Friday, March 14, 2008 - Kingfisher heaven in Mole, Ghana

We were walking on the Samole Floodplains in Mole National Park one afternoon and found a small water body with a lot of activity all around. Red-billed Firefinches, Orange-cheeked Waxbills, Red-cheeked Cordon-bleus came in to drink. Then an African Pygmy-Kingfisher appeared and sat motionless in a bush. Not much later a colourful Blue-breasted Kingfisher flew in and perched in a tree in front of us.

We watched it hunting for a while and then walked to the other side of the pool. There we first discovered a Malachite Kingfisher sitting atop a branch above the water. Not much later we realised that another kingfisher is sitting motionless in the shade. To our great surprise it was a Shining-blue Kingfisher, a species we haven't expected to see due to its shy habits.


We were very content seeing 4 species of kingfisher in 30 minutes. Besides the kingfishers we also recorded a Saddle-billed Stork, several Hammerkops and Hadada Ibises, White-faced Whistling-Ducks, Striated and Night Herons around the pool.

To make our kingfisher list of Mole even better the next day we recorded Giant Kingfisher, Grey-headed Kingfisher and Striped Kingfisher (see pic).


A trip report with the list of species seen will soon be posted on Ecotours website Birding in Hungary and Eastern Europe.