THE GAMBIA 2013 - DAY 9 - 23RD NOVEMBER

GEORGETOWN ISLAND BACK TO TENDABA – STOPPING AT WASSU – PANCHANG MARSHES – KAUR WETLANDS – KM 31 WATERHOLE – SOMA MARSHES – TENDABA ‘AIRFIELD’

It was another transfer day as we travelled back towards the coast along the north bank, the weather was hot again with a clear sky all day and temperatures around the 28-30C. There was a breeze for most of the day especially when we stopped at open marshes.

Carmine Bee-eater

After a delay getting off the island at Georgetown due to a broken ferry we finally made it to Wassu. We revisited this place because there were one or two species missing off our list that could be found there and we needed better views of Carmine Bee-eaters. The short drive along the north bank to Wassu was punctuated with short stops to look at raptors and rollers, they were everywhere, sitting on wires, poles and dead branches. 

A short walk near the quarry at Wassu produced our wanted species and fantastic views of the Carmine Bee-eater, we also saw our first White-rumped Seed-eater and our first (Little) Green Bee-eater and many more Red-throated Bee-eaters, in fact at some point all three were sitting in the same tree! 

cut-throat (finch)

We found a flock of swallows perched on a huge dead tree, they were mostly Red-chested Swallows but also Mosque Swallows and a Sand Martin, another tree held a good number of Long-tailed Exclamatory Whydahs and as we walked near the quarry we found Northern Ant-eater Chat, flocks of bishops and weavers and hundreds of Red-throated Bee-eaters.

Green Bee-eater

The sky above us always held a raptor or two we noted Brown Snake Eagle, Hooded & White-backed Vultures, African Harrier-Hawk, African Hawk-Eagle, Montagu’s Harrier and Lanner Falcon. But the best of all was the sighting of a huge Martial Eagle, this bird remained in view for 10 minutes and was mobbed by a Shikra, the Shikra looked absolutely tiny next to the massive bird.

the group at Soma wetlands

Well after that bird fest we moved further westward and stopped at small marsh area where the pools held extensive tall reeds and open water with some covering of lilies. A pair of Black Crakes were seen almost immediately, they showed beautifully,  then a small flock of African Silverbill was found in a bush nearby, a good start. A Giant Kingfisher hovered above a pool across the road and then we found one of the gems of the trip when we scanned a flock of bishop birds, in amongst them was a Sudan Golden Sparrow, what a little beauty, it shone like a beacon in its drab surroundings. 

THE MOST WANTED EGYPTIAN PLOVER - WHAT A STUNNER

The next new species was Yellow-crowned Bishop a flock of them sat in the reeds with some of the males still in their yellow and black breeding outfits. We then concentrated on the pools and red–beds looking for the Purple Swamphen, we never found one but instead we had great views of a Dwarf Bittern, another superb find and a most wanted species, fantastic. We also had views of Common Moorhen, Sedge Warbler and African Reed Warbler. 

Back in the scrub we found Cut-throat (Finch), many Namaqua Doves and huge flocks of bishops and weavers. We left the marsh in high spirits after a great visit.

On the road again we motored on, noting more raptors as we travelled, we saw: Grasshopper Buzzard, Grey Kestrel, Red-necked Falcon and lots of vultures. We turned off the main road after a few kilometers to look at a few secluded pools and just at the side of the road we found a flock of Egyptian Plovers, they we so obliging we got to within 5 meters of them, you can image the superlatives coming from the photographers in the group.

African Silverbill

Our next stop was at one of my favourite places in the Gambia, the Kauer Marsh. This huge wetland has large areas of open shallow water with clumps of reed and stretches for several hundred meters on either side of the road.

There are always lots of birds at Kauer and today was no exception. There were over 1,000 Collared Pratincoles standing in the nearest pool to our right and with them were: Ruff, Marsh Sandpiper, Greenshank, Common Sandpiper, Black-winged Stilt and the star Kittlitz’s Plover.

A KITTLITZ'S PLOVER

We also added White Wagtail to our list and we saw many Senegal Thick-knees, Wattled Lapwing, Spur-winged Lapwing, White-faced Whistling Duck, Malachite & Pied Kingfisher, Little Ringed Plover, Little Stint and a couple of Yellow Wagtails. The last bird we found was a Cinnamon Breasted Bunting another little beauty.

It was now getting passed lunch-time so we drove for 10 minutes more and stopped by a road-side drinking pool. As we sat eating our fruit, bread, fish and melon many birds came to drink. We had superb close views of the Cinnamon Breasted Bunting, Whydahs, Namaqua Doves, Red-cheeked Cordonbleu, Black-rumped Waxbill and hundreds of Red-billed Quelea, Northern Red-Bishops and Village Weavers. A number of Little Swifts dropped in to drink just as we were leaving.

DARK-CHANTING GOSHAWK

We had to cross the river to get to the south bank at Fara Fenni which went very smoothly without much of a delay, 3 ferries were running so that the queue was small. From the boat a huge ‘kettle’ of Yellow-billed Kites rose up and with them were two Black Kites.

After a short while we drove through Soma and turned onto the road to Banjul, this section has no tarmac and so it is slower, but from the coast to Georgetown there now only about 15 kilometers of dirt track and soon that will be tarmac. We stopped just outside of Soma to look at the wetlands, not too many species were present and we didn’t add anything to our list but the breeze was nice and the light was very good. A Couple of Egyptian Plover were walking on the main road ahead of us as we pulled away.

A couple of quick impromptu stops came next, first to watch a small flock of White-crested Helmet Shrikes and then to scope a pair of Black-headed Lapwings that were feeding on a peanut field.

Lastly we stopped at the ‘Airfield’ just outside of Tendaba, we searched for Plain-backed Pipit but came away empty handed. The late afternoon light was just fantastic we scoped the wetland (which was once a runway) and noted: Pink-backed Pelican, Black-winged Stilts, Common Ringed Plover, Grey Plover, Caspian Tern, Gull-billed Tern, Great White Egret, Little Egret, Western Reef Heron and lots of common birds in the bushes and scrub. That last 30 minutes of the day was so tranquil, colourful and yet full of life it was hard to drag ourselves away from it, but go we did.

Tendaba was waiting for us, we checked into the same rooms and we went to the same bar before dinner and drank a nice cold beer before a lovely dinner.