CHILE 2002: 24 March- 06 April

Introduction. Nick and I were keen to visit Chile but Nick being a teacher, me not wanting to miss Christmas with the family and our summer being their winter made Easter the only realistic time for us to go. Easter 2002 was an early one so we booked return flights to Santiago (via Buenos Aires). We had two weeks so decided to concentrate on the southern half of the country and after looking at various options decided to fly to Punta Arenas and work our way back to Santiago. We booked Santiago-Punta Arenas and Punta Arenas-Puerto Montt internal flights online (strangely they were cheaper than the first on its own but we weren't arguing) and a hire car to pick up in Puerto Montt and drop off back in Santiago. Internet bookings were still fairly novel in late 2001 but despite some concerns all went smoothly. John and David Cooper, who had visited Chile in November 2001, kindly provided very helpful information and recordings and we loosely based our trip on where they’d been. Despite the season it was mainly a camping trip, internet accommodation bookings hadn’t taken off although in most places it was nice to be on site anyway. This blog is my recollection of the trip, based on unreliable memories and very basic notebook entries. It is illustrated with some digitised prints taken with a basic camera.

We arrived in Santiago in the morning of Sunday 24 March. Our flight to Punta Arenas wasn’t until late afternoon and we hung around outside the airport for several hours reading and seeing amongst others Red-backed Hawk, 5 Chimango Caracaras, 35 Southern Lapwings, 40 Picui Ground Doves and 15 Long-tailed Meadowlarks. Our flight was on time and we arrived in Punta Arenas after dark.

Monday 25 March. We birded along the road to Pali Alke National Park, highlights being 19 Darwin’s Rheas, Great Grebe, 2 Rufous-chested and 15 Tawny-throated Dotterel, 10 Least Seedsnipe, and 75 Grey-hooded Sierra Finches. We saw 4 Magellanic Penguins on the ferry across to Isla Grande and then drove down to Porvenir. Ruddy-headed Goose was our first new bird, seeing 2 then 13, as were 8 Short-billed Miners and 17 Magellanic Plovers, the latter was probably our main target for the trip and they did not disappoint. We also saw 30 Black-faced Ibis, 300 Chilean Flamingo, 500 Upland Geese (both white and barred morphs), 6 Flying Steamer Duck, Apolmado Falcon, 15 Two-banded Plovers, 12 Rufous-chested Dotterel, 7 White-rumped Sandpipers, Grey-breasted Seedsnipe, 50 Chilean Skuas, 8 Dolphin Gulls and 20 Patagonian Yellow Finches. A very enjoyable first day birding.

Magellanic Plover on Isla Grande

always nice to see the main target species early in a trip

Magellanic Plover with White-rumped Sandpiper

Porvenir

Porvenir Beach

coast near Porvenir

Dolphin Gull and Crested Duck at Porvenir

Crested Duck

Strait of Magellan

Tuesday 26 March. We woke to a strong westerly (onshore) wind and decided to seawatch off Porvenir. The Strait of Magellan is about 25km wide here, although it narrows to 5km at the northern entrance where we crossed by ferry. Despite this we were surprised to see 150+ Black-browed and a Grey-headed Albatross, 4 Magellanic Diving Petrels, 3 Southern Fulmars, 2 Grey, 2 White-chinned and 2 Southern Giant Petrels, 30 Blue-eyed Shags and 200 Chilean Skuas. We saw 3 Kelp Geese in Porvenir Bay and driving back north to the ferry 3 Magellanic Oystercatchers as well as similar, sometimes the same, birds as previously - 10 Ruddy-headed and 400 Upland Geese, 8 Flying Steamer Duck, 6 Two-banded Plovers, 2 Rufous-chested Dotterel, 8 White-rumped Sandpipers, 10 Dolphin Gulls, 75 Short-billed Miners and 50 Patagonian Yellow Finches. We also saw at least 31 Magellanic Plovers which were brilliant. We crossed back on the ferry (seeing the same or another 4 Magellanic Penguins) and spent the rest of the day on the Pali Alke Road and along the first 24km of the aptly named Punto Dungeness Road. We saw 12 Darwin’s Rheas, White-tufted Grebe, female Cinereous Harrier and an Austral Canastero as far as we went.

Isla Grande

Magellanic Oystercatchers

Laguna de Los Cisnes

roadside Vicuna

Wednesday 27 March. We birded back down the Pali Alke road, spent time around a superb pool at km 3 and visited the Sen Otway penguin colony before returning to Punta Arenas. Best birds today were 80 Darwin's Rheas, 50 Magellanic Penguins (but sadly no wandering Kings as were sometimes there), 500 Blue-eyed Shags (most roosting on the pier in Punta Arenas), 75 Ashy-headed and 2500 Upland Geese, 3 Flying and a Flightless Steamer Duck, 10 Two-banded Plovers, 8 Rufous-chested Dotterel, 19 adult and a juvenile Magellanic Plover, 200 White-rumped Sandpipers, 89 Least Seedsnipe, 62 Dolphin Gulls, 2 Scale-throated Earthcreepers, 10 Short-billed Miners, a Dark-bellied and 12 Bar-winged Cinclodes, 3 Austral Canasteros, Dark-faced Ground Tyrant, 4 Austral Thrushes and a superb male and 2 female Black-throated Finches (the day’s only new bird that took a bit of finding first thing).

early morning on the Pali Alke Road, note frost on car windscreen, it was cold

Pali Alke road

Ashy-headed Geese

Upland Geese

Nick scoping on the km 3 pool

we were watching Magellanic Plovers

adult Magellanic Plover

juvenile Magellanic Plover

Darwin's Rhea from the track to Sen Otway

Flightless Steamer Duck at Sen Otway doing a good impression of a grey rock

Magellanic Penguins heading for the sea at Sen Otway 

Magellanic Penguins returning from the sea

quite approachable

Thursday 28 March. We flew from Punta Arenas to Puerto Montt where we picked up our hire car and drove north then east to Puyuhue where we saw eight new birds, being 3 Chilean Pigeons, 40 Austral Parakeets (we couldn’t find any Slender-billed Parakeets but weren’t sure they were present at this time of year), 5 Green-crowned Firecrowns, Striped Woodpecker, Des Muir’s Wiretail, 4 excellent Black-throated Huet-Huets, 14 brilliant Chucao Tapaculos and a Common Duica Finch. 10 Thorn-tailed Rayaditos, a White-throated Treerunner and 6 Patagonian Sierra Finches were also nice to see. We left before dark for the long drive of about 600km north then west to Nahuelbuta.

Punta Arenas Airport

approaching the Strait of Magellan

over the coast of southern Chile

the southern Andes

glacier in southern Andes March 2002

Friday 29 March. We almost became lost in Angol but a combination of luck and instinct saw us on the right road, seeing a Barn Owl before arriving at Nahuelbuta. Dawn didn’t seem long after we arrived but we’d managed some sleep and had an excellent day birding in the damp forest. A Chilean Tinamou ran across the road and we saw White-throated Hawk, 45 California Quail, 40 Austral Parakeets (still no Slender-billed), 5 Green-backed Firecrowns, female Striped and Magellanic Woodpeckers, Chilean Flicker, a superb Des Muir’s Wiretail, 30 Thorn-tailed Rayaditos, White-throated Treerunner 3 Black-throated Huet-Huets, 5 Chucao and single Ochre-flanked and Magellanic Tapaculos (all excellent), 4 Patagonian Tyrants, Chilean Swallow, 6 Chilean Mockingbirds, 8 Common Duica Finches, 10 Austral Blackbirds and 15 Black-chinned Siskins. At night we heard a distant Rufous-legged Owl which as often seems to be the way had stopped calling by the time we got our act together and emerged from our tents to look for it.

Monkey Puzzle or Araucaria at Nahuelbuta

Southern Beech at Nahuelbuta

a truly wonderful place

Saturday 30 March. We spent much of the morning at Nahuelbuta seeing similar birds to yesterday - 30 Austral Parakeets, 3 Green-backed Firecrowns, 2 Striped Woodpeckers, Chilean Flicker, 20 Thorn-tailed Rayaditos, Plain-mantled Tit-Spinetail, White-throated Treerunner 2 Black-throated Huet-Huets, again 5 Chucao and single Ochre-flanked and Magellanic Tapaculos, 4 Fire-eyed Duicon, Patagonian Tyrant, 3 Chilean Swallow, 4 Austral Thrushes, 6 Chilean Mockingbirds, 12 Common Duica Finches, 3 Patagonian Sierra Finches and 2 Black-chinned Siskins. Leaving we saw Chilean Tinamou by the road near Vegas Blancas where a brief stop failed to produce Slender-billed Parakeet, adding weight to our view that we were not looking at a good time of year. We drove back to cross the main highway and continued east and up into the Andes at Laguna del Laja. There before dark we saw Spot-flanked Gallinule, 2 Green-tailed Firecrowns, 6 Dark-bellied Cinclodes, 6 Thorn-tailed Rayaditos, 2 Dark-faced Ground Tyrants and an excellent juvenile Chestnut-throated Huet-Huet. The latter was the day’s only new bird and put us on course to seeing all eight possible tapaculos. A nice thought for another cold night.

Chuaco Tapaculo, a strong contender for my bird of the trip

another Chucao Tapaculo at Nahuelbuta

they were just so good

Laguna del Laja entrance

Sunday 31 March. We spent the morning birding at Laguna del Laja. Just 18 species seen but they did include 2 more Chestnut-throated Huet-Huets, 2 Torrent and 3 Spectacled Duck, 12 Green-backed Firecrowns, 8 Dark-bellied and 5 Bar-winged Cincloides, 6 Thorn-tailed Rayaditos, 3 Magellanic Tapaculos and 25 Dark-faced Ground Tyrants. We packed up and continue north towards Santiago reaching Talca, about half way, in daylight and seeing 12 Chimango Caracaras on the way. We continued for several hours after dark to Puente Alto on the southern outskirts of Santiago and southeast past San Jose del Maipo. No new birds on what was really a travel day.

one of our warmer campsites, at the Laguna del Laja entrance with Volcan Antuco in the distance

driving higher into the park

the views became more spectacular the further into the park we went

Monday 01 April. We slept in a lay-by at the start of the dirt road up to Emblase El Yeso having seen 4 Band-tailed Nightjars on the way there. We were up at dawn to discover we had a puncture. The car only had a small spare tyre, the first space saver I’d seen, and we were nervous driving on it but felt returning to the nearest town would end up wasting all morning. The first of five Moustached Turcas seen during the morning was some compensation for having to change the wheel. We continued somewhat anxiously up to the reservoir but were not able to make sense of the directions we’d been given to the site for Diademed Sandpiper Plovers. As we’d seen them in Peru in 1984 I’d not given as much attention to finding out about them as I should have, assuming the site would be easy to find. We tried three or four areas off the track past the reservoir, which we drove almost to the end of, without success. Back home I feel sure that we had been within 100m of the site at the first place we tried. Despite this we had a decent morning seeing 15 Rufous-banded Miners, 4 Scale-throated Earthcreepers, 4 excellent Crag Chilias, 4 Grey-flanked Cinclodes, 50 Greater Yellow Finches and 6 Yellow-rumped Siskins. We drove back to Puente Alto to fix our tyre, the space-saver had done its job but had rather restricted where we’d felt able to drive on the tracks at El Yeso. It took an hour or so, quicker than wed thought, and we continued through Santiago and north to La Campana.

road to El Yeso

Emblase El Yeso

above the reservoir was the area for Diademed Sandpiper Plovers

looking back at the reservoir but we just couldn't find the precise spot

Tuesday 02 April. We spent all day birding along the tracks at La Campana seeing just 17 species but they did include good views of both our remaining Tapaculo targets, White-throated and Dusky and we also heard Moustached Turca. The other species seen were 10 California Quail, 15 Chilean Pigeons, a roosting Magellanic Horned Owl, 15 Green-backed Firecrowns, Striped Woodpecker, 2 Dusky-tailed Canasteros, 6 Plain-mantled Tit-Spinetails, White-throated Treerunner, White-crested Eleania, 10 Tufted Tit-Tyrants, 4 Fire-eyed Duicons, Chilean Swallow, 12 House Wrens, 5 Grey-hooded Sierra Finches and 5 Rufous-collared Sparrows. It was cold and after dark our candle kept blowing out until we thought to cut the top off a cola bottle and use as a windshield, the bottom being a handy mug. The joys of camping in poor weather.

dry forest at La Campana

glad this one wasn't in my tent

Wednesday 03 April. We had the morning at La Campana recording a similar selection of species to the previous day including 17 Chilean Pigeons, Red-backed Hawk, 25 Green-backed Firecrowns, 2 Dusky-tailed Canasteros, 3 Plain-mantled Tit-Spinetails, 2 Thorn-tailed Rayaditos, 8 Tufted Tit-Tyrants, 4 Fire-eyed Duicons and 2 White-throated Tapaculos with Dusky and Moustached Turca heard. We drove to Concon, on the coast north of Valparaiso and at the mouth of the Rio Aconcagua. Here we saw a range of wetland and coastal species including 20 Peruvian Boobies, 100 Peruvian Pelcians, White-necked Heron, 6 Chiloe Wigeon, 100 American Oystercatchers, single Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs and Willet, 20 Hudsonian Whimbrel, 100 Franklin’s and 6 Grey Gulls, 350 Black Skimmers, 8 Inca Terns and 6 Austral Negritos. The Franklin’s Gulls were mostly in superb summer plumage while I almost dismissed the Hudsonian Whimbrel being rather casual on hearing their familiar call and only raising my bins to count them forgetting they were different from those at home. Our last stop was the rocky coast at Quintero to the north. Here we found 7 Seaside Cinclodes, the days new bird, 2 Blackish Oystercatchers, Surfbird and 30 Turnstones. Offshore were 2 Humbolt Penguins, 15 Sooty Shearwaters, 100 Peruvian Boobies, 250 Peruvian Pelicans and 200 Neotropic and 10 Guanay Cormorants. We found a cheap place to stay in Quintero.

Thursday 04 April. We started at Quintero seeing 3 Humbolt Penguins, 50 Peruvian Boobies, 100 Peruvian Pelicans, Blackish Oystercatcher, 2 Seaside Cinclodes and 3 Common Duica Finches. We returned to the mouth of the Rio Aconcagua and the dunes to the north where we spent the rest of the day. Roosting on an offshore island were at least 1000 Peruvian Boobies and 250 Peruvian Pelcians and we also saw Pied-billed and 3 White-tufted Grebes, 7 Chiloe Wigeon, a female Lake Duck, White-tailed Kite, 40 Red-gartered, 3 White-winged and 20 White-fronted Coot, 3 Collared Plovers, 150 American Oystercatchers, 10 White-backed Stilts, Rufous-chested Dotterel, Hudsonian Godwit, Chilean Skua, 50 Franklin’s and 3 Grey Gulls, 350 Black Skimmers, 2 Elegant and 6 Inca Terns, 3 Burrowing Owls, Green-backed Firecrown, Wren-like Rushbird, Plain-mantled Tit-Spinetail, great views of Dusky Tapaculo, Many-coloured Rush Tyrant, 4 Tufted Tit-Tyrants, 4 Fire-eyed Duicons, 2 Great Shrike Tyrants, 20 Austral Negritos, 2 female Rufous-tailed Plantcutters, 100 Chilean Swallows and 20 Yellow-winged Blackbirds. The shrike tyrant and plantcutter being new. We left the coast and headed up into the Andes to the ski resort of Portillo at an altitude of just under 2900m. Not surprisingly it was another cold night.

Friday 05 April. Our final day started in the Andes at Portillo. It was expectedly cold at dawn and birds and us were very slow to become active. We slowly birded our way up to the 3800m Paso de la Cumbre before dropping down on multiple hairpins to the Argentinian border before returning. We saw 7 Andean Condors (2 juveniles), 2 Red-tailed Hawks, 2 Mountain Caracaras, a superb White-tailed Hillstar, 20 Rufous-banded Miners, Scale-throated Earthcreeper, 7 Grey-flanked and 4 Bar-winged Cinclodes, 2 Plain-mantled Tit-Spinetails, Cordilleran Canastero, another excellent Moustached Turca, Black-billed Shrike Tyrant, Dark-faced and 2 Cinereous Ground Tyrants, 2 male and 2 female Rufous-tailed Plantcutters, Austral Thrush, 10 Greater Yellow Finches, 25 Grey-hooded and 3 Ash-breasted Sierra Finches, 10 Rufous-collared Sparrows and 20 Yellow-rumped Siskins. I saw the White-tailed Hillstar feeding on an isolated red flower but it shot off before Nick arrived. It was a new bird for us having had a poor view of what was almost certainly one at El Yeso a few days earlier. We searched without finding any other flowers in the immediate vicinity and thought it best to return to keep watch on the flower I’d seen it on. We’d seen a TV programme, almost certainly one of David Attenborough's, suggesting they had fixed circuits and revisited isolated flowers at regular intervals so hoped it was just a question of time. After a long wait, which probably wasn’t actually more than an hour, it returned and gave very good views before shooting off again. Cinereous Ground Tyrant was our other new bird at Portillo and the last of the trip. We drove back down towards Santiago and Estero Lampa. We pulled up by the side of the road and were just leaving the car to look at some duck at the back of a nearby pool when a police car pulled up. Oh dear. Some of our experiences of police in other South American countries had not been encouraging but the officer walked up and offered a hand to shake, the first time that has happened to me. They wanted to know what we were doing, that we were OK and hoped we enjoyed the rest of our day, leaving us almost speechless. Commonest ducks were 100 Yellow-billed Pintail amongst which we added a Silver and 10 Cinammon Teal and 3 Red Shoveler to the trip list as well as seeing 3 Chiloe Wigeon and 8 Speckled Teal. Two White-faced Ibis and a Plumbeous Rail were also new for the trip and other sightings included 2 White-tufted Grebe, 50 Red-gartered and 10 Red-fronted Coot, 34 White-backed Stilts, Many-coloured Rush Tyrant, 5 Austral Negritos and a Long-tailed Meadowlark.

early morning at Laguna del Inca at Portillo

it was cold waiting for the sun to hit us

looking down on Portillo

near Paso de la Cumbre

looking down on Argentina

the far right peak is Aconcagua, 25km away in Argentina and at just under 7000m its the highest peak in the Americas

me near the border

heading back down

impressive railway tunnel

leaving the high Andes

That was it for the trip. We returned to Santiago and the next morning flew to Buenos Aires and home. In a very enjoyable two weeks I’d seen 168 species of which 36 were new, and all for about £1250. Best were the tapaculos, especially Chuaco (the following year a new field guide was published, fittingly it was on the front cover), Magellanic Plover, Des Muir’s Wiretail and Rufous-tailed Plantcutter. Thanks to Nick, as usual, for being there and John and David Cooper for information and encouragement.

[Blogged December 2019]

GAMBIA 2001: 26 October-6 November

Introduction. I was very keep to see Egyptian Plover and the Gambia seemed the easiest place to do so, at least during what seemed to be a narrow window towards the end of the year when they appeared on the Gambia River in the far east of the country. I wasn’t able to find others interested, my usual travel companion Nick not being able to have days off in term time, so I ended up going on a Naturetrek Bargain Birding trip. It was affordable, although not quite my idea of a bargain, but joining instructions indicated I’d be in a group of 16 plus guides. This blog is my take on the trip dredging up unreliable memories and illustrated with most of a film of digitised instamatic photos.

Friday 26 October. A morning departure from Gatwick saw us arriving at Banjul Airport early afternoon. Once through and were taken to the Senegambia Beach Hotel. I dumped my bag and spent the remaining daylight hours birding in the fairly extensive hotel grounds seeing seven new birds, the best being Bearded Barbet, White-crowned Robin Chat, Yellow-crowned Gonolek and Lavender Waxbills. Also excellent views of a Blue-spotted Wood Dove and Red-billed Hornbill. A decent start made even better by my ‘room share’ Paul being the best I could ask for, although our UK leader Ted wasn’t. He appeared in the hotel grounds after an hour and immediately called me over for a robinchat that was actually a gonolek feeding on the ground. Oh dear. It transpired that he’d only been to coastal Gambia before, hadn’t a telescope, torch or, perhaps harshly, much of a clue. Hopefully our local guides would be better.

Saturday 27 October. I birded in the grounds for an hour before breakfast which didn’t start until 07:00. We left the hotel at 08:00, by which time it was already quite hot, and with a keen young Gambian guide Sering visited Kotu Creek, Bund Road and Old Cape Road stopping somewhere unmemorable for lunch. We saw lots of birds, I recorded 120 species in total, including 14 that were new for me, the best being Senegal Thick-knee, Senegal Parrot, Blue-breasted Kingfisher, the much anticipated Blue-bellied Roller, Moho, Yellow-billed Shrike and Piapiac.

Sunday 28 October. Today we were going to Abuko Forest Reserved, the jewel in the coastal Gambian birding crown, but were again leaving at 08:00, sadly no early or packed breakfasts on this trip. We picked up seasoned guide Soloman for the day and arrived at Abuko soon after 09:00, an hour after the reserve had opened. The entrance sign said serious birdwatching groups could enter at 06:00 by prior arrangement but sadly this wasn’t close to being a serious birdwatching trip as given the heat we’d missed the best three hours of the day. We set off along the main trail, leaders at the front and a crocodile of 12 following. This might be OK in open country but was far from ideal in thick forest. News of what the leaders were seeing was very slow to filter back by which time the bird had usually long gone and the leaders moved on. When I did work my way to the front and stopped to look for something (usually unsuccessfully) I was soon at the back again while everyone else piled past. Very frustrating. Late morning we came out of the forest at the other end of the reserve. Our bus was there and were told we were going to lunch. I’d seen a juvenile White-backed Night Heron and 6 Violet and a Green Turaco but not Yellow-bellied Hyliota or Western Bluebill which was one of my top target birds and only possible at Abuko. Solomon had glimpsed one on our march through Abuko but I’m not sure anyone else had. I enquired of him what the plan was for the rest of the day. After lunch we were going to look for coursers in dried up rice fields at Lamin and would not be returning to Abuko (our itinerary mentioned having a full day there. As lunch was to be a prolonged affair, no point rushing in the heat of the day, and we were returning past Abuko I asked to be picked up back by the entrance to at least give me a couple more hours there. Three others decided to do likewise and we slowly walked back having excellent views of 4 male Western Bluebills on the way, a much more enjoyable experience. Lamin rice fields were flooded, something Solomon should have been aware of, and so completely unsuitable for anything other than egrets although maybe seeing coursers would have been rather hopeful anyway? We saw a Black Heron but little else of real interest there and would have done better returning to Abuko fo rthe afternoon, although perhaps not as a group of 16. We were back at the Senegambia before dark where another circuit of the grounds, enjoyable as it was, produced much the same as before. I’d seen some nice birds including Pygmy Kingfisher, Red-necked Falcon, Levaillant’s Cuckoo and Snowy and White-crowned Robin Chats but we could have done so much better with a more motivated local guide. The next day I was to learn that we’d twice driven past a pair of roosting Northern White-faced Scops Owls in Lamin without bothering to stop to look for them. Shocking. Fortunately we would not see Solomon again.

Monday 29 October. I had my bag packed before dawn, spent 90 minutes in the hotel grounds and immediate vicinity seeing the usual birds and grabbed a few rolls for breakfast before leaving. I was stopped for taking food out of the breakfast area and embarrassed the guy on the door by handing him my half eaten roll. We were leaving the coast for six days with Sering as our guide, today driving inland to Tendaba. Our first stop was Pirang where we found 2 Black Crowned Cranes, a main target, they and an African Pied Hornbill were new. Continuing to Tendaba Camp a superb pair of Abyssinian Ground Hornbills by the road was another important target which showed well. Birding the acacia scrub at Tendaba in the afternoon produced Grey-headed Bush Shrike, White-shouldered Black Tit and Bush Petronia, the last two being new. Other smart birds seen during the day included 3 Bataleurs, 4 Swallow-tailed and 3 Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters, 3 Rufous-crowned, 4 Blue-bellied, 12 Abyssinian and 2 Broad-billed Rollers and 3 Mohos.

driving inland

Tuesday 30 October. We spent all day at Tendaba with a morning boat ride along the river’s creeks and an afternoon jeep safari in the nearby acacia scrub and woodland of Kiang West National Park. In addition I birded around the camp in my free time and skipped lunch. The creeks produced 3 Goliath and 2 White-backed Night Herons, African Hawk Eagle, 2 White-throated Bee-eaters and far less impressive, but new, 8 Mouse-brown Sunbirds. The acacia was more productive and I ended the day with 13 new birds, the best being Grasshopper Buzzard, Stone Partridge, 5 Double-spurred Francolins, 2 Black-billed Wood Doves, 3 White-fronted Black Chats, male Exclamatory Paradise Whydah and 2 Brown-rumped Buntings. We saw a small barbet I couldn’t readily place which Sering identified it as Gambia’s first Hairy-crested Barbet. It made sense. I’d seen them in Kenya some years previously. Oher nice birds seen included Grey Kestrel, flight views of 2 Abyssinian Ground Hornbills and male Painted Snipe and African Golden Oriole. We were out until the light started to fade. I was in the first of two 4WDs and we drove back slightly ahead of the other but didn’t realize it had stopped until we were back at camp. They returned 10 minutes later, by which time it was completely dark, having seen Four-banded Sandgrouse by the track, probably the bird I most wanted to see in Gambia after Egyptian Plover. Paul had been in the second vehicle and told me the area was about a mile or two from the lodge but we were leaving promptly at 09:00 the following morning. I packed my bag ready for departure and told Paul I’d skip breakfast and be at the bus just before it left.

Tendaba

Tendaba boat trip

Wednesday 31 October. I was up and heading for the sandgrouse area just before dawn. It seemed like a long shot and so it proved. It took about 45 minutes of fairly brisk walking to get there and I wandered around for half an hour before heading back, arriving at 08:55 just in time to collect my bag. I wasn’t even last onto the bus. No sandgrouse but 5 Double-spurred Francolin, 5 Black Crowned Cranes and a Fine-spotted Woodpecker were some compensation. We stopped on the banks of the River Gambia at Soma where we saw our first Egyptian Plover. It was superb, even better than I was expecting, and I could have watched it for hours but was called back onto the bus after little more than 10 minutes. We had a way to go and would certainly see more although I suspected not being late for lunch was the main consideration. We continued on to Bird Safari Camp, by the river at Janjangbureh. We birded around the camp seeing 3 Stone Partridges, 2 Violet Turacos, 8 Bruce’s Green Pigeons, Moho, Grey-headed Bush Shrike and 2 Pied-winged Swallows. Just before dusk I had brilliant views of a male and two female Four-banded Sandgrouse near the camp. Superb and most welcome after the morning’s failure. They even knocked Egyptian Plover off top spot, if only temporarily. An intermittently calling African Scops Owl refused to show after dark.

Thursday 01 November. The African Scops Owl was calling before dawn but had stopped before I was ready to go out and look for it. Around Bird Safari Camp I saw 2 pairs of Four-banded Sandgrouse and Yellow-throated Leaflove. After breakfast we continued on towards Basse stopping at Bansang Quarry and its breeding Red-throated Bee-eaters. We saw over 100! Also there were 2 Mottled Spinetails, Red-winged Ptylia, 6 Yellow-fronted Canaries and 3 Cinnamon-breasted Buntings. We arrived at Basse in heavy rain and was disappointed to find just one Egyptian Plover although it did give superb views on the town jetty. Other enjoyable sightings during the day were 3 Violet Turacos, 2 Levaillant’s Cuckoos, 12 Abyssinian Rollers and 2 male Exclamatory Paradise Whydahs.

Bee-eater nest holes at Bansang Quarry

instamatic-scoping at Red-throated Bee-eaters at Bansang Quarry

a much smarter bird than these images suggest

our accommodation at Basse, torrential rain turning the entrance path into a river

people and livestock ferry across the Gambia River at Basse

the main jetty Basse

good for washing and Egyptian Plover

Friday 02 November. We birded around Basse in the morning before driving back to Janjanbureh Bird Safari Camp. Seven brilliant Egyptian Plovers were seen on the riverbank in and around Basse. In the paddyfields nearby we saw 2 Four-banded Sandgrouse, 2 Giant Kingfishers and 15 Red-throated, 20 European and 12 Northern Carmine Bee-eaters and 15 Quailfinch. Two Black Coucals near the Janjanbureh ferry were new for me as were 2 Western Banded Snake Eagles at Bird Camp. Other good birds seen were 3 Stone Partridges, 3 Painted Snipe, 6 Senegal Thick-knees, 7 Black-headed Plovers, another 9 Four-banded Sandgrouse (groups of 2, 2 & 5) and 20 Abyssinian Rollers. After our evening meal and armed with torch and tapes I tracked down and had good views of 2 African Scops Owls, a couple of the others tagging along.

Egyptian Plover at Basse

while the above images taken through the telescope came out quite well, this and the next were at a strange angle, hence not being rectangular

Saturday 03 November. An African Scops Owl was calling before dawn but having had good views the previous evening I was happy to ignore it. A quick look around Bird Camp before breakfast produced 4 Stone Partridges, excellent views of a pair Four-banded Sandgrouse and a Moho. The sandgrouse were in the area I had first seen them on our earlier visit, my concern over missing them at Tendaba was becoming a distant memory as I had now seen them four days running. After breakfast we saw the 2 Western Banded Snake Eagles before boarding a smallish boat and travelling about 15km to Sapo by river. It was disappointing with nothing of particular interest seen. Our bus was waiting for us and we drove a short distance to Jahally marsh and rice fields where 2 White-headed Vultures and a very impressive juvenile Martial Eagle were the highlights. It as then a long drive back to Banjul and the Senegambia Beach Hotel where we arrived after dark. The door of Paul and my room wouldn’t lock and with all our gear there we didn’t want to leave it unlocked. I stayed in while Paul went to dinner and by the someone came and fixed it I was too tired to bother about food. My first, and as it turned out only, day without a new bird but at least we’d seen a few nice things on what was basically a travel day. I’d happily have skipped the boat trip though.

sandgrouse spot at Bird Safari Camp

weaver nests from the Gambia River trip were about as good as it got

Jahally Marsh or somewhere similar

returning to Banjul

local bus, I'm glad it wasn't ours

Sunday 04 November. My usual pre-breakfast wander wasn’t very productive despite wandering a bit further afield than just the Senegambia grounds. With Sering still guiding us we drove into Banjul where we took a ferry across the mouth of the Gambia River to Barra on the northern side. Seawatching from the ferry produced 2 Grey Phalaropes and a juvenile Pomarine and 3 Arctic Skuas. On the other side we travelled a short distance inland to Berending where we saw 2 Black Wood Hoopoes, a new bird for me that I’d previously missed up river. Two Four-banded Sandgrouse flew over while we also saw Sacred Ibis, 2 Tawny Eagles, Great Spotted and 5 Diederic Cuckoos, Striped Kingfisher, Plain-backed Pipit, 6 Northern Anteater Chats and 4 Pin-tailed Whydahs, all of which were new for the trip. Since we headed up river I’d been asking Sering about Northern White-faced Owl and had been shocked to learn that when with Solomon we had twice driven past a roosting pair in Lamin without stopping to look. Sering offered to take us to look for them if an opportunity arose when we were back on the coast and returning from Barra with an hour of daylight provided it. Sering arranged for three of us to hire a taxi and jumped in with us. It was 12km to Lamin which took about half an hour. We stopped on the main street and immediately two small boys came up and asked if we’d come to look at the owls! The 2 Northern White-faced Owls were roosting in a tree on the main street and couldn’t have been easier to see. A brilliant end to the day thanks to Sering.

on the quay at Banjul

boarding the ferry to Barra

speedboat heading for Banjul

the open sea and a smaller, crowded ferry

although our ferry was a bit of a squash too

Monday 05 November. Our final full day. After a look around the hotel (grounds, offshore and nearby rice fields) and breakfast we headed for Tanji and Brufut Woods. I was hoping to see Senegal Batis and we, or rather Sering, heard one but it was distant and we couldn’t track it down. Definitely something we should have seen if we’d been on site before it became too hot. The savanna woodland was nice but birding was slow despite clocking up 100 species by the end of the day. I saw 2 new birds when we returned to Tanji after dinner, 4 Long-tailed and a female Standard-winged Nightjars. Other highlights during the day were 2 Stone Partridges, 4 Painted Snipe, 7 Senegal Thick-knees, another Pomarine Skua, 2 Yellow-legged Gulls, Mottled Spinetail, 4 Swallow-tailed Bee-eaters, African Pied Hornbill, Red-bellied Paradise Flycatcher, 4 Black-crowned Tchagras and 6 Yellow-crowned Gonoleks.

Tuesday 06 November. After a look around the hotel and breakfast we birded near Yundum before catching our afternoon flight home. Two new birds on our last day took my total for the trip to 65 (and 275 species seen) although both were Cisticolas, Siffling and 3 Rufous. Other nice birds were Black-shouldered Kite, 3 Black-headed Plovers, Pygmy Kingfisher, 4 Bearded Barbets, a male Fine-spotted and 2 Brown-backed Woodpeckers and a Moho. To get me in the mood to return home we also saw single Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and House Sparrow. I’d seen most of the birds I’d hoped to, in no small part due to the expert guiding of Sering, but was disappointed by how the tour fitted around meal times rather than the reverse. It certainly cost us some birds although most of the participants probably weren’t overly concerned by this. It was my first experience of a bird tour and had been moderately successful, although it was to be 15 years before I’d go on another one.

[blogged December 2019]