A Fieldfare!

Three hours birding around the Holme Pierrepont complex just east of Nottingham on the south side of the River Trent. Three Smew, all redheads, were the highlights of the morning although they were all pretty distant. I added a couple of birds to the year list, as you do this time of year. One of them was a Fieldfare! But just the one! Still no Song Thrush and no Mistle Thrush. However 24 Redwing was a bit more positive. I was talking to a young birder who assured me that there were loads of Redwing and Fieldfare just west of the main lake, feeding in paddocks and a campsite where the grass is kept just right for thrushes so off I popped. Not a single bloody bird!
I couldn't get anywhere near any birds to photograph so had to make do with this shot of a dead job. I think it was a Chaffinch and I think it has been lunch for a Sparrowhawk.

Sparrowhawk kill! Chaffinch remains?

Blott's Pit held good numbers of common waterfowl - lots of Tufties, Pochard and Wigeon, Coot and Mallard but grebe numbers were low as was most everything else. Still the reeds looked decent in the light as the mist rose.

Common Reed Phragmites australis

So six days in and I've found just one Fieldfare, twenty odd Redwings, thirty odd Blackbirds and no Song or Mistle Thrushes. How long will this continue?

Still No Thrushes!

Three hours birding at Rutland Water in belting weather. Sunny, warm and dry but still pretty squelchy underfoot. As the weather is currently so mild there appears to be little hard weather movement and the number of birds currently using the north arm of the reservoir is considerably less than during freezing conditions. Wigeon, Tufted Duck, Coot and Great Crested Grebe were present in small numbers as were Little Grebe and Goldeneye but disturbance by sailing boats could account for low numbers too. Nonetheless we had good views of Black-necked Grebe and Long-tailed Duck as well as a Red Kite performing over the dam. But still NO THRUSHES!

Field and hedgerow with absolutely zero thrushes

45 minutes driving through highly suitable habitat in south Notts and Leicestershire, three hours walking around the North Arm of Rutland Water and scanning the surrounding field plus 45 minutes driving back through suitable habitat produced: No Song Thrush. No Mistle Thrush. No Redwing. No Fieldfare. Half a dozen Blackbirds. What is happening here?  Supposedly large numbers in the south still so I'm told. Four days into the New Year and I have seen only one Redwing  and a few Blackbirds - and I've been birding every day!

Wot? No Thrushes!

It's a New Year which means a New List. Consequently I have been out for the last three days laying the foundations for, what will definitely be, a record breaking year! If I can keep my list going beyond May that is. So January 1st and I was at Hoveringham Gravel Pits in Notts. Two and a half hours. No Mistle Thrushes. No Song Thrushes. No Fieldfare. One Redwing and a half dozen Blackbirds. Prime habitat - lots of hedgerows with hawthorn berries, pasture for horses and lots of worm and insect rich sward. Where are the thrushes?
January 2nd and four hours grubbing arouind Clumber Park in north Notts. Different habitat - parkland, woodland and cultivated fields again with miles of hedgerows. No Song Thrushes. No Fieldfares. No Redwing. One Mistle Thrush singing about half-a-mile away. Half a dozen Blackbirds.

Blackbird. The only thrush left!

January 3rd. Four hours at Titchwell in North Norfolk. No Song Thrushes. No Mistle Thrushes. No Fieldfare. No Redwing. Half a dozen Blackbirds. Then three-quarters of an hour at Hunstanton Cliffs. Don't expect much in the way of thrushes here. Good job as there weren't any apart from a couple of Blackbirds.
A recent posting on the BTO BirdTrack page discussed the increased reporting rate from observers of thrushes. The BTO are also currently conducting a survey into wintering thrushes and their food sources. I look forward to seeing the results and finding out where the thrushes are 'cus they ain't anywhere near me.
I'll be out again tomorrow looking for thrushes...!

Birding The Gambia - Last Bit: Passerines

There are many common, frequently seen birds in The Gambia that I have not shown on this blog. Red-billed Hornbill Tockus kempi is ubiquitous - it seems to be everywhere at once. African Grey Hornbill T. nasatus and African Pied Hornbill T. fasciatus are not as common but pretty reliable in woodland habitats. White-billed Buffalo Weaver Bubalornis albirostris and Village Weaver Ploceus cucullatus are both very common, the latter being seen in small flocks all over the shop!

  

White-billed Buffalo Weaver Bubalornis albirostris

Village Weaver Ploceus cucullatus

Sunbirds are fantastic - provided it's a male! We saw Brown, Pygmy, Scarlet-chested, Beautiful and Splendid. The females are all grotty olive and pasty yellow but the males are bonkers! (Apart from the Brown which has no right to be a Sunbird.)

Splendid Sunbird Cinnyris coccinigastrus

 Yellow-billed Shrike Corvinella corvine is the most common shrike and can be encountered most everywhere - it's fairly big, brash and bold.

Yellow-billed Shrike Corvinella corvine

Only three species of crow in The Gambia but there are plenty of two of them. Pied Crow Corvus albus and Piapiac Ptilostomus afer making up in numbers for what lacks in species as far as crows go. The Brown-necked Raven Corvus fuficollis is extremely rare in The Gambia with just a few coastal records

Pied Crow Corvus albus

Males of the Exclamatory Paradise Whydah Vidua interjecta and Sahel Paradise Whydah V. orientalis look identical. The guide book says that the latter has shorter tail streamers and a paler nuchal collar both of which are useless pointers in the field when confronted with a single bird. Females can often be identified by bill colour as can non breeding males. But the Gambian bird guides will all swear that it's where you see these that is key to identification. If you are north of the river it's a Sahel, if you are south of the river it's an Exclamatory! We saw birds on both the north and south so presumably we have seen both species. They both have these completely mad tails which blow about when they are in flight.

Sahel Paradise Whydah Vidua orientalis

 During December the Northern Red Bishop Euplectes afer males get really messy and scruffy and you can see them in all stages of moult.

Northern Red Bishop Euplectes afer

The other crow: the Piapiac (Imm) Ptilostomus afer is another omnipresent species. Immature birds have red bills and adults have black bills. This will be an immature then!

Piapiac (Imm) Ptilostomus afer

The Grey-headed Bristlebill Bleda canicapillus is a Bulbul and is fairly common in forest undergrowth but its close relative The Common Bulbul Pycnonotus barbatus is common in every bush, tree and hedge and window-box. Properly named indeed.

Grey-headed Bristlebill Bleda canicapillus

Lots of Starlings, all glossy and shiny. The Long-tailed Glossy Starling Lamprotornis caudatus is about the commonest but there are plenty of Purple Glossy, Bronze-tailed Glossy, Greater Blue-eared and Lesser Blue-eared to keep Starling aficionados very happy.

Long-tailed Glossy Starling Lamprotornis caudatus

 Crested Lark  Galerida cristata on Bijilo island - just the spot!

Crested Lark  Galerida cristata

 Plenty of the Fork-tailed Drongo Dicrurus adsimilis. Drongo? Must mean something different in N.Z and Oz.

Fork-tailed Drongo Dicrurus adsimilis

 African Thrush Turdus pelios - the only Turdus on The Gambian list.


African Thrush Turdus pelios

Beautiful Sunbird Cinnyris chloropygius - a beautiful bird, an apt name and a male.

Beautiful Sunbird Cinnyris chloropygius

 Probably the second most frequent Ploceus weaver is the Black-necked Weaver Ploceus nigricollis

Black-necked Weaver Ploceus nigricollis

 That's all folks!

Still birding The Gambia: Various Non-Passerines

Caspian Tern Sterna caspia

I want to finish this Gambia birding trip blog before the new year so I have decided to lump all of the rest of my photos into just two groups: remaining various non-passerines and finally the passerines.
One of the highlights of the trip was a visit to Bijilo island just off the coast near Ghana Town. There is a fishing village on the coast here and you can hire a boat to take you out to the island (which is really a sand bar). I advise you do this as it is a fantastic bit of luxury sand surrounded by azure waters.
Here be Slender-billed, Audouin's, Lesser Black-backed, Grey-headed and Yellow-legged Gulls. Caspian, Sandwich, Little and Royal Terns. Ringed, Little-ringed, Grey, Kentish and White-fronted Plover. Osprey, Western-reef Egret and Grey Heron.

Grey-headed Gull (2nd W) Larus cirrocephalus

 We also saw an adult Brown Booby as well as Great Cormorants and some dead stuff washed up onto the sands.

Slender-billed Gull Larus genei

African Jacana Actophilornis africanus is a common species.

African Jacana Actophilornis africanus

 And so too is the Senegal Coucal Centropus senegalensis another one of those birds which you will see in just about every hotel grounds as well as in most scrub and open habitat.

Senegal Coucal Centropus senegalensis

There are only three species of parrot on The Gambian list: Rose-ringed Parakeet Psittacula krameri, Senegal Parrot Poicephalus senegalus and Brown-necked Parrot Poicephalus robustus. We saw plenty of the first two but none of the third.. The guide book of choice 'Birds of Senegal and The Gambia' by Nik Borrow and Ron Demey have the latter as 'very local, uncommon and declining' and I can vouch for that!

Fortunately the Senegal Parrot is very common, obvious, noisy and good to photograph.

Senegal Parrot Poicephalus senegalus

 Brufut woods is a great place to see Long-tailed Nightjar Caprimulgus climacurus. Local guides have two or three individuals staked out and you can get worryingly close to the birds! The disturbance to these day time roosting birds is bound to become a serious concern - if it isn't already.

Long-tailed Nightjar Caprimulgus climacurus

The common owl of The Gambia - the Pearl-spotted Owlet Glaucidium perlatum could be heard every evening, night and morning just about everywhere.

Pearl-spotted Owlet Glaucidium perlatum

 Unlike the Verreaux's Eagle Owl Bubo lacteus which had to be searched for. Again the local guides know just where to look and there are a couple of well-known roosting sites.

Verreaux's Eagle Owl Bubo lacteus

 There are at least thirteen species of Pigeon and Dove in The Gambia. Training your eye to spot the difference between four types of 'collared dove' and the two Wood Dove is the most difficult aspect but the rest are all very distinctive. A pigeon/dove is everywhere - you even stop looking at them after a day or so. Even the guides ignore them, which is a shame as some of them are quite beautiful birds.

Red-eyed Dove Streptopelia semitorquata

 

African Mourning Dove Streptopelia decipiens

Bruce's Green Pigeon Treron waalia - the best looking pigeon in the world?

Bruce's Green Pigeon Treron waalia

 Laughing Dove  Streptopelia senegalensis. - bound to keep you amused!

Laughing Dove  Streptopelia senegalensis

The next post will cover some of the passerines seen on the trip and that will wrap-up birding in The Gambia. Thanks for taking the time to follow this blog.

Not Birding The Gambia Pt 1: Other Critters

And now for something completely different. Not birds at any rate! If you are birding in The Gambia you are bound to come across other major life forms as well as tourists and the locals. Reptiles abound - skinks and lizards frequently - big, poisonous snakes, unfortunately not at all. Although to pinch a line from Wikipedia 'There are 40 snake species, nine of which are venomous, such as cobras, puff adders and Mambas, genus Dendroaspis; the first two are common. The non-venomous species are pythons' OK safe then!
Plenty of these:

Nile Monitor Varanus niloticus

Only a couple of these Yellow-winged Bats found by our bird guide looking for anything that flies!

Yellow-winged Bat Lavia frons

But plenty of these in the evening flying around the pools of every hotel. Big with a two and a half foot wing span - stay alert!

Fruit Bat Eidolon helvum

!!!!!. Just west of McCarthy Island in the river there is this:

Hippopotamus Hippopotamus amphibius

The most common monkey - especially on the coast. A good place to see these Calithrix monkeys is probably your hotel...whichever one it is.

Green Monkey or Calithrix Chlorocebus sabeus

This Western Red Colobus Procolobus badius in the Abuko Nature Reserve was the only one that we saw. This is the species favoured by hunting packs of Chimpanzees! But that can't account for their scarcity here. No chimps...further east Chimps but no Red Colobus.

Western Red Colobus Procolobus badius

We found a  small group of Red Patas Monkeys down near the beach close to the Footsteps Eco Lodge and they took as much interest in us as we did in them. They didn't have cameras.

Red Patas Monkey Erythrocebus patas

 Long shots of these Baboons from a moving boat - mean looking critters living alongside the Chimpanzees.

Guinea Baboon Papio papio

 Chimpanzee - gregarious and noisy and not at all friendly towards the Red Colobus Monkey. These were on, what was once, a rehabilitation island in the River Gambia. There are, I believe, upwards of 40 individuals now and they don't need no rehabilitatin'!

Chimpanzee Pan troglodytes

Birding The Gambia Part 6: Waders

Twenty-five species of waders seen on the trip and although we had great views of Egyptian Plover Pluvianus aegyptius- a target bird - we failed to find any Painted Snipe Rostratula benghalensis even though we spent ages sweating in the scorchio sun searching rice fields and ditches. Apparently Greater Painted Snipe is not too difficult to see!

Lots of Sandpipers - Common Actitis hypoleucos ironically being not as common as Green Tringa achropus which was about as common as Wood T. glareola pictured here on the edge of a rice field.

Wood Sandpiper Tringa glareola

Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus was by far the most common wader in The Gambia followed by Senegal Thick-knee Burhinus oedicnemus. These could be found wherever it was slightly moist!

Senegal Thick-knee Burhinus oedicnemus

Senegal Thick-knee Burhinus oedicnemus

Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus was fairly frequent around the edges of rice fields and so were Ruff Philomachus pugnax but for sheer spectacle of numbers in flight you could not beat the swirling flocks of Collared Pratincole Glareola pratincola.

Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus

A swirling flock of Collared Pratincole Glareola pratincola in a rice field on the south bank of the river near McCarthy Island.

Collared Pratincole Glareola pratincola

The locals call Spur-winged Plover Vanellus spinosus 'Gentlemen in Black Coats' and it is not hard to see why. Again a common enough bird in The Gambia.

Spur-winged Lapwing Vanellus spinosus

Slightly less common are African Wattled Lapwing Vanellus senegallus and Black-headed Lapwing Vanellus tectus although both are resident and frequent enough to guarantee sightings. The Wattled Lapwing tends to be quite flighty but the Black-headed Lapwing is a bit more approachable.

Black-headed Lapwing Vanellus tectus

But it is likely to be the Egyptian Plover Pluvianus aegyptius that is at the top of most visiting birder's 'most-want-to-tick' list. We saw a couple of these cracking birds quite close to the roadside in small wetlands along the north bank road. Travelling due east the road is lined with kilometre markers and past Km 57 and close to Km 58 there is a small although obvious pool on the north side of the road. Good site No. 1. A little further east - perhaps just past Km 58 is a pool to the south of the road. This is good site No. 2. There was also Black Crake, African Pygmy Goose, Collared Pratincole and a Moorhen that could have been a Lesser Gallinula angulata but was probably a Common G. chloropus. I didn't pay much attention to the bill 'cus I'd forgotten that Lesser Moorhen existed!

Egyptian Plover Pluvianus aegyptius

Egyptian Plover Pluvianus aegyptius

This bird is even more spectacular in flight and I had great views at the first site as a bird flew in low over the water.

Egyptian Plover Pluvianus aegyptius