Paul Matson's Birding Blog: Senegal

SENEGAL - January 19th - February 5th 2022

At last, a trip overseas that has been long-time overdue. This actually dates back to 2020, when I had a birding trip booked to Northern Peru that was Covid cancelled and I used the credit to book this Senegal trip in January 2021 (the assumption being that all would be fine in another 9 months... it was also cancelled in 2021 and deferred until this year.). As the UK went through a Covid ravaged xmas break I was still doubtful that I would actually get away, but luckily Senegal only required evidence of full vaccination and by the second week of January the government also removed the requirement to demonstrate a negative test before re-entering the country which would have complicated the Senegal stay having to locate a suitable testing clinic before returning.

Wednesday 19th January

A day of travelling.

I met Nik Borrow at Heathrow. It is the fourth trip I have been on with Nik as leader and each one excellent, we also met Alex who was on the tour with us. It was a quirk of having last years' Iberia flight credit which meant 3 of us travelled a day early as Iberia did not fly to Dakar on Thursday. It felt slightly strange being in an airport again but once we got going it was fine, the Iberia flight to Madrid was only half full and a couple of hours wait before boarding the flight to Dakar, which was unfortunately very full and uncomfortable but the 7 hours went quite quickly and after some usual border formalities our luggage was on the carousel and Nik, Alex and I were soon walking out of the airport to our vehicle. Having arrived from a cold UK where temperatures were around 5c, even at 11pm the heat was a sharp contrast as it was 25C. The short drive to Thies meant we arrived at our hotel, the Massa Massa, before midnight, so straight to bed after a long day of travel.

At Madrid waiting for Dakar flight

Thursday 20th January - Hotel Massa Massa, Thies

I can't recall whether I actually slept but I was certainly wide awake around 5am and that magical feeling you get waking up in a hot country on the first morning. The Common Bulbuls were the first to wake and start there familiar song, one that immediately indicates I'm now in Africa. The hotel was in the middle of town and didn't have a garden as such, but I knew it had a roof terrace, so being restless I went up to have a look just as it was getting light, determined to get my bird list started assuming I would easily find one of the noisy Bulbuls. As soon as I walked out onto the terrace there was a large lump sitting on the terrace wall.. I couldn't quite believe that my first bird on my Senegal list was a Greyish Eagle-Owl !!. It didn't stay long partly spooked by me and a Pied Crow that gave chase , it flew a short distance into a large Fig Tree but remained out of view. Large numbers of Yellow-billed Kites an Cattle Egrets were leaving their roosts and flying past.

I joined Nik and Alex for breakfast and told them about the Owl, we had a quick look without any joy but decided to try again at dusk. The plan for the day was quite simple, we would spend it on the roof terrace, have lunch, then more time on the terrace waiting for the others to arrive. Even though for a Birdquest trip this was unusually sedentary, it suited both Alex and I to acclimatise in this way and look for some common birds in the process as the temperature rose to well over 30C

We did exceptionally well for a town roof terrace. In addition to some of the more expected species such as Laughing Dove, Speckled Pigeon, African Palm Swift, House Sparrow, Northern Grey-headed Sparrow, Village Weaver and Black-headed Weaver. The large Fig Tree that the Owl disappeared into was in fruit and drew in the birds such as African Grey Hornbill, Western Plantain-Eater, African Golden Oriole, Senegal Parrot, Blue-naped Mousebird, Yellow White-Eye, Bearded Barbet, Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird, Greater Blue-Eared Glossy Starling, Grey-backed Cameroptera and Beautiful Sunbird.

We had a number of finches feeding in the garden wastes and coming to a water-bath on the terrace including, Red-billed Firefinch, White-rumped Seedeater, African Silverbill, Red-billed Quelea and Yellow Fronted Canary.

The best bird was probably a Red-necked Falcon which shot past twice. We met the rest of the group as they arrived later, as the group would be Nik, 9 of us (4 Brits, 2 Swedes, 1 Finn, 1 Dane and 1 Swiss), our local guide, Musa, plus two drivers. The attempt for the owl at dusk was successful as we actually saw a pair on distant rooftops. The food at the Massa Massa was pretty good and the local staple of Chicken Yassa and chips seemed to be a safe bet, washed down with a La Gazelle of course. So off for some sleep so we were ready for an early start the next morning.

The roof terrace where we spent the entire day.

Not much to look at but this was the Fig Tree that attracted all the birds

Yellow-Billed Kites were common

The sky was often filled with hundreds of Kites

Western Plantain-eaters

Blue-naped Mousebird

African Golden Oriole (female)

Northern Yellow White-eye

Beautiful Sunbird (female)

Red-billed Firefinch

Greyish Eagle-Owl at dusk

The first cold beer of the trip is always welcome- I would have to get used to La Gazelle !

Friday 21st January - Drive to Podor

Today was billed as a day of driving, with a limited number of short stops en-route. We were heading to the Northern border of Senegal with Mauritania, via Richard Toll. It was estimated to be 9 or 10 hours on the road, we set off aster breakfast but slightly before sunrise (which is around 7.30am). We were lucky to have comfortable vehicles and good drivers and the roads were perhaps surprisingly in good condition.

Apart from the very dry landscape, the place is full of litter, with plastic strewn all over the roadsides, which does not make it the most scenic of places, but we were looking for birds and our first roadside stop added Black-headed Lapwing, Abysinnian Roller, Namaqua Dove, Red-billed Hornbill, Long-tailed Glossy Starling, Chestnut-bellied Starling , Sudan Golden Sparrow, White-billed Buffalo Weaver and another Red-necked Falcon.

As the landscape became increasingly arid we started seeing small groups of vultures with Hooded Vulture, White-backed Vulture, Ruppell's Vulture and European Griffon Vultures, we saw a group of these around a Donkey carcass and decided to stop for closer views, it was then that Nik picked up the call of a Little Grey Woodpecker and it wasn't long before we had great views of this key species, that we didn't expect to see so early in the tour, this stop turned out to be quite productive and we also added Green Wood Hoopoe, Veillot's Barbet, Eurasian Wryneck, African Grey Woodpecker, Northern Crombec, Western Bonelli's Warbler, Western Olivaceous Warbler, Yellow-belied Eremomela, Western Subalpine Warbler, Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin, Speckle-fronted Weaver, Little Weaver and Red-cheeked Cordon-Bleu.

Our journey passed through the outskirts of St Louis, the historical capital of Senegal and positioned on the estuary of the Senegal River, several water birds were seen as we passed through including Great Egret, Western Reef Heron, Pink-backed Pelican, Spur-winged Lapwing, Collared Pratincole and Whiskered Tern.

We had made good time and progress and seen surprisingly many more birds than expected in the morning. We stopped for lunch at a hotel overlooking the Senegal River, near the town of Richard Toll (the word Toll means garden in the local language) and Richard was the french bloke who made the famous garden for a french Baron. (Senegal being a French speaking country having historically been under French collonial control). We added Iberian Chiffchaff and Mourning Dove at lunch, then headed on to a site of grazed Acaccia plains just outside Richard Toll where we quickly found another target, the Sennar Penduline Tit, which gave excellent close views. There was also a very large flock of Sudan Golden Sparows and in the same area African Green Bee-eaters, African Fish Eagle, Western Marsh Harrier, Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Lark, Crested Lark and Northern Red Bishop.

The last stretch of the journey to Podor added African Collared Dove, before we reached a site in good time for one of the main targets for the trip the Golden Nightjar, we expected this bird may take a couple of visits to locate and we weren't expecting to arrive in such good time, as the light was still holding just as the sun was setting but it was a case of lets give it a go. Our success was almost immediate as shortly out of the vehicles we flushed a male from virtually under our feet. Musa managed to track where the bird landed and we had excellent views of the Golden Nightjar both in the fading crepuscular light and when it was eventually dark. We didn't give up there as we trawled for other nightjars and had great views of a Long-tailed Nightjar in flight and then in front of us on the track.

An excellent day done and eventually we headed to our comfortable hotel on the banks of the Senegal River (Mauritania was the far bank of the river) for dinner and sleep.

Our first roadside birding stop.

Lunch near Richard Toll

Little Grey Woodpecker

Chestnut-bellied Starling

Sennar Penduline Tit

African Grey Woodpecker

Sennar Penduline Tit

Golden Nightjar

Long-tailed Nightjar

Saturday 22nd January - Podor Area

We ventured out to nearby scrubland first thing this morning, the area was quite sandy with very patchy thorn scrub, it was also already very hot. A Barbary Falcon greeted us as we entered the area along with several Northern Wheatears.

One of the great things about this are was that every bush seemed to hold a bird and often it was a western paleartic migrant, some of which are pretty rare in the UK such as Western Bonelli's or Western Subalpine Warblers. One of the main targets here was the tiny Cricket Warbler, which didn't take long to find and get good views. We spent the morning tramping around the area and added a number of quality birds including Black-crowned Sparrowlarks, Black Scrub Robin, Black Scimitarbill, Hoopoes (senegalensis) Great Grey Shrike (elegans), Woodchat Shrikes (senator). On our way back to the hotel for lunch we stopped at an area on the river where there was a colony of Horus Swifts along with some Little Swifts. The Horus Swifts were recently recorded as a new species in Senegal.

After lunch we returned to the same 'outback' area and found a few more migrant birds included Common Kestrel (tinnunculus) Sand Martins, Barn Swallows, Western Orphean Warbler, Common Redstart and a smart Western Black-eared Wheatear although our search for the localised Fulvous Babblers drew a blank. A surprise sighting was that of an African Wildcat which seemed to surprise the cat a much as us.

The comfortable hotel La Cour du Fleuve in Podor

It was warm enough to have lunch and dinner al-fresco.

..although the Goat curry with Olive-nipple Mash served on a plate made of tablecloth may not have quite hit the spot - but I was hungry so gave it a good go.

Bedrooms were comfortable enough.

Cricket Warbler

Western Subalpine Warbler

Black-crowned Sparrow Lark

Sudan Golden Sparrows having lunch

Glossy-backed Drongo

African Silverbills

Western Black-eared Wheatear

Great Grey Shrike

We spent most of the day walking around this habitat

Sunday 23rd January - Podor to Djoudj via Richard Toll

Our time on the Mauritanian border was soon over and with bags packed, away we headed after breakfast, journeying back west towards Richard Toll area then onwards to the Djoudj National Park for another change of habitat and more birds.

Departing Podor

After a couple of hours journeying we stopped at a seemingly barren wasteland next to a rubbish tip, which although unappealing to look at, did hold a flock of c40 Stone Curlews and after a walk across this wasteland and a bit of scanning we found a Seebohm's Wheatear followed by an Isabelline Wheatear. The day was already heating up and we'd wandered a fair distance from the vehicles but continued to see birds with an African Harrier Hawk, the nominate race of Hoopoe, Anteater Chat, Tawny Pipit, Woodchat Shrike and African Green Bee-eater. We then drove a short distance where we found a pair of Temminck's Courser close to the cars.

It was very hot at lunchtime, probably nearing 40c. We pulled into a few buildings for lunch, where we taken into what looked like someone's bedroom. A quick re-arranging of the furniture and hey presto a dining table with enough plastic chairs and we were duly fed, although other than the rice I'm not entirely sure what it was, but a couple of cold cans of coke to wash it down were welcome.

Arid countryside en-route to the Djoudj

What would be a birding trip without a visit to a steaming rubbish tip.

For lunch we stopped at an incongruous building where we we ushered into someone's bedroom which was quickly fitted out with a dining table !

Seebohm's Wheatear

African Green Bee-eater

Temminck's Courser

Anteater Chat

Woodchat Shrike

We continued our journey into the Djoudj National Park, arriving not too long after our lunch. The dirt roads scattered a number of Crested Larks in front of the vehicles as we approached and the dry fields started to be dissected by pools of water, with some of the land then flooded. Kittlitz's Plovers were often seen on the tracks.

Near the park entrance where we had stopped for paperwork it gave us a bit of time to scan around the closest muddy pool and at the back we found Greater Painted Snipe hiding in the vegetation at the and a River Prinia was picked up nearby, other waders included Little Stints, Curlew Sandpipers, Wood Sandpipers and Black-winged Stilts being some of those we would get more excited by back home.

We drove out into the park and headed towards the vast wetlands and the Grand Lac, keeping a good eye out on the way for Arabian Bustard, a key species here in rapidly reducing numbers, but for us we were without any luck. (Good job I'd seen them before in Ethiopia !).

The Grand Lac had an impressive wildfowl spectacle with a vast array of wildfowl among the substantial flocks of Greater and Lesser Flamingos, with numbers in the thousands of both White-faced and Fulvous Whistling Ducks and hundreds of Garganey, Northern Shoveler and Northern Pintail. With both Caspian Tern and Gull-billed Terns adding to the variety.

We headed out of the park as dusk was approaching seeing several Black-crowned Cranes heading for their roost along with several Marsh Harriers and a Short-toed Eagle.

We arrived at our hotel after dark and had a late dinner once we'd found our rooms.

Cream coloured Courser

Flocks of Whistling Ducks and Flamingos

Greater Flamingos

views over the Grand Lac

Black-crowned Cranes

Monday 24th January - Djoudj NP

We headed back into the National park this morning, with the intention to scour the scrub areas for the Arabian Bustard. We spent most of the morning doing this again without success, but we did get good views of 3 Honey Badgers, a Cream-coloured Courser, the jackal-like African Golden Wolf.

In the afternoon, we went to the other side of the park, calling in at the entrance again for better views of Greater Painted Snipe. We went on boat trip along a selection of channels to the spectacle of hthe Great White pelican breeding colony, which was an unforgettable experience of the c5000+ birds, the nearer we got with the frenzied flapping and exercising the wings of young birds, had the effect of wafting the guano smells in our direction, which was fairly overwhelming.

As well as the Pelican displays, we had good views of Great Swamp, Sedge and Eurasian Reed Warblers, African Fish Eagles, Black Crake, Allens Gallinule, African Swamphen, Black-crowned Night Heron, Squacco Heron, Malachite Kingfisher, Little and Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters, African Jacana
African Stonechat, Knob-billed Duck, Kentish Plovers, Ruff, Curlew Sandpiper, Little Stint, Green Sandpiper, Marsh, Wood Sandpiper, Gull-billed, Caspian Terns, Yellow-billed Stork, Black Stork, White African Sacred and Glossy Ibis. Purple and Black Heron, Osprey, ST Eagle. Montagu's Harrier Peregrine, Greater Short-toed Lark. Yellow-crowned Bishop, flava and iberiae Yellow Wagtails.

We had a final afternoon session in a different part of the park looking fo rthe Bustard, but it was another blank, so another late dinner at the hotel, but we did find a Four-toed Hedgehog scrathing around outside the rooms.

African Wattled Lapwing

Ratel (Honey Badger) - heading for the hills

Greater Painted Snipe

African Golden Wolf

White-breasted Cormorants

Black Heron

Purple Heron

Garganey

Squacco Heron

African Darter

Pied Kingfisher

African Jacana

Squacco Heron

The colony from a distance

Great White Pelican colony

Great White Pelicans

Allen's Gallinule

Great White Pelicans

African Fish Eagle

Allen's Gallinule

Tuesday 25th January - Djoudj NP area

The next morning we went to a dry river valley area to try and locate Saville's Bustard, which initially drew a blank but later in the morning we managed to locate 3 individuals with good views also found Double-spurred Spurfowl, Chestnut -bellied Sandgrouse, Black-crowned Tchagra, Yellow-crowned Gonolek, there were some migrants in the form of Willow Warbler, Common Whitethroat and Common Redstart., Black Storks, Eurasian Spoonbill and a single African Spoonbill. Another area of reedbeds gave us brief views of Orange-breasted Waxbills. Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird and Scarlet-chested Sunbird at hotel.

Our hotel was based outside the park - the Ranch de Bango, which was a reasonable hotel with comfortable rooms. Unusually, we actually saw the hotel in daylight as we returned for lunch before heading out towards St Louis in the afternoon

Our route took as through the centre of Saint Louis , which was once not only the capital of Senegal but the whole of West Africa. It is a bustling fishing town connected to the mainland by a bridge which looks like a small version of the Humber Bridge, but the surrounding waterways were typically covered with plastic detritus.

Having made it through the town we reached an outer settlement on the coast which held a few Red-chested Swallows. We had a scan of both the harbour-side and the beach side of the spit , with the big surprise when a first for West Africa was found in the form of a 'British' Pied Wagtail (yarellii). Other species included Whimbrel, Eurasian Curlew, Bar-tailed Godwit, Ruddy Turnstone, Red Knot, Sanderling, Dunlin, Slender-billed Gulls and Grey-headed Gulls, with a dark phase Arctic Skua (Parasitic Jaeger) was chasing the gulls, the sea did not have any passage but a couple of Pink-backed Pelicans flew past.

Black Stork and Eurasian Spoonbill

Black Herons

Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse

Saville's Bustard

Patas Monkey

The hotel at lunchtime

Riverside embankment - St Louis

Road to harbour, St Louis

Downtown St Louis

harbour ? , St Louis

Wednesday 26th - Drive to Kaolack and QP day !

Today was a day of mostly driving as we headed towards the South-East of the country, but it was also a headline-bird day. This trip had a number of key species as 'headline' species and probably at the top of the list is the tiny Quail-plover and we had one afternoon in which to find this bird as there would not be another opportunity on the trip.

Firstly, our journey was long and mostly bird-free until we had a short stop at a waterhole, where there was an abundance of birds, with flocks of Red-billed Quelea and Sudan Golden Sparrows many Doves, including Vinaceous Dove, African Collared Dove, Black-billed Wood Dove, Namaqua Dove and a few European Turtle Dove. Mottled Spinetails were among the hirundines hawking over the small patch of water and overhead a Black-winged Kite, Bedouins Snake Eagle, Short-Toed Eagle and some Eurasian Griffon Vultures, White-backed Vultures, Ruppell's Vulture and Hooded Vulture.

We had a stop for lunch then to the big event, arriving around 14:00 at some arid scrub in 38C of heat, the only way this small bird is found is by flushing it from the ground, so we set off in a line slowly traversing this area , we saw Desert Cisticolas, Singing Bush Larks, Cricket Warbler, Temminck's Courser, Rufous-tailed Scrub-Robin, Western Subalpine Warbler and even flushed a Saville's Bustard, but no sign of any Quail-Plover. After over 2 hours of walking round in decreasing circles we arrived back at the buses to top -up on water, we had a maximum of 2 hours left in which to find our quarry.

We set off again in a slightly different direction and shortly a cry went up and a bird had been flushed, I barely got a view as it plummeted back to the ground after a short distance - an un-tickable view !, we all spread out and slowly circled in to where we thought it had pitched down.... no sign. Apparently they have a habit of running quickly on landing and can cover a fair distance. So we had to start again, but it wasn't long before we found the same or another Quail-plover bird and this time it obliged to stay in the same spot which allowed close and prolonged views, a dainty bird which has a peculiar rocking motion when standing as if it is swaying with the grass. Another incredible experience and not a short amount of relief we had success with only an hour of daylight left.

We continued on the road in the dark to Kaolack and to our hotel on the river for a night, our first time where there were plenty of mosquitos sharing our pre-dinner drinks..

Short-toed Eagle

Eurasian Griffon Vulture

Namaqua Dove

Bedouin's Snake Eagle

Mottled Spintail

Somewhere out here should be a Quail-plover

About to set out.. it was 38C !

Desert Cisticola

Quail-plover

Thursday 27th January - Drive to Kegadou

Even though yesterday was mostly a driving day, we had covered less than half-the distance to the South East where we would be spending the next few nights so we had even further to travel today.. and it was my birthday !!! - but thankfully after yesterdays success we were all in good spirits.

As we drove away from Kegadou we stopped briefly to see hundreds of Lesser Kestrels leaving their roost just after dawn.

Another roadside stop was supposed to be by a large waterhole, but this had dried up completely, but we had excellent views of a male Sahel Paradsie Wydah and added Green Winged Pytilla, Fine-spotted Woodpecker, Senegal Batis, Senegal Eromomela. Pygmy Sunbird, Sahel Bush Sparrow and a number of Cut-throat Finches

We had lunch at Tabacounda, and then set off again through the Niokolo National Park, which although looked great habitat the park rules did not permit vehicles to stop on the road, so we only stopped briefly ! where we had looks at Abysinnian Ground Hornbill, Red-throated Bee-eaters and Purple Starlings, Senegal Batis, Northern Crombec, Tawny Eagle, African Hawk Eagle, Grasshopper Buzzard and Bataleur.

We arrived ate at the hotel and the surprise for me when the staff brought out a Birthday cake !!

Our one-night stop at Kegadou, on the river

Lesser Kestrel

Sahel Paradise Wydah

Cut-throat Finch

Abysinnian Roller

Red-throated Bee-eater

Surprise - An African Birthday !!!

Friday 28th January - Dindefelo

Before sunrise this morning we headed towards the border town with Guinea, Dindefelo, the habitat was sparse woodland surrounded by Sudanian-Guinea savanna, and as such a new set of species were available. Still in darkness we saw a Standard Winged Nightjar fly across in front of the car and as we got out we managed to see 2 Northern White-faced Owls and then spotlight a Lesser Galago.

At dawn approached the bantam-like Stone Partridges became visible and vocal we then found a whole selection of new species Violet Turacos, Blue-bellied Rollers, Senegal Parrot, Bruce's Green Pigeon, Brubru, White-shouldered Black Tit, Northern Black Flycatcher, Chestnut-crowned Sparrow Weaver, Vitelline Masked Weaver, Yellow-fronted Canary, Lizard Buzzard, Lanner Falcon.

We arrived at Dindefelo and started our walk through the forest alongside a stream to a cascade, one of the first birds we found was Willcock's Honeyguide which was an individual found on a previous tour and a first sighting for the country. We had a number of other good birds including Adamawa Turtle Dove. Klaass Cuckoo. Brown wattle eye, African Paradise Flycatcher, African Blue Flycatcher, Melodious Warbler, Yellow-breasted Apalis, Northern Yellow White Eye. African Thrush, Snowy-crowned Robin-Chat, Pied Flycatcher, Western Violet-backed and Green Sunbird, Blackcap Babbler, Brown Babbler, Guinea Turacos, Narina Trogon, Magpie Mannikin, as we left the area and back to more open country we added Lesser Blue Eared Starling a distant Fox Kestrel and as the sun started to set another Standard Winged Nightjar that flew across the track.

Northern Lesser Galago

Blue-bellied Roller

Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird

Chestnut-crowned Sparrow Weaver

White-shouldered Black Tit

Brubru

Pygmy Sunbird

Change of habitat, waterfall at the end of the trail

Violet Turaco

Willcock's Honeyguide

Adamawa Turtle Dove

Purple Roller

Saturday 29th January - Dindefelo

Our mission this morning was to be up on the escarpment overlooking the border with Guinea, with Mali in the other direction. The main target species was the Mali Firefinch which just extends its range into this part of Senegal.

We climbed up the road until we found suitable habitat and wasn't long before we heard the subtle call of the Firefinch. However at the same time a Pearl-spotted Owlet started to call and most of the Group were distracted by trying to find the Owlet, whereas I stayed put in order to see the Mali Firefinch, which eventually came into the near scrub and could just be seen moving through the vegetation. We called the rest of the Group over but by the time they had reached us the Firefinch had melted back into the undergrowth.

We stepped back to the other side of the road and tried to call out the bird, it started to have a positive effect and the Firefinch started calling and moving closer, just at the point it felt like the bird would appear a car full of people stopped directly between us and the bird to ask us what we were looking at !!1. Eventually they were persuaded to move on but by this time the Firefinch had vanished which was a shame for those people who hadn't seen it.

We walked further up the road and out into the scrub areas where we also found Fox Kestrel, Lavender Waxbills, Bearded Barbet, White-crested Helmetshrike, Yellow-billed Shrike, Rufous Cisticola, Familiar Chat, Gosling's Bunting and then we stumbled upon a very close Common Buttonquail, which actually stayed put to allow good views for everyone.

The afternoon was spent in some other areas near to Kedougou, where we were successful in finding Sun Lark, Bedouins Snake Eagle, Spotted Thick-knee and Pale Flycatcher we also came across a male Standard-winged Nightjar which initially was flushed and then gave several views before we could just about see it on the ground.

Mali Firefinch Habitat

The escarpment view at Dindefelo

Probably the worst ever picture of a Mali Firefinch

Gosling's (Cinnamon-breasted) Bunting

Common Buttonquail

White-crested Helmetshrike

Sun Lark

Spotted Thick-Knee

Black-crowned Tchagra

The dung-like lump in the ash is a Standard-winged Nightjar- it's standard feathers are 2 ft to the left and right.

Burnt Savannah scrub areas, favoured by Nightjars

Sunday 30th January - Kegadou to Wassadou

Our time around Kedougou was just about done, we went this morning to an area for a final try for Firefinches, which was unsuccessful, but we did find a Brown-backed Woodpecker, Red-winged Prinia, Bronze Mannikin, Black-rumped Waxbill, and a male Exclamatory Paradise Wydah in breeding plumage. Also a Wryneck, Western Olivaceous Warbler and a smart White-crowned Robin Chat.

We then set off for another journey, retracing our steps back towards the edge of the Niokolo National Park, to a Campement de Wassadou overlooking the River Gambie.

We arrived late afternoon which allowed us some time to view down the river from the watchpoint, set up with seats and close enough to the dining area to order drinks from the bar !!! - Always a pleasure looking through scope and bins with a beer in hand !!.

A few new species were added whilst we watched which included African Finfoot, fly-pass views of Egyptian Plover, Giant Kingfisher, Woodland Kingfisher, Blue-breasted Kingfisher, Africa Pied Wagtail and on the mammal front Hippotamus, Green Monkey, Guinea Baboon, and Upper Guinea Red Colobus.

There was a boat to take us out on trips but we would split up as a Group and therefore we would have one morning trip and one late afternoon river trip each and otherwise bush walks, but avoiding anything in early afternoon due to the heat.

Seating Area at Wassadou with River views

Views along the River Gambie

Brown-backed Woodpecker

Giant Kingfisher

Monday 31st January - Wassadou and River

Up early this morning, ready for the morning boat trip just after sunrise, it could take 4 of us, and it certainly meant that we had good views and managed to get reasonably close to some birds.

In addition to the birds we had seen yesterday we added Grey-hooded Kingfisher, Helmeted Guineafowl and Swamp Flycatcher, with lot of good views of key species including Egyptian Plover, Brown Sake Eagle, Wahlberg's Eagle, Northern Carmine Bee-eater.

We got back from the 2 hour boat trip and after some breakfast went for a bush walk, which ended by the river again. We saw several more species. Several Adamawa Turtle Doves, Yellow-billed Stork, Green Woodhoopoes, Purple Roller, Blue-billed Roller, Cardinal Woodpecker, African Paradise Flycatcher, Moustached Grass Warbler, Long-tailed Glossy Starling, White-crowned Robin-Chat, Olive-naped Weaver, Orange-cheeked Waxbill and Bar-breasted Firefinch.

We did little in the afternoon after a late lunch as the other half of the Group had their boat trip, but we managed to amass 94 species in the day.

sunrise over the River Gambie

Grey-headed Kingfisher

Senegal Thick-Knee

Blue-breasted Kingfisher

Helmeted Guineafowl

Spur-winged Lapwing

African Pied Wagtail

Malachite Kingfisher

Woodland Kingfisher

back to base for breakfast

Long-tailed Glossy Starling

West African Red Colobus

Moustached Grass Warbler

Blue-bellied Roller

Red-necked Falcon

Egyptian Plover

Scoping Egyptian Plovers

Tuesday 1st February - Wassadou

Today was the reverse of yesterday, when we started the day with a morning bush-walk and ended the day with a boat trip.

Taking a slightly different route to the walk yesterday we started off with Bronze-tailed Starling and Blackcap Babblers and also the much desired Black-faced Firefinch along with Western-Banded Snake Eagle, Gabar Goshawk, Oriole Warbler, Greater Honeyguide, Black-rumped Waxbill, Red-necked Falcon and another Pearl-spotted Owlet.

Our afternoon boat trip headed the other direction downstream having great views of Egyptian Plover, there was a Greyish Eagle Owl roosting in a hole in the bank and as well as White-crowned Lapwing a number of Red-throated Bee-eaters and Northern Carmine Bee-eaters were seen.

After dinner we went looking for Owls and had good views of both African Scops Owl and Northern White-faced Owl ending another great day.

A walk through smouldering bush

Bronze-tailed Glossy Starling

Blackcap Babbler

Pearl-spotted Owlet

Late afternoon river maneouvres

Egyptian Plover

Northern Carmine Bee-eater

Red-throated Bee-eater

Northern Carmine Bee-eater

White-crowned Lapwing

African Scops Owl

Northern White-faced Owl

Wednesday 2nd Feburary - Wassadou to Kaolack and Saloum Delta

We left Wassadou after breakfast for a faily long drive to the Saloum delta, needing to arrive there mid to late afternoon, so we had a fairly uneventful drive until lunchtime. We then had one short stop in an area of a vast plain with a few scattered trees and eventually found a Verreaux's Eagle Owl, which maintained it's distance, other than a Northern Wheater and a fairly distant Montagu's Harrier there was little else so we carried on a short distance to a small village where we picked up a boatmen who was willing to ferry us across the delta to a small island.

The 'ferry' was nothing more than a parogue (dug-out canoe) and even thought the crossing was not long it was precarious enough to put at least one of the group off the trip. Safely across we wandered across the mudflats to the area of vegetation on the island which hosts a roost of up to 28,000 Lesser Kestrels and 36,000 Scissor-tailed Kites.

After only a short wait near the roosting trees already a few Scissor-tailed Kites were on the trees and more started to gather high in the sky above us slowly descending onto the island. Gradually, more and more started wheeling in joined by a few Lesser Kestrels. This was quite an awe-inspiring spectacle making the precarious trip in the boat worthwhile. We eventually hiked back to the boat, made the crossing once more and walked back to the cars and onwards to the very nice resort hotel where we were to spend the last 3 nights of the tour.

Final breakfast at Wassadou

Rooms at Wassadou were comfortable roundels with bathroom

Verraux's Eagle Owl

En-route to the Saloum Delta

Our transport lies ahead

Scissor-tailed Kites

Scissor-tailed Kite

Coming into roost

Scissor-tailed Kite

Thursday 3rd February - Saloum Delta

We were due a couple of boat trips from the hotel out into the mangrove swamps of the delta, but the first trip was not until this afternoon, so we headed out to some woodland area the other side of Tabkouta. We found a few species including African Golden Oriole, more Lavender Waxbills and Swallow-tailed Bee-eater and yet another Pearl-spotted Owlet.

We returned to the hotel for lunch and then down to the quay for the boat in the afternoon. The key target species here was the White-crested Tiger Heron, which can be a tricky species to find hence we had 2 more boat trips lined up. There were plenty of birds to see from the boat both on the water and by the muddy edges.

As well as Gull-billed and Caspian Terns we found West African Crested Tern, a range of waders included Bar-tailed Godwit, Whimbrel, Curlew and Grey Plover and a Palmnut Vulture was close as we entered the Mangroves. We soon found the rather grey looking Mangrove Sunbird.

Returning to the boats we had another sweep of some channels and as we turned a corner I saw hunched in the mangroves a heron shaped bird and knew what it was but signalled to everyone else to get on it before saying White-crested Tiger Heron. Expecting the bird to quickly disappear into the mangroves, surprisingly it came further towards the shore and even raised it's white crest for us.

So a fantastic end to the afternoon.

The best accommodation to finish the tour

?? Sunbird

Lavender Waxbill

Swallow-tailed Bee-eater

The boat for the afternoon trip

Heading out on the next quest

Looking back at the resort from the water

Mangrove Sunbird

Goliath Heron

Palmnut Vulture

White-crested Tiger Heron

Caspian Tern

Friday 4th February - Saloum Delta

A final boat trip this morning and we went to a habited island near to Sangako in the delta to some different habitat seeing some Senegal Parrots, Fine-spotted Woodpecker, Yellow-billed Shrike , Blue-cheeked Bee-eater and a Lanner Falcon.

In the afternoon we headed in the other direction by vehicles, firstly stopping near some bush where a walk round gave us Yellow-billed Oxpecker a surprise Yellow-throated Leaflove, European Turtle Doves, Black Crake and Senegal Thick-Knees. In the evening we went to a Waterhole in the hope of seeing four-banded Sandgrouse, but we hadn't bargained for the adjoining village holding a very large wedding celebration with lots of loud music until after dark, so the Sandgrouse didn't turn up

So we went back to the hotel for a final dinner.

Calm morning waters on the Saloum

A final trip out on the water

Wire-tailed Swallow

African Pied Kingfisher

Slender-billed Gull

Black Kite

Red-chested Swallow

Mottled Spinetail

Black-billed Wood Dove

Western Red-billed Hornbill

Yellow-billed Shrike

Senegal Parrot

Blue-cheeked Bee-eater

Golden-tailed Woodpecker

Saturday 5th February - Last Day

A last morning had us heading out early, firstly stopping in some woodland on the edge of farmland, adding good views of Bearded Barbet and Western Plaintain-eaters. Then a stop at a small waterhole where there was a large flock of hirundines which included West African Swallows, Mosque Swallows, House Martins and Mottled Spinetails.

We then went to and area of Savanna scrub at Nema Ba, principally to look for Yellow Penduline Tit, which was absent but the surprise of the day was finding a pair of Bronze-Winged Coursers, which was pretty special and our last bird of the trip.

We returned to the hotel and after lunch headed back to Dakar and the airport for overnight flight via Madrid, back to Heathrow on Sunday morning.

An excellent trip seeing 340 species of which c50 were new.