The Gambia -a remedy for Seasonal Affective Disorder.

[Steve Garvie]

Better to nip to The Gambia and see them in the flesh Ian.
It’s possible to get a one week package deal flying from Gatwick and staying in the Senegambia hotel (the one with the huge gardens and massive bird list) for about £550 (for January 2018).

[Steve Garvie]

There are a number of other locations that are easily visited from the coastal hotels including the Bund Road near Banjul which is good for water birds including Pelicans and Yellow-billed Storks.

Brufut woods is a community forest where the small tourist entry fee is shared amongst the local bird guides. Roosting Nightjars and owls are the speciality here.

Further inland there is extensive open savannah woodland near the village of Faraba Banta (my friend’s home village). This is a superb area for large raptors with nine species of eagle being regularly seen in the area. With some local knowledge it is usually also possible to locate the roosting Greyish Eagle Owls.


African Harrier Hawk (immature).




Striped Kingfisher -a Kingfisher that shuns water preferring open savannah woodland.




Verreaux’s Eagle-Owl -This giant owl has the most amazing pink eyelids (Brufut Woods).




African Hawk Eagle -note the full crop. These powerful eagles catch Ground Squirrels, Hares, Francolin and Guinea Fowl. (Faraba Banta Bush Track).




Dark Chanting Goshawk (Faraba Banta Bush Track).




Long Crested Eagle (I need to get a better image of this spectacular eagle).




Greyish Eagle Owl (Faraba Banta Bush track). This species was fairly recently split from the Spotted Eagle-Owl.

[Steve Garvie]

Pirang, a village near Faraba Banta has two very worthwhile sites to visit. The first is Bonto Forest -an area of relict gallery forest which holds much the same species as Abuko. The second site is Pirang Shrimp Farm.

Pirang Shrimp Farm is a very productive area for waterbirds. It comprises of an extensive complex of large shallow pools -some freshwater and some brackish. The area is manmade with large sand bunds separating the numerous “scrapes”. Unfortunately access can be a problem as some of the previous owners of the site have not welcomed visitors (it is a working shrimp farm). I have only managed to gain access in two out of four visits though good birds can be seen in the surrounding area even when the site is closed to visitors. Probably my most memorable Gambian birding experience was on a visit to Pirang. On that occasion the shrimp ponds near the entrance had been harvested and we had to walk a significant distance to find the birds which were concentrated on a handful of pools that were rapidly evaporating leaving the fish almost stranded. A few ponds held some form of Brine Shrimp which had attracted Avocets, Greater Flamingos and some northern waders (including Curlew Sandpiper and Little Stint). On the ponds holding fish we saw both Great White and Pink-backed Pelicans, Yellow-billed Storks, African and Eurasian Spoonbills, Sacred Ibis, Grey and Black-headed Herons and various egrets including numerous Black Egrets (doing their umbrella bird stunt). We were also fortunate in finding a pair of the hugely impressive but increasingly scarce Black Crowned Crane (a different species from the Grey Crowned Crane which is common in parts of Eastern and Southern Africa). Crowned Cranes are the only cranes with a strong hind-toe and so they are the only cranes that can perch in trees.


Some of the lagoons at Pirang with Bonto Forest in the background.




African Pied Hornbill at the edge of Bonto Forest (photographed from the Shrimp Farm).



The long walk to the active ponds at the shrimp farm with my friend Modou.




Little Stint at Pirang Shrimp Farm.




Great White Pelicans and Yellow-billed Storks (Can you spot the Greenshank?).




Pink-backed Pelicans, Yellow-billed Storks, Great White Egret, Black Egrets and African Spoonbill.




The larger birds scare fish which the crafty Black Egrets pick off under the guise of providing a shaded refuge. There were also some overhead Black Kites swooping down to nab stranded fish.

[Steve Garvie]

Spur-winged Plover (Pirang).




Pirang Panoramic




Black Crowned Crane in flight (Pirang). Note the strong hind-toe and claws which allow this species to perch -something other cranes can’t do.




Black Crowned Cranes perching in a tree (Pirang).




Black-headed Plover (A type of Lapwing).




Black-faced Quailfinch male at Pirang. These tiny wee birds favour rather arid grassland and are normally a nightmare to see. Photographs of this bird in the wild are rare due to its skulking habits. Luck plays a very large part in wildlife photography and such was the case with this image. My gear was all set up and I was standing watching some pelicans flying overhead when this wee bird landed nearby and then shuffled right up to me. It was still early in the day (overhead sun produces very harsh light) and so I was able to get some point-blank images in nice light. Normally I would screw-up an opportunity like this but fortuitously the camera happened to be on the correct settings.
This image was used in Volume 14 of The Handbook of The Birds of The World. Thank you Mr Quailfinch.

[Ian Y]

Your posts are definitely helping Steve, along with an hour in front of my SAD light every morning, stunning series of bird pictures.
Thanks for cheering me up in dark December. 

[Steve Garvie]

UPCOUNTRY


There are some exciting birds that cannot be seen near the coastal resorts. To see these birds requires a trip upcountry (following the river Gambia inland to where it becomes freshwater). Now that both the North Bank and South Bank roads have been re-surfaced along their entire length it is possible to drive from the coast to Georgetown in about 6 hours whilst checking out various habitats en route. An upcountry trip requires the hire of a guide with a decent vehicle who will arrange the necessary accommodation.  I would suggest driving up to Georgetown on the first day and spending 3 nights at Baobolong camp. This gives two full days around Georgetown during which it is well worth booking one or two boat trips into the River Gambia National Park. The National park holds riverine forest and gallery forest on some of the larger islands. There are still some Common Hippos present here and there is also a chimpanzee rehab. programme with Chimpanzees being present on some of the larger forested islands. The return trip to the coast can be broken by an overnight stay at Tendaba Camp from where a boat excursion to the mangroves across from the camp is a must.

Both Baobolong and Tendaba camps are very basic though the rooms do have ensuite facilities and both have electricity (though powercuts are frequent).

Whilst the larger vultures and large raptors are far easier to see upcountry, there are some birds which can only be seen by travelling inland. These include Marabou Stork, Woolly-necked Stork, some Bee-eater species (Northern Carmine, Red-throated and Little Green) and Egyptian Plover.



White-backed Vulture.




Spur-winged Geese in the River Gambia National Park. These impressive waterfowl are about the same size as a large Canada Goose. They often perch in trees.




Pink-backed Pelicans nesting at Kwinella.




Nesting Marabou Stork (River Gambia National Park).




Woolly-necked Stork near Tendaba.




Hadada Ibis (River Gambia National Park).




Egyptian Plover -this iconic bird is one of the most sought after birds in The Gambia.

[Steve Garvie]

Rufous-crowned Roller, common inland.



Palm Nut Vulture -also known as the Vulturine Fish Eagle. This bird’s diet mainly consists of the fruit of the African Oil Palm making it the World’s only vegetarian vulture.



Bruce’s Green Pigeon: a fruit-eating pigeon which is replaced by African Green Pigeon at the coast.



Abyssinian Roller - a stunning Roller that is common inland but less so at the coast.



Yellow-billed Oxpeckers. As there are no big game in The Gambia these birds have to make do with domestic beasts. The birds in this photograph are on the back of a donkey -Yellow-billed Asspeckers?   ................sorry!

[Steve Garvie]

Raptors

It is birds of prey that do it for me. I have been captivated by raptors since childhood.
Despite its small size the Gambia holds over 40 species including Africa’s largest eagle.



Martial Eagle -this is Africa’s largest eagle. It takes small mammals such as hares, ground squirrels and mongoose as well as birds such as francolin and guinea fowl. It is not however the most powerful eagle in Africa!



Beaudouin’s Snake Eagle. This species has been split from the Eurasian Short-toed Eagle from which it differs in having much cleaner symmetrical barring and “pencil lines” on the underwings and belly. As the name suggests it feeds mainly upon snakes and lizards.



Brown Snake Eagle. This is also a snake specialist. In The Gambia there is a third snake eagle which favours wooded areas (Western Banded snake Eagle).



This falcon is most active at dawn and dusk. It feeds on large insects and lizards but also frequently hunts bats.



Grasshopper Buzzard. As the name suggests this attractive raptor mainly feeds on large insects such as grasshoppers and locusts.



An Immature Shikra (essentially a small Sparrowhawk).



African Harrier Hawk. This large raptor has long legs & “double-jointed” ankles. It fishes for lizards in crevices and is also able to pull weaver nestlings out of their complex nests. It is a common raptor in The Gambia. There is a video of this behaviour here: 

[Steve Garvie]

There are many common gambian birds which I haven’t mentioned -some are seen so often that after a while they are taken for granted. Here are a few more:



African Grey Hornbill.



Village Weaver male displaying.



Red-billed Hornbill.



Western Grey Plantain-eater (A noisy fruit-eating bird allied to the Turacos). This bird is common around the tourist hotels.



Purple Glossy Starling. Various species of Glossy Starling are common in the hotel gardens.



Cattle Egrets are common in the hotel gardens.



Hooded Vulture.
These birds are almost always visible in the sky throughout the main tourist areas and are even actively fed in some hotel gardens. They are one of the first birds to be seen on transfer from the airport to the hotels. Indeed they are still quite common in The Gambia. However this is misleading as over the rest of their range the population of this species is in free-fall. In 2009 the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) listed Hooded Vultures as of “Least concern” but by 2015 a horrendous population crash has resulted in it being raised to “Critically endangered”.  We still found good numbers in The Gambia in November of this year.

[Steve Garvie]

The Gambia has lost almost all of its big game over the last 120 years. The last elephant was shot in 1913, West African Giraffe were lost about two decades earlier whilst since then Forest Buffalo, Lions, Lord Derby’s Eland, Waterbuck, Roan and Bubal Hartebeeste have been lost. Up until 50 years ago Leopards could still be seen near the outskirts of the capital, Banjul. It is possible that a few still hold out in Kiang West NP where Spotted Hyenas may also exist but there can’t be much for them to live off.

On the positive side Common Hippos are still present in the River Gambia National Park and there are still at least 3 species of monkey as well as Guinea Baboons.


Common Hippopotamus in the River Gambia National park.



Patas Monkey.
This species is mainly terrestrial and is very fleet-footed. They favour open semi-arid grassland with scattered trees.



Female Guinea baboon with infant at Makasutu.



Nile Monitor Lizard (Senegambia Hotel Gardens).



Kéwel
Previously referred to as “Bushbuck”, it is now known that two different (and not closely related) antelope are known by this name. The larger “Bushbuck” of Eastern and Southern Africa is more closely related to Bongo or Sitatunga and is now referred to as the Imbabala. The “Bushbuck” of The Gambia and adjacent West African countries is a smaller, stockier beast more closely related to Nyala. It is now known as the Kéwel.



Gambian Epauletted Fruit Bat at Mandina Lodges.

[Steve Garvie]

Green or Callithrix Monkey -a common and very adaptable species (Makasutu).



The smaller (and more docile) crocs of The Gambia were once regarded as a race of Nile Crocodile but are now treated as a separate species -the West African Crocodile.



Atlantic Bottle-nosed Dolphin photographed in the mouth of the river Gambia. There is also a small population of the exceedingly rare West African Manatee in The Gambia though I have yet to see one.



Temminck’s Red Colobus (-photographed in Bijilo Forest Park. This park was cleared in 2017 to build a new conference centre!!!!!).
Temminck’s Red Colobus is now on the IUCN endangered list being restricted to The Gambia, Southern Senegal, Guinea Bissau and Guinea Conakry. The populations in Guinea Bissau and Conakry have contracted dramatically due to hunting but the population in The Gambia had held up well until recently. The recent decline in The Gambia is due to both loss of habitat but also due to tourists actively feeding and encouraging Callithrix monkeys which are out-competing the less adaptable Colobus. Until recently the Colobus were holding their own in the small remnant forest patches around the hotels but as the “Vervet” monkey populations have increased the more docile Colobus have been displaced.



Red Colobus, whilst eating some fruit are predominantly leaf-eaters.

[FrazerHenderson]

Steve

Did you see the Abyssinian Ground Hornbills near to Tendaba? A family group parading is a sight to behold.

When my wife and I went birding in The Gambia (and also Senegal) in the 1990s we met a young chap, Soloman Jallow, who acted as our local guide for a couple of days around Abuko and nearby marshes. I've followed his career via the African Bird Club since and we're delighted to note that he's now heading up Dept of Parks & Wildlife based at Abuko. His birding mentor was Clive Barlow.

Your shots here and on the ABC website https://africanbirdclub.org/afbid/search/browse/birder/400 are spectacular. Many thanks for sharing and for also bringing back some great memories. Our 'photos were via an analogue Canon EOS with slide film - those were the days!

[Steve Garvie]

Many thanks Frazer.

You had to pick on my photographic bogey bird! 
I have seen and photographed Southern Ground Hornbills on a number of occasions in Kenya but have only once seen Abyssinian GH (poorly -with no photograph) between Farafenni and Kaur on the north bank road. We went looking for them at Kiang West and Tendaba last month but the vegetation was too tall.

I have bumped into Solomon “in the bush” on a few occasions previously. I think he sometimes guides for Birdquest amongst others. We have always used Modou Colley as our guide.

[Ross McLeod]

Extraordinary pics. Thanks for the tour and yes - raptors do it for me every time.