GAMBIA  - 27 NOVEMBER to 4 DECEMBER 2006

 BACKGROUND

I made my first visit to The Gambia in February 2003 with Steve Scott [report on Birdtours website] and really enjoyed my first experience of an African country. Since that time, I have been to South Africa and Kenya but retain a soft spot for The Gambia. Steve and I decided we would like to return and to include a trip “up river” this time, even though we realised that this would result in a demanding schedule.

GUIDE

 I had kept in touch with Tijan Kanteh since first meeting him in 2003 and had set myself a target of collecting sufficient money to help him replace his aging van by the time we returned. I am delighted to say that, thanks to the generosity of many people, the target was reached just in time. Tijan is now the proud owner of a Mitsubishi L300 van, which will seat 9 passengers. I stick by my previous comments about Tijan. He is great company and a really nice bloke. He is an excellent guide too. He’s not the best on the market technically but at £15 per day, he‘s half the price of those who are [and others who aren’t either!]. Danny Reynolds, one of the people who helped to raise the money for the van, is preparing a webpage about Tijan and that saves me from having to say any more. His e mail address is tijanthebirdman@yahoo.com.

 OVERVIEW

 I thought the feel of the tourist area had changed a little since our last visit. There were far more young people than last time and far more tourists from Northern Europe. This resulted in a different kind of clientele in the Hotel Senegambia, which itself did not live up to expectations, even though we were only there 4 nights. There were far fewer birds too and this was put down to the very wet season. Our last trip was in February and it may be the better bet for birds. Many birders felt that birds had yet to arrive in any great numbers as pools had not dried up elsewhere. I don’t know whether that’s right but it’s an option.

I still loved the pen and lollipop distribution and if you are going, cram your cases with these. Just look at the faces of the kids when they get one of these “priceless” possessions!

 ITINERARY

27 November

Left Manchester at 7am, arriving 6 hours later to be picked up by Tijan. Soon transferred to the Hotel Senegambia Beach, where we dumped our bags and toured the grounds. In comparison to our previous visit, there were far fewer birds but we hoped that this wasn’t representative of what was happening outside. Nevertheless, we enjoyed a few highlights, with a juvenile Jacobin Cuckoo the most unexpected discovery. It was great to see old friends like Gonoleks, Broad Billed Rollers, Red Billed and African Grey Hornbills, good numbers of Lavender Waxbill, Red Billed Fire Finch and Village Weaver. In all we saw 30 species so we retired for a well-earned shower in a very wet bathroom with very poor plumbing. That problem remained for the duration of the holiday despite regular requests for someone to do something about it. They did take the plug away from the sink so that the water could drain away but we could have done that. Leaky cistern and blocked shower problems are not the way to charm returning customers.

28 November

We met Tijan at 7.45am and were introduced to the new van! We also met Danny for the first time and a friend of his, Pat. They had planned their holidays at the same time as us and we had agreed via e mail that we would join up whenever possible. Together, we set out for Yundum, one of my favourite places in 2003. Regrettably, there has been a great amount of building at this site and it is rapidly disappearing. However, we still turned up a number of great birds including a lifer, Diederik Cuckoo [3]. Other birds in the area included Black Crowned Tchagra, Vieillot’s Barbet, Woodchat Shrike, Northern Crombec, Lanner, African Harrier Hawk and Grey Kestrel. There were also a few other migrants in the shape of Whinchat and Wheatear but we missed the potential highlight as Tijan called “Black Wood Hoopoe” as it flew the other way!

We moved on towards Marakissa and stopped at a school where Tijan confirmed the presence of a White Faced Scops Owl. That was lifer number 2 for me and we got very good views as well. Moving on towards Brikama, Tijan made a detour to visit Alla La Daaro Eco Lodge and Guest House. This was the first time he had been there. We were made very welcome by the owner and shown around the premises. They have a website for anyone interested in staying and this can be found via the usual search engines. It is fairly basic but cheap and peaceful. I am sure it would be good for birds at the right times of day. It was midday so there were not many birds present but we did see Pearl Spotted Owlet [2] and a few Fanti Saw Wing. We then moved on to Marakissa lodge and sunk vast quantities of water. It was now very hot and we stayed in the shade for some time before walking along the river to enable all present to enjoy Tijan’s reflections of my river crossing attempt in 2003, which so nearly led to a fall into the water. I refused to go anywhere near the “ bridge” this time and we retraced our steps, seeing Swallow Tailed Bee-eater, Long Crested Eagle, Pied Kingfisher and African Darter along the way.

After that, we met Tijan’s family, visited a school which is about to form links with a school in Northumberland and went back to the hotel for the last couple of hours birding. Oriole Warbler, Blue Breasted Kingfisher and Northern Black Flycatcher were the highlights.

29 November

We checked out, leaving most things in our room, and headed east for the long journey to Tendaba. Tijan had brought Lamin, a driver, with him. Lamin did the honours throughout and was a very tired chap by the time we returned! The first couple of hours were not too bad but after that the going got tough .I was worried that the van that had taken 3 years to finance would be wrecked after less than 3 days of new ownership! The “road” along the south side is very poor after Pirang but the good news is that they are working on it. The bad news is that it will take a few years before it’s completed. It’s a rough and fairly unpleasant experience for the most part. However, if you want to see Egyptian Plovers and Red Throated Bee-Eaters, it’s a must!

Anyway, we drove for the best part of 6 hours and arrived at Tendaba, having stopped occasionally along the way for such gems as Striped Kingfisher, European and Swallow-Tailed Bee-eater, Bateleur [4] and Booted Eagle. Once checked in, we had time to walk around the locality and added a few welcome lifers such as Black Rumped Waxbill, Bruce’s Green Pigeon and African Hobby. A few beers and a tasty meal and we were back to our “VIP apartment” with very hard beds! 

30 November

It was a joy to get up and we looked forward to a meeting with Egyptian Plovers. The trip from Tendaba to Soma was even worse than yesterday’s experience and it took 2 hours to do about 15 miles. However, all was forgotten as we approached the Wetlands at Soma to find an Egyptian Plover walking in the middle of the road! This was a bird I had always wanted to see and I couldn’t get enough of it as it nipped daintily from one side of the road to the other. It was the only one there although there were a few other distant waders and pelicans.

We continued on the south side even though we knew the north side was a much better road. Tijan assured us that the worse of the road was over and he was right, even though some parts were very poor. It was during this part of the journey that Tijan produced two wonderful moments of bird spotting. The first brought the van to a sudden stop at his instructions and we backed up slowly to stop alongside three Abyssinian Ground Hornbills sat in a tree. We thought that was pretty impressive but 15 minutes later, he did the same thing, this time to look at something on the opposite side of the road to where he was sitting, and we jumped out of the van to watch two Black Wood Hoopoes flitting around in a tree! I ‘m still not sure how he does it.

Our next target was to get to Bansang in time to see the specialities there, before heading back to Georgetown. We made good time and stopped along the way at the Dalaba Wetlands, where we were delighted to see a good number of African Pygmy Geese along with White-faced Whistling Duck. We then made a slight detour through Jahaly rice fields where we added Marsh Harrier, Great Spotted Cuckoo, Red Billed Quelea and Olivaceous Warbler to our list on a brief walkabout.

Next stop was Bansang but not before stopping at a bush fire beside the road. It was remarkable to see large insects literally jumping out of the fire, only to be picked off by Buzzards and Rollers. Sometimes it seemed as if the birds were flying into the fire. There was also a falcon joining in the fun, eating a grasshopper from its talons as it flew around. I thought it was a Hobby species, Steve and Tijan thought it was too big. Do Lanners do that?

We arrived at Bansang and there they were – Red Throated Bee Eaters flying around all over the place. This was a new bird for me from my favourite family. I really enjoyed watching them and could have stayed for longer but there was a ferry to catch. We also saw Cinnamon-Breasted Bunting and a distant Exclamatory Paradise Whydah. Steve saw a couple of  Four–banded Sandgrouse fly in but I missed them [I was probably still looking at the Bee Eaters!]

We then drove to the ferry crossing, waited about 30 minutes and eventually pulled ourselves across the river on the boat with no engine! We stayed the night at Baobolong Camp, where we enjoyed a few Julbrau before taking to beds, which were not dissimilar to those at Tendaba!

1 December

Another welcome early start saw us outside at daybreak. We woke up just before a couple of Yellow Throated Leaflove announced their arrival in trees above us. Eventually, we got onto them. This was a new bird for me. After coffee, we left and made our way to Bird Safari Camp, which is closed at the moment. There were a few birds there and I added two lifers in the shape of Stone Partridge and Swamp Flycatcher. We also saw a small group of Red Throated Bee-eaters. We then made our way to the ferry for a return trip. However, this time we were driving along the north side of the river. This road is motorway standard nearly all the way to Fanifarri ferry.

Shortly after we had left the ferry, Tijan asked Lamin to stop the van. As usual, we looked to see what he was looking at.  Somehow, he had seen a Little Green Bee-eater sitting at the edge of a bush. That was rivalling yesterday’s moving targets! Size-wise, it was probably his best shout. Steve was delighted as it was a new bird. However, even better was to follow. A mile or so further along, near Wassu, we saw Bee-eaters flying around and stopped to check them out. Seven Carmines was the result! Although I had come across a few in Kenya last year, they were still fantastic to see and we scoped them for several minutes or at least long enough to be joined by about 100 school children, all hoping for a pen. There was no way that we could meet that number so reluctantly, we had to give up. Through the glare of the sun, Tijan pointed out a Northern Anteater Chat about 10 miles away on a roof and that would have been a lifer for me but I don’t tick shapes!

We got back into the van, with Steve still reeling from two Bee-eater lifers in 10 minutes! We went at least another half mile before stopping again at Nyagna Bantang wetlands, this time for 13 Egyptian Plovers. What an area this had turned out to be. We moved on and stopped at N’jau water hole, where we got great views of small birds coming down to drink in a small pool. In particular, Cut Throat Finch [6], Exclamatory Paradise Whydah [2] and Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Lark [4] caught the eye, the first being another lifer for me. I scoped the larger wetland area and found a Kingfisher sat in one tree. It turned around to face me and another lifer came my way. Woodland Kingfisher had eluded me on previous trips but not this time. Further scoping brought 2 more Egyptian Plovers at the edge of the pool. This is a great place and we were again reluctant to move on but we had to keep an eye on the clock.

We arrived at Kaur Wetlands with all the pressure off as we had seen everything we had hoped to see. Four more Egyptian Plovers were more than welcome as were several Collared Pratincole but the sun was in the wrong place for good views. Tijan saw a Goliath Heron flying over the reed beds but I could not get good enough views of this potential lifer. There were a few waders in the area but overall, I was surprised at the low numbers.

We then set off for the ferry. We had heard some frightening stories from other birders about having to wait for hours but we went straight on and we were soon back on our “favourite” road from Soma to Tendaba. We stopped again at the Wetlands at Soma and the Egyptian Plover was still there. There was little else of interest though so off we went for the rocky ride. Once we had checked in again, we had a brief walk outside the camp during the last hour of daylight but it was very quiet although we did add to our life lists when eleven Spur Winged Geese flew over.

2 December

Another early start after a restless night saw us on Badelling track by 7.45am. I had looked forward to this as an opportunity to see groups of small birds. I knew that there were a number of potential lifers in this area. Unfortunately, it was very quiet again and we saw very little. An early success was the sight of one Speckled-fronted Weaver in a tree next to a Chestnut-crowned Sparrow-Weaver. However, that proved to be the highlight as we walked for about an hour without seeing anything of great note. The only other lifer for me was a Bush Petronia – or was it a dour House Sparrow! This was an obvious contender for least interesting bird of the trip. More pleasing to see were Brubru, Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird and 2 Abyssinian Ground Hornbill, this time on the ground as we drove past them.

Tijan then decided to try for Temminck’s Courser, another bird on my “wanted” list, in an area close by. We walked round for an hour or so, with Black Headed Plovers raising our hopes, but without success. We decided to head for the coast and sat back for 5 hours of fun! Eventually, we got to the Pirang area but first went to Farang Bush Track to check out for Birds of Prey and small birds. This had been excellent during our 2003 trip. Although I admit that 3pm is not the best time to bird anywhere, the lack of birds was startling. We were a little down in the mouth and suggested that we head for the hotel However, Tijan suggested we call in at the Pirang ponds and it proved to be an excellent idea! As we approached, we got wonderful views of Blue Cheeked Bee-eaters flying over us and around the area in general. They put on a very good show. We then walked to the one area you are allowed to access to look over the ponds. On our previous visit, we had walked along the banks but that is no longer possible. We saw several species of wader and then our day was made as three Black Crowned Cranes flew elegantly in front of us. We had not seen them on our last visit so this was a great bonus and the sighting lifted our spirits. We added a few new birds to our trip list and then Lamin drove us back to the Senegambia Hotel. The beds seemed particularly comfortable that night even if the floor was still wet.

3 December

We met Danny, Pat and another of Danny’s mate, Chris, and we all set off to Basara woodland, which was very quiet but provided good views of Green Turaco and Black Crowned Tchagra. We then moved over to an area close to Yundum but again, building has taken away much of the habitat. Next stop was Abuko and we walked across the road to the rice fields to look for Painted Snipe. We saw at least three birds very well, including a female. After that, we returned to Abuko, where a White Faced Scops Owl was roosting in a tree by the entrance. We walked into the reserve, which again proved to be very quiet compared to our 2003 visit. We managed to catch up with both Turaco species, Violet being a lifer for Steve and myself, and also got good views of Little Greenbul, Lesser Honeyguide and Common Wattle-eye. We walked to the Reception area and took on very welcome water. We then went to the photo hide nearby and this proved to be verybusy. Birds were everywhere, coming down to the water’s edge in good numbers. Most were Weavers but others included Western Bluebill, Pgymy Kingfisher, Orange-Cheeked Waxbill, Red-Billed Wood Dove, Little Bee-eaters [3] and a very shy Snowy-Crowned Robin-Chat, which I missed. We then decided to call it a day and returned to the hotel, where it became clear that I should have used mosquito repellant as I’d got half a dozen bites on my leg from Abuko. It’s always the last day, isn’t it? I had become too complacent as I had not had any trouble anywhere else.

4 December

We had been lucky enough to see all the Bee-eaters except White–Throated so our main mission was to add that to our list. We knew we would have a good chance at Bilijo, which is only a couple of minutes from the hotel.

Tijan picked us up early and we went straight to the area where they had been seen earlier in the week. After 15 minutes of waiting, at least five flew in and they gave good views, although the light was not at its best. After returning for breakfast, we stayed local, walking along the cycle track and visiting Kotu Creek and Ponds. I think the sight of the lily ponds summed up the difference between our to trips. In 2003, they were full of birds, in particular waders. This year, they were full of lilies and water! We did manage to see a Black Crake walk across the edge and this proved to be our final new bird of the trip.

Tijan took us back to the airport and we left early afternoon, arriving Manchester at 9pm. We then drove back to Northumberland, arriving at about 1am, totally whacked in my case!

SUMMARY

It was pretty hard work but we assembled a list of about 185 species and saw our two main target birds, plus several other lifers. I don’t think three days is long enough to really enjoy the up river trip. It can be done but it seemed as though we were always chasing time. Perhaps we should have stayed there all of the time rather than try to mix it with the coastal sites. Clearly, it will be a different story once the road has been improved to Soma and I intend to re-visit that part of the country then – but not before!

I will be interested to learn whether the number of birds build up as the dry season progresses. It is always preferable to go up river before Christmas if you want to increase your chances of seeing Egyptian Plovers. However, now that I’ve done that, I think I would choose the February slot if given the choice, purely on basis of numbers.

I would suggest that The Gambia is still a great place to start African birding. If you are reading this and can’t decide whether to go, contact me and I’ll make your mind up for you!!

Bob Biggs