THE GAMBIA 2013 - DAY 2 – 16TH NOVEMBER

SENEGAMBIA HOTEL – KOTO STREAM and RICE FIELDS – SEWAGE POOLS – CASINO TRACK – BIJILO FOREST

Our first full started at first light, 7am, we met in the breakfast room and ate our meal on the terrace, it was overcast and cool but still humid. Cattle Egrets walked around out tables looking for scraps and many birds were calling: the Red-eyed Dove calls out “ I am...the Red-eyed Dove” whilst the Vinaceous Dove shouts “Pieces of eight....pieces of eight” the Laughing Dove, well, he just laughs. Common Bubul  is very loud whilst the White-crowned Robin Chat  is melodious. We added two new species at breakfast, several Grey Plantain Eaters sat in the trees above us and a flock of Green Wood-Hoopoes flew over.

the back end of a Giant Kingfisher

We boarded our air-conditioned bus at 8am and within 10 minutes we were birding at the bridge over the Koto Stream. Wihtin afew more minute 3 kingfisher species were in the ‘can’. First a Giant Kingfisher posed for us on a wire, then a Blue Breasted Kingfisher landed in a mangrove very near and several Pied Kingfisher dashed about. This first hour was fantastic because nearly every bird was new for my group. Common Wattle-eye, Oriole Warbler, Shikra, Red-cheeked Cordon Bleu, Bronze Mannikin, Village Weaver, Spur-winged Lapwing, Wattled Lapwing, Senegal Thick-knee, Senegal parrot, Ringed-necked Parakeet and several more species. A pair of African Golden Orioles stole the show, didn’t they pose well, also a couple of Grey Woodpeckers flew over.

The group entering the rice fields on the narrow dirt bank

The tide was high and just started to turn so there wasn’t any exposed mud, however we did find several Whimbrel, they sat in mangrove trees, how unusual, also Common & Green Sandpipers and a Greenshank.  A short walk into the rice fields produced many more excellent sightings, we got very close to Red-billed Firefinches. Little Bee-eaters, Village Weavers, Green Wood-Hoopoes, Tawny-flanked Prinia, and Senegal Coucal. Fly-over species included Palm-nut Vulture, Hammerkop, 4 Shikra together, White-faced Whistling Duck, Long-tailed Cormorant, Squacco Heron, Western Reef Heron, Black Egret, Great White Egret, Grey Heron, Striated Heron and many more of the birds already named. 

We walked along very narrow strips of raised earth, water-filled rice paddies were all around us with tall palms dotted all over the landscape, to one side a dense mangrove swap grew, birds were everywhere. Little Bee-eaters perched amazingly close to us, they chased insects, completely oblivious to our presence. The cloud started to disburse and it got very warm and very humid so we sat in the shade and took a cold drink, many Citrus Swallowtail butterflies flew around us, but no midges, fantastic.

Red-billed Firefinch

Our visit to the sewer farm was also very productive and as we approached the pools we stopped to look at a flock of White-billed Buffalo Weavers, they sat in a tall leaf-less tree with a couple of Laughing Doves. Then a Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird dropped in, what a little gem that little bird is. This sighting was quickly followed by a pair of Bearded Barbets, another strange looking bird with superbly marked plumage.

A Lizard Buzzard flew off as we approached the pools so we only got fleeting glimpses of it but the pools were we busy with a nice selection of species. Theses pools are not clean, the water is dirty black so it is a bit of a surprise to see good numbers of White-faced Whistling Ducks sitting out in the open water and a single Northern Shoveler feeding with them. A single Little Grebe fed near the sides of a pool constantly diving whilst 20-30 Black-winged Stilts were joined by: Redshank, Greenshank, Wood & Common Sandpipers along the water’s edge.

ONE OF THE POOLS AT THE SEWER WORKS

Small flocks of Little Swifts dashed down to drink, urg!! And many Palm Swifts hawked much higher. We added Intermediate Egret to our growing egret list and watched another Shikra as we left the smelly ponds of the sewer works.

White-faced Whistling Ducks

The last area we visited for this morning’s excursion was the ‘Casino Cycle Track’ which is found a short distance from the sewer works. This metalled track offers views over a wider area of rice fields and palm trees with some thickets along the track side. We spent an hour walking slowly in the hottest part of the morning, a few new species were added to  our sightings list. A pair of Forked-tailed Drongos entertained us for a while before Red-billed Firefinches took our attention and Beautiful Sunbirds, Bronze Mannikins offered further distraction. Then a “woodpecker” shout rang out and most of the group had good views of our first Fine Spotted Woodpecker. Many Yellow-billed Black Kites were perched in the palms, Pied Crows and Hooded Vultures filled the skies and finches dominated the bushes.

Fork-tailed Drongo

It was now approaching 12 noon so we decided to retreat from the heat and sunshine for a long lunch. All of the group took lunch on the beach terrace, sitting under an overcast sky with a lovely cooling sea-breeze.

At 4pm we set off for our afternoon excursion into the forest at nearby Bijilo, it took all of 5 minutes to get there. The well worn track through this coastal forest are very popular with tourist who like to feed the Monkeys and see them at close quarters. So after we walked through hoards of Green Vervet Monkeys we got onto the coastal path and walked deeper into the forest.



A Little Bee-eater seen in Bijilo Forest

It was very overcast cast and quite a breeze was blowing making birding and  photography really quite difficult. We found a few new species but really it wasn't a good session. The Swallow-tail Bee-eaters were the stars of the show but we also enjoyed watching, Black-capped Babblers, Brown Babblers, Oriole Warbler, Little Bee-eaters and a pair of Lanner Falcons. A Northern Black Flycatcher was last bird that we focused on although we did put some time in finding a Common Gonolek of which we only got a fleeting glimpse. We called it a day at 6pm and retired to our rooms for a break before dinner, we sat out on the terrace enjoying the warm balmy evening with a nice glass of wine before tucking into a delicious dinner.