7:15am to 11:15am. Weather: Bright, hot & sunny.
This was a dawn chorus trip out amongst the magroves which I had signed up for with Tamba on the hotel bird walk a couple of days earlier. It was an amazing experience edging out onto the water in a pirogue as the sun began to rise. Once out amongst the mangroves the species came thick & fast & there were so many that I almost struggled to keep up. Taking notes was impossible because I would have missed too much, fortunately my camera helped me keep a record. The trip also included a nice breakfast afterwards & Tamba also lead us on a short walk along a path in rice fields before we jumped in the van & returned to the hotel where I was able to enjoy the beach for the rest of the day - what a life!
Hoooded Vulture.
Double-Spurred Francolin - typically for a gamebird the van put these up in the dawn gloom & away they went noisily - we saw a few more later also flying off;
Purple Heron - atop the mangroves waiting for the sun, it had moved down to the muddy waterside by the time we returned;
Striated Heron - small & low down in the mangroves;
Black Egret - over;
Squacco Heron - over;
Intermediate Egret - over;
Grey-Headed Gull - one dipping along the creek;
Buff-Headed Woodpecker - heard from inside the mangroves, Tamba said that this was rare at Lamin now, but unfortunately it didn't show;
Caspian Tern - a few overhead, with distinctive, massive bill;
Sandwich Tern - several over & on the sandbar;
Royal Tern - one or two over with the sandwich terns;
African Mourning Dove - calling from the mangroves;
Hammerkop - one over;
Osprey - one over & a species I was hoping to see in its wintering grounds;
Pied Kingfisher - seemed very common amongst the mangroves - a sizeable & impressive looking bird;
Grey Heron - one on the sandbar, the first of several familiar species;
Greenshank - flew off away from the pirogue;
Common Sandpiper - a couple on the mangrove mud, allowing quite close views;
Blue-Cheeked Bee-eater - a few hunting insects over the tops of the mangroves as the sun warmed the insects;
Pink-Backed Pelican - two near the sandbar, they flew off as we approached;
Redshank - a couple in shallower water;
Whimbrel - common, again foraging in the shallow water;
Ringed Plover - half dozen on the sandbar;
Malachite Kingfisher - a spectacular little kingfisher, a speciality of the mangroves & not unlike the UK version, another was seen on the way back;
Green-Backed Eremola - two flew across the water between the mangroves a couple of times, Tamba called them fro their flight;
Red-Chested Swallow - over, Tamba identified & in doing so confirmed for me which species I had seen along the beach at the hotel the day before;
African Palm Swift.
Savannah & Scrub:
Senegalese Thicknee - we disembarked the pirogue & ventured out onto a large sandbank between mangroves one side & agriculture/scrub the other side, which Tamba called a savannah. Immediately two or three thick-knees were seen on the sand but they soon melted into the mangroves;
Black-Headed Plover - a group of three on the sand, stood & watched us approach before flying off, apparently they are not often seen at Lamin any more;
Blue-Bellied Roller - perched prominently on a palm tree allowing close views of another wonderfully coloured species;
Grey Hornbill, Yellow-Crowned Bishop, Zitting Cisticola - all in various trees in the scrub area.
Yellow-Fronted Canary - only Tamba saw it before it few off, again in scrub;
Leaf-love - only Tamba saw it & it didn't show itself from the leaves despite looking for it;
Northern Crombee - flew quickly across our path, distinctive lack of a tail;
White-Billed Buffalo Weaver - small flocks feeding amongst the agricultural fields;
Pearl-Spotted Owlet - Tamba & the captain of the boat lead us to a large tree, calling all the time & soon picked out this speciality. There were two in the tree, small but beautiful they were not overly concerned with out presence though one did move off to another tree which, when we found it, allowed for some great, quite close views.
Shikrah - distantly flying with a hawk's business-like attitude;
Wattled Plover - lone bird stood in a field, an unmistakeable "lady with earrings";
Common Bulbul, Brown Babbler, Village Weaver, Beautiful Sunbird, Long-Tailed Glossy Starling - common 'garden' birds;
Rose-Ringed Parakeet - a couple of small flocks noisily overhead, reminiscent of the ring-necks in London!
Variable Sunbird - another species favouring the scrub area, not as stunning as the beautiful variety but lovely nonetheless;
Yellow-Billed Shrike - usual shrike habit of perching on a prominent branch immediately signified the family & its long tail was distinctive although it was quite distant;
Black-Shouldered Kite - two seen amongst the canopy of a tall tree, initially one was seen being mobbed by a couple of pied crows who eventually reluctantly left them alone as the kites refrained fro flying - light grey with dark mask & shoulders.
Pied Crow.
Western Plantain-eater - a couple flying between trees, almost reminded me of an Archaeopteryx!
Spur-Winged Plover - in the field, a "man in dinner jacket";
Mangrove Return:
Long-Tailed Cormorant - on a sandbank, oblivious to our close progress;
Western Reef Heron - in the mangrove roots;
Gull-Billed Tern - one over, lacking tail fork of the sandwich tern;
Yellow-Crowned Gonolek - in the depths of the mangroves, though its colours were still bright.
Little Egret.
Village/Rice Fields:
Little Bee-eater - several amongst the low plants of the fields;
Pied-Winged Swallow - one over amongst further red-chested swallows;
Singing Cisticola - a couple in low vegetation close to the path;
Bar-Breasted Firefinch - only Tamba saw it before it moved away into the foliage;
Fine-Spotted Woodpecker - spotted by Tamba high in a tree which nevertheless allowed close views.
Roadside Wires:
Grey Kestrel - the distinct colours were again obvious from its perch;
Abyssinian Roller - another distinctive roller species, this one the easiest with long tail streamers.
65 species, 41 new species (I saw/heard 38)!
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