By Raoul Beunen & Bas van de Meulengraaf - Extreembirding part of AVG_w-

21 January

On the 21st of January we left a cold Holland to arrive in a warm and cloudless Gambia.
After settling in the Badala Park hotel, Kotu, the first trip was made to the Kotu area. After having seen a lot of species on the way to the hotel we were now able to identify them. Because we saw so many species we made little progress but who cared! We saw a male Beautiful sunbird, hmmm, Hamerkop, Double-spurred francolins, Yellow-billed shrike, Piapiac’s and more. How different is birding here! Many birds per square kilometre, and for now everything is new to us! Splendid!
After this nice meadow we headed towards the Casino cycle track where we heard of a pond next to the hotel. When we reached it saw a pond teeming with life.
Greater painted snipes were almost abundant, with 6 males roosting, African jacana’s were everywhere. A common bird to us, a Black-tailed godwit was feeding, together with Wood- and Marsh sandpipers. Egrets included an Intermediate heron, Great white egret, Cattle egrets, Grey heron, Squacco heron and Black-capped herons. An African darter was sitting in a tree overhanging the pond and a Little grebe swam in the pond. What a lot of birds in one small pond!

From the pond we headed back towards the pond and walked towards the Kotu bridge. Just before the junction a lot of Common bulbuls were making lots of noise and after scanning the tree tops we knew why: a Pearl-spotted owlet was being mobbed. In a Acacia along the Cycle track a sylvia was calling and it turned out to be an Olivaceous warbler, being common here as we noticed during our stay. Along the road towards the bridge we had a Striped kingfisher in a dead tree and Sacred Ibis (10) flew over. From the bridge we scanned the mudbanks and spotted a Grey plover, Whimbrel (3), Green-backed heron, Senegal thicknee (3) and Wire-tailed swallow. On the bridge there was the usual gathering of birdguides and we spoke with Pa Jallow. Because we wanted to do some serious birding we had planned to make quite a few trips and with a guide it’s easier to get to your destination because these guys know where to be.
While talking to Pa Jallow we had a few Black-crowned night herons leaving their roosting place (just behind the “office” of the WABSA guides). After having agreed to let Pa Jallow shows us around the next day we left the bridge and headed to the hotel, concluding that birding here is very pleasant and at the end of this short day we had seen 51 species. Not bad for a few hours of birding!

22 January

The days started with the usual small breakfast in the hotel. While we were waiting for the breakfast to be ready, we had a group of Green woodhoopoes on the hotel grounds. After breakfast we went to explore the Kotu area. Along the way an African spoonbill and 3 Black egrets flew over and a Woodchat shrike was in a tree next to the road. We first first went towards the Palm beach hotel. In the marshy area left of the road towards the hotel we saw 5 Greater painted snipes, including a female, several Western reef herons and a Grey-headed sparrow in the bushes next to the road an European reed warbler was skulking in the bushes. Just in front of the hotel there is a small piece of the pond nicely visible. From this point we saw a Sedge warbler, a Malachite kingfisher flew by and a Blackcap was in the mangroves. From the hotel we looked over the Kotu creek, seeing a Little bee-eater, Common ringed plovers, Pied kingfishers, Grey-headed gulls and a Black-headed gull. The beach adjacent to the creek was empty, but the scrub next to it held a good variety of birds, including Northern red bishops, Abyssinian roller, Black-headed tchagra, Tawny flanked prinia’s, Fork-tailed drongo’s.
From the beach we headed a bit inland and walked along a track parallel to the beach. Here a cluster of trees provided nice birding and while enjoying the shade, birds came and went, including: Yellow-fronted thinckerbird, Bearded barbet, Namaqua dove (2), White-billed buffalo weavers, African thrush, African Grey hornbill, Black-billed wood-dove, Yellow-crowned gonolek, Grey-backed camaroptera, Red-winged warbler, Subalpine warbler, Variable sunbird.
Overhead the following flew over: Grey kestrel, Red-necked falcon, Osprey, Palm-nut vulture, Chestnut-backed sparrowlark (2).
After relaxing and seeing a lot we headed back to the hotel, getting ready for our guided tour around Fajara golf course and Kotu creek area. In front of the hotel we met Pa and we saw 2 Northern crombecs, African silverbill, a Melodious warbler in a dead tree just in front of the hotel. Then we headed to the Kotu sewage ponds, where about 50 White-faced whistling ducks were present. 4 Yellow wagtails foraged along the ponds. A Senegal parrot was calling loudly from a tree and a Black-shouldered kite flew over the golf course. From the sewage ponds we got on a track leading towards the creek. A Striped kingfisher sat in a dead tree. The creek near/in the golf course was nicely occupied: Wattled plovers, Common redshank and Spur-winged plovers sat on the muddy edges of the mangroves. After the hole that ends “in the water” 5 Black-headed plovers were skulking between the mangroves. The Golf course itself also held a good deal of birds, including: Northern Crombec, Grey woodpecker, Grey kestrel, Green woodhoopoe, African harrier hawk, Woodchat shrike, Fork-tailed drongo, Bearded barbet and the usual stuff. After returning towards the bridge we sat for a while at the office of the WABSA-guides. Which was a good move. We had excellent views of Oriole warbler, Yellow-crowned gonolek, Black-capped babblers, which came to drink at the concrete drinking pool just behind the office. A Blue-breasted kingfisher flew in the bushes and with some effort we had reasonable views of it.

After this, we had to call it a day, leaving for the hotel with 113 species seen in total, no bad!

23 January

Today we had agreed to be taken to Pirang and Fara Banta Bush Track. Pa was a bit late, because his car had broken down, which definitely can happen in Gambia.. but he arranged a friend to drive and charged noting more. So a bit late, we left for Pirang. We entered Pirang through the gate (it was placed there this or last year, it seemed that the owner isn’t keen on birders entering the farm, as we noticed the second visit here..) and immediately were treated with lots of birds. Loads of herons, including 5 Purple herons, Crested larks everywhere, a Yellow-billed stork stood together with some Pink-backed pelicans, an African spoonbill flew from a pond. While walking on the borders of the ponds a few African quail finches flew up, but were not very obliging, but in the end we had some good views. In some scrubs in a dry pond we saw a Sylvia skulking, which turned out to be a Spectacled warbler. Not an easy bird to see in the Gambia. Hirundae were quite numerous with: Barn swallow, Wire-tailed swallow and House martin flying by. In the scrubs adjacent to the farm itself a White-cheeked bee-eater was spotted and a few Blue-cheeked bee-eaters were foraging nearby.
Because the Cranes weren’t here, Pa suggested to visit another site nearby, where the roost. So we got in the car, drove a bit and after we stopped we had to walk a few meters and there they were, sitting in a dead tree: 2 Black crowned cranes. After having admired these majestic birds, we headed for the famous Fara Banta Bush Track. But before we headed to the dusty track we had a stop at Pa’s house and were treated to some oranges and headed towards the track.
This area is good for raptors, but not only raptors can be seen here. Raptors included: Martial eagle 1, Bateleur 1 juv, African hawk eagle3, Brown snake eagle 1, Lanner falcon 1, Black-shouldered kite 1, Wahlberg’s eagle 2, Dark chanting goshawk 4, Grasshopper buzzard 2 and 3 African harrier hawks. Other nice birds included: Senegal batis, Rufous cisticola, Scarlet-breated sunbird, Splendid sunbird, Yellow-fronted canary, Tree pipit, Vieillot’s barbet, African Golden oriole, Northern puffback, Sand martin, Common swift and Mosque swallow.

After this nice, but hot birding, it was time to head for the hotel again because the day was going to an end and we ended the day with 152 species for the triplist.

24 January

This day we had planned a full day stay in Abuko. We arranged a cab that brought us and picked us up at 6 pm again. At the entrance we also got a ticket for the reserve (37.5 p.p.) and a ticket for the photo-hide (50 Dalasi). A good idea if you want to spend a whole day here, because you can relax during the hot hours of the day and still see plenty of birds. We decided to bird on our own, so no guide this day for us.

Birding starts when you enter the reserve. Immediately we saw a Green turaco and a Sulphur-breasted bush shrike, just meters away from the entrance. As we slowly advanced we picked up more birds. Quite soon you’ll get to the observation veranda, where you look out over the main pond. A Giant kingfisher flew by and a Black egret was performing his fishing method. The elusive Black crake made some short appearances while running from the bushes to the water and back. From here we followed the route and while slowly making progress seeing a lot of birds. Little greenbulls were making lots of noise, while a Leaf love and a Yellow-breasted apalis were high up the trees and a group of Black-necked weavers were skulking in some scrubs. The Brown-throated wattle-eye (Common wattle-eye) was first discovered by following its distinct whistling call and after that we saw some more of them. Violet turacos gave excellent views and 8 were seen in total. After having left the thick forest a more bushy part of the reserve was explored. A light morph Booted eagle flew over. After having arrived at the photohide, we spend about two hours here, enjoying the birds, monkeys, bushbuck and a monitor lizard, all coming to drink and bath. Birds included: Snowy-crowned robin-chat, Grey-headed bristlebill, Black-winged bishop, Blue-spotted wood-dove and the tiny African pygmy kingfisher which gave excellent views while it hunted for insects near the pool.
When temperature began to drop a bit, we left the photohide and were treated by 8 Great white pelicans soaring overhead. From here we made our way back slowly towards the entrance where we would be picked up. Along the way we had a Lesser honeyguide in an Acacia, Pied-winged swallows flying around, 2 Yellow-throated leafloves, Mottled spinetail flying by and African and Red-bellied paradise flycatchers.
Because we had not seen some of our targets, like the Verreaux’s eagle-owl, we addressed a guide and asked if he could deliver the owl for us. He said that he could deliver, 100% sure. So we agreed and were taken towards its roosting tree, and indeed, there is was, holding some sort of chick in his paws and looking kind of sleepy. On the way back to the entrance a few Ahanta francolins were calling and when we arrived at the entrance it didn’t take a while before our cab came.
Because it was still light when we arrived at the hotel, we decided to do some more birding and headed towards the golf course. The usual stuff was present and a Northern black flycatcher, new to us.

So we ended the day with some nice biding, not completely satisfied of Abuko and ended the day with 180 species seen so far.

25 January

This day we planned to do some easy and slow birding. The area’s we planned to visit were Tanji beach and the Senegambia hotel gardens.
When we went for breakfast we first spotted a White crowned robin chat on the hotel grounds.
After breakfast we arranged for a taxi to bring us to Tanji. We first stopped at Tanji bird reserve. Here we walked the trail straight towards the sea. But this did not produce a lot of birds. We walked back and took the trail to the left (from the entrance) and walked towards the beach. Along this trail we had a small bird wave with Yellow-crowned gonolek, Red-bellied paradise flycatchers, Northern puffback. A Stone partridge was skulking in the undergrowth. This trail goes right to the beach and we walked a bit along the beach. A group of gulls produced the following: 2 Kelp gulls, Caspian terns 30, Lesser black backed gull 5, Slender-billed gull 5, Lesser crested tern 1 and Royal tern 4. Along the shore some waders were present, including an Oystercatcher, Bar-tailed godwit 2, Curlew 1, Sanderling 1, Great ringed plover 10 and 3 Common greenshanks. Above the sea we spotted a Little tern, 2 Osprey, 2 Pomarine jaegers and 1 Parasitic jaeger.

After this walk we walked back to the taxi which brought us a just a few hundred meters towards Tanji itself. The scrub here is better than in the bird reserve and we walked the area in search of some birds. Much more birds were present here and we saw a Green crombec, Yellow white-eye, Collared sunbird, 3 White-crowned robin chats, a singing Nightingale, Pied-winged swallows, 2 African silverbill, 1 Red-necked falcon and a Shikra.

After this productive morning we took the taxi back and we let ourselves drop at the Senegambia hotel. If you like photography, this is the place. The birds are tame, and abundant! We took some time, hopping from bench to bench and enjoyed the wildlife. Yellow-crowned gonoleks were everywhere, Blue cheeked bee-eaters were above us, the trees held Nothern black flycatcher, Purple glossy starlings, Long-tailed glossy starlings, Yellow-billed shrikes, Bronze mannakins and Red-cheeked gordon blues. In a large tree near the beach we had our first Broad-billed roller high up. Nice! Another nice observation were the bathing Hooded vultures which seemed to know the exact timing of the sprinklers..

After the peaceful birding we headed back towards Kotu. Along the way the normal stuff was seen again, like Subalpine warbler, Little bee-eater, Double spurred francolin, African harrier-hawk etc.

Although a quite day, still some new species and we ended the day with 199 species for the trip.

26 January

Today we made a trip again with our guide Pa Jallow. In the morning we went to Brufut , spend the hot ours at Paradise Inn and in the afternoon we went to Yundum woods.

This morning we had company of two other Dutchmen which we met at the hotel and which were also planning to go inland. Sounds like travel company! Which we arranged later on.

Before entering Brufut we first headed to the known site for the courser. At Trankin, just after the junction for Brufut we got out of the car and met an English group who just visited the place, and seen it. In the field were 2 Black-headed plovers and soon after having seen the plovers we discovered the 2 Temminck’s coursers. Incredible birds! After having enjoyed the couple we went to Brufut.
It’s a nice reserve, with heavy scrubs and some trees. We walked from the entrance a bit back towards the main road. And along the road we had some interesting birds. Finally we saw a Swallow-tailed bee-eater and Fanti saw-wing were flying about. In a tree cover with scrubs first a female and later on a male Klaas’ cuckoo appeared and gave great views. In a tree way in the reserve a Lanner perched and we had great views through the scope. A bit further on we had a Green turaco in a tree, accompanied by a male African golden oriole, Common white-eyes and a Green-backed Eremomela and a Black-crowned tchagra was in the scrubs. We went back towards the entrance but before getting there we took a trail into the reserve. This trail leads towards a large tree, which is known to have roosting eagle owls, and indeed we saw a Verreaux’s Eagle owl. We headed more inside the reserve and spotted a few birds, including Green crombec, Yellow-fronted thinkerbird, Copper sunbird and Splendid sunbird. At a hide we only spotted a group of Orange-cheeked waxbills. When we headed back to the entrance we heard a woodpecker knocking somewhere. After skulking in the bushes, we had nice views of a Cardinal woodpecker, which was foraging on bush trunks and termite hills. In another bush a bird was calling and it had to be a Grey-headed bush-shrike. After checking the tape it was a positive ID and we tried to get it out in the open, without any luck.. But a Green Hylia perched in a bush for a second before flying away.

So far for Brufut, it was getting hot again and we headed towards Paradise Inn to spend the hot hours of the day there. We sat at a stream and watch loads of Western grey-Plantain-eaters fly to and from. Blue-cheeked bee-eaters and Mottled spinetails ruled the sky and a Purple heron flew out of the mangroves. After a while we were eager to do some real birding and wandered the surroundings. We bumped into a group consisting of Black-necked weavers, Black-capped babblers and an Oriole warbler.

It cooled down a bit so it was time to head for Yundum. Along the way we halted our guide and spotted an excellent Yellow-billed oxpecker on a cow. Marvellous creatures and what a bill!

Once in Yundum it was nice birding, lots of birds, but unfortunately on could already see the destruction of this area by it’s inhabitants. People are starting to build here, which means a great loss of nice habitat. But there are still some patches, which hold nice birds. We made a long walk and from the beginning some nice birds. A Fine spotted woodpecker was in (almost) the first tree we encountered and was soon accompanied by a second. In the tree next to it was a Pearl spotted owlet, which reacted on the calling of Pa. Yellow-fronted canaries were everywhere, a Striped kingfisher was calling from a tree, Scarlet-breasted sunbird and Vieillot’s barbet were in some trees and two Swallow-tailed bee-eaters were foraging. Although a quite common bird but seeing it fly takes your breath away and of course we mean the Blue-bellied rollers! Incredibly blue!!
Quite a few raptors were airborne, including Shikra, Brown-snake eagle, African harrier hawk, Dark-chanting goshawk, Wahlsberg’s eagle, Black-shouldered kite and a Long-crested eagle. At the end of the walk we came across some big Acacia’s, which were teeming with european warblers, several Chiffchaffs, a Willow warbler, a Common whitethroat and a Western bonelli’s warbler.
After a nice walk and plenty of birds it was time to call it a day and we headed back towards the hotel. Not a bad day and still we produced new birds and ended the day with 212 species so far.

27 January

Again Abuko. We missed a few species last time and we tried for those again. We again arranged a taxi to bring us and take us back at 6 p.m. This time it was even cheaper. After buying the tickets and the ticket for the photohide, we entered the reserve and the birds came into view. After the first Snowy-crowned robin chats and both Turacos. In the pond the usual Black egret, Giant kingfisher and Black crake were present again. Along the trail we decided to go directly to the open area (shortcut to exit) and here we saw a Pied hornbill. Towards the exit we saw a Red-shouldered cuckoo shrike. From here we walked to the photohide. Along the way a Tawny eagle flew by. At the hide we were treated with the usual stuff and also a target species we had missed the first time: Western bluebill. Bigger than expected it took a drink and was gone again. Also a Pin-tailed wydah, Grey-headed bristlebill came to get a refreshing drink. After 2 pm we went on the way again and walked to the tree which held the Verreaux’s eagle owl last time. This time there were two present. Besides that we had a Green hylia, Red-bellied flycatcher and Oriole warblers in the higher trees. Although we heard woodpeckers knocking on trees really closeby, no woodpeckers were spotted. So me missed Buff-spotted woodpecker again…. From English birders we heard that a flock of White crested helmet shrikes were near the pond with the bamboo stand, so we headed that way en saw 5 White-crested helmet shrikes. Quite noisy but beautiful birds!

It was getting to 6 so we headed back to the taxi and went back to the hotel. Although not a lot of new species we ended with a total of 221 species.

28 January

We started the inland trip which is on a different page, click here