The Gambia

The Gambia - Tues 8^th to 15^th April 2008

by Chris Stillman

This was my first trip to The Gambia. I went with my wife, Sally, who is semi-interested in birds but made it very clear that “this is my holiday too, you know!” This meant that I couldn’t disappear for seven days into the bush, but there were still plenty of opportunities to pursue my hobby. In fact bird watching without leaving the grounds of the hotel was most rewarding, and even lying by the pool, raptor watching was very productive. I cannot recall a time when the sky was devoid of a Hooded Vulture and/or Black Kite.

I had pre-arranged to meet a very experienced local guide, Sering Bojang, who was recommended to me by Vaughan Ashby of Birdfinders – thanks Vaughan.

Trip One – Abuko Nature Reserve – 10 April 2008

We spent our first day by visiting the Abuko Nature Reserve, 15 miles south of the capital, Banjul. It’s a smallish reserve, just less than two square kilometres, and preserves one of the last surviving examples of gallery forest (mature tropical riverine forest.) Apparently there are around 300 bird species within the reserve’s boundaries. Needless to say, I didn’t see them all, but made a good start.

Sering immediately got to work, identifying a bird’s song and then imitating it to perfection or ‘pishing’ the bird closer to us, with a great success rate. His behaviour was plover-like. Stop, look around, take action, walk a few paces and repeat the process.

Within a couple of minutes we reached a small pond where we spotted a warbler, a Grey-backed Camaroptera, followed swiftly by a Giant Kingfisher (see pic below) and the delightfully named Yellow-Throated Leaflove amongst others.

Then it was off to the main hide just a short distance away. A Black Forest Cobra commenced its journey across our path. We got fed up waiting for the tail to arrive and within a few minutes were in the main hide and, for a little while, had it to ourselves. The hide has great views over the densely fringed freshwater pool known as the Bamboo Pool and offers fabulous photo opportunities. Highlights here were the Black Egret - one minute wading bird, the next a small black tepee - a beautifully marked Violet Turaco, African Darters, a Pied Kingfisher who had bitten off more than it could chew (see pic below), a stunning Malachite Kingfisher and a basking Crocodile who made a dash for a feeding African Jacana (see pic below).

Sally kindly agreed to act as my secretary for the day and scribbled furiously away as Sering reeled off one species after another. It was all a bit overwhelming in the nicest sense of the word. Continuing our excursion, I got a little pat on the back from Sering for spotting a ‘lbarj’ (little black and red job) skulking in the undergrowth. It turned out to be a Bearded Barbet, always an elusive character hence Sering's excitement. That was the only pat on the back I got for the rest of the day.

Lunch was taken at the atmospheric Lamin Lodge, an interesting ramshackle structure held together, so it seemed, by the grace of God. It is at the head of a Mangrove creek and affords bird watching opportunities whilst sampling the excellent local fayre.

After lunch we bumped and lurched our way to some neighbouring rice fields. Apart from the excellent habitat it was very interesting to see (mainly women and children) in their national dress, busy weeding and collecting forage for cattle. It will be planted for rice later in the summer. We also saw three male farmers standing round a hole in the ground scratching their heads, a typical British scene. The hole turned out to be a shallow well, into which a Spitting Cobra had fallen. They had more or less decided to kill it but fortunately Sering was able to effect a rescue, thanks to a friend of his who is the Gambian equivalent of Steve Austin.

Here we saw some of our common British migrants including Redshank and Greenshank, as well as native species, the Blue-bellied Roller and Bronze Manikin, plus another kingfisher, this time the Blue-breasted variety.

Trip Two – Brufut Woods – 12 April 2008

This is a large community forest on the eastern edge of Brufut in the Southern Kombos region. The local birding organisation has worked hard to educate the locals in the importance of caring for the habitat, and they are given financial rewards as encouragement. Sering and his colleagues also organise field trips for the schools, and the long term future of this area looks bright. Sering and I were accompanied on this half day trip by a couple of young men who are developing their skills, and their extra pairs of eyes proved most useful.

This was a great area for sunbirds, and before too long Sering pointed out the Copper and Splendid species. A few Shikras (otherwise known as Little Banded Goshawks) dashed overhead whilst a Greater Honeyguide flitted in and out of a palm tree. This bird is so named because some species guide us to bees nests. A Woodchat Shrike was also a welcome sighting for me, as I had spent a few fruitless trips to Glastonbury a couple of years ago when one had stopped off there for a while.

The crème de la crème though was saved to the end of the morning. One of our young men had a secret. He was the only one in the whole of Gambia who knew where a nightjar's nest was in Brufut Woods! I thought I was going to be blindfolded as he led us off the beaten track and along barely passable footpaths, and I might as well have been. There is no way I could take you there. He cautioned us to be very quiet as we approached a small clearing and then pointed at a layer of leaves. To me, it was like one of those Magic Eye puzzles. All I could see was leaves until Sering let me view the nesting bird through his scope. What a beauty! It was a Long-tailed Nightjar, very aptly named as the tail was so long you couldn’t get it all in the scope. I’ve seen pictures in books but didn’t appreciate how cleverly camouflaged these birds are.

Miscellaneous

Apart from my two trips with Sering, I also enjoyed some very fruitful bird watching in the hotel grounds, with a good number of species coming to the tree just outside our bungalow throughout the day. The Yellow-billed Shrike in particular was most obliging, allowing me time to trace my camera and change the battery before posing for quite a nice shot.

The Kotu Sewage ponds were also well worth a visit despite the odour.

Above – Hooded Vultures doing their bit for recycling at Kotu Sewage Ponds.

By the end of the week, with very little effort on my part, I had seen nearly 110 new species, over half of my UK list, but it didn’t diminish the enormous amount of pleasure I got seeing one of my resident Dunnocks bathing in our pond whilst I was having my first breakfast back home.

In closing I would recommend The Gambia as a good bird watching holiday, preferably one where you are picked up every day from your hotel and taken to your destination. Sightseeing on foot is hard work as there is a lot of hassle from ‘bumsters’ who try to sell you everything under the sun, get you a taxi, or even just walk with you for a fee.

I would also highly recommend as a written guide the Birds of the Gambia and Senegal by Clive Barlow and Tim Wacher, probably one of the most useful Christmas presents I’ve ever had!

Complete list of sightings

Key

Palma Rima Hotel (PR), Abuko Nature Reserve (AB), Rice Fields (RF), Brufut Woods (BW), Kotu Sewage Ponds (KSP), Various (V)

Family	Species	Where seen
Apalis	Yellow-breasted	AB
Babbler	Blackcap	PR
Babbler	Brown	PR
Barbet	Bearded	AB
Barbet	Viellot’s	BW
Bee-eater	Little	RF
Bee-eater	Swallow-tailed	AB
Bristlebill	Grey-headed	AB
Buffalo-Weaver,	White-billed	PR
Bulbul	Common	PR
Bulbul	Little Green	AB
Camaroptera	Grey-backed	AB
Canary	Yellow-fronted	BW
Cordon-bleu	Red-cheeked	BW
Cormorant	Long-tailed	V
Coucal	Senegal	KSP
Crake	Black	AB
Crombec	Northern	Lamin Lodge
Crow	Pied	V (very common)
Cuckoo-shrike	Red-shouldered	BW
Darter	African	AB
Dove	African mourning	PR
Dove	Black-billed wood	BW
Dove	Blue-spotted	AB
Dove	Laughing	PR
Dove	Red-eyed	PR
Dove	Vinaceous	V
Drongo	Fork-tailed	BW
Dunlin		KSP
Egret	Black	AB
Egret	Cattle	V
Egret	Great White	V
Egret	Little	V
Eremomela	Green-backed	AB
Francolin	Double-spurred	BW
Gonolek	Yellow-crowned	PR
Grebe	Little (in summer plumage)	KSP
Greenbul	Little	AB
Greenshank	Common	KSP
Gull	Grey-headed	V
Hammerkop		AB
Harrier-hawk	African	RF
Heron	Black-crowned Night	AB
Heron	Goliath	Mangrove creek near Lamin Lodge
Heron	Grey	AB
Heron	Squacco	AB
Heron	Striated	RF
Honeyguide	Greater	BW
Hornbill	African Pied	AB
Hornbill	Grey	BW
Hornbill	Red-billed	PR
Hylia	Green	AB
Ibis	Sacred	Mangrove creek near Lamin Lodge
Jacana	African	AB
Kestrel	Grey	AB
Kingfisher	Blue-breasted	RF
Kingfisher	Giant	AB
Kingfisher	Malachite	AB
Kingfisher	Pied	AB
Kite	Black	V (very common)
Leaflove	Yellow-throated	AB
Mannikin	Bronze	RF
Martin	House	V
Nightjar	Long-tailed	BW
Osprey		Lamin Lodge
Parakeet	Rose-ringed	BW
Parrot	Senegal	BW
Pelican	Pink-backed	Mangrove creek near Lamin Lodge
Piapiac		KSP
Pigeon	Speckled	PR
Pipit	Tree	BW
Plantain-eater	Western Grey	BW
Plover	Spur-winged	KSP
Plover	Wattled	AB
Prinia	Tawny-flanked	BW
Redshank	Common	KSP
Robin-Chat	Snowy-crowned	AB
Robin-Chat	White-crowned	PR
Roller	Blue-bellied	RF
Shikra		BW
Shrike	Woodchat	BW
Shrike	Yellow-billed	PR
Sparrow	Grey-headed	BW
Starling	Long-tailed glossy	PR
Starling	Violet-backed	BW
Stilt	Black-winged	KSP
Stork	Marabou	KSP
Sunbird	Copper	BW
Sunbird	Splendid	PR
Sunbird	Variable	BW
Swallow	Red-chested	V
Swallow	Fanti saw-wing	AB
Swift	African-palm	RF
Swift	Mottled spinetail	BW
Swift	Pallid	V
Tern	Royal	Lamin Lodge
Tern	Sandwich	Lamin Lodge
Thrush	African	AB
Tinkerbird	Yellow-fronted	PR
Turaco	Green	AB
Turaco	Violet	AB
Vulture	Hooded	V (very common)
Vulture	Palm-nut	AB
Weaver	Black-necked	AB
Weaver	Village	V (very common)
Whimbrel		KSP
Wood-hoopoe	Black	PR
Wood- hoopoe	Green	AB
Woodpecker	Buff-spotted	AB
Woodpecker	Grey	PR
	Total species 108