Gaucin walks - 7th January 2017

Weather: a cloudy, much cooler morning with a stronger, colder south-westerly breeze.

Castillo del Aguila - (eagle castle) is just a stone's throw from our house and a fairly good spot for birding. During the winter the shrubs and trees provide shelter and food for a number of species, the community park on the west side is often sheltered from cold winds by the castle itself.

yet another picture of a Black Redstart

That was the case this morning as I walked up to the castle entrance, a good number of Chiffchaffs fed in the bushes with dozens of Blackcaps. A Blue Rock Thrush (a nice blue male) flew up the rock face but disappeared too quickly. Other common garden species seen included: Chaffinch, several Robins and Blackbirds.

the path up to the castle

Sierra Crestellina as seen from Gaucin Castle

Rio Genal snaking its way down the valley to meet the Rio Guadiaro before flowing into the sea at Soto Grande

We took an afternoon walk below the village leaving from the bottom of Calle Casares and returned via a track up to Calle Arrabalete.

It was much warmer this afternoon and the cloud had dispersed somewhat so more sunshine warmed us up. Nineteen Griffon Vultures circled high above the Castle, it must be so nice for them to roam freely like that and not have to share their winter air-space with the summer migrants such as Booted and Short-toed Eagles and Black Kites, the latter incidentally, will begin to arrive at the end of this month.

El Hacho looking from the bottom of Calle Casares

Our walk took us to the hugh rock face, where an Eagle Owl was seen by Paul last year, I scanned the nooks and crannies not expecting to see one at this time of the day but you never know, 'stranger things have happened at sea'.

Paper-white Narcissi

We saw our first butterflies of the year when a female Brimstone flew by and we had sightings of two Red Admirals. Bird-wise it was much the same as this morning except that we found larger numbers of Chaffinches and a small flock of Serins that fed in the grasses of an orchard.

Dawn likes taking pictures of clouds

On the way back up a Common Buzzard drifted over and one or two Crag Martins dashed about the rock face.

Gaucin, Spain - January 5th 2017

Morning walk - 3km to El Colmenar turn-off.

It was another superb, clear and crisp January morning, an easterly breeze made it feel cold at first but it soon warmed up.  Our house in Gaucin is over on the east side beneath the Castle so our proposed walk along the Algeciras road meant we has to walk the entire length of the village to start with.

Our street of oranges - Calle Canamaque

We set out at 10am noting a single Black Redstart in our Street which incidentally has several orange trees bearing masses of fruit (inedible I might add) along one side.

the view back to the village from the Algeciras road

Once out of the village the roadside verges of scrub and bushes hosted hordes of Blackcaps, I have never seen so many! Robins were quite plentiful too with White Wagtails, Cirl Bunting, Meadow Pipits, Song Thrushes and Sardinian Warblers appearing in much smaller numbers.

the view down to the coast with Gibraltar and Morocco to the right of Gib

Nineteen Griffon Vultures circled over the summit of El Hacho, a male Common Kestrel sat on a power line and I got a brief but obscured view of an accipitor, it flew away from me behind a clump of eucalyptus trees, probably a female Sparrowhawk.

Griffon Vultures

The bird of the morning appeared as we approached the El Colmenar turning when a light morph BOOTED EAGLE circled over to our left. This is a smashing winter sighting as 99% of this species migrate to Africa for the winter.

an Owl seen on the roof near Paul and Janys's house - do you know which species it is?

Another group of 7 Griffon Vultures drifted low over us as we were just about to walk back to the village. It was a lovely 2 hour stroll that finished back at the house where our very local Black Redstart sat on our roof.

Gaucin, Spain - winter visit - January 4th 2017

Rio Genal, Gaucin  and Rio Guadiaro, Estacion de Cortes

It was great to be back in the Spanish sunshine leaving a very cold Somerset yesterday! After some heavy winter rain the verdant Andalucia landscape and teamed with life. Blankets of flowering yellow Bermuda Buttercups were broken up by swathes of Paper-white Narcissi.

Black Redstart - male

A perfect sunny day, no clouds and no wind greeted us (Dawn was with me) down at the river,  we arrived a little late, it was 10am.

Black Redstart - female

At the river we first scanned the open pastures finding 6 species in the first field! Black Redstarts were abundant, they were all over the field and fence-line. White Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Stonechat, Goldfinch and Chaffinch were also there. In the bushes along the river a good number of Blackcaps were joined by I assume Common Chiffchaff, also Blue Tits, a Cetti's Warbler and a nice surprise was a Firecrest.

Chiffchaff - sp. most probably Common  

Further up river a Kingfisher flew across the track whilst Spotless Starlings called from the tree tops. Even more White Wagtails and Blackcaps filled the paddocks and bushes. Sardinian Warblers, Common Kestrel, Great Cormorant, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Song Thrush, Greenfinch and Crag Martin made up the rest of our sightings.

A huge flock of Griffon Vultures circled above Sierra Crestellina, I counted 71 but I'm sure I missed a few.

We had lunch back home in Gaucin before driving down to the Rio Guadiaro at Cortes. The weather was even better it must been around 17C as we walked westward along the river. We had many more sightings of Black Redstarts, White Wagtail, Common Chiffchaff, Stonechat, Crag Martin and Goldfinch. A single Green Sandpiper, two Great Cormorants and good views of our second Cetti's Warbler was nice.

Firecrest

During the walk back to the car we found two more Firecrests, they must have been rivals as both them were quite agitated with crests raised and feathers buffed up, it was quite amazing to watch.

Final birds added to the day list were Grey Wagtail, Corn Bunting and a Mistle Thrush.

NEW YEAR BIRDING - January 1st 2017

Today I set out on my traditional New Year's day birding, I try to see 100 species in Dorset, UK in one day. For the third year running I was thwarted by the weather.......................

WAREHAM FOREST

SHERFORD BRIDGE AND MORDEN BOG

It was 8am and still pretty much dark, thick dark clouds obscured what little light our mighty sun was throwing our way. There was an eerie silence, no traffic, no bird song and little drops of rain pitter-pattered on my coat.
At last a sound, Common Pheasants disturbed from their roost let everyone know it, a Robin bursts into its dirge-like winter song and a Green Woodpecker calls from afar.
My efforts to locate a Dartford Warbler on the Morden Bog Heathland failed miserably but other species start to appear, Stonechat, Goldfinch, Siskin, Blackbird, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Jackdaw, Crow, Cormorant and Woodpigeon.

MORDEN BOG
The light improved considerably as I walked back to the car at 9am, it stopped raining too! I saw both Pied and Grey Wagtails near a heap of dung with a Chaffinch. At Sherford Bridge where I had parked the car, a Little Egret and a Grey Heron flew off as my head appeared over the parapet, oops!

LYTCHETT FIELDS

The short drive to Lytchett Fields took 10 minutes, I notched Raven and more Pheasants along the way. The long walk to the RSPB ‘ LYTCHETT FIELDS RESERVE’ gave me a few more species, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Song Thrush, Black-headed Gull and Rook.

RSPB LYTCHETT FIELDS
Lytchett Fields has played host to a Lesser Yellowlegs since November, an American wading bird that has decided to over-winter in the UK. The muddy scrapes held lots of birds, Eurasian Teal and Lapwing were the most common with a single Spotted Redshank, Moorhens, Common Shelduck, Common Snipe, Dunlin, Black-tailed Godwit and Common Redshank making up the bulk of the other Birds present.

record shot of the Lesser Yellowlegs
Three other birders were present and one of them located the Yellowlegs, smashing, a great bird to add to my new year’s list. My long walk back to the car was rewarded with sightings of Goldcrest, Mistle Thrush, Redwing and Common Starling.

HARTLAND MOOR AND ARNE RSPB (CAR PARK)

I drove next to RSPB Arne hoping for a few good species coming to the feeders in the car park. Alas nothing new came down but I did find a FIRECREST in the bushes next to my car. I stopped on the heath as I headed towards Corfe and immediately found 3 Dartford Warblers, lovely!

Corfe Castle............or what is left of it!

STUDLAND BAY

Next I drove to Studland Bay, parking in the ‘Middle Beach’ car park I scanned the bay from the side of the car. Within minutes I found Razorbill, Shag, Great Northern Diver, Great-crested & Slavonian Grebes and Great Black-backed Gull.

Old Harry Rocks in Studland Bay

HOLES BAY

A little further along the road towards Poole I stopped to view Poole Harbour, from a vantage point on the heath I had great views of Brownsea Island, Round Island and Holes Bay. It was high tide so most of the birds were crowded onto reed-covered islands, several species of duck joined Brent Geese, Canada Geese and lots of waders. Pintail, Goldeneye, Wigeon, Gadwall, Teal, Common Shelduck made up the wildfowl whilst Black-tailed Godwit, Curlew, Redshank, Grey Plover, Dunlin and Oystercatcher.

spot the Reed Bunting!
On the Heath itself I saw Green Woodpecker, Reed Bunting and a Song Thrush before I jumped back into the car and headed for Weymouth. It was now 12 noon, I had notched up 61 species in my quest for the magic 100. However, I knew that bad weather was on its way, I could see more dark clouds in the distance heading my way.

WEYMOUTH – LODMORE

By the time I got to Lodmore it was raining lightly and I had added Collared Dove, Common Buzzard and Lesser Black-backed Gull. At Lodmore I jumped out of the car for approximately 5 minutes, a quick scan from a side road added Shoveler and Common Coot.

Mistle Thrush

WEYMOUTH – RADIPOLE LAKE

A similar situation occurred at Radipole Lake, except that I jumped out for a little bit longer. From the visitor’s centre I added Mediterranean Gull, Common Gull and a cup of coffee. The rain came down harder as I reach Portland Harbour.

WEYMOUTH – PORTLAND HARBOUR

Viewing the harbour from the Weymouth Sailing club is usually the best way to see Black-necked Grebes, it took a while until I found two of them. Lots of Red-breasted Mergansers fed nearby also Shag, Cormorant and Great Crested Grebe.

view of Portland Harbour from Weymouth Sailing Club with Portland in the background

FERRYBRIDGE

I viewed Ferrybridge mudflats from the Weymouth side first, it was now very bleak, the rain came down at 45 degrees and it was wet! I saw more Mergansers, Bar-tailed Godwits, Dunlin and Brent Geese. Watching from the visitor’s centre car park I added Rock Pipit, Pale-bellied Brent Goose and Ruddy Turnstone, the rain, wet optics and the poor light drove me away.

Dunlin at Ferrybridge

PORTLAND CASTLE

I made a last-ditch effort to see more water birds from Portland Castle but failed, it was now windy, cold and wet. I gave up and headed for home. It was 3pm I had seen 79 species and was defeated, yet again, by the lovely English weather! Believe it or not, I really enjoyed the day and I’ll try again next year.Happy New Year.

GAMBIA - 14-DAY TOUR - DAY 11

TRANSFER FROM TENDABA TO SENEGAMBIA HOTEL WITH STOPS AT TENDABA 'AIRFIELD' - KIANG WEST BUSH TRACK AND NATURE RESERVE HEADQUARTERS

WEATHER: Another scorcher with temps above 35C

After checking out of the Tendaba Camp for the second time on this tour we stopped a couple of kilometers along the road at the post-war aerodrome site. Our target was the Plain-backed Pipit which failed to show but we enjoyed the early morning temperature and a good number of species too.

From there we drove to the KIANG WEST Bush track where we had enjoyed good sightings last night. It was equally as good this morning, birds seemed to be everywhere.  We relocated the White-shouldered Tit and in the same tree we found Striped Kingfisher, Yellow-fronted Canary, Yellow-breasted Eremomela and Pygmy Sunbird. Further along the track we saw a couple of Black-crowned Tchagras, Four-banded Sandgrouse and our first White-crested Helmet-Shrike. Senegal Batis was a show-stopper, we had much better views of it this morning.

White-crested Helmet-Shrike

A Bateleur Eagle was a great sighting it flew right over us, smashing! Dark-chanting Goshawk, African Harrier-hawk, Lanner Falcon and Grey Kestrel were some of the other raptors seen.

For the rest of the morning we drove round to another Bush track a few kilometers further west but still in the reserve, this track led us to the park headquarters and a group of bird-ringers were operating a temporary ringing station. We stayed for an hour or so watching them process a number of species.

Lizard Buzzard in the hand

A Lizard Buzzard was a superb catch for them and a little beauty in the hand, the guys pointed out the extraordinary large legs and feet on this species. Grey-backed Cameroptera, Common Bulbul, Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu and Vinaceous Dove were some of the birds ringed. Ray Marsh, one of our group was also a ringer and he handled a couple of species too, particularly doves, he loved ringing a Black-billed Wood-Dove.

Ray Marsh - doing what he loves best, ringing a bird, in this case a Black-billed Wood Dove

Well, we had to leave the ringers and continue our drive to Banjul, we stopped a couple more times to look at Long-crested Eagle, Grasshopper Buzzard and Abyssinian Rollers for photographic opportunities and we got out to stretch our legs at a raptor watch-point. We added Booted Eagle and Common Swift to our trip list before setting off again.

The remainder of the journey was a bit of a nightmare and it reminded me of a 'movie scene'. The election results were in and the current President of 22 years had been toppled! The population were ecstatic and took to the streets in their thousands. Each village we came to had large cheering, gatherings of exuberant youths either in the road or along it, we had to trickle through some very rowdy mobs, the closer we got to Banjul the bigger the mobs, they surrounded the bus bashing on windows and side panels, climbing on the roof!

the most common bird of prey in the Gambia - Yellow-billed Kite

Ali our driver took us through side tracks to avoid the main road areas as we approached KOLOLI where our hotel was, we made it back around 3pm, a little late but all in one piece. We called it day after that and didn't venture out of the hotel grounds for the rest of the day.

Senegal Batis

The bird-log revealed that our total stands at 286 species recorded, we have 3 full days to look for another 30+ species or at least crack the 300 target we have set for ourselves.

GAMBIA - 14-DAY TOUR - DAY 10

TRANSFER FROM GEORGETOWN ISLAND TO TENDABAAMP WITH STOPS AT JAHALLY RICE FIELDS AND KIANG WEST BUSH TRACK

WEATHER: our hottest day yet, 39C and humid.

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION-DAY IN THE GAMBIA

Our air-conditioned bus was a saviour today and it was hard to get the group off it at times. We set off at 8am and travelled westward back to Tendaba, we crossed onto the south bank of the river from Georgetown on the 'new' bridge and stopped just after to look at a pair of Verreaux's Eagle Owls. The owls were in their usual baobab tree and showed very well, we also found Gabar Goshawk, Marsh Harrier, Senegal Parrot, Mosque Swallow and a few common weaver's.

Verreaux's Eagle-Owl

After another 20km we stopped to look at a colony of Maribou Storks, these huge, ugly birds are holding up  well in the Gambia. Modou, our guide, took us to another Verreaux's Eagle Owl site a little further on where we had much better views especially good for photography.

Rufous-crowned Roller

It was 10:30am by the time we reached the huge rice fields at Jahally, where hot and humid conditions prevailed. We coaxed the group off the bus with the 'carrot' of Painted Snipe being our best offer! We saw a dozen snipe, mostly Common Snipe but a few were most definitely Painted Snipe, but we only saw them in flight. An hour and a half walking in the heat produced over 30 species which included a European Roller, a rare sighting, as well as Black Crake, dozens of Jacanas, our first Black-faced Quail-finch, also Red-billed Quelea, Purple, Grey, Blacked-headed and Squacco Heron.

a number of Norrhern Sahel Whydahs (males are the colourful ones) with Namaqua Dove

From Jahally we drove through Soma picking up picnic supplies before sitting in the shade of the forest to eat it. From there to Tendaba we stopped several more times to look at raptors high in the sky or perched on roadside trees. We added Tawny Eagle to our trip list and also saw Wahlberg's, Brown Snake-Eagle, Dark Chanting Goshawk, African Harrier-Hawk, Lanner Falcon and Grey Kestrel.

Baboons - a large troop of about 50 animals crossed the road in front of the bus

We arrived at Tendaba Camp at 3pm and decided to wait until the heat abated before we went out birding. So it was 5pm when we set off for the 10 minute drive to Kiang West Bush tracks. Our first track was excellent we saw Four-banded Sandgrouse on the track, Black-crowned Tchagra in the bushes then we added several new species in quick succession as Modou whistled the call of the Pearl-spotted Owlet. First we found a Scimitar-bill, then a Brubru, Senegal Batis and the most wanted White-shouldered Tit. It was certainly a great fifteen minutes, we also saw Yellow-breasted Eremomela and a Brown-backed Woodpecker.

Brubru

Back on the main track our sightings continued despite the fading light. We saw two more Eremomelas with a Yellow White-eye and a Brown-rumped Bunting. A Common Redstart was one of the last birds we recorded before the light finally gave way.

Back at the camp we discovered that 120 British Students had checked in, I am listening to very loud disco music as I write this at 10pm, they have promised to end the disco at midnight!

GAMBIA - 14-DAY TOUR - DAY 9

WASSU AREA AND SAND QUARRY - 'HIPPO' RIVER CRUISE

Another fantastic morning in this birding paradise called the Gambia. After a frugal breakfast of bread, jam, cheese-triangles and an omelette we set off to the ferry for our trip back to the north shore. The vehicle queue was quite large so we went across as foot-passengers and birded around the river until the bus came over some 45 minutes later. We saw a good variety of species, the large African Harrier-Hawk flew over carrying a lizard for breakfast, Grey Kestrels dashed passed us, whilst Senegal Coucal, Yellow-billed Shrike and Vinaceous Dove sat in the same bush. We watched Grey-backed Cameroptera, Velliot's Barbet and several other species before boarding the bus.

Grey Plantain-eater

Apart from the large colony of Red-throated Bee-eaters Wassu quarry is a good place to look for Carmine Bee-eaters especially in the morning, our short search of the area produced a number of them within minutes, what a stunning looking beast. We also watched the Red-throated and the Green Bee-eaters along with large numbers of Northern Sahel Whydah, Northern Red Bishops, White Rumped Seedeaters, Cut-throats, Waxbills and weavers.

Carmine Bee-eaters, we saw only half a dozen of these beauties

The sky was full of birds too, a number of raptors began to appear and including Dark Chanting Goshawk & Grasshopper Buzzard, which were seen along the way, we listed ten species this morning.

First a pair of African Hawk-Eagles showed really well then African Harrier-Hawk came over and Beaudouin's Eagle hovered above us. A Lanner Falcon dive-bombed another Beaudouin's Eagle just before we sighted a Martial Eagle carrying prey (the prey looked like a squirrel),  phew, what a purple patch. Also up there with the eagles was Hooded, Ruppell's & White-backed Vultures as well as Sand Martin, Little Swift, Mottled Spintail and both Red-chested & Red-rumped Swallows. Abyssinian Rollers were everywhere with Rufous-crowned Roller seen on the telephone wires.

The bush track leading to Wassu Quarry

A short watch at the quarry pools produced even more species as Pin-tailed Whydah, Cuthroat, Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Weaver, Red Bishop, Cinnamon-breasted Bunting joined lots of weaver's and Waxbills coming to drink and Anteater-Chat sat singing from earth mounds.

It was getting very hot so we gave up and drove back to the ferry, again there was a long delay so we hired a private boat to take us to our camp leaving Ali the driver and the bus in the queue. A long lunch ensued and we met again at 3pm back at the jetty in time to board a boat for our private river cruise, it was still stifling hot at this stage.

I couldn't resist putting another Carmine picture in

Out on the river a cool breeze was most welcomed, we relaxed and began to enjoy a series of sightings over the next three hours as we motored down the river hugging the shore on either side. Highlights during the first hour include sightings of an African Fish Eagle which dropped into the water on a fishing expedition, a Palm-nut Vulture, several Night Herons roosting and a number of Swamp Flycatchers feeding from overhanging branches.

one of the creeks we drifted into

We ventured up a side creek where Kingfishers were a prominent feature,  Malachite, Woodland, Grey-headed and Blue-breasted all made it onto the list, whilst the main target Shining Blue remained elusive. It was on the return journey from this creek visit that we made our best sighting when we joined another birding boat-party who had just seen an African Finfoot.

At this stage our engine had some trouble and for fifteen frustrating minutes we drifted away from the sighting whilst the other group were getting occasional views. Eventually we got going and returned to the site just as the other boat left and to our great relief the bird came out from hiding. We had the most fantastic views of it out in the open, what a colourful bird which looks ten times better in real life than its depiction in the field guide.

African Finfoot - both photos taken by Stephen Berry

Next we ventured further down river adding more species to the list, Yellow-throated Leaf-love, Little and Red-throated Bee-eaters, Hammerkop, Senegal Thick-knee, Wattled Lapwing and Common Gonolek. We also saw several Monitor Lizards, Red-Colobus Monkeys, Green Vervet Monkeys and a huge Hippopotomus, this beast rose up out of the water and breached like a whale with gaping jaws - I think we got a little too close so we beat a hasty retreat.

Red Colobus Monkey

The light began to fade as we returned upriver but before it was too bad we notched our second most wanted species, the Shining Blue Kingfisher. We had a number of brief views of them as they dashed from perch to perch and we did see it for a short time perched on over-hanging branches but it was difficult and you had to be quick with your bins, we all saw one but not everyone had satisfactory views before bad light thwarted our efforts.

Monitor Lizard

A beautiful sunset lit up the sky behind us as we made it back to the jetty behind our camp on Georgetown Island. We logged just over 40 species on the trip with the two main must-see birds in the bag and  a scary Hippo on the mammal list!

Dinner was at 8 pm so we had time to call the log beforehand and enjoy a cold drink at the same time. We now had 275 species on our list, tomorrow we head back to Tendaba along the south bank this time.

GAMBIA - 14-DAY TOUR - DAY 8

TRANSFER FROM TENDABA TO GEORGETOWN ISLAND WITH STOPS AT FARA FENNI PEANUT FIELDS, KAUR MARSHES, ROADSIDE WATERING HOLES - WASSU SAND QUARRY

Weather: hot, sunny and humid, the hottest day so far 35C+

Just when you think the birding would ease off a little and finding of new species would reduce we have another excellent day full of great finds and new birds.

We ate breakfast early and was on the road by 7:15am, our ferry crossing timing was important and we needed to get there as early as possible. We crossed the river with a little delay and drove northwards on the northern shore to Fara Fenni where we bought lunch before driving a few kilometres out of town to walk in the peanut fields.

Black-headed Lapwing

It was hot already at 9am as we started our walk, the peanut harvest was well under way so many local people we out in the fields, this made our job a little harder because of the disturbance factor. We notched up quite a few local species and few migrants during the first hour such as; Northern Wheatear, Whinchat, Tree Pipit, Red-throated Pipit, Crested Lark and Greater Short-toed Lark.

Spotted Thick-knee

As we crossed into some knee-high scrub we inadvertently flushed a few parties of Bustards, both Black-bellied and Savile's were identified, great birds for the list. We also saw Double-spurred Francolin and a Little Buttonquail.

Just after the Bustard excitement we heard the call of our main target species the Abyssinian Ground-Hornbill, it seemed extraordinary that we had walked passed this huge bird but the call came from just behind us. We repositioned ourselves and sure enough the bird came into view but as soon as it saw us it flew off. We tracked it with our bins and managed to follow it until it  landed, but then it ran with an awkward and comical gait until we lost sight of it, an amazing bird.

so photogenic the Abyssinian Roller

After another search of the fields for Temminck's Courser, which failed to show, we walked back to the bus noting several Dark Chanting Goshawks, African Harrier-Hawk, Red-necked Falcon and groups of vultures which included both Ruppell's and White-backed Vultures.

 It was now getting on for midday so we drove a little further and stopped at a roadside pool to eat lunch and watch flocks of birds coming to drink.

Again we were amazed by the number of species listed there in just one hour. Apart from large flocks of weavers, bishops, queleas and doves we saw Bush Petronia, Cinnamon-breasted Bunting, Northen Sahel Whydah, Yellow-fronted Canary, Little Swift, Dark Chanting Goshawk, Black-rumped and Lavander Waxbills, Namaqua Dove and Green Bee-eater.

From the pools we drove another 20km to Kaur Marshes a very large area of reed fringed pools, mudflats and scrub. The road forms a raised causeway through the centre of the marsh which is ideal for viewing from. We found Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Lark just before we located our major target species of the tour, the Crocodile Bird or Egyptian Plover, what a stunner we notched up three of them in quick succession, amazing!

Egyptian Plover

Kaur Marsh is also excellent for waders especially over-wintering Collared Pratincoles of which there were about 500 in view. The Kittlitz's Plover is also a feature there, we saw about a dozen with Ringed & Little-Ringed Plover, Marsh Sandpiper, Greenshank, Wood Sandpiper and a Single Painted Snipe. Three Knot-billed Ducks landed in the reeds but were only seen by a couple of the group and many common water birds were present including Hammercop, Jacana, lots of egrets, herons and cormorants.

We left the area and continued towards Georgetown making a few stops to photograph perched raptors, rollers and we saw our first Wahlberg's Eagle circling high up.

Northern Anteater-Chat

One last stop was made at Wassu Sand Quarry, where a colony of Red-throated Bee-eaters have bred for Donkey's years, the numbers have steadily been increasing. Today over 100 pairs were present, in my opinion they are the most beautiful and photogenic of all the Bee-eater species found in the Gambia, they posed well for us.

Red-throated Bee-eater

Green Bee-eater is another beauty which was also present along with a dozen or so other species including; Northern Anteater-Chat, White-rumped Seedeater, Northern Sahel Whydah and lots of weaver species.

A short ferry ride took us onto Georgetown, which is an Island  in the middle of the Gambian River, we are now some 300km upriver from Banjul  and the river is still very wide and tidal! We settled into our rooms in the Boabolong Camp after a cold drink. A nice relaxed break was enjoyed before dinner at 8. Our list for today was the biggest of the tour so far with 119 species recorded!