Kotu Creek, The Gambia, 23/02/2010

4pm to 6pm. Weather: Bright, warm & sunny.

An evening walk guided by Tamba, with Kim who didn't make Lamin Lodge but was itching to get off the hotel complex. We were dropped off by the taxi (after it had had a blowout!) on the road to Serekunda which we walked along for a while before eventually cutting inland across mixed scrub & agriculture which we crossed to get to the creek. Then we walked the concrete 'casino cycle track' back to the road before being picked up again.

Roadside fields:
Abyssinian Roller - overhead wires;
Striated Heron, Squacco Heron, Cattle Egret - in the boggy fields.
Black Egret - over;
Great White Egret - another in the boggy fields;,
Little Bee-eater, Blue-Bellied Roller - both on trees & scrub in the fields;
White-Faced Whistling Duck - a group of approx. 20 on one of the more sizeable ponds in the fields next to the roads.
Spur-Winged Plover - next to pigs feeding in the fields;
Hammerkop - also feeding in boggy fields;
Sacred Ibis - one over briefly, unfortunately not seen later;

Fields / Scrub / Sewage Ponds:
Beautiful Sunbird.
Shikrah - again distant on the wing;
Black-Winged Stilt, Wood Sandpiper, Greenshank, Little Ringed Plover, Common Sandpiper - all on the side of the sewage treatment ponds or smaller satellite ponds. I enjoyed seeing these winter 'visitors' from Europe, particularly the wood sands which are not all that easy to see in the UK;
Senegal Parrot - heard from a tree but did not take wing;
Rose-Necked Parakeet - typical flocks through;
Gray Woodpecker - in the boughs of a tree;
Fork-Tailed Drongo - also on the outer branches of a decent-sized palm tree, its tail obviously making it easy to name the species.
Little Sparrowhawk - Tamba called this species as a small raptor rapidly took off from scrub in the mid-distance. Later when I checked Western Little Sparrowhawk in the book it states 'very rarely seen forest dweller' yet is considered conspecific with African Little Sparrowhawk, although that doesn't appear to occur in The Gambia. The western variety has been reported from previous trip reports I've read on the internet so I will defer to Tamba's knowledge & those reports;
Yellow-Billed Shrike - much closer, than the one at Lamin & allowed great views (& photos);
Whimbrel, Western Reef Heron - feeding on a small pond with great egret;

Cycle Track:
Long-Tailed Cormorant - from the creek's bridge;
Pied Hornbill - overhead, obvious hornbill, larger than red-billed & grey;
Variable Sunbird, Red-Billed Firefinch, White-Billed Buffalo Weaver - in the thick pathside bushes;
African Jacana - on a distant pond in the fields, several were seen on a much closer lake at the end of the walk;
Bearded Barbet - on the top of one of the pathside bushes, very distinctive, odd-looking bird with bright colours. It oblivious to us, never looked down at us but soon few off, but not before I had snapped some good photos of it.
Wattled Plover, Senegal Coucal, Piapiac - foraging in the pathside fields;
Pied Crow, Black Kite, Hooded Vulture - the usuals!

40 species, 7 new species.