Yellow-billeds on the beach and then a gap that was meant to be a
siesta till 3pm.
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Tide out
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Pink-backed Pelican
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Black Kite |
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Black Kite |
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Yellow-billed Kite |
Mmm... it may have been very hot but I could not quite bring
myself to shut down for a few hours while it was still daylight so I picked up
my water and hat and reapplied my suntan stuff and made my way back along the
beach and then off on a raised dirt track that cut through the largely dry rice
paddies towards a wooded ridge.
I saw this a test time... the opportunity to see if what I
had learnt so far had sunk in at all with no one to ask for help or
confirmation. Greater BEGS and
Long-tails were attacking fruit in the large trees and really do sound like parrots!
Flocks of Village Weavers foraged in the paddies with a few Village Indigobirds amongst them which included at least two beautiful matt blue males.
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Long-tailed Glossy Starling |
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Village Indigobird |
I surprised two Coucals from a paddy too as
they crashed out into a bare patch, saw me and ran back in again before
plucking up the courage to make a dash for the bushes where a Grey Hornbill and
Aby Roller were both resting out of the sun.
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Senegal Coucal |
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Grey Hornbill |
The margins of the mangroves held Greenshank, Spur-winged Lapwings and
Squaccos and a Green Sandpiper erupted from the edge in a typically over exuberant
manner.
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Greenshank |
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Spur-winged Lapwing and Vinaceous Dove |
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Squacco |
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Squacco |
I spied a thermal of White Pelicans in the distance and up
above them was another of those ‘know it when you see it’ birds. It was a Bateleur
gliding on unmoving dihedral wings like a fixed kite on a string. I was
properly excited apart from the nagging bit about not being able to really
mention it when I got back. Later on Paul was able to sex it as a female due to
the largely white underwings.
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White Pelicans |
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female Bateleur - simply wow... |
A flock of White Storks and a single Woolly-necked were also
up over the same area and a glance behind me saw another very big BOP heading
for the tree line. It looked white headed and I could also see white on the
back and tail but for the life of me, my fried head could not come up with the
obvious answer that it was an adult African Fish Eagle. I took one hazy shot and it was gone and by
this time I was being distracted by Vervet Monkeys, a rather portly Western
Ground Squirrel and a singing Northern Crombec.
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And if you thought the Bateleur shot was poor... African Fish Eagle |
Wood Hoopoes were investigating a bole high in a tree and Ring-necked Parakeets were singing in the canopy. Feeling quite pleased with my self guided
walk I started to head back encountering Red-billed Hornbills and a very
obliging Bearded Barbet on my way.
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Green Wood Hoopoe |
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Bearded Barbet |
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Bearded Barbet |
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Love this Fiddler Crab with his fake eyes under heavy eyelids |
The local goats must have heard us talking about siestas as
even they had found some shelter in some shaded goat shaped holes in a rock
face!
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Yellow-headed Agama |
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Hamerkop |
Our late afternoon was spent in the scrubland up above the
camp and village at a man made drinking pool complete with a hide of sorts. I
am not sure how long we stayed in there but the views of the birds attending
were superb with Yellow-fronted Canaries, White-rumped Seedeaters, Red-cheeked
Cordon Bleu, Cut-throats, Black-rumped and Lavender Waxbills coming down to
drink amongst the mass of Honey Bees with Bulbuls, Grey Headed Sparrows and
smart Bush Petronias for company.
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Yellow-fronted Canary, Red-cheeked
Cordon Bleu & Lavender Waxbills |
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Black-rumped Waxbill |
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Six birds, five species |
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Cutthroat |
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Cutthroat |
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Cutthroat |
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Black-rumped Waxbill & Yellow-fronted Canary |
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White-rumped Seedeater |
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Yellow-fronted Canary, Bush Petronia & Grey Headed Sparrow |
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Yellow-fronted Canary |
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Bush Petronia |
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Bush Petronia |
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Bush Petronias in a bush |
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Bush Petronias & Red-cheeked Cordon Bleu |
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Grey Headed Sparrow |
Black-billed Wood, Vinaceous, Laughing and Namaqua Doves all appeared
along with gaudy Greater BEGS, boggle eyed Purples and our best look at an
orange eyed Bronze-tailed.
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Black-billed Wood Dove |
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Laughing Dove |
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Namaqua Dove |
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Vinaceous Dove |
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Greater Blue-eared Glossy Starling |
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Greater Blue-eared Glossy Starling |
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Greater Blue-eared Glossy Starling |
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Greater Blue-eared Glossy Starling |
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Purple Glossy Starling |
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Greater Blue-eared & Purple Glossy Starling |
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Greater Blue-eared & Purple Glossy Starling |
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Bronze-tailed Glossy Starling |
Two small Weavers dropped in and subsequent investigation
since getting home has suggested that they were young Vitelline Masked Weavers –
a species whose nests we had seen not far from the hide.
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Vitelline Masked Weavers |
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...and their amazing nest |
A Bishop was also in attendance and was similarly an after
trip research bird. It was chunkier, much duller and appeared heavier headed
that the Northern Reds we had seen just a short while before with a bigger, heftier
bill. It also appeared to have some
yellow above the eye at the front of the supercillium. These are as tricky as
those pesky Weavers but the thinking is leaning towards a Yellow-crowned
Bishop. I am happy for anyone to input
on this please!
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Yellow-crowned
Bishop? and Bush Petronia |
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Yellow-crowned
Bishop? |
There is only so much sitting in a hide you can do and so a
final amble a bit further into the scrub was just what was needed. Both parrots
were vocal and another Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird obliged as it foraged insects
in a bare tree.
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Ring-necked Parakeet |
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Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird |
More canopy movement and a pair of Brubru were discovered
looking a little like slightly odd, horizontal, short tailed Masked Shrikes. This
was another of the intriguing bird names that I wanted to connect to the real
thing.
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Brubru |
We slowly walked back down through fields illuminated golden
by the low setting sun before descending through the village where rice was
being sifted and fish gutted outdoors in preparation for family dinners.
Beers were acquired and the log undertaken but not before
six Spur-winged Geese headed low past our view and off up the river adding one
final new species to the ever growing tally.
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And the tide now in at sundown... |