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After motoring up the River Gambia for about a mile, watching Ospreys soaring high overhead and contrastingly lower down, a foot above the water, flying fish skipping along accompanying our boat, we finally disembarked on to a rickety old wooden jetty where we met the guide who works the forest we were entering.
From there we proceeded to walk through a dense forest of old hardwood trees with an understorey consisting of very overgrown bush. Huge vines draped down from the tree tops and exotic looking fruits hung from the foliage above the small track that led us deeper into the forest. Lines of huge ants that must have been an inch long marched across our path and we were careful to step over them very quickly, because if they crawl up your leg then you are in trouble, as they possess a very potent bite.
We had seen and heard various birds as we walked along but as we entered a small clearing Mas pointed and whispered very excitedly, ‘There – There, above us, Adamawa Turtle dove’!!! This was our quarry, although we didn’t know it until then - typical Mas he likes surprises. These birds are incredibly rare and most difficult to see, they only exist in a very narrow band in East Gambia and South East Senegal. Mas was desparate to get a photo and he pleaded ‘Don’t miss it Steve’ – no pressure then!!
This nervous bird only stayed for around twenty seconds before flying off, but after examining the screen on the back of my camera I could see I had it - phew relief.



After showing the image to him and the forestry guide, mobile phones were produced and images were happily photographed from the camera screen.
Mas was elated, because it was a big thing for him to find this bird, because it shows well on his Palmares for future bird guiding, not many people get images of these elusive birds.
I was pleased to help!

The Black-headed Lapwing, unlike our Northern lapwing is a bird of dry ground, typically grasslands with patches of bare earth where it forages for food. It is mostly active in the early morning, late evening and through the night. These lovely birds are a dry season visitor to The Gambia, migrating from the Sahel region of Africa.



The Sahel is a bio geographical area of land which extends from the Atlantic coast in the west, right across to the Red Sea. It is basically a transitional zone between the humid Savannahs to the south and the more arid lands to the north of the Sahara. Many of these Intra African migrant birds are just escaping unfavourable climatic conditions.

The Baobab tree is a classic African tree which is dotted around the landscape, some specimens are absolutely gigantic with truly massive girths. These giants can live to a thousand years old, mature trees can be a valuable source of water because they store large volumes in their trunks. Their branches spread out horizontally and many birds make their homes in these trees. They also provide a valuable source of medicine and food for African people. We have on occasions collected the fruit of these trees with Mas our bird guide, he uses them as a digestive supplement because they are an important source of fibre.

A cruise along the many back-waters of the River Gambia is special, of that there is no doubt. Many birds can be seen by travelling in a small boat and the habitat viewed doing this is really unusual and somewhat diverse.

https://youtu.be/FXvyWvBfKy8

One area in particular looked like a huge field of watercress, inhabited mostly by herons and storks. The storks allowed very close approach.

Yellow-billed Stork



The herons, however, were typically wary. The ground looked almost solid enough to walk on but the boatman assured us it was most definitely not, and was also quite dangerous to attempt.
He said the herons and storks were obviously harmless and the ground was quite solid in places. However! What can be lurking in the damp vegetation could present a problem. I asked him to elaborate and he pointed to an innocuous area of vegetation and said ’look closer’.
I could now see what he meant!



West African Crocodile

Red-throated Bee-eaters are one of the most beautiful Bee eaters in The Gambia. A trip ‘up country’ or ‘up river’ is usually needed to see them. We came across this small colony of nesting birds and Mas our guide placed a few sticks in some appropriate positions. We waited behind a small banking and sure enough they came and perched right in front of my lens, what an absolute treat! It really is a privilege to see them up close like this. I had difficulty getting single birds on their own because they like to perch on a stick in numbers.

The Swallow-tailed Bee eater is one of many Bee eaters than can be seen in The Gambia. These are not really that numerous compared to some of the other Bee eater species, but they are all so beautiful. The variety of bird species in most areas there is quite remarkable and as a consequence it’s so difficult to adjust to birding when I return home.

Another African Kingfisher that doesn’t hunt in water. The Woodland Kingfisher as its name suggests feeds in woody and grassy areas. I find that these non-water hunting Kingfishers are more approachable than their aquatic cousins. It looks like a type of grasshopper in its beak.

When walking through dense forests a few times we were followed by a troop of baboons. Guinea Baboons as Mas our guide called them. These fierce looking animals are actually very shy, but hugely inquisitive. They would follow us, peeping through the vegetation from a distance of about fifty yards. They make a deep barking sound like a big dog when they get excited. They are nevertheless quite comical, so I made an effort to get a photo by peeping around a tree myself, trying not to spook them.

The Violet Turaco and the Green Turaco have similar habits, they both frequent tree canopies and they are as expected fruit eaters. The Violet, however, is more frequently seen because it is slightly more confiding. They both have really gorgeous crimson underwings, visible only in flight.
Relaxing on the loungers in the gardens of our lodge with a cold beer in the late afternoon, with my camera at the ready – just in case, is very pleasant indeed.
We could look up at an extensive Fig – like tree and identify various species of birds coming in to eat. Bearded Barbet, unbelievably Hooded Vultures, and Fork-tailed Drongos etc.
Infrequently, but nevertheless quite regularly, Violet Turacos flew in and stayed for ten minutes or so, but getting a shot was still difficult because of the extensive leaf cover. They were nearly always obscured, but I managed to isolate a bird once or twice – lovely to see them!

The Giant Kingfisher is the largest Kingfisher and it certainly lives up to its name being an incredible 18 inches in length. It frequents wooded rivers, lagoons, lakes and mangrove plantations. It perches quietly, often out of sight, watching for crabs and fish. The male birds have a chestnut breast and a white belly with black barring. This bird looks like a juvenile because the barring on the belly is not showing much yet.
The female’s plumage is the reverse of this.
In flight they are so large they can be confused with some small Herons.
We found this bird perched over a water filled ditch as it tried to regulate the heat by ventilating on a blisteringly hot day.

The 4 Banded Sandgrouse gets its name from the male bird’s breast banding, however, this is a misnomer because the male in fact has only three breast bands. These birds are largely nocturnal in their habits and are usually only seen in the daytime when disturbed. This male bird exploded virtually from under my feet and landed a short distance away for a few seconds - just enough time for a shot!

One bird I’ve always wanted to see is the Cut-throat Finch. These birds are quite uncommon, they are a dry season bird in The Gambia moving to the south of their range at this time.
Their plumage has always fascinated me and they have been on my wish list for some time. So when I was looking at some Bee-eaters flying back and fore their nests in a small earthen bank and Mas shouted – ‘Steve, Cut-throat Finches’ I couldn’t get there quick enough, thankfully they stayed for a minute for me to get a few shots.

Males and Females in a small flock.


You can see how they got their name!


This was a totally unexpected surprise and made my day!

It’s not every day you come across an African Fish Eagle. However, cruising up these Gambian rivers in a small manoeuvrable boat presents unexpected photo opportunities. In my experience the bigger the bird the more spooky they are and I was terrified this magnificent bird would fly off.
We must have been within its comfort zone because it tolerated our little boat with strange people pointed things in its direction. We quietly inched nearer until I could get a shot and Susan could get good binocular views.
Lovely experience to see these superb birds up so close.

White-throated Bee-eaters seen from the small boat we were in on the River Gambia. The only time we saw them as they perched high up in the trees, these are graceful birds with a far carrying ‘Pruuee’’call and they are the only Bee-eater with a black crown.

The Exclamatory Paradise Whydah (phew that’s a mouthful) is a spectacular bird of the open Savannah. The males have incredible tails, their bodies are only 12.5cms but their tails are 27.5cms. The males rise high up in to the air and then descend waving their tales to display to the females. They are very shy birds perching high up in tall trees and it takes some effort to even get a shot.

It’s worth it though to record these amazing birds.

Senegal Thick-knee is an extremely common bird in The Gambia it commonly frequents river banks, ponds and shorelines in general. The Spotted Thick-knee is different, it is a bigger bird which inhabits open woodland areas and is more difficult to find. Our guide Mas knew an area which he had checked out previously and there were about half a dozen of these lovely birds there.
We had to walk a few hundred yards into their typical habitat and finally we saw them, however, they were very spooky and didn’t like any approach at all, but after some effort and patience I managed to line up a couple of birds for a photograph, it wasn’t easy, but really worth the effort.
Beautiful birds!

The Western Bluebill is a difficult bird to see, it’s unobtrusive, skulking around, undetected by most. Seeing them is a real bonus and you can easily spend all your time in the Gambia without encountering them. They are at the northern edge of their range here so they are not common at all and they are very difficult to get out in the open.
There was an old hide/shed in an isolated wood outside a small village that had been built by some people from Holland quite some time ago. They also dug a pond out and lined it with concrete. No one goes there anymore and the locals certainly have no interest in it, but we visited it one afternoon.
This is a special place and the birdlife coming to visit there is something else, in the main flycatchers –but that’s for another blog.
As the afternoon wore on, to our surprise and delight we had a female Western Bluebill bathing in the pond right in front of us, what a find!


You can tell she's a female by the dense spotting on her belly.

However, after she left things got even better a gorgeous male bird came in and landed right in front of the hide.



Usually you only get, if any, a brief view of these difficult birds.
To have these lovely birds in this situation was special!

With reference to the old hide/shed in the woods and flycatchers in the previous Western Bluebill blog post. This is the best place that I have been to where African Paradise and Red-bellied Paradise Flycatchers can be seen. These are quite small flycatchers with long tails that can be seen in the forests of The Gambia. Usually they are seen flitting from branch to branch very quickly and it is difficult to get prolonged views of them.
However, things are different here, they perch ridiculously closely to the hide and with great regularity. They can come as close as six feet with total confidence which is unprecedented in my experience.
There is a well-established and accepted hybridization between the species and this can be seen in various individuals at this site.
It’s quite a spectacle and worth spending an hour or two here observing these beautiful little birds.


Male African Paradise Flycatcher


Male Red-bellied Paradise Flycatcher


Female Red-bellied Paradise Flycatcher


Male Red-bellied Paradise Flycatcher (Short tail)


Looks like a hybridization candidate.

It's not very often you get close to these magnificent birds so you have to take the opportunities when they're presented. The boatman cut the engines as we drifted past this beautiful bird. I expected it to fly but thankfully it stayed put. I increased the shutter speed to counteract the boat's motion and hoped for the best.

African Pygmy Kingfisher is the smallest kingfisher on the continent, measuring just 12cms in total. It is easy to miss these diminutive birds because they don’t associate with water, they inhabit dry forest edges and light woodland feeding on insects typically, therefore they can be found almost anywhere. They do, however, come to water to bathe and drink and that is when you can see them. They have a quiet ‘Vsst’ call and that is what gives their presence away.
Photographing them is far from easy though, you have to wait until they dive into water, which is so quick you can barely detect it, it’s in and out in a split second. Then you have to try and see what branch they have perched on, it’s usually the one they have dived from but that’s not much help if you haven’t seen them in the first place.
The people who own the lodges we stay in have a one acre private walled garden about a hundred yards away down the track, within which they have planted endangered native trees and also therein is a well where one of the gardeners, a lovely guy named Alfa, draws water and fills up a small pond daily. He also fills up the numerous pots around the garden, encouraging birds to come and drink in the afternoon on a hot day.
When time allows we visit there in the late afternoon to see what’s coming in to drink and bathe. There are three palm covered seating areas with cushions where you can sit quietly. It’s a lovely peaceful place and we have seen an impressive panoply of bird species on our visits.
We were sat there one afternoon and something splashed into the pond in front of us and it was so quick we couldn’t identify what it was. We kept watching and it happened again and this time I managed to follow the ‘blur’ back into a small tree about ten feet away. We could now see it was a Pygmy Kingfisher and then we could hear the distinctive little call.
This happened three or four times and finally I was able to photograph an adult male bird out in the open. I had to use a little diffused flash because it was very dark under the tree it was perched in.

What a gorgeous little jewel he was!