We got a late deal via Teletext - £460 for 2 weeks B & B at the Fajara Hotel. The hotel was fine, but B & B was all we really used it for. Invariably we went out in the evening, frequenting one of several very good restaurants in the vicinity. "Mama's" gets top marks - a Swiss run establishment, their "eat all you want" buffets were just the job after a full day in the field with nothing but a few bananas for company. It's situated at the junction of the Atlantic Road and the Pipeline Road (to Serrakunda), by the Total garage. Others worth a mention were Francisco's and the Bamboo Chinese restaurant. And it's worth noting that we had no problems with "Banjul belly" at all.
GA was slightly surprised to find that the prices for the various taxis were practically unchanged from his last visit in 1995! The green Tourist taxis were still the most expensive by a street: we split one with 3 other birders to get to Abuko and back and were charged 370 Ds (In March 2002, the exchange rate was 25 dalasi to the pound). Subsequently, we used the green and yellow bush taxis to get to Serrakunda (20 Ds) and then took the "tanker-tanks" (about 2Ds!) out to Abuko, Lamin or wherever. The cheap approach to travel in the Gambia may not be to everyones taste, but I think it definitely adds something to the whole experience!
We used a couple of guides for a few days. Depending on where you're going, prices vary from about £20 to £30+ for a full day in the field; 2-3 day trips up-river were also available from c£60. The tourist taxis will get you to many of the places slightly cheaper than if you were using a guide, but if you wanted to visit 2 or even 3 sites in a day, I suspect the price would rocket and you'd have to do some pretty hard haggling to get a reasonable deal. As has been mentioned many times by other visitors to the Gambia, the quality of the guides is extremely variable. While they will all say that they can show you "many beautiful birds", a good proportion of them would struggle to tell the difference between a wood hoopoe and a wood sandpiper. We used 2 - a guy called Mohammed, who 3 other birders at the hotel had met on the Kotu bridge and Baba, who seems to be pretty well-known amongst visiting birders. He operates out of the Palma Rima hotel. Both clearly knew their stuff, but we found that neither were infallible. Mohammed will presumably continue to ply his trade from the Kotu bridge. Baba actually has a contact address, which is as follows: c/o P. M. B 513 Serrakunda, The Gambia, West Africa. He gave me 2 fax numbers: 00220-484100 and 00220-465544. Obviously, there are others who could provide an equally good service.
We failed to get up river on this trip for one reason or other. On GA's trip in '95, Basse and Tendaba were visited using public transport, but this time the main road from Yundum to Brikama and beyond was in such a state due to repairs that this really didn't seem like a sensible option at all. It's a long enough journey under normal circumstances, but in those conditions would have been horrendous.
Temperatures were markedly hotter than in Dec/Nov - some days it must have been pushing 40 degrees C in the early afternoon. WAY too hot for birding - something to bear in mind if planning a full day in the field at this time of year.
And of course, the old chestnut of hassle. Yes, it is a pain, but it really is just restricted to the hotel areas. Get away from these and the people are genuinely friendly, with seemingly no hidden (or not so hidden) agendas. The secret is not to lose your cool. We did have at least one occasion where a couple of characters got quite abusive towards us when we didn't go along with their scams (we stayed cool!). "Racists" was one of the insults levelled at us, and this does seem to be a fairly new and rather disturbing development. But this was an isolated incident and certainly didn't detract from our enjoyment of the country. Right. The birds.
The Kotu area.
Most people's first experience of Gambian birding. This area of coastal scrub, mangroves, rice paddies and hotel gardens provides a relatively easy introduction to West African birding.
As the Fajara hotel complex runs down to the beach, we were able to do a brief seawatch most mornings before breakfast (dawn was c.0700, with breakfast available pretty much any time after this).
Terns were seen on all seawatches, generally all flying north: common tern was indeed the commonest, with
caspian, royal, sandwich and
lesser crested in order of abundance.
Little terns were noted on a couple of days, as were
pomarine skua, gannet, slender-billed gull and
osprey.
Kotu golf course lies between the Fajara hotel and the Kotu stream (in fact one of the holes is on an island in the stream!). The short grass of the fairways is attractive to the likes of
black-headed plover, Senegal wattled plover, long-tailed glossy starling and
piapiac. The areas of scrub and trees can turn up a surprising variety of birds. Some of the more regular species we encountered included
green wood-hoopoe, splendid and
beautiful sunbirds, black-billed wood dove, bearded barbet, senegal parrot, bronze manikin, yellow-billed shrike, little bee-eater, brown and
black-cap babblers, grey woodpecker, red-billed hornbill, double-spurred francolin and
blue-bellied roller.
Walking straight across the golf course from Fajara, you will arrive at the Kotu stream, a tidal creek which is bordered by mangroves and paddyfields. Several species of Palearctic waders are commonly found along the stream, together with
senegal thick-knee. Good numbers of
grey-headed gulls roost on the mud at low tide. Various
herons (western reef, green and
squacco) and
egrets (black, great white, cattle and
intermediate) are easily observed here. An immature
white-backed night heron was reportedly roosting in a tree overlooking the island hole of the golf course, but we couldn't find it. The Kotu bridge is famous as a place where the bird guides tout for business. It is also good for all the aforementioned birds, plus hirundines like
wire-tailed and
red-chested swallows and
kingfishers like
giant, pied and
malachite. The patch of mangroves and trees on the left between the bridge and the first hotel; and the gardens of the Bakotu hotel (there's a small set of steps to the right of the main entrance that takes you along a path through the mangroves to the back gate) are also worth a look. We had
oriole warbler, grey-backed camaroptera and
northern crombec in the trees by the bridge and
snowy-crowned robin chat, woodland kingfisher, northern black flycatcher and
african thrush in the hotel gardens. Across the bridge from the hotels, you have a choice of directions. Following the road for 500m or so will bring you to the entrance to the Kotu sewage works. This is a rough track under some large trees, leading to two large "settling" ponds and a few dry/empty ponds. You will be accosted very soon after your arrival by an old man who will ask you for 5Ds per person to wander round. This fragrant environment has plenty of waders like
spur-winged plovers and
wood and
marsh sandpiper. A flock of c.180 white-faced whistling ducks were a feature on every visit, as were small numbers of
white-winged black terns. 10
pink-backed pelicans were present on 1 day.
Swifts like
little and
palm were regular and the surrounding scrub held such things as
fork-tailed drongo, various starlings and seed-eaters. Barry Wright had an Allen's gallinule here in March 2003.
Back at the bridge, there are a further two options. Firstly, there is a dirt track that runs between the Kotu creek mangroves on your right and a large area of paddyfields on your left. We regularly saw
broad-billed and
rufous-crowned rollers on the overhead wires at this point,
little bee-eater is common and
night herons roost in the mangroves. The dirt track runs to the track down to the Palm Beach (?) hotel complex. Beyond this track is a small area of saltmarsh, with an isolated clump of mangroves. An early evening wander round this area produced a couple of
painted snipe on two occasions. Beyond this is the Kotu Point scrub. Since GA's last visit, large areas of scrub have been cleared and cultivated, reducing their interest. That said, there are still
long-tailed and
standard-winged nightjars present (although we only saw the former). We also saw
stone partridge, d-s francolin, black-shouldered kite, pearl-spotted owlet, northern black flycatcher and
african thrush. From here you can walk back to the Kotu bridge along the cycle track. This runs through the area of cultivation and many of the aforementioned species can be seen. Additional regular species here would include
gymnogene, grey plantain eater and
white-billed buffalo weaver. Just as you come to the first hotels (walking from Kotu point/Palma Rima) there is a large, lily-covered pool that has numerous species of heron and wader, as well as a good population of
African jacana.
Atlantic Road/Cape Point/Camalou Corner
The Atlantic Road runs parallel to the coast between Fajara and Bakau and has numerous large houses (eg. British and American Embassies) with gardens. Cape Point is an area of dunes, cultivation, mangroves and tidal creeks beside Bakau and Camalou corner (or "stink corner" as it is known locally) has marshy cultivation on one side and mangroves and tidal creeks on the other.
The first section of the Atlantic Road provides easy birding from Fajara first or last thing if you're fed up getting hassled around the golf course. The gardens have plenty of big trees that are a magnet to all sorts of things. Highlights included several
pearl-spotted owlets, yellow-throated leaflove, gambian puff-back, grey hornbill, a pair of
red-necked kestrels (roosting by the big water tower near the Fajara hotel) and
african silverbill. The Medical Research Centre grounds are open to visiting birders and are well worth a visit. Ask at the gate-house for times when access is permitted, as I'm afraid I can't remember the times/days that you are allowed in. We didn't go in this time, but GA did on his last visit and saw
woodland kingfisher and
scarlet-chested sunbird amongst other things. Legend has it that chestnut-bellied starling can be seen here, but I don't know anyone who has!
At Cape Point, highlights included a roost of c250
caspian terns, with a few
royal terns and
slender-billed gulls amongst them. Waders, herons and osprey are also to be found here.
The cultivation/grassy areas can hold yellow-throated longclaw and black-crowned finch-lark, though we were unlucky with both species.
Abbyssinian roller, swallow-tailed bee-eater, grey kestrel and
crested lark were present though. The large baobabs that line the road to Camalou were good for Palearctic migrants, including
woodchat shrike, tree pipit and
subalpine warbler. The marshy fields are good for herons and (reputedly) for painted snipe. We also saw
sacred ibis and
gull-billed tern here.
Abuko
Having acclimatised for a few days at the coast, Abuko is the place that most birders head for next. This reserve is a fragment of Gambian riverine forest with scrub savannah. The reserve is open from 8am until 6pm and is easily reached from the coast, either by a taxi from the hotels or by getting a bush taxi to Serrakunda and then another that goes to Lamin. Entrance to the park was 37Ds with an additional 50Ds if you wanted to use the photographic hide in the Animal Orphanage ( a fairly sad zoo affair). The hide is well worth a visit as it overlooks a small drinking pool which during our visit attracted
pygmy kingfisher, western bluebill, green-crested touraco and
little greenbul amongst others, as well as several squirrels, red colobus monkeys and a large Nile monitor lizard. The other main focal point in the reserve is the crocodile pool. An information centre (where guides can be hired) with a balcony; and a hide overlook the area. The surrounding trees house colonies of breeding
african darter, black-headed herons and
black-crowned night herons, while there is at least one pair of
white-backed night herons.
Jacana, black crake and various kingfishers are regularly seen and it is also a good spot for violet touraco. Overhead, hirundines include
fanti saw-wing; and raptors like
white-backed vulture, long-crested hawk eagle and
gabar goshawk.
Birding the forest was often hard work, but could be rewarding. We found both
western bluebill and
grey-headed bristlebill by post 14, just beyond the path down to the hide at the crocodile pool and
white-crested helmet shrike in the same sort of area. Other regularly noted species included both species of
paradise flycatcher, common wattle-eye, greater honeyguide, yellow-chested apalis, blue-spotted wood dove, snowy- and
white-crowned robin chats, buff-spotted and
grey woodpeckers and
black-necked weaver.
Sightings of other wildlife (outside the zoo) is usually restricted to monkeys, crocs and lizards, though there are a few antelopes, including bush buck and we had awesome views of a chamaeleon crossing a path!
Senegambia Hotel gardens
5 minutes taxi ride from Kotu is the Senegambia Hotel. The grounds are open to non-residents and offer similar species to those found in the Kotu area. We didn't see anything new here, but a plethora of leaky taps act as a magnet to birds and can provide stunning views of otherwise skulking species like
gonolek, both
robin chats and
senegal coucal. At c. 11 o'clock every day, they feed the vultures - an opportunity to get up close to
hooded vultures. Didn't see anything else other than
pied crows and
cattle egrets though.
Bijilo Forest Park
Situated a short walk from the Senegambia hotel complex or, if coming along the coast road to Tanji from Kotu, the first right turn beyond the Senegambia turn off, this reserve is a mixture of rhun palm forest and coastal scrub. There is a nominal fee of c.10Ds to get in and we spent pretty much a whole day here. Initially it was very quiet, with more monkeys seen than birds. However, we managed to find a few feeding flocks and highlights included 2
mohos, snowy-crowned robin chat, crombec, cardinal woodpecker, black-crowned tchagra and
lanner falcon.
Tanji fishing village
Further along the coast road from Bijilo, this can be reached by bush-taxi easily enough, but can be a problem getting back from, as bush taxis coming back from Yundum are invariably full. This is one occasion that we used Baba and his driver.
The beach at the fishing village holds a large roost of gulls and terns, with many shore waders here too.
The
gulls were predominantly
grey-headed, but amongst them we found 2
kelp gulls, a
mediterranean gull and good numbers of
slender-billed gulls.
Royal, caspian and
little terns were roosting on a lagoon a short walk along the beach (Kotu direction) and we also had 2
white-fronted plovers in this area. The coastal scrub inland is also a reserve, although we didn't really spend any time here.
Mandina Ba
We combined this site with the next 3, teaming up with 3 other birders and using Mohammed as the guide. This trip cost us 250Ds per person. Mandina Ba is an area of paddyfields and cultivation and a stake-out for
hadada ibis. We saw at least 4 here along with plenty of other herons, egrets and
sacred ibis. Other birds included
african golden oriole, yellow-billed oxpecker and
bruce's green pigeon.
Pirang shrimp ponds
The site for
black crowned crane, this complex of (mainly dry) ponds is near the river bank several miles up river from the coast. We had to sweat for the cranes but were eventually rewarded when 3 flew in and landed. We didn't actually see a great lot here, but notable was a small flock of
quailfinch, yellow-billed stork, lots of
namaqua doves and 5
blue-cheeked bee-eaters. The area is reputedly good for hirundines, but we didn't see a single one!
Faraba Banta bush track
A dirt track running through bushy savannah, with some areas of woodland, this is a raptor hotspot. We managed 9 species, including
tawny eagle, dark chanting goshawk, (African) short-toed eagle and
grasshopper buzzard, but dipped on 3 of the main target species, namely martial eagle, bataleur and brown snake eagle. Ho hum. Consolation in the form of
striped kingfisher, yellow penduline tit, vieillot's barbet and
yellow-fronted canary.
Yundum
Our final stop of the day - since GA's visit in '95, this area has changed out of all recognition. Pretty much all the scrub and wooded savannah has been cleared for cultivation and new housing. Birds are still around though and the cultivated fields either side of the road are frequented by
temminck's coursers (we saw 2). Other species recorded here included
singing cisticola, red-winged warbler, whinchat, wryneck and
black-shouldered kite. Yundum would be easy enough to visit using bush taxis, as it's now linked to the Kotu area by a smart new road.
Selety water holes
Situated in the border area with Senegal, these are a series of water holes by the road (dry when we visited) and surrounding savannah woodland. This was our full day out with Baba and his driver. Cost at around 700 Ds - quite steep really. He promised Senegal batis and red-shouldered cuckoo-shrike, but unfortunately failed to deliver either. We saw plenty of birds though, the best being
Wahlberg's eagle, violet touraco, yellow white-eye, yellow-fronted tinkerbird, ussher's spinetail, little weaver, pied-winged swallow and
lesser blue-eared and
purple glossy starlings.
Marakissa
We visited this site with Baba on our way back from Selety. It's situated a short distance from Brikama, but I can't really give directions. It was a stake-out for verraux's eagle owl and while we saw the nest, there was no sign of the birds. Baba also thought we'd see red-winged cuckoo-shrike and orange-breasted waxbill here - we didn't! Best birds from this area were
black wood-hoopoe, african green pigeon, lesser honeyguide, African hobby and a stunning female
black-bellied bustard, flushed from the roadside.
Lamin Lodge
We took a bush taxi from Serrakunda to Lamin (3Ds!) and walked down to the river (the Lodge is signed from the road). Fairly standard birds -
green wood-hoopoe, yellow-billed shrike, grey-backed camaroptera, fine-spotted woodpecker, pied hornbill etc - and one or two Palearctic migrants including
melodious warbler and
redstart. At the Lodge we took a rip-off boat trip along the river, hoping for some of the mangrove specialities that occur in the area, like
goliath heron and
mouse-brown sunbird. In retrospect, we'd have been as well sitting at the Lodge with a drink, scanning the river! However, our landing on the "secret island" did produce a fine
scarlet-chested sunbird. The captain of our boat gave us a brief guided tour of the area (which was actually quite interesting), while his "crew" sloped off to swig palm wine with the locals! Not recommended!
Species Lists
Little Grebe - Up to 14 at Kotu sewage ponds
Gannet - A single on 12th
Long-tailed Cormorant - Common. Seen in all suitable areas
African Darter - Up to 10 on all visits to Abuko
White Pelican - 1-2 on three dates. All fly-overs
Pink-backed Pelican - Up to 10 in the Kotu area. 4 at Pirang
Night Heron - Small numbers in the Kotu area. Common breeding species at Abuko
White-backed Night Heron - 2 adults at Abuko crocodile pool on 18th
Squacco Heron - Small numbers in most suitable habitat
Cattle Egret - Very common
Striated Heron - Regular records of 1-2 in suitable habitat
Black Egret - Small numbers in any suitable habitat
Little Egret - Small numbers daily
Western Reef Heron - Small numbers in the Kotu/Cape Point area
Intermediate Egret - 1-3 at Kotu, Mandina Ba and Marakissa
Great White Egret - Small numbers seen on most days
Purple Heron - 1-2 on four dates
Grey Heron - 1-5 most days
Black-headed Heron - Up to 15 at Abuko. Smaller numbers in suitable habitat
Hamerkop - Common. Recorded on most days
Yellow-billed Stork - 2 at Pirang
Sacred Ibis - 1-3 in the Kotu/Camalou area. A single at Mandina Ba
Hadada Ibis - At least 4 at Mandina Ba
Eurasian Spoonbill - A juvenile at Kotu bridge on 8th
White-faced Whistling Duck - A flock of 180 on the Kotu sewage ponds
Black-shouldered Kite - 1-3 on eight dates
Black Kite - Common. Daily records
Palm-nut Vulture - 1-3 on seven dates
Hooded Vulture - Very common
White-backed Vulture - Singles at Abuko (11th), Selety and the Faraba Banta bush track
"Beaudoin's" Short-toed Eagle - A single on the Faraba Banta bush track
African Harrier-hawk - Recorded on most dates. 6 on 13th
Marsh Harrier - Singles at Abuko and Lamin Lodge
Dark-chanting Goshawk 1-2 on four dates in suitable habitat inland
Gabar Goshawk - A single at Abuko on 18th
Shikra - The commonest small raptor and recorded on most days
Grasshopper Buzzard - A single on the Faraba Banta bush track
Lizard Buzzard - 1-2 recorded most days
Wahlberg's Eagle - A single dark phase bird at Selety
Tawny Eagle - 6 on the Faraba Banta bush track
Long-crested Eagle - Singles at Abuko and the Faraba Banta bush track
Osprey - 1-2 regular on the coast, with a single at Abuko on 18th.
Common Kestrel - A single at Cape Point
Grey Kestrel - 1-2 in the Kotu/Atlantic Road area, 1 at Mandina Ba, 3 at Pirang and 1 at Bijilo
Red-necked Falcon - A pair roosting by the water tower next to the Fajara Hotel
African Hobby - A single at Marakissa
Lanner Falcon - 3 along the Faraba Banta bush track, 2 at Bijilo, Selety and Abuko
Double-spurred Francolin - Quite common along the coastal strip
Stone Partridge - 3 in the Kotu Point scrub at dusk and 2 at Selety
Black Crake - Up to 4 at Abuko. A single at Marakissa
Black-crowned Crane - 3 at Pirang
Black-bellied Bustard - A female flushed from the roadside at Marakissa
African Jacana - Fairly common in suitable habitat. 15+ on the lily covered pond by the Kotu cycle track
Painted Snipe - 2 birds seen on two occasions amongst mangroves and saltmarsh near the Palm Beach hotel complex
Black-winged Stilt - Common in suitable habitat
Temminck's Courser - 2 of these smashing little waders in the fields at Yundum Little ringed plover - 3 at Cape Point on 10th, with up to 4 in the Kotu area.
Ringed Plover - Small numbers in the Kotu, Cape Point and Tanji areas.
White-fronted Plover - 2 at Tanji. Chasing and catching fiddler crabs!
Grey Plover - Small numbers on the coast.
Senegal Wattled Plover - Common. Daily records.
Black-headed Plover - Regular records from the Kotu golf course and other suitable habitat.
Spur-winged Plover - Common. Daily records.
Common Snipe - A single by the Kotu bridge on the 12th.
Black-tailed Godwit - Singles at Cape Point and Lamin Lodge
Bar-tailed Godwit - Small numbers at coastal sites.
Whimbrel - Regular records along the coast.
Eurasian Curlew - A single at Cape point on 10th.
Redshank - Small numbers at coastal sites.
Marsh Sandpiper - Singles on 3 dates at Kotu and Cape Point.
Greenshank - Small numbers at coastal sites. A single at Mandina Ba.
Wood Sandpiper - common in suitable habitat. Up to 35 in the Kotu area.
Common Sandpiper - Small numbers recorded in any suitable habitat.
Turnstone - Regular records at coastal sites.
Sanderling - 50+ at Tanji.
Little Stint - 4 at Cape Point on 10th.
Curlew Sandpiper - 6 at Cape Point on 10th.
Ruff - A single at Kotu sewage ponds on 13th.
Pomarine Skua - 3 flying north past the Fajara hotel on 12th and 14th.
Lesser Black-backed Gull - Regular off-shore in small numbers.
Kelp Gull - An adult and a probable sub-adult at Tanji.
Mediterranean Gull - A bird moulting into 2nd summer plumage at Tanji.
Black-headed Gull - Small numbers in most gull flocks.
Grey-headed Gull - Common on the coast.
Slender-billed Gull - 2 north past the Fajara hotel on 14th, 4 at Cape Point on 17th and 70+ at Tanji.
Gull-billed Tern - 2 at Camalou Corner, a single at Kotu on 17th and 3 at Lamin Lodge.
Caspian Tern - Regular off-shore, with up to 50 from the Fajara hotel. A roost of 220+ at Cape Point on 10th.
Royal Tern - Small numbers from the Fajara hotel, with 25 north on 14th. 4 in the Caspian tern roost at Cape Point on 10th and 35 at Tanji.
Lesser Crested Tern - 3 north on 14th and 5 north on 17th
Sandwich Tern - Small numbers off-shore on all sea watches
Common Tern - The commonest tern! Often several hundred moving north off-shore.
Little Tern - 29 north past the Fajara hotel on 17th
White-winged Black Tern - Up to 5 at Kotu sewage ponds.
Speckled Pigeon - Common and widespread.
Laughing Dove - Very common.
African mourning Dove - Fairly common in suitable habitat.
Vinaceous Dove - Fairly common.
Red-eyed Dove - Similar in both status and appearance to the previous species.
Black-billed Wood Dove - Common.
Blue-spotted Wood Dove - Very common in Abuko and other wooded habitats.
Namaqua Dove - 10+ at Pirang. Smaller numbers at Faraba Banta and Selety, with 2 males at Yundum.
Bruce's Green Pigeon - 2 at Mandina Ba and 2 at Faraba Banta.
African Green Pigeon - 20+ at Marakissa.
Senegal Parrot - Fairly common and widespread.
Rose-ringed Parakeet - common and widespread.
Green-crested Touraco - A single at the drinking pool in Abuko on 18th.
Violet Touraco - Up to 4 at Abuko on each visit. 2 at Selety and a single near Lamin Lodge.
Western Grey Plantain-eater - Common and widespread.
Senegal Coucal - Fairly common and widespread, though generally skulking. Except at the Senegambia hotel, where they parade around on the lawns like magpies.
Pearl-spotted Owlet - 1-2 along the Kotu cycle track, Kotu Point scrub, the Atlantic Road and Selety.
Long-tailed Nightjar - At least 2 seen on two occasions at Kotu Point, in the area around the unfinished walls.
Mottled (Ussher's) Spinetail - 2 at Selety and Lamin Lodge and at least 20 at Marakissa.
African Palm Swift - Quite common and widespread.
Little Swift - Regular records along the coast.
Malachite Kingfisher - A single at the Kotu bridge on the 8th.
African Pygmy Kingfisher - 1-2 at Abuko.
Blue-breasted Kingfisher - 1 at Marakissa and 2 in the mangroves at Lamin Lodge.
Woodland Kingfisher - 1 regularly in the garden of the Bakotu hotel.
Striped Kingfisher - 2 at Faraba Banta, with a single at Yundum.
Giant Kingfisher - Singles at Abuko, Marakissa and in the Kotu area.
Pied Kingfisher - Common in suitable habitat.
Little Bee-eater - Common and widespread.
Swallow-tailed Bee-eater - Single birds seen at several sites, with 3 at Marakissa.
Blue-cheeked Bee-eater - 5 at Pirang.
European Bee-eater - 2 at Abuko on the 11th.
Abyssinian Roller - Surprisingly scarce. 1-2 on 4 dtaes in the coastal area.
Rufous-crowned Roller - Singles on 4 dates.
Blue-bellied Roller -Up to 7 most days. Fantastic birds!
Broad-billed Roller - 1-3 on most days.
Green Wood-hoopoe - Common and widespread.
Black Scimitarbill - 2 at Marakissa.
Red-billed Hornbill - Common and widespread.
African Pied Hornbill - 1-2 at Abuko, with a single at Marakissa.
African Grey Hornbill - Regular records of 1-6.
Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird - 2 at Selety.
Vieillot's Barbet - 2 at Faraba Banta and a single at Selety.
Bearded Barbet - Fairly common and recorded most days.
Greater Honeyguide - A single juvenile at Abuko on the 18th.
Lesser Honeyguide - Singles at Marakissa and Lamin.
Eurasian Wryneck - A single at Yundum.
Fine-spotted Woodpecker - A pair at Lamin.
Buff-spotted Woodpecker - A pair and a single male at Abuko on the 11th.
Cardinal Woodpecker - A female at Bijilo and a male at Selety.
Grey Woodpecker - The commonest 'pecker. 1-3 recorded on 9 dates.
Crested Lark - Small numbers at Cape Point. 15+ at Pirang.
Fanti Saw-wing - Singles at Abuko on 2 dates, and at Lamin.
Sand Martin - 3 at Lamin.
Wire-tailed Swallow - Fairly common and widespread.
Pied-winged Swallow - Singles at Selety and Lamin.
Barn Swallow - 3 flying north at Kotu on the 17th was the only recorded sighting.
Red-chested Swallow - The commonest hirundine. Up to 25+ most days.
Yellow Wagtail - Regular records of small numbers.
White Wagtail - Fairly common in suitable habitat.
Tree Pipit - A single at Cape Point on the 10th.
Red-throated Pipit - A single at Pirang.
Little Greenbul - Small numbers on all occasions at Abuko.
Yellow-throated Leaflove - 3 along the Atlantic Road on the 9th, with 2 at Abuko on the 11th.
Grey-headed Bristlebill - 2 by post 14 on the Abuko trail on the 11th. Baba reported 2 others just before the Animal Orphanage on the same date.
Common Bulbul - Common.
African Thrush - Recorded most days. 10+ at Abuko on all occasions.
Snowy-crowned Robin-chat - 7 at Bijilo, up to 4 at Abuko and 1-2 at Selety, the Senegambia hotel gardens and Kotu.
White-crowned Robin-chat - Up to 6 in the Senegambia hotel gardens, with 1-2 at Abuko and a single at Marakissa.
Redstart - Single males at Kotu Point and Lamin.
Whinchat - Singles at Yundum on 2 dates, and Selety.
Northern Wheatear - A single at Yundum.
Reed Warbler - A single at the Kotu bridge on the 9th.
Melodious Warbler - A single at Lamin.
Green-backed Eremomela - Singles at Abuko, Bijilo and Selety. 2 at the Faraba Banta bush track. 3 at Lamin.
Northern Crombec - Up to 3 in the Kotu area. 2 at Abuko, Bijilo and Selety.
Willow Warbler - Up to 3 in the Kotu area and singles at several other sites.
Subalpine Warbler - 2 near Cape Point.
Zitting Cisticola - 10+ at Cape Point, 3 at Pirang and a single at Lamin.
Singing Cisticola - 1-2 at Yundum, Selety, Bijilo and Lamin.
Tawny-flanked Prinia - Common and widespread.
Red-winged Warbler - 5+ at Selety. 3 at Yundum.
Yellow-breasted Apalis - Up to 4 at Abuko.
Grey-backed Camaroptera - Up to 10 recorded most days.
Oriole Warbler - A single in the scrub next to the Kotu bridge, on the seaward side. 2 at Bijilo.
Northern Black Flycatcher - Singles on 3 dates in the Kotu area. One at Abuko and 2 at Bijilo.
Brown-throated Wattle-eye - Common at Abuko. A single female at Bijilo.
African Paradise-flycatcher - One at Abuko, a female at Bijilo and 2 at Marakissa.
Red-bellied Paradise-flycatcher - Up to 4 at Abuko.
Brown Babbler - Common and widespread.
Black-capped Babbler - Common and widespread.
Yellow Penduline-tit - A single at Faraba Banta.
Scarlet-chested Sunbird - Singles at Abuko on the 18th and at Lamin.
Collared Sunbird - A single at Abuko.
Variable Sunbird - Rather scarce. 2 at Selety and singles at Abuko, Fajara and Yundum.
Splendid Sunbird - Common and widespread.
Beautiful Sunbird - Common and widespread.
African Yellow White-eye - At least 5 at Selety.
African Golden Oriole - 5 at Selety, 3 at Mandina Ba and a single at Abuko.
Woodchat Shrike - Singles at Cape Point, Yundum, Lamin and Kotu Point.
Yellow-billed Shrike - Common and widespread.
Northern Puffback - 4 at Marakissa, 2 at Selety, with 1-2 at Abuko, Lamin and the Kotu/Atlantic Road area.
Black-crowned Tchagra - Up to 4 at Yundum. Singles at Bijilo, Selety and Kotu.
Yellow-crowned Gonolek - Up to 5 recorded most days.
White-crested Helmet-shrike - Up to 6 on all dates at Abuko, 3 at Selety and a single at Marakissa.
Fork-tailed Drongo - Fairly common and widespread.
Piapiac - Common in the coastal strip.
Pied Crow - Common and widespread.
Purple Glossy Starling - 20+ at Faraba Banta and Selety.
Greater Blue-eared Glossy Starling - Up to 15 along the Atlantic Road. 3 at Mandina Ba and Lamin.
Lesser Blue-eared Glossy Starling - A single at Selety was the only definite record.
Long-tailed Glossy Starling - Common and widespread.
Yellow-billed Oxpecker - 3 at Mandina Ba.
House Sparrow - Common and widespread.
Grey-headed Sparrow - Common and widespread.
Bush Petronia -3 at Selety
White-billed Buffalo Weaver - Regularly up to 40 in the Kotu area.
Little Weaver - One at the Fajara hotel and 2 at Selety.
Black-necked Weaver - Common at Abuko. 2 at Bijilo.
Heuglin's Masked Weaver - A single at Yundum.
Village Weaver - Very common and widespread. Hundreds observed in the evenings going to roost.
Black-winged Red Bishop - Numerically, the scarcer of the two bishops, when specifically identified. Most were still in non-breeding plumage, so were "glossed over".
Northern Red Bishop - The commoner bishop. Most large flocks were of this species.
Western Bluebill - Recorded on all visits to Abuko, with up to 4 birds seen. We saw them from the photographic hide at the Animal Orphanage, by the bridge just before the info. centre and by post 14.
Red-billed Firefinch - Common and widespread.
Lavender Waxbill -Common and widespread.
Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu - Common and widespread.
Quailfinch -One male and 6 female-types at Pirang.
African Silverbill - Small numbers in the Kotu/Atlantic Road area.
Bronze Mannakin - Very common and widespread.
Yellow-fronted Canary - A single at Faraba Banta.
Total - 224 species.
