More Gambia Snaps.

Why not?

Gecko captured whilst surveying for Agamas.



Grey Heron



Blue-Breasted Kingfisher.

Blue-Spotted Wood Dove.

Oriole Warbler.

Whimbrel.



Vervet Monkeys.



Grasshopper Buzzard.



African Jacana.

Spur-Winged Plover.



Western Red Colobus.



Long-Tailed Cormorant.

Slender-Billed Gull.



Yellow-Billed Shrike.

Red Cheeked Cordon-Bleu.

Bronze Manakin.

Gambia 2013.

Better late than never I suppose so here it goes my recap of our university field course module that just happened to take us to one of the most surreal, beautiful though slightly overwhelming places I have ever had the privilege to visit.. The Gambia. The trip itself simply put was the most amazing experience of my life and provided me with a chance to become acquainted with places, people and more importantly wildlife never before accessible to this poor little student and for that i'm eternally grateful to Roy Armstrong and the other members of staff and like minded 'Gambia nuts' that made the expedition possible. The two week trip seemed more like two months as we filled each day with worth while experiences such as visiting schools, markets, night clubs and of course copious amounts of birding and university work, the later of which I should have paid a little more attention too but hey, you only live once right? Anyways, on with the post, I'll not to waffle too much but with so much to write about I really can't make any promises.

The brave few of us who strayed into Senegal..

 

I figured it would be important to give a little background on the trip in order to stress that the exped itself was actually more of a vital educational experience rather than just a holiday to an exciting and sunny destination. Every year Dr Armstrong and a few select members of staff from Cumbria university run a two week field course to the Gambia in order to provide students like myself with the chance to propose and carry out sort of a mini dissertation. These individual and group projects have in the past been used by various governmental departments in the country to bolster conservation efforts in various locations across the Gambia so it was of the up most importance that myself and the rest of the group came up with a feasible yet significant project.. We eventually decided on a trail cam assessment of two national forests but more on that later. Aside from the various projects and the various outings designed to give us the best possible experience these trips also serve to allow the university to carry out research vital to Gambian conservation projects. An example from this excursion comes from DNA analysis of some captured (and released) Agama lizards that suggested that our lecturers and I guess us students had discovered a new species of lizard  whilst previous trips have resulted in the rediscovery of species previous thought extinct such as the West African Dwarf Crocodile and new behavioural discoveries such as Western Red Colobus Monkeys leaving the safety of the trees to drink whereas they were previously thought to meet all their fluid needs via the consumption of leaves.

 

Ugly Buggers.

Red-Necked Falcon.

Ok, birds! Though I was present on a number of bird specific outings I prefer to think of the entire two weeks as one long birding trip seeing as some of the most interesting species were seen whilst I carried out various mundane activities such as grocery shopping or simply sunbathing! A few examples that spring to mind include 4 Red-Necked Falcons perched on a cable not 10 meters from the roadside, Great White Egret and Western Reef Heron fishing only feet away as I tried to sift through some scientific papers and Black Kite, Hooded Vulture and Long-Tailed Glossy Starling overhead as I lounged by the pool. The resident avifauna it seemed was hell bent on being seen whether I was looking for them or not.. Of all the places I visited during my stay two in particular spring to mind because of the sheer diversity of wildlife seen. These being Tendaba Camp where I was lucky enough to spend two days during the first week and on a slightly less glamorous note a sewage farm I visited with a group of like minded birders during the second week. Tendaba was beautiful, the camp itself was situated on the banks of the river Gambia making for great views of a number of aquatic bird species including Pink-Backed Pelican, Hammerkop, Pied Kingfisher and Squacco Heron. Of course I didn't spent all of my time birding the hotel grounds though I probably could have, trips into the surrounding area were organised to increase our species counts with a personal favourite of mine being a lovely boat ride into the mangroves on the opposing side of the river. Here we came extremely close to a whole host of species including African Darter, Malachite Kingfisher, African Spoonbill and a target species of mine the Scared Ibis. Another Tendaba based outing took us deep into Kiang West National Park in search of a good mammal encounter. After a short time we found exactly that when we came face to face with a decent sized troop of Guinea Baboons including a rather intimidating male. Aside from this the bird life didn't disappoint with at least 50 species identified including some absolute gems like Abyssinian Roller, Lizard Buzzard, Fork-Tailed Drongo and Splendid Sunbird. The sewage farm was exactly what the name suggests, a smelly, damp though strangely pleasant place. Perhaps this had something to do with the huge number of birds frequenting it. Within minutes I had ticked off Black-Winged Stilt, Giant Kingfisher (what a bird), White-Faced Whistling Duck, Grey-Headed Gull and Black Egret whilst a further sweep of the site provided another 30 ticks including some species that wouldn't be out of place back home in England! Among these were Curlew Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper (a lifer, shame it wasn't back home), Little Grebe, Hoopoe and Whimbrel. I couldn't possibly  go into every detail about these trips or the many others I embarked on else I'd be here all day so you will just have to make do with the hard facts for now..

 

Cattle Egret.

African Darter drying out.

Gambia really is a birders paradise as even though I'd taken a break from birding to conduct my research new species and wonderful encounters still came in thick and fast. Bijilo Forest where I was conducting the majority of my camera trapping produced some real beauties ranging in size from the minuscule Little Beeater to the colossal Palm-Nut Vulture whilst other species to put in the odd appearance included Yellow-Crowned Goneolek, Senegal Coucal, Oriole Warbler and much to my surprise a stunning pair of Osprey.  On a final bird related note in the closing days of the trip I also had the great privilege of catching a boat ride out to see to the Gambia's only seabird colony. Here hundreds of Caspian and Royal terns could be seen going about their business and feeding their rather cute and fluffy young, though it was slightly unnerving being so close to  breeding Caspian's in particular. Having been attacked by smaller Tern species at the Farnes I was extremely fearful of an attack from a bird 10 times the size and weight.. Luckily the birds were in a  passive mood and we escaped unharmed. Other species seen here included Grey Plover, Sanderling, Slender-Billed Gull, Great White Pelican and an extremely lucky find in the form of a lone White-Winged Black Tern.

 

African Thrush.

Curlew Sandpiper.

It would be impossible mention every sighting from the two weeks though as I finished on a species count in excess of 150 i'm rather satisfied. This may seem like a small tally for a country with the reputation of the Gambia but with my limited I.D skills and complete lack of experience I'm still rather chuffed. I'll be writing another post about my project at a later date as after sifting through the many photos and videos captured by the camera traps it appears there is too much to talk about though I will say that we found some absolute gems in the form of African Civet, Banded Mongoose, Slender Mongoose, Genet and African Harrier Hawk. I'll stop now seeing as if I don't I will bore you all day with tales of beautiful tropical birds and loud and occasionally quite scary locals though on a final note I will say that Gambia 2013 was one of the most amazing and rewarding experiences of my life and I can say without a shadow of a doubt I will be returning in the hopefully not too distant future.

 

May as well stick in some more photos..



We may have failed to find wild Hyena's but..



Swallow of some description..

West African Crocodile






Great White Egret.



Saved from the pot by some of the team.
 

Gambia.. Thus Far!

Haven't had any time whatsoever to keep the blog updated over the last week purely because I'm currently 'living it up' in the Gambia! Today marks the half way point of my trip so I thought I'd upload a few images and give a brief report of what has so far been an absolutely amazing and life altering expedition. We came out here to examine conservation efforts in one of the worlds poorest countries and try to input our own thoughts into a society where the need to put food on the table comes before the conservation of the species many of us take for granted. Even without the large animals such as Elephant and Giraffe that were extirpated from the Gambia long ago the country still holds a wealth of birdlife, marine life and a few select large mammals and thus in my opinion deserves our full attention when it comes to preventing over exploitation of the environment and the creatures that inhabit it.. but enough about the expedition FOR NOW, here are a few photos and sightings from the last few days..

 

 

Red-Billed Hornbill

Agama

Possibly a new species of Agama!

Something worth mentioning however is the fact our university may have discovered a new species of Lizard living in one of the remoter areas of the country towards the tourist lodge of Tendaba. This beautiful little lizard shown above took a good hour to catch and put up quite a fight before a tail sample could be taken. I know this sounds cruel but DNA tests will be vital when it comes to assessing whether or not this is actually a new species! How exciting..

 

Baboon.

alongside Warthog, Hyena and a couple of smallish Antelope the Baboon is one of the only large mammals left in the Gambia. A chance encounter brought us face to face with a large troop of these awe inspiring primates! Surely one of my greatest mammal sightings too date.

This heron couldn't quite manage the Pufferfish.

Squacco Heron.

Obviously being a birder I've been making the most of this change of climes to increase my bird related knowledge. Up to now I've noted 101 species including some common stunners like the Squacco Heron shown above but also more scarce species such as Pearl's Fishing Owl, Grasshopper Buzzard, Scared Ibis, African Spoonbill, Hammerkop, Harrier Hawk and many more! Though my favourite encounter to date comes from a Western Reef Heron which fished only a few feet from me for almost half an hour!

A Gander up the Coast;

With today being my last full day in the North-East before I head back to university and then on to the Gambia on Monday I decided to make the most of it by visiting a number of sites along the coast sure to provide some 'good birds' and potentially some returning migrants.

 

Firstly I paid a visit to Cresswell Pond where I was quickly greeted by the usual cast of characters hanging around the various farm buildings. These included Jackdaw, Magpie, Feral Pigeon and more interestingly 15 Tree Sparrow which flitted constantly between the hedge row and the lowest of the structures. Aside from the Sparrows the hedgerow held only one each of Blackbird, Blue tit and Dunnock. The small pond faired better providing good views of the 'typical' wildfowl species including 4 Gadwall, 4 Teal, and a couple of Mallard as well as a scattering of Moorhen which were abruptly disturbed by the farms resident moggy which could be seen prowling around the outskirts of the pool. From here I quickly moved on to the hide where I much to my surprise and delight found it devoid of human life thus allowing me to shuffle around at will and plonk myself in the optimal viewing position. From here the first species picked up where 3 Mute Swan, 6 Greylag and 4 Shelduck quickly followed by a scattering of Tufted Duck, Mallard and Red-Breasted Merganser. Wigeon were out in force with around 100 of the whistling ones located on the opposing side of the lake alongside yet more Teal and Gadwall. Wader wise very few birds were showing aside of the local Lapwings which put on a delightful display on the remains of the sandbank outside the hide alongside a single Oystercatcher and 6 Redshank. The eventual emergence of a lone Avocet more than made up for the lack of other species by providing me with stunning views and a unexpected year tick. Great! When I eventually managed to drag myself away from the handsome wader I soon picked out an 'odd' looking duck diving in the centre of the lake. A scan with the scope revealed this to be a female Long-Tailed Duck, a much welcome addition to the days tally. When it was eventually time to leave I spent a little while scanning the fields surrounding the pond but found only a herd of 20 or so Coot and 6 Pied Wagtail of the British variety. Meadow Pipit, Wren and Little Grebe rounded off a successful hours birding.

 

Whose a pretty boy then?

From here I dashed down the beach to Druridge Pools but as a result of the muddy conditions decided to give the actually pool a miss instead focussing my efforts on the Budge screen in the hope of an Owl of some description. Though I failed in this respect I wasn't disappointed at all with the array of species on offer though it is worth noting that wildfowl numbers are down tenfold from the previous week. Wigeon were still the most numerous, closely followed by Teal and then Shoveler which showed well backed by a supporting cast of Grey Heron, Curlew, Redshank and a single drake Tuftie. Before long a small bird flittering between fence posts close to the screen grabbed by attention and was quickly revealed to be a female Stonechat. My first of the year to be precise which more than made up for the apparent absence of the local Wheatears. Elsewhere a Chiffchaff was picked up in the scrub behind the screen and a number of Ringed Plover and Redshank were seen feeding around one of the floods. Onwards to Chevington.. though not before catching a brief glimpse of a Stoat and it crossed the trail ahead of me.

Some Gadwall and their body guard.

 

The southern most lake at Chev was relatively devoid of life with the exception of a female Merganser and a couple of Tufties, this was at least until a female Marsh Harrier lifted out of the reeds not far from my position and proceeded to quarter up and down the reed bed giving great views the entire time. Her mate was briefly picked up in the distance flying over one of the ploughed fields with an escort of Carrion Crows. Elsewhere only a few Reed Bunting provided a spot of entertainment before I moved on to the larger lake. From the first hide I was able to pick apart a relatively large gathering of waterfowl in the centre of the lake which revealed 12 Gadwall, 14 Mallard, 20 Tufted Duck and 7 Mergansers alongside a pair of Great Crested Grebes which proceeded to begin their courtship display right in front of me. Having only ever seen this spectacle on Springwatch and other shows I was overjoyed to have been privy to this. With nothing else on show I proceeded to the next hide where I hoped for a Little Gull or possibly a returning Sandwich Tern and as usual found neither. (I really should stop hoping for things). 3 Snipe were however found providing me with a minimal amount of compensation for my efforts. The small islands held a large number of Greater Black-Backed Gulls alongside a smaller number of both Common and Black-Headed Gull while the larger island directly outside the hide housed a pair of Canada Geese, a small number of Wigeon and yet more Gadwall. Is it me or is this species becoming much more plentiful in the area? Well that was about it excluding a rather fat and confiding Pheasant who was more than happy to pose for a photograph or two.

 

Drake Teal.

 

The last few days;

Just a quick recap of a few short visits to a number of local sites over the last few days. Preparations for my trip to the Gambia on Monday have taken up most of my time so I've had little time to explore anywhere in depth as I usually would but despite this I've managed a few 'good birds'.

 

First up Stobswood opencast for an hour on Monday provided good views of the usual species including Teal, Shelduck, Tufted Duck and Kestrel as well as a stunning pair of Pintail which turned up on the most Easterly pool providing me with a much needed year and patch tick. On route home something in the corner of my eye caught my attention as it flew along the hedge line towards Widdrington village. This turned out to be none other than a Short-Eared Owl! My first of the year to be precise (Unusual seeing as I live near Druridge). As well as the Owl I was able to add to this months Patchwork tally by picking up some long overdue species comprising of Bullfinch, Chiffchaff and finally a stunning male Yellowhammer noted around the fields just to the East of Widdrington Station. Still missing a few common species though and as I leave in a few days the race is on.. Treecreeper, Nuthatch, Rook, Stock Dove, Blackcap and Reed Bunting beware.

 

Male Chaffinch.

A brief visit to the Blyth estuary last night provided good views of Red-Breasted Merganser and Goldeneye as they made the most of the extremely high tide alongside lots of Teal, Mallard and a pair of Gadwall. Waders for once were few and far between (probably due to the tide) but I still managed to pick up 5 Bar-Tailed Godwit, 12 Redshank, 4 Curlew and 2 Turnstone which were characteristically confiding. Elsewhere a small flock of Redwing behind Blyth business park and a nice Grey Wagtail provided something none 'wadery' to admire. The usual corvids, pigeons and tits were also out in force.

 

One of three pairs of Merganser.

So there it is! Probably time for one last post before I head off to present my research proposal to the Gambia forest minister. A proposal that of yet doesn't actually exist.. still using trailcams to assess the biodiversity of a patch of relatively undisturbed coastal forest is going to be a pretty amazing experience. Of course aside from all the work  I will be trying my very best to get in some much needed tropical birding so will be posting regularly about my exploits!

Turnstone.

 

Spring has arrived.. Finally!

Setting out at 8am this morning I aimed to spend a little time exploring some of the rather neglected areas of the patch including the old brickworks, plantations and Stobswood village itself. Of late I've been concentrating most of my patching efforts on the pools and fields situated on the old Opencast but as the last few visits to these sites have proved anything but fruitful I decided a change of scenery was in order. Alas I wasn't disappointed as it appears the seasons have finally begun to change here in Northumberland with the smell of Wild Garlic drifting in the air, Coltsfoot flowering all over the shop and best of all birds pairing up and nest building..

 

Upon leaving my housing estate the usual 'urban' species were quickly noted with a dozen Starling observed feeding on the various lawns and Blackbird and House Sparrow greeting the new day from their vantage points on top of the houses. Two separate pairs of Collard Dove could also be seen here alongside the little more unusual addition of 5 Redwing, obviously waiting around for the wind to change and carry them back across the north sea. Moving towards the woods it wasn't the local birds that caught my eye but three cheeky looking Red Squirrels chasing each other around small birch not 10m away from me. Having not observed this species here in some time I was more than a little relieved to lay eyes of the fluffy little critters especially since signs warning of the presence of Grey Squirrels have recently been erected in the area. Elsewhere Magpie, Carrion Crow and plenty of dumpy Woodpigeons could be seen going about their morning routines.

 

The beastie just wouldn't stay still!

Moving into the woods behind my house the louds cry of a Jay alerted me to the presence of a Buzzard flying low through the woodland quickly followed by an escort of corvids including a second impressive Jay. A third bird was also seen feeding on what seemed like porridge oats evidently placed out by another local birder. I'd like to thank this unknown individual as prior to the Jay's departure a host of species arrived to make the most of this bonanza including a dozen or so Blue tit, a handful of Great tit and one of each Long-Tailed tit and Coal tit. As usual Robin and Chaffinch quickly followed the tits in making the most of the food but quickly moved out the way when a rather handsome Great Spotted Woodpecker put in an appearance. Around 15 minutes later I made my way out of the wood and towards Stobswood though not before noting a second Woodpecker, a dainty Goldcrest and a couple of seemingly agitated Wrens. A whistle stop tour of the village revealed nothing new with the exception of a couple of Goldfinch and a Marsh/Willow tit which showed briefly before dashing off into the brambles lining the railway lines. Bugger! No solid ID so no patchwork tick.

 

Wouldn't be out of place in the Rainforest don't you think?

Crossing the bridge to the old brickworks proved a good idea as straight away more species were picked up including a small flock of Greenfinch, 40 or so Jackdaw and a pair of Dunnock. My first patchwork month tick of the day came in the form of a Song Thrush blasting out a tune from on top of a small willow while Pheasant and another Buzzard were heard but not seen. After making my way around the rather the scruffy, litter burdened site for a further ten minutes I was more than surprised to flush not one but two Woodcock from among the refuse towards the side of the site bordering the pine plantation. This marked the first time I had seen this species in good light so I was more than happy with the clear all be it brief sighting they provided. A single Lesser Redpoll on top of a Leyland Cypress tree provided another welcome addition to the days tally as did a Lapwing which passed overhead making as much noise as humanly possible. Without a shadow of a doubt the highlight of the day goes to the lone Chiffchaff I picked up calling from within the Hawthorns that fringe the site. Yes, a Chiffchaff! and it's about bloody time I picked up my first migrant of the year. Content with my new find I decided to head home to the possibility of a home cooked roast though not before noting yet more Blackbird, Blue tit, Robin and Chaffinch as well as a Black-Headed Gull that passed overhead.

Also worth mentioning a pair of Blue tits are back in our garden nest box for the third year straight and with Song Thrush, Redpoll and Chiffchaff added the patchwork challenge April score now stands at a respectable 55 points.

Around Northumberland;

The last two days have been down right blissful due to an excess of sunshine, free time and best of all lots of birds (though still no migrants). In an effort to force the year less to a respectable 100 species before I venture to Gambia in a week or two I decided to walk up the coast yesterday in the hope of picking a few new species or perhaps a returning Wheatear or Sand Martin. Not a sign on the migrant front though with reports of Chiffchaff coming in from just south of my current location it seems likely that may just been able to pick up at least a few of these species before I depart for warmer climes.

 

First up was an enjoyable though all be it brief stop at Cresswell Pond where the female Long-Tailed Duck showed well as it bobbed along with an escort of 5 Red-Breasted Merganser. This was the first time I'd had the chance to view a female of this species so I probably spent longer watching the sleepy looking bird than I should have. Anyways, elsewhere on the water a number of Mallard, Wigeon, Teal and Greylag showed with little else putting in an appearance excluding a single female Goldeneye. The remnants of the sand bank held 9 Redshank and  pair of Common Gull while the patch of trimmed reeds in front of the hide provided very good views (possibly the best I've had) of a single Common Snipe which went about the business of feeding directly in front of me. Elsewhere on the site only the resident flock of Tree Sparrows provided any sort of entertainment though Jackdaw, Moorhen, Pied Wagtail, Blackbird and Magpie could all be seen.

Common Snipe showed well.

 

After departing a rather disappointing Cresswell I quickly made my way along the beach to Druridge pools stopping a few times to survey the many dead seabirds than seem to be appearing along the bay. By my count I noted 21 Puffin, 5 Guillemot and 3 Razorbill, how sad. The beach did however hold some living birds with a couple of Sanderling and Redshank feeding in the strand line and a scattering of Cormorant and various gulls offshore. The budge screen provided it's usual cast of birds minus of course the long staying redhead Smew. Wigeon and Teal as usual dominated with 21 Shoveler adding some much needed variety while Curlew and Lapwing also showed well along with a couple of Grey Heron and a host of corvids. The walk to Chevington proved reasonably interesting with Ringed Plover, Redshank and more Common Snipe noted around one of the 'puddles' that have formed in the fields and Reed Bunting, Goldfinch and more wagtails close by. Chevington itself proved quite mediocre with the exception of the returning pair of Marsh Harrier which performed extremely well, at times coming to within 40ft as they ferried nest material back to the usual spot. It's safe to say I've missed these birds and I'm extremely glad to see them back up North where they belong. Little else was seen excluding a Kestrel hunting in the dunes and Great Black-backed Gull, Gadwall and a single Great Crested Grebe on the larger lake. The latter giving terrible views as it clung to the opposite shore.

 

Another victim of this years Seabird Wreck.

Back on the patch things are looking rosy as usual with year ticks coming in thick and fast! A Woodcock was a surprise addition to last nights walk along with a pair of vocal Grey Partridge. Today I spent a good view hours out and about and was rewarded with good views of a host of interesting though slightly common species including Great Spotted Woodpecker, Buzzard, Skylark and a lonely Pink-Footed Goose which seems to have been forgotten by it's comrades. The pools held Tufted Duck, Teal, Mallard and Oystercatcher alongside 5 Shelduck which I observed both mating and fighting (spring is on the way!). One of the local Canada Geese also seems to be sitting on eggs. It is also worth noting that an 'unknown raptor' was also picked up in the dying hours of yesterday as it hurtled across the overcast at high speed. The rather crap light levels didn't allow me to identify the culprit though the jizz of the bird screamed Peregrine. Until I get a better look at the creature I can't say for sure and thus can't tick it off the year list.. drat! Oh well.

 

Coal tits are evidently partial to Cheddar.