Trip Report: The Gambia (West Africa) and 3 Days in England, November 15-27, 1995

[Editor's note: Please contact Allen Chartier for copies of the maps mentioned in this report. UG]

Introduction

We are very strong believers in using local birder/guides wherever we travel. Doing this creates a local "ambassador" for the environment who benefits economically from preservation of these environments, and hopefully creates a voice within the local political system for preservation. While independent birding travel may be more convenient and cheaper, the money spent goes unnoticed as far as the environment is concerned. We strongly urge anyone reading this for planning a trip to The Gambia to utilize a local birder/guide. We can highly recommend Tamba Jefang, although there are several good guides available. Out of respect for Tamba, and in keeping with our travel philosophy, some of his "secret" sites for good birds are not revealed in any great detail.

We booked our entire Gambia portion of the trip through Martin Reid at Clockwork Travel (advertised in Winging It), as well as our accommodations in England the first night. The 7-day charter, which included round-trip air from London-Gatwick and 7 nights at the Senegambia Beach Hotel, was offered by The Gambia Experience and cost £332 per person (about $525 U.S. using the current $1.58 to £1.00 exchange rate). Martin booked our local birder/guide for just the two of us through West Africa Tours, which cost an additional $800 U.S. per person. Our Northwest Airlines flight, also booked by Martin, flew direct from Detroit to London's Gatwick airport, and cost $495 per person. The total cost of our Gambia trip came to a very reasonable $1820 per person from Detroit.

Our trip was designed through input from an itinerary that Martin had worked up for a tour that never went, as well as through our own research. We used two birdfinding guidebooks to determine the areas we would like to visit. One, A Birdwatchers' Guide to The Gambia by Rod Ward, was obtained from ABA Sales. Another, Gambia Dec. 1992 by C.N. Gibbins, R.B. Stidolph, and C.A. Sykes, was obtained from the Natural History Book Service in England. The first is a pretty good bird finding guide with a complete Gambian checklist in the back, and the second is a trip report with a few maps and a complete list of birds seen. We were going to try and jam as many sites and birds as possible into the 6 1/2 days of birding we had available.

Of course, given the schedules of the charter flights, we needed to stay over in England, and since it was the Thanksgiving week in the U.S. this gave us additional vacation time to spend there. Martin booked a room for us on arrival on November 16 at the Vulcan Lodge, a nice Bed and Breakfast a few minutes from Gatwick airport (£42/night) with a schedule that accommodates birders nicely; simple breakfast at 7:15 a.m., full cooked breakfast at 7:30 (daylight hours in England in November run from about 7:30 to 4:30!). We left our accommodations tentative for the return portion.

Nick Pope was advertised in Winging It as a birder/guide for southeastern England, and we booked him for 3 days of birding, one on the day of our arrival in London and the weekend after our return from The Gambia. His rates were £90 per day including lunch. Gas (petrol) was additional, as were accommodations. We had sent him a "wish list" of birds to help him determine our exact itinerary, as we had been to England before in November 1987.

Trip Log

Day 1
Wednesday, November 15, 1995

After barely escaping from work at 5:15 p.m. (the usual chaos before vacation), we went to the airport at 7:00 p.m. to catch our Northwest Airlines flight 32 departing Detroit at 9:00 p.m. (rescheduled from 8:40 p.m.). They had to de-ice the 747, which took more than 1/2 hour (!) and left, late as usual at 10:15 p.m. We got the usual 2-3 hours of fitful sleep on the 7 hour flight and arrived in London's Gatwick airport at 10:15 a.m. on November 16, about an hour late.

Day 2
Thursday, November 16, 1995

On arrival, we cleared customs and immigration in record time, about 20 minutes, after expecting in excess of 1 hour as with our trip here in 1987. We met Nick Pope outside of Customs and headed for the Vulcan Lodge (£42), where we quickly picked up our key, dropped our bags, and assembled our birding equipment.

The transformation from travel-mode to birding-mode only took about 10 minutes, and we were headed south toward Littlehampton. There were staked out vagrants (Pallas's and Yellow-browed Warblers) here, and the drive took about 1/2 hour. This was a bonafide British "twitch"! We went to a golf course west of the river in Littlehampton near the coast and to an adjacent patch of woods where the birds were hanging out. After pacing up and down about 1/2 kilometer of trail, the Yellow-browed (known in Clements as Inornate Warbler) was found, and we saw it well, while the Pallas's had been briefly glimpsed in an area where we weren't watching! We got a consolation lifer, a Firecrest, for our efforts. The Firecrest was one from the "B" list (very rare) we had sent Nick prior to our trip, and the Yellow-browed wasn't even on a want list. Not a bad start. We next went to a small pond east of the river in Littlehampton along the coast to find an adult Mediterranean Gull (one from the "A" list), which turned out to be ridiculously easy, and quite beautiful (for a gull, that is)!

Our next destination took us west to the Pagham Harbor Nature Reserve, where we hoped to find several things, including Water Rail, Kingfisher, and Smew. Although we were unsuccessful with these target birds, we were able to pad the day's bird list quite nicely with many shore and marsh species. Little Egrets were an unexpected bonus here. The wind kicked up, it got much colder (low 40s), and began getting dark, so we quit for the day with a respectable 56 species listed and returned to the Vulcan Lodge.

We walked to a pub for dinner (typically ordinary). We then discovered that the lodge was going to be closed on November 24, the day of our return from The Gambia, so we needed to book other accommodations tomorrow and communicate our new location to Nick. We are having trouble sleeping. It is 1:30 a.m. as I write this!

Day 3
Friday, November 17, 1995

Up at 6:45 a.m. Continental breakfast was available at 7:15 as expected. We paid our bill and caught a taxi to the airport at 7:45 (10 minute ride, £3.80). At the airport we found a Monarch Airlines counter. Allen went to look for Thomas Cook travel agents to book a room at the Gatwick TravelLodge for November 24 when he found the correct counter for our flight in a distant area of the airport! Nancy waited in the long line while Allen set out again to find Thomas Cook. Once found, they said they couldn't book on-airport hotels from the airport! Quite ridiculous since, as it turned out, the hotel was at least 10 miles from the airport! Surprisingly, the Gatwick TravelLodge couldn't book a room directly either! We had to call an 800 number for that. Allen finally got the room booked and returned to where Nancy was waiting to check in. The line had moved little. Upon getting to the check-in we were told that we were allowed only one 5 kilogram carry-on bag per person, and that our over-night bag, which always fits in the overhead bin, had to be checked! Many other people had more than one small bag once we got to the gate, plus 2 or 3 bags of duty-free junk! We are getting really soured on British bureaucracy. After getting settled, we tried to call Nick Pope to inform him to pick us up at the TravelLodge on the 24th instead of Vulcan Lodge, but his phone number was packed in the over-night bag that we were forced to check! A call to directory assistance was no help, as there were several listings for N. Pope in Surrey! We'll have to call him from Gambia when we get our bag back.

We went to the gate, through passport control, and through the X-rays. The attendant refused to hand-search Allen's clear ziploc bag with 40 transparent film canisters. He said it must be X-rayed and that if it wasn't ISO 1000 or faster it wouldn't be harmed (the usual B.S.). He called a supervisor over to "explain" it to us. They apparently fear a bomb hidden in the canisters. Reluctantly, we let the film pass through. Of course, with 40 rolls in metal casings, there is no way they could have detected anything anyway in the jumble of metal that showed up on the X-ray! British systems! We got on the plane and realized that, in the confusion and debate about carry-on bags, we hadn't asked for a window seat. The seats on this charter flight are not built for humans. We were jammed in like sardines, with Allen's knees touching the seat in front. No room for anyone to recline! Lots of room in the overhead bins, by the way. Strong headwinds making our flying time 5 hours and 50 minutes, and a late departure (10:30 instead of 9:55) pushes our arrival time to 4:30 p.m. instead of 2:55 p.m. Our afternoon birding plans in The Gambia are surely blown. They're serving light breakfast at 11:30 a.m.! Too stingy to go for a full lunch, apparently. Sodas were 35 pence for a tiny 6 oz can! In Europe the concept of charter flights brings a whole new meaning to the term "no frills".

We arrived in Banjul at 4:30 p.m. It was about 4°C in London when we left. It was 34°C in Banjul! It was the most interesting arrival greeting we've ever experienced, with a live native drum band with singers and dancers. Immigration was a guy with a stamp not even looking at us or the passports, just stamping. They unloaded the luggage onto the ground while we all waited behind a gate and watched them. Then a free-for-all ensued as they opened the gates and we all claimed our luggage from the tarmac. Customs was made easier by using a porter, just a quick question and we were on our way outside to the waiting buses. Tamba Jefang, our guide, met us here instead of at the hotel. Very nice of him to do this. He rode the bus back with us, which stopped at a couple of hotels, and helped us identify our first life birds along the road. After checking in to the Senegambia Beach Hotel and getting settled (20 minutes this time), we met Tamba for a short bird walk near the hotel. We walked to the nearby Bijilo Forest Park, but it had closed at 6:00 p.m. and we couldn't get in. Just as well, as it was dark around 7:00 anyway. Apparently many birders get their first experience with Gambian birds at this park, but the guidebooks don't give clear directions. Map 1 shows how to get to Bijilo from the Senegambia Beach Hotel. Other hotels were also well situated relative to other birding sites. For instance, the best place for Long-tailed and Standard-winged Nightjars was walking distance from the fairly new Palma Rima Hotel. Kotu Creek and Kotu Ponds were walking distance from the Bungalow Beach Hotel. Neither of these hotels were as "classy" as the Senegambia, but appeared to be good hotels nonetheless. A Birdwatchers' Guide to The Gambia provides a good map of the Kotu Creek, Kotu Ponds, and Casino Cycle Track area relative to the Bungalow Beach Hotel. Map 2 shows the location of all three of these hotels and approximate distances. Map 3 shows the detail of where to find the nightjars relative to the Palma Rima Hotel.

Back near the hotel we got some Dalasi (9 to the U.S. dollar, 15 to the British Pound) and drinking water. Tamba left us at 7:30 p.m. to have dinner at the buffet at the Senegambia. He was holding to his Muslim religion and had to catch up on his prayers, missed during the day, each evening. Our total dinner bill for two was 300 Dalasi, about $34 U.S.. At least it was real food (not greasy), with a buffet of Cajun fish, Cajun steak, curried vegetables, potatoes, rice, and lots of deserts that we didn't sample. We'll have to eat somewhere less expensive for the rest of the trip.

Day 4
Saturday, November 18, 1995

Up at 5:45 a.m. to meet Tamba at 7:00 a.m.for birding around Banjul and Serekunda. Our first stop was Kotu Creek where we racked up our first big collection of lifers. There were often six or seven life birds in as many directions, all at once! Nancy thought it was "ecotastic". Next, on to the Kotu Ponds, just like sewage ponds everywhere: hot, sunny, smelly, and loaded with birds. Next we went to the Fajara Golf Course where we bought an excellent map of The Gambia for 50 Dalasi. We next made an unanticipated, but productive stop at a place called Camaloo Corner before heading toward Banjul. At the Gambian National Prison there were Swallow-tailed Bee-eaters on the wires over the compound. We didn't think we would have to go to prison for that bird! We finally made a stop along the Bund Road south of Banjul before we had lunch at 1:15 p.m. It was quite a whirlwind itinerary for the morning, netting us 94 species by lunchtime, with more than half of them lifers!

Allen had used 5 rolls of film already and had to go back to the hotel for more. Once there, the group decided to take a siesta. Tamba had a headache and looked like he needed some "down time", so we rested in the shade at the hotel and talked. One good find during this rest was when Allen spotted two small birds flying into an introduced Casuarina tree. They turned out to be African Silverbills, a not-too-frequently seen species, more often seen on the north side of the river. They sat absolutely still for 15 minutes as we scoped them at our convenience! At 3:30 we left to go to the MRC (Medical Research Center) Grounds and the Atlantic Road. The person at the MRC center was originally going to go birding with us, but got busy and couldn't. He asked us for a donation to the Center of 20 Dalasi to bird the grounds, which was well worth it. The Atlantic Road didn't turn up anything special except a very photogenic Western Gray Plantain-Eater. We next went to the top of the Casino Cycle Track and walked down about 1/2 kilometer, then returned. We then went to the Palma Rima Hotel where we walked out into the scrub (see Map 3) to await the arrival of the nightjars. One species showed (Long-tailed), and the other (Standard-winged) is apparently shy and may have been put off by the loud music from the hotel, quite audible even out here in the scrub. We took a taxi back to the Senegambia Beach Hotel, as our driver (Lamin) had left. He was technically "off duty" at 6:00 p.m., while the nightjars typically show up from 6:30 to 7:00 p.m. Tamba checked out some local restaurants while we dropped our gear in the room. The Italian restaurant across the street seemed nice. It cost a total of 200 Dalasi ($22 U.S.) including tip for 2 generous meals and a total of 7 drinks. Tamba wasn't hungry, but Nancy persuaded him to eat some of her rather large pizza. Lasagna was 75 Dalasi and appetizers were 20-45 Dalasi. We may try a different place for local specialties tomorrow. The maps and directions in A Birdwatchers' Guide to The Gambia were useful and accurate for all the locations we visited today. Our newly acquired map was also very detailed and helpful.

Day 5
Sunday, November 19, 1995

Up at 6:15 a.m. to meet Tamba and Lamin at 7:30. We had the breakfast we were entitled to at the Senegambia Beach Hotel at 7:00, then headed out for Abuko Forest. The ticket taker wasn't there yet at 8:00, but since Tamba had worked there for 5 months, they let him in with us. We spent time at the Education Center and Crocodile Pool as well as the blinds (hides). We had a little while of peace and quiet until a couple of groups of noisy, chatty British and Dutch birders arrived. This made it impossible to enjoy the birds, so we moved on to other places where we could actually hear the birds singing again. We continued to bird all the way back to the small "zoo", then returned to the entrance via a shorter trail.

We went to Lamin Lodge for lunch, right on the Gambia River, where we had some local food. Essentially, it was curried beef and rice but very tasty. There were some raw vegetables and fruit on the side, which we cautiously ate with no ill effects. We lazed around here until around 3:30 p.m. again, whiling away the hottest birdless hours. During our conversations with Tamba, we learned a little about the local languages. While English is the official language of The Gambia, most people were speaking Mandinka, the tribal language of the area, among themselves. The English that was spoken was mixed with the accents of this Mandinka, some French sounds, and of course mainly a British overtone. It took some getting used to, but we got along quite well. Nmbarro (sic) is the Mandinka word for "hello", and Kono Jubehla (sic) is the term for "bird watcher". A phonetic representation of how they pronounced words, in particular bird names, could be represented by: "Grashupa Boozhar" for Grasshopper Buzzard. Highlights of the siesta included a Goliath Heron for Allen, which he saw when everyone else had left the balcony for one reason or another, and the little geckos in the rafters and roofing of the restaurant.

We then went to the Lamin rice fields where we continued to find life birds until 6:00 p.m. We returned to the hotel, exchanged more British pounds for Dalasi (Tamba made the exchange on the street, since the banks were closed on Sunday), and went to dinner. Tamba recommended Uncle Nuhas' restaurant for good traditional Gambian food, but we chickened out because it was very small, set well back from the road down a dark passageway, and nobody else seemed to be eating there. We returned to All' Italian Restaurant across the street again, and had the same charming, enthusiastic waitress again (Awa Camara). The Gambian drum band was entertaining at dinner, at least until they broke into a drum version of "Oh Suzanna!"

We returned to the Senegambia, repacked our bags for the trip upriver, determined which clothes could stay, and turned in for the night.

Day 6
Monday, November 20, 1995

Up at 6:00 a.m. to meet Tamba and Lamin at 7:00. Drove through Banjul to the ferry dock (good map in A Birdwatchers' Guide to The Gambia) which left at 8:00 a.m. We were hoping to see Slender-billed Gulls on the 1/2 hour crossing, but no gulls ventured out of the harbor with us. They're just not used to following boats, nobody throws food into the ocean in this country! At Barra, we headed east past Essau for some "road birding" on the way to Kerewan, where we caught another ferry. Although there was a good site listed in the guidebooks for Northern Anteater Chat, requiring about a 1 km walk in the hot, sunny scrub, we found them quite easily along the road well east of there. Apparently most birders don't typically go farther east than Essau on the north shore of the Gambia River. The reason is probably due to the bad condition of the entirely dirt roads up that way. (See Map 4 for all areas mentioned in this report).

After crossing the ferry at Kerewan we ate our lunch in the ferry "terminal". We met a very nice woman dressed in vivid red with a cute baby boy. She joked that she would be glad to send him home with us! Since we had food left over, we shared what we weren't going to eat with several of the people who were hanging around the area waiting for the next ferry. We drove only about 200 yards to a dock just around a bend in the river and boarded a "pirogue", or Gambia's version of a river taxi. We left Lamin in Kerewan and headed upriver about 12-15 miles to Kemoto Lodge near Tankular. The ride took about 45 minutes and was pretty productive for birds and Nile Monitor lizard. We arrived by 2:30 p.m. and checked in.

Although Tamba said it wasn't included in the itinerary, he suggested we go birding that afternoon. It was a very productive, yet hot, walk along a dry lakebed. In fact, we walked 3 or 4 miles! We got back around 6:15 p.m. Unfortunately, dinner was at 8:00 p.m. Kind of late for a diabetic, or two people from the U.S. used to eating around 6:00 after work! Plans for tomorrow include an early morning (7:00 a.m.) "safari" with about 20 European tourist-types with a few semi-birders in the bunch. We hope all goes well. These Europeans seemed disapproving of us every time we have encountered them on this trip. We asked at the registration desk for a wake-up call at 5:45 since our alarm clock suddenly decided to stop ticking, and Allen's wristwatch alarm wasn't resetting properly either!

Day 7
Tuesday, November 21, 1995

Up at 5:55 a.m. to meet Tamba at 6:30 a.m. The "wake-up knock" at 5:45 never came. It was a good thing that Tamba knocked on our door when he did. We went out on the safari in German World War II armored cars that they were able to keep running (barely). They were extremely noisy and made it difficult to hear any birds, although we did see a few that weren't intimidated by the noise. We met a nice couple of birders, more serious than the others, from Holland. It was a rather short safari, we left at 7:00 and returned to the lodge for breakfast at 9:00. We decided (wisely) that going on another safari into Kiang West National Park would be too far, take too long, and not be as productive for birds as Tamba thought our drive east of Kerewan might be.

We packed up and took the pirogue back to Kerewan, arriving at 11:45 a.m. where Lamin was waiting for us. We began driving east and birding. Only one police check station out of about 5 on the way to Georgetown posed a problem. At this one, they performed a "safety check" and found that they could push the van with the emergency brake on. They wanted a bribe. After discussions of about 20 minutes, Tamba gave them 50 Dalasi and we were on our way. The road from Barra to Georgetown is dirt the entire way and could possibly be driven in a single, long day (after taking the 8:00 a.m. Banjul-Barra ferry), in the dry season only. The road obviously erodes severely in places during the rainy season and is likely impassable then. During the dry season, it is rutted, bone- jarring, dusty, and with maximum speeds averaging 20-30 km/hr. The distance from Barra to Georgetown (see Map 4) is about 240 km. The problem is that there doesn't seem to be a good halfway stop, except maybe Kerewan, and there are several good birding sites to extend the travel time to at least 12 hours.

None of the sites we visited on our route today are covered in bird-finding guides, yet they were excellent. The benefits of going with a local guide. In addition to the good areas birders usually go to near Essau (where we were yesterday), we stopped at a very productive waterhole near Janneh Kunda. We saw hundreds of Cutthroat Finches, Red-cheeked Cordon-bleus, Yellow-fronted Canaries, and Gray-headed Sparrows, with a few Village Indigobirds, Northern Paradise Wydahs, and Sudan Golden Sparrows. There was one Cinnamon-breasted (Rock) Bunting, a Grasshopper Buzzard, a few Greater Blue-eared Glossy Starlings and Namaqua Doves, and several Red-eyed and Vinaceous Doves all coming to drink at a waterhole that was only about 50 yards in diameter! Another important wetland, the Kauur Wetland near Kauur, had good habitat on both sides of the road and neat birds, including 11 Egyptian Plovers, 28 Kittlitz's Plovers, 2 White-headed Lapwings, and a Greater Painted-Snipe (heard).We continued east and stopped at a nesting colony of Marabou Storks near Njau.

We arrived dusty and late at Jangjangbureh Camp on the north side of the Gambia River (near Koli Kunda) at 7:30 p.m., well after dark. The "road" into the camp looked like a very eroded walking trail, but Lamin negotiated it expertly, as he had done on the rutted road all day. He did a great job of driving.

Jangjangbureh had no electricity and no hot water. They were mud huts with thatched roofs. The grounds were very dark. The beds were very hard. We found two frogs in the room; a good sign that we were away from it all. They served a good dinner buffet at 8:00 p.m. and we returned to our rooms. There was a native "show" for entertainment in the middle of the camp that we decided not to attend, but it sounded like they were right in the room with us anyway. The entertainment stopped at about 10:00 and we drifted off to sleep.

Day 8
Wednesday, November 22, 1995

Tamba woke us at 6:30 a.m. to look for owls around camp. No luck. It was hard sleeping last night, especially when a fist-sized piece of mud from the roof came crashing down onto Nancy's backpack at around 2:00 a.m.! We birded the grounds of the camp and then had breakfast. Tamba was upset with the staff, as they didn't have our packed lunch even started, despite his having told them about it last night. We just made it to the ferry dock (1/2 km. away) by 8:00 a.m. Not to worry, the ferry was late. Temperature this morning was surprisingly cold, in the high 40s Fahrenheit! One guy at the ferry dock was in a parka! We were obviously in the morning rush-hour to Georgetown, with 50 children and 20 adults crowding onto the ferry with our van and another car. This was all on a ferry big enough to hold four small cars, and all for a 200 meter crossing! We had to take a second, less crowded ferry to get back off the island of Georgetown to the south shore of the Gambia River.

We were headed east to Basse Santa Su (Basse), the typical location where birders go to see Egyptian Plover. We made a stop at Bansang to see a nesting colony of Red-throated Bee-eaters which, unfortunately, seems to be abandoned due to the excavating activities of humans immediately adjacent to it. A Giant Kingfisher was still nesting here and there were a couple of bee-eaters around, but not the hundreds we were expecting.

Basse itself was disappointing, with only three Egyptian Plovers across the river. We were lucky we saw them so well yesterday. We arrived at Basse late due to another delay at a police check point. This time, the horn didn't pass "inspection", and in fact we had noticed it was getting quite weak. No bribe this time, but Lamin had to get the horn repaired in Basse, especially since we had to come back past this same check point later. It took about 20 minutes and cost 45 Dalasi ($5 U.S.) to replace the horn with a new one! Imagine the same job in the U.S., probably $100 minimum. On our way back out we got pulled over again at the same check point, but a different officer (this was near Bakadaji), and asked to show our passports. This was something Tamba told us had never happened before. It's a good thing we always carry them anyway! We went back to Jangjangbureh Camp and birded the grounds there until about 6:30. Had dinner at 8:00 p.m. and turned in for the night.

Day 9
Thursday, November 23 (Thanksgiving)

Up at 6:00 a.m. to try for owls again. No luck again. We had breakfast outdoors (as were all meals here) at 7:30 a.m. Temperature was in the low 50s, but as with all other days here, it got into the 80s and 90s by mid-morning. We turned in our key and paid for our drinks. All the lodges seem to charge about 15 Dalasi for a 16 oz. soft drink, but anywhere else you could buy them in the stores for 3.50 Dalasi. West Africa Tours charged a fairly reasonable 10 Dalasi, which included keeping them cold in a cooler. Apparently the scheduled boat trip was normally going to leave at 9:30, but Tamba convinced them to leave by 8:45. We promptly went 1/2 km. to the Georgetown dock and waited until 9:20 while one of the crew mailed letters and postcards from the camp. "Drum man" sang the whole time and we couldn't hear any birds. All he wanted was money anyway. Lots of people ask for things here, although it is on the order of Latin America, but different. "Hello, hawa you?" seem to be the code words prior to asking for money, pens, or empty bottles from the "rich" toubabs (Mandinka for white people).

We went downriver, seeing a few things but missing a few too, because of our late departure. Not a good day for Tamba again. The promised "for sure" bee- eaters didn't materialize (we never even saw one), nor did the Verreaux's Eagle- Owls or many other birds. At least the Shining-blue Kingfisher and African Fish- Eagle showed. Bonuses were two Banded Snake-Eagles and a strange Accipiter that Tamba called a West African Goshawk (A. toussenelii?). We'll have to check the taxonomy on that one at home. Not a sign of Hippopotamus or Nile Crocodile as touted in the West Africa Tours brochure. The river was wider and not as lush as expected. In fact, it was generally kind of scrubby and open.

We met Lamin with the van in Sapu at noon and drove out to the main road. We had two extra passengers, Gunter and Lily from Germany, who needed to get back near Banjul. They weren't birders, but were a nice, quiet, couple who were good sports about all the birding stops on the way back to Banjul. We made a few stops on the way back west to the Senegambia Beach Hotel along the south side of the Gambia River, but it was mostly driving today. Safanyama Bulong near Pakaliba was probably the best spot, but we got there in the heat of the day. It could have been better. A long drive, with a couple of brief stops brought us to Pirang where we hoped to see Black Crowned Cranes and African Spoonbills, but we were just too late as the sun sank behind the mangroves as we were arriving. The birds were already settled on their roost. We got back to the Senegambia Beach Hotel at 7:45 p.m. West Africa Tours seemed not to understand why we were so late when Tamba "checked in" with them. Apparently they typically run more "tourist" type tours, generally from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. They had better get used to birders if they want more business! We said goodbye to Gunter and Lily, and they gave us the equivalent of the bus fare for the ride we had given them, 50 Dalasi each. We ate Italian again across the street. No Awa this time, she was off tonight. Since our alarm broke, we asked for a 6:00 a.m. wake-up call for tomorrow. Hope it works better than at Kemoto Lodge.

Day 10
Friday, November 24, 1995

The "alarm" knocked on the door at 5:40 a.m.! Better early than late! We semi- packed and met Lamin out front at 7:00 a.m. Tamba wasn't with him, we had to pick him up in Serekunda on the way to Yundum. We birded both Yundum north and south, getting a few last minute lifers. We made a brief stop at the Abuko Forest gift area to buy a T-shirt, and ended up buying two. We got back to the hotel at 11:50, with check-out at noon. We hauled our bags up to the front of the hotel one more time, checked out, and piled our bags with the others. We went across the street again for lunch, then bought one last bottle of water to hold us through the airport. We met Haddie Taal of West Africa Tours in the lobby of the hotel, and the owner as well (don't remember his name). We tried to convert our remaining Dalasi back to British Pounds at the hotel, but they didn't convert in that direction. The Bureau de Change was closed until 4:00 p.m. and so, I assume, was the nearby bank. We ended up using all but 55 Dalasi by the time we got on the bus to the airport at 2:00 p.m. They sent around a basket for tips for the baggage porters. 10 more Dalasi gone. We left the main luggage on the bus, stood in line to get checked in, then got our passports stamped. Confusion reigned at the baggage check, which was followed by a "pat-down" behind a curtain. On to the "departure lounge." We got two soft drinks, 20 Dalasi more gone. We had to go out onto the tarmac and claim and tag our own bags, then pass them through inspection, and get them onto the baggage "trolley". Of course all this was impossible without the airport baggage porters getting them first and hustling you through the process, in more ways than one! Needless to say, our last 20 Dalasi were spent! The flight was only 1/2 hour late arriving this time, due to an air traffic controllers' strike in Paris. We should have a tail wind on the return and should arrive in London around 11:15 p.m. We met a bird "ringer" at the airport who had been working with Steve Madge, who was also ringing there. They had 46 species in two weeks, of which about 1/3 were life birds that we hadn't seen on our trip! We decided to spring for sodas on the plane ride back. We got a window seat this time, but it was dark before we could see the Sahara.

We landed at Gatwick at 11:00 p.m., got through immigration and customs OK, caught a cab (£6) to the TravelLodge (£50) and got to sleep around 12:30. Strange equipment in the room. A telephone with an alarm function with no confirmation tone, a TV alarm, short shower and tall bathtub.

Day 11
Saturday, November 25, 1995

The phone alarm went off OK. The TV alarm, set as a back-up, also went off but couldn't be shut off! Even unplugging the TV set didn't kill it! It kept going off for about 20 minutes after unplugging the TV when it finally died off. We went down to the lobby to wait for Nick Pope. He arrived at 6:30 a.m. and we headed south for Dungeness Nature Reserve, where we spent the entire morning birding and waiting for Smew to appear, which it did. Next we went to the Bedgebury National Pinetum southeast of London, an arboretum, to look for finches (Hawfinch and Siskin) and Common Treecreeper. We found only the siskin, and Nick said it was the first time he had missed the Hawfinch there! It got completely dark by 4:30 p.m. Lousy weather today made our searches for Dartford Warbler, Black Redstart, and Cetti's Warbler very difficult and fruitless. A short seawatch at Dungeness was fairly productive with loons, gannets, kittiwakes, murres, and a Dovekie. There was a strong south wind with light rain all day. We drove north through London then east through Norwich to the Drove House B&B about 7 miles east in Blofield. We went to the local pub for dinner, which was surprisingly good (Lasagna), and returned to the B&B for the evening.

Day 12
Sunday, November 26, 1995

Up at 6:00 a.m., or so we thought. The clock in the room wasn't accurate (none have had the same time within 45 minutes here in England), so we got up at 5:45 in error. We left at 7:00 a.m. to find Bean Geese. (Heartburn and gas again this morning, British food!). We found the geese near Cantley along with a few Egyptian Geese. We returned to the B&B for a 9:00 a.m. breakfast. We paid our bill (£54 for two rooms) and left for another "twitch", Britain's fourth Pallid Harrier. The bird was an immature female and was being seen on Norfolk's north coast near Stiffkey. To identify it with certainty, we would have to see the details of the facial disk. We have only rarely seen any harrier well enough to see that! We watched Nick's BirdNet beeper as information came in. During our 2 hour drive to the site we learned that the bird had been seen flying inland just west of Stiffkey at 9:30 a.m. We arrived around 10:30 and walked a mile along the footpath to where about 200-300 people were waiting and watching. There were about 100 cars lining the road at the trailhead. When we were just walking up, we glimpsed a harrier flying along a distant hedgerow, a brown bird with a bright white rump. Allen wasn't sure, but he thought that a Pallid Harrier wouldn't have quite an extensive and bright rump patch, although many of the birders present claimed that this was the bird. I don't know how they knew at that distance, especially since Northern Harrier was a possibility in these marshes also. (Perhaps as consolation to us, we heard a report later that the bird was well seen later in the day and was now thought to be a Montagu's Harrier, still a life bird, still unidentifiable at that distance, but not as rare as the Pallid).

At 11:15 it started to rain. It was 50°F and quite uncomfortable. By 11:50 we started to leave when we ran into Gary Wright, a Brit who had moved from Grand Rapids, Michigan back to England a few months ago. He was a staff artist for Michigan Birds and Natural History, a journal for which Allen has recently become Managing Editor, and we had heard his name but never met him. Small world indeed!

We went to a small cafe for lunch, then stopped at a small woodlot that could have held Common Treecreeper, but we only heard the increasing tempo of the raindrops. We went to Horsey Mere and walked the 1 1/2 mile muddy trail in light rain. We waited until 4:00 p.m. when the Common Cranes finally appeared (which was also coincidentally when the sun set). We got back to the car at 4:45 p.m. in the pitch dark.

We drove for 3 1/2 hours back to London to the Greyhound Hotel (£50). They weren't serving food since it was Sunday night. Neither were a couple of pubs up the street. Finally, about 1/2 mile away from the hotel, we found what they called the "Thai place". They only served burgers. They were the typical tasteless British beef with, of course, lots of grotesque mayonnaise. They seem to put mayonnaise on everything. We walked back to the room, ate our dinner, and repacked for tomorrow. The room was quite nice, with a view of the street and a small pond across the way with sleeping Mute Swans, Mallards, Canada Geese, Eurasian Coots, and Tufted Ducks.

Day 13
Monday, November 27, 1995

Up at 6:15 a.m. to meet Nick at 7:00. Of course it was raining lightly, but at least it was a bit warmer than yesterday (55°F). We went to the Beddington Wastewater Lagoons near London. We slogged around in the mud looking for birds until 10:15. It did stop raining for about an hour and we did see a few passerines. Quite an uinappealing site, typical of sewage lagoons everywhere, with lots of mud, noise, and the usual smells.

We went back to the hotel to pack up our optical equipment, change out of our wet and muddy pants and shoes, and headed back to the airport with Nick. It continued to rain until we were half way there, then the sun broke out. They will probably have good weather now that we're leaving. We got to the airport at 11:30 a.m., got checked in for Northwest fight 33, and noticed that the flight was posted as boarding (it was 11:55). We had to skip lunch and go th the gate. Of course a very thorough inspection of the camera bag, even after X-raying all of it, including film. Our last birds were a House Sparrow and a Song Thrush, both of which were flying around and hopping on the ground inside the terminal! Our flight left close to on-time at 1:00 p.m. We landed in Detroit at 4:05 p.m. and drove home, getting in at 5:00 p.m. The weather was rainy and in the 40s, just like England!

Species Accounts

Plants

The only reference we were able to obtain was the guidebook 50 Trees of Abuko Nature Reserve (15 Dalasi). We also referred to a booklet The Gambia: Abuko Nature Reserve. Another guidebook to the numbered plants at Bijilo was available but, unfortuntely we didn't get to Bijilo. One plant was identified from a post card we purchased.

• Gumbar Gmelina arborea
• Baobab Adansonia digitata
• Rhun Palm Borassus aethiopum
• Ironwood Prosopis africana
• Dry Zone Mahogany Khaya senegalensis
• Gingerbread Plum Parinari macrophylla
• White-flowered Silk Cotton Ceiba pentandra
• Fig Ficus vogelii
• Tallow Detarium senegalense
• Cabbage Tree Anthocleista procera
• African Breadfruit Treculia africana
• Wolo Terminalia albida
• Oil Palm Elaeis guineene
• Swamp Date Palm Phoenix reclinata
• African Locust Bean Parkia biglobosa
• Rattan Calamus deerratus
• Coral Bush Erythrina senegalensis
• Small tree Dichrostachys cinerca.
  A flowering tree seen near Yundum identified from a postcard.

Insects
Grasshoppers

A few brown and tan species were found in dry grassy areas, but nothing particularly noteworthy, or identifiable.

• Praying Mantis
  One imposed itself on us at dinner at Jangjangbureh Camp, apparently falling in love with our flashlight on the table.
• Dung Beetle
  One fairly large one was at the bottom of the stairs at the Senegambia Beach Hotel.
• Blister Beetle
  One black species was seen at Jangjangbureh Camp.
• "Fungus Weevil"
  One seen that looked like the North American species.
• Ground Beetle
  One was seen at the Senegambia Beach Hotel.

Butterflies

• Citrus Swallowtail Papilio demodocus
  Several around Jangjangbureh Camp.
• African Monarch Danaus chrysippus
  Several seen at widely scattered locations.
• Common Grass Yellow Eurema hecabe
  The common yellow species seen at a number of locations.
• Painted Lady Vanessa cardui
  A couple seen.
• Several other species were seen, but are as yet unidentified.

Fish

• Mudskippers (Anableps sp.) were seen all along the river on mudflats.

Amphibians

• African Square-marked Toad Bufo regularis
  About five were in the stairwell nightly at the Senegambia.
• Kissia sp?
  Outside room at Senegambia.
• Very small frog sp. Inside room at Jangjangbureh Camp.
• Rana sp?
  Inside room at Jangjangbureh Camp.
• Rana sp?
  Wrinked back. Grounds of Senegambia.
• Frog sp.
  Calling and recorded at Jangjangbureh Camp.

Reptiles

• Long-snouted Crocodile Crocodylus cataphractus
  Three were at the crocodile pool at Abuko. According to Tamba, this was the species here, with Nile Crocodile (C. niloticus) farther upriver.
• Gecko sp.
  One small one seen round the dining table at Lamin Lodge. Possibly Dwarf Gecko (Lygodactylus gutteralis).
• Common Agama Agama agama
  Several seen in various parts of Gambia.
• Skink sp.
  One seen in a small tree behind the huts at Jangjangbureh Camp.
• Nile Monitor Varanus niloticus
  Two were glimpsed at Abuko, one was well seen along the Gambia River on the way to Kemoto, one was near Panchang, three were at Jangjangbureh Camp, where two fell out of a 40 foot palm tree as we watched (!), and two were along the Gambia River on the way to Sapu.
• African Beauty Snake Psammophis sibilans
  One quickly crawled across the trail at Abuko. Identified by Tamba.

Birds

A total of 327 species was seen. Of these, 206 were lifers. A total of 243 species was seen in The Gambia and 102 seen in England. A few species were seen at both locations. Allen saw his 2200th (Red-eyed Dove) and 2300th (Senegal Parrot) species, and Nancy saw her 2200th (Brown Babbler) and 2300th (Grasshopper Buzzard) species. Nancy saw her "catch-up" Common Sandpiper and Common Kingfisher. Approximate daily species totals were: Nov. 16 (56 w/3 lifers), Nov. 17 (25 w/24 lifers), Nov. 18 (110 w/53 lifers), Nov. 19 (93 w/33 lifers), Nov. 20 (119 w/28 lifers), Nov. 21 (128 w/29 lifers), Nov. 22 (80 w/6 lifers), Nov. 23 (109 w/14 lifers), Nov. 24 (74 w/11 lifers), Nov. 25 (67 w/2 lifers), Nov. 26 (53 w/3 lifers), Nov. 27 (56 w/1 lifer). Allen photographed about 115 new species. The field guide for West Africa, A Field Guide to the Birds of West Africa by Serle, Morrell, and Hartwig is old, poor, and confusing. Many birds looked nothing like their illustrations, and the taxonomy is more than 20 years old. This led to a little confusion with the local birders, as they have had nothing else to refer to. Most impressive was Tamba's ability to quote any bird's plate number and number on that plate instantly upon us seeing it! A useful skill since the plates are scattered throughout the book. A new field guide for The Gambia due out in Summer 1996 will be most welcome.

The names in this list follow the recent edition of Clements' Checklist of Birds of the World. The sequence is based on the checklists we had for reference, which are British, so crows are at the end of the list.

Life birds are Bold-faced, while birds that are rarely seen or any unusual sightings or numbers, are underlined [Editor's note: the bold-face and underline information was not available. UG]. At the end of these species accounts are location lists of the species at many areas visited.

1. Red-throated Loon -- 15
   Gavia stellata
   England only. Seen on our seawatch at Dungeness.

2. Great Crested Grebe -- 18
   Podiceps cristatus
   England only. A few near Pagham. Most were at Dungeness.

3. Little Grebe -- 24
   Tachybaptus ruficollis
   Most were in England, with 20 near Pagham and one at Dungeness. Three were at the Kotu Ponds, Gambia.

4. Pink-backed Pelican -- 115
   Pelecanus rufescens
   Gambia only. First seen along the Bund Road, but most were seen on the north side of the river east of Kerewan. A few were at other locations, including on the river itself.

5. Northern Gannet -- 20
   Sula bassana
   England only. Seen on our seawatch at Dungeness.

6. Great Cormorant -- 56
   Phalacrocorax carbo
   England only. Seen at a number of locations.

7. Long-tailed Cormorant -- 58
   Phalacrocorax africanus
   Seen around Kotu Creek and any area near the Gambia River. Seen nearly every day in small numbers.

8. African Darter -- 3
   Anhinga rufa
   The first one was seen flying high over the bus near Serekunda on the way from the airport on our first day. Two others were perched in a tree at Camaloo Corner.

9. Black-crowned Night Heron -- 12
   Nycticorax nycticorax
   Seen at Abuko, Jangjangbureh Camp, and along the Gambia river on the way from Georgetown to Sapu.

10. Squacco Heron -- 8
    Ardeola ralloides
    Encountered at a variety of locations near the Gambia River, freshwater marshes, and rice fields.

11. Cattle Egret -- 1233
    Bubulcus ibis
    Seen daily at all locations in Gambia.

12. Striated Heron -- 6
    Butorides striatus
    Seen at small creeks and rice fields throughout Gambia.

13. Black Heron -- 3
    Egretta ardesiaca
    One at Camaloo Corner and two at Kemoto Lodge.

14. Western Reef-Egret -- 99
    Egretta gularis
    Seen daily in Gambia at nearly all wetland areas. One seen along the Gambia river near Kerewan had white shoulders Tamba called it an Eastern Reef-Egret (Egretta sacra), but upon returning home and looking this up in our The Herons of the World book we found that all three species of Reef-Egret can have this mark. The heron book doesn't show its range extending so far west either. None of the relevant field guides give any information on this. We'll have to wait for the new Gambian field guide next year.

15. Little Egret -- 36
    Egretta garzetta
    Surprisingly, we found three at Pagham Nature Reserve in England where apparently they have become regular and increasing in number over the past few years. In Gambia, a few were seen at most wetland areas.

16. Intermediate Egret -- 2
    Egretta intermedia
    Both were along the Bund Road.

17. Great Egret -- 122
    Casmerodius albus
    A few seen at most wetland areas throughout Gambia. Most were in the central areas of The Gambia.

18. Purple Heron -- 6
    Ardea purpurea
    Seen at Abuko, Lamin Lodge, Kemoto Lodge, Kauur Wetland, and near Pakaliba.

19. Black-headed Heron -- 3
    Ardea melanocephala
    All were seen at Abuko.

20. Gray Heron -- 86
    Ardea cinerea
    A few seen daily at most wetland locations in Gambia. A few seen in England.

21. Goliath Heron -- 2
    Ardea goliath
    One seen flying out of mangroves at Lamin Lodge after giving its human-like yell. Another was along the Gambia River near Kerewan.

22. Hamerkop -- 20
    Scopus umbretta
    A few at most wetland areas throughout Gambia. A number of their huge nests were seen, including a few watched under construction. Great views of calling birds from the blind at Abuko.

23. Yellow-billed Stork -- 13
    Mycteria ibis
    A few near Kemoto Lodge, two circling high over Farafenye with vultures, and four near Pirang.

24. Wooly-necked Stork -- 15
    Ciconia episcopus
    All were in the vicinity of Kemoto Lodge, with the largest group being 12.

25. Marabou Stork -- 37
    Leptoptilos crumeniferus
    A nesting colony seen near Njau. A few were seen along the Gambia River near Sapu and a few were near Pakaliba.

26. Sacred Ibis -- 2
    Threskiornis aethiopicus
    Flying over along the Gambia River near Kerewan.

27. Hadada Ibis -- 2
    Bostrychia hagedash
    Flying and calling at a distance near Pakaliba, landing in the marsh out of sight.

28. Glossy Ibis -- 2
    Plegadis falcinellus
    Flyovers at the Kauur Wetland.

29. Greater Flamingo -- 2
    Phoenicopterus roseus
    Seen along the Bund Road.

30. Mute Swan -- 130
    Cygnus olor
    England only. Seen at most locations there.

31. White-faced Whistling-Duck -- 50
    Dendrocygna viduata
    Most were near Pirang and Kemoto Lodge. A few were at other wetland locations around Banjul, including behind the Senegambia Beach Hotel.

32. Bean Goose -- 100
    Anser fabalis
    England only. Seen in one flock near Cantley.

33. Greylag Goose -- 108
    Anser anser
    England only. Seen near Lydd and at Horsey Mere.

34. White-fronted Goose -- 75
    Anser albifrons
    England only. All were at Horsey Mere with the Bean Geese.

35. Canada Goose -- 22
    Branta canadensis
    England only. Seen near Lydd and across from our hotel in London.

36. Brant -- 65
    Branta bernicla
    England only. Seen at Pagham Nature Reserve and near Stiffkey.

37. Egyptian Goose -- 5
    Alopochen aegyptiaca
    England only. Four were with the Bean Geese near Cantley and one was near Stiffkey. This species was introduced into England more than 100 years ago and is well established.

38. Spur-winged Goose -- 16
    Plectropterus gambensis
    Four flew over the savannah near Kemoto Lodge and one was over the Gambia River on the way back to Kerewan. Eleven flew over the ferry to Georgetown.

39. Common Shelduck -- 23
    Tadorna tadorna
    England only. A few seen in most wetlands visited.

40. Eurasian Wigeon -- 625
    Anas penelope
    England only. Good numbers seen in most wetlands visited.

41. Gadwall -- 8
    Anas strepera
    England only. A few seen around Dungeness and other sites along the road.

42. Green-winged Teal -- 167
    Anas crecca
    England only. Fair numbers seen in most wetlands visited.

43. Mallard -- 220
    Anas platyrhynchos
    England only. Seen at nearly all sites.

44. Northern Pintail -- 5
    Anas acuta
    England only. Seen at Pagham Nature Reserve, Dungeness, and Beddington Sewage Lagoons.

45. Garganey -- 1
    Anas querquedula
    A female seen at the Kotu Ponds. It was noticed that the bird had a rather long bill, on the order of a Cinnamon Teal.

46. Northern Shoveler -- 35
    Anas clypeata
    England only. Seen at and near Dungeness and at Beddington Sewage Lagoons.

47. Common Pochard -- 89
    Aythya ferina
    England only. A few at most wetland sites visited.

48. Tufted Duck -- 83
    Aythya fuligula
    England only. A few at most wetland sites visited.

49. Common Goldeneye -- 2
    Bucephala clangula
    England only. One at Pagham Nature Reserve and one at Dungeness.

50. Ruddy Duck -- 2
    Oxyura jamaicensis
    Seen through the window of the Visitors' Center at Dungeness. Unfortunately, this species has been introduced into England, where it has been very successful and spread to the European continent. This is threatening the already rare White-headed Duck.

51. Smew -- 1
    Mergus albellus
    A probable immature male seen at Dungeness after a considerable wait for it to appear from behind an island.

52. Red-breasted Merganser -- 20
    Mergus serrator
    England only. All were at Pagham Nature Reserve.

53. Common Merganser -- 3
    Mergus merganser
    England only. All were at Dungeness.

54. Osprey -- 6
    Pandion haliaetus
    One at Camaloo Corner, one near Kerewan, and four along the Gambia River on our way to and from Kemoto Lodge.

55. Black-shouldered Kite -- 7
    Elanus caeruleus
    One or two almost daily in Gambia.

56. Black Kite -- 164
    Milvus migrans
    A few seen along the roadside every day in Gambia. More than 130 seen at a couple of sites of burning fields along the Gambia River between Georgetown and Sapu. Individuals with black bills and with yellow bills were seen. Sometimes these are split into separate species.

57. African Fish-Eagle -- 3
    Haliaetus vocifer
    Two heard calling and one seen soaring high overhead along the Gambia River on our way to Sapu.

58. Palm-nut Vulture -- 14
    Gypohierax angolensis
    Two or three seen daily in Gambia except on our long, dusty drive from Kerewan to Georgetown. An interesting species that nests in palms and feeds on fish. An older name, Vulturine Fish-Eagle, seems more appropriate.

59. Hooded Vulture -- 806
    Necrosyrtes monachus
    A most ubiquitous bird, being as common as Black Vultures in Mexico and occasionally as tame. More numerous near the towns and villages where there frequently was a group of 100 or 200 overhead. Many were also at an apparent dead cow near Kerr Jarga where they were appearing from all directions, seemingly out of nowhere.

60. White-backed Vulture -- 52
    Gyps africanus
    Large groups (20-30) were seen near Kerr Jarga (at the apparent carcass), and along the river from Georgetown to Sapu. Singles were near Kauur and near Bansang.

61. Ruppell's Griffon -- 2
    Gyps rueppellii
    The largest of the vultures we saw, both were with the group at the apparent carcass near Kerr Jarga.

62. Short-toed Eagle -- 3
    Circaetus gallicus
    Two were along the roadside near Kusassa and one was near Kauur.

63. Brown Snake-Eagle -- 1
    Circaetus cinereus
    Along the road near Njau.

64. Banded Snake-Eagle -- 2
    Circaetus cinerascens
    One perched and seen well and another circling overhead, both along the Gambia River between Georgetown and Sapu.

65. Harrier-Hawk -- 10
    Polyboroides typus
    One or two, mostly immatures, seen daily in Gambia.

66. Western Marsh Harrier -- 13
    Circus aeruginosus
    One or two seen almost daily in Gambia. Also seen in England near Cantley and at Horsey Mere, where 4 were seen at dusk.

67. Northern Harrier -- 2
    Circus cyaneus
    England only. Both were at Horsey Mere before dusk.

    Unidentified harrier sp. -- 1
    Circus sp.
    The harrier we saw near Stiffkey, England, was potentially the Pallid Harrier that we went there for, but afterwards news came that the rare harrier there may have been a Montagu's Harrier. The bird we saw was very distant and had a bright white rump and may more likely have been a Northern Harrier. We'll never know!

68. Dark Chanting Goshawk -- 22
    Melierax metabates
    Seen almost daily in Gambia, most from the roadsides.

69. Gabar Goshawk -- 1
    Melierax gabar
    A black morph flying over the Red-throated Bee-eater nesting colony near Bansang. Tamba said the black morph had been split into a distinct species, but we cannot find any literature that supports this.

70. Eurasian Sparrowhawk -- 2
    Accipiter nisus
    England only. One near Cantley and the other well seen at the Beddington Sewage Lagoons.

71. Red-chested Goshawk -- 1
    Accipiter toussenelii
    Seen and photographed flying overhead along the Gambia River between Georgetown and Sapu. Identification is uncertain and the taxonomy confusing. The bird was larger than a Shikra, but similar in being very white below (fine grayish barring). The tail was proportionately longer than a Shikra (Accipiter badius) and black, with three distinct spots, or bars on it, quite unlike a Shikra. The tail was partly fanned as it circled, giving it a somewhat unusual shape. Tamba called the bird a West African Goshawk, which bears the scientific name of Accipiter toussenelii in the West African Field Guide, and the description of plumage variations seem to suggest this species. However, other references indicate this species is barred reddish below, unlike the bird we saw, and lacking the three white tail bars. Its status on current checklists to the birds of The Gambia is unclear. The Red-thighed Sparrowhawk (Accipiter erythropus), known from The Gambia and a recent split from the southern Accipiter minullus, has red thighs, which this bird didn't, and also lacks the white tail spots. The African Goshawk (Accipiter tachiro) has races with white tail spots similar to our bird, but would appear to be too large for our bird. If we saw one of the variants of Accipiter toussenelii, then the English name in Clements is inappropriate. Definitely the most mysterious bird of the trip. Hopefully the new field guide in 1996 will clear up the situation.

72. Shikra -- 24
    Accipiter badius
    A few seen daily at most locations in Gambia. Watched hunting on a couple of occasions when they tried to ambush lizards on palm trees. Very skillful fliers.

73. Grasshopper Buzzard -- 17
    Butastur rufipennis
    Seen on most days in Gambia, usually perched conspicuously along roadsides. A colorful hawk, especially in flight.

74. Lizard Buzzard -- 17
    Kaupifalco monogrammicus
    Noted at scattered locations in Gambia, mostly along roadsides. Usually perched below the crown of a tree and well inside, making them less conspicuous than the previous species.

75. Long-crested Eagle -- 1
    Lophaetus occipitalis
    Allen's constant scanning of the Hooded Vulture flocks finally paid off with this bird seen near Brumen Bridge.

76. Eurasian Kestrel -- 7
    Falco tinnunculus
    England only. Scattered individuals seen a various locations. Better views than in 1987.

77. Gray Kestrel -- 12
    Falco ardosiaceus
    One or two seen daily, usually perched in treetops along the roadside. One seen diving after African Palm-Swifts as they came to roost in the palms behind our room at the Senegambia Beach Hotel.

78. Merlin -- 2
    Falco columbarius
    England only. One near the airport at Lydd and the other at Dungeness.

79. Red-necked Falcon -- 6
    Falco chicquera
    Seen on three different days, near Bansang, at Basse, and along the river between Georgetown and Sapu. Also seen near Yundum. Good numbers.

80. Lanner Falcon -- 5
    Falco biarmicus
    One was circling overhead at the Sofanyama Bolong near Pakaliba and four were circling together (migrants?) near Sankandi.

81. Peregrine Falcon -- 4
    Falco peregrinus
    Two perched in the savannah near Kemoto Lodge and two circling overhead near Yundum.

82. Double-spurred Francolin -- 28
    Francolinus bicalcaratus
    Many more heard than seen. Watched at Kotu Ponds and the MRC grounds, and flushed from many areas, including roadsides.

83. Stone Partridge -- 2
    Ptilopachus petrosus
    Heard only. Tape recorded from the hide near the Crocodile Pool at Abuko.

84. Ring-necked Pheasant -- 9
    Phasianus colchicus
    England only. Various locations.

85. Water Rail -- 1
    Rallus aquaticus
    England only. Heard only, at the Pagham Nature Reserve.

86. Black Crake -- 2
    Amaurornis flavirostra
    Two watched feeding at the Crocodile Pool at Abuko. Two heard duetting at Sofanyama Bolong near Pakaliba.

87. Common Moorhen -- 26
    Gallinula chloropus
    England only. Seen in most wetland areas visited.

88. Eurasian Coot -- 195
    Fulica atra
    England only. Numerous at all wetland areas visited.

89. Common Crane -- 9
    Grus grus
    Seen at sunset at Horsey Mere, where they have been for about 20 years.

90. African Jacana -- 2
    Actophilornis africanus
    Seen at the Crocodile Pool and adjacent photo blind at Abuko.

91. Greater Painted-Snipe -- 2
    Rostratula benghalensis
    One heard at the Kauur Wetlands and one flushed at Sofanyama Bolong near Pakaliba.

92. Eurasian Oystercatcher -- 40
    Haematopus ostralegus
    Twenty-five were at the Pagham Nature Reserve, England, and fifteen were seen from the bridge across (appropriately) Oyster Creek west of Banjul, Gambia.

93. Black-winged Stilt -- 63
    Himantopus himantopus
    Seen at most wetland sites visited in Gambia, with the largest number at the Kotu Ponds. Has a distinctly different call from the Black-necked Stilt, with which it is sometimes lumped.

94. Pied Avocet -- 11
    Recurvirostra avosetta
    Flying overhead at the Bund Road near Banjul, Gambia.

95. Senegal Thick-knee -- 69
    Burhinus senegalensis
    Seen in grassy and muddy areas of most wetland areas visited in Gambia. Largest numbers were at Panchang and at Basse.

96. Egyptian Plover -- 16
    Pluvianus aegyptius
    Eleven were at the Kauur Wetland where they were walking tamely right on the road near us. Spectacular! One was seen from the road in a small creek near Nyanga Batang, three were across the Gambia River at Basse, and one was on the shore of the Gambia River a short distance downriver from Jangjangbureh Camp. This is one shorebird that can almost convert confirmed colorful-bird fanatics like Allen. Almost.

97. Temminck's Courser -- 3
    Cursorius temminckii
    Seen at two different locations near Yundum in melon fields.

98. Northern Lapwing -- 4360
    Vanellus vanellus
    England only. Seen in huge flocks in the fields south of London, and elsewhere, as we did in 1987.

99. Spur-winged Plover -- 444
    Vanellus spinosus
    Seen daily at many locations throughout Gambia. Analogous to our Killdeer.

100. Black-headed Lapwing -- 42
     Vanellus tectus
     A few at scattered locations, mostly golf courses and open dry fields. They gave call notes reminiscent of Sandhill Crane.

101. White-headed Lapwing -- 2
     Vanellus albiceps
     Seen at the Kauur Wetland, apparently a good location for this rare (in Gambia) species.

102. Wattled Lapwing -- 203
     Vanellus senegllus
     Seen daily in Gambia. A few at most wetland areas, but larger numbers seen toward evenings as they flew to roosts. Every day, sightings of this species increased at around 5:00 p.m., often far from water.

103. European Golden-Plover -- 376
     Pluvialis apricaria
     England only. Seen near Lydd and at Dungeness. A few at Beddington Sewage Lagoons.

104. Black-bellied Plover -- 36
     Pluvialis squatarola
     Two in England at the Pagham Nature Reserve. All remaining birds were in wetlands in Gambia in the Banjul/Serekunda area.

105. Common Ringed Plover -- 23
     Charadrius hiaticula
     One flyby in England at the Pagham Nature Reserve. Others were at various locations on mudflats and in fields throughout Gambia.

106. Kittlitz's Plover -- 28
     Charadrius pecuarius
     All of these birds were in one flock at the Kauur Wetlands. They were difficult to see at first, being mud-colored lumps blending in with the dry mud-cracked surface. Most birders to Gambia find single birds at the Bund Road.

107. Black-tailed Godwit -- 50
     Limosa limosa
     All were seen flying overhead at the Bund Road.

108. Bar-tailed Godwit -- 258
     Limosa lapponica
     Most were at the Bund Road with a few flying over the Casino Cycle track. About 50 were near Kinteh-Kunda Bah in a small roadside wetland.

109. Whimbrel -- 12
     Numenius phaeopus
     A few in wetlands throughout Gambia, mostly in western areas.

110. Eurasian Curlew -- 128
     Numenius arquata
     A flock of 120 was seen coming in to roost at Pagham Nature Reserve and 7 were on the north Norfolk coast, England. In Gambia, one was at the Fajara Golf Course.

111. Common Redshank -- 118
     Tringa totanus
     A few at wetlands in England. Several at most wetlands visited in Gambia, being seen almost daily.

112. Marsh Sandpiper -- 25
     Tringa stagnatilis
     Seen daily in Gambia with one or two at most sites.

113. Common Greenshank -- 127
     Tringa nebularia
     A few to many at all wetland sites visited in Gambia. Seen almost daily.

114. Green Sandpiper -- 9
     Tringa ochropus
     Singles seen at a few of the wetland sites visited in Gambia. Three were at Beddington Sewage Lagoons, England. Very similar to Solitary Sandpiper, but when in flight the completely black underwings are distinctive.

115. Wood Sandpiper -- 44
     Tringa glareola
     A few at most wetland sites visited in Gambia. Seen almost daily.

116. Common Sandpiper -- 52
     Tringa hypoleucos
     A few at most wetland sites visited in Gambia. Seen almost daily.

117. Ruddy Turnstone -- 21
     Arenaria interpres
     Ten were at Pagham Nature Reserve, England. Remaining birds were at the Fajara Golf Course and on the shoreline of Banjul from the ferry.

118. Common Snipe -- 3
     Gallinago gallinago
     England only. One was at Horsey Mere and two were at the Beddington Sewage Lagoons.

119. Sanderling -- 11
     Calidris alba
     All were seen from the Banjul-Barra ferry on the rocky shoreline at Barra.

120. Dunlin -- 55
     Calidris alpina
     England only. Five were at the Pagham Nature Reserve and fifty were at Dungeness Nature Reserve.

121. Ruff -- 8
     Philomachus pugnax
     Three were at the Kotu Ponds and five were on the lakebed near Kemoto Lodge, Gambia.

122. Mew (Common) Gull -- 16
     Larus canus
     England only. Scattered locations throughout, usually with other gulls.

123. Lesser Black-backed Gull -- 606
     Larus fuscus
     England only. Seen at most locations visited, with birds roosting in fields and wetlands throughout. Only adults were noticed and counted, although young birds were undoubtedly present.

124. Great Black-backed Gull -- 110
     Larus marinus
     England only. A few at most sites roosting with other gulls.

125. Gray-headed Gull -- 602
     Larus cirrhocephalus
     Seen at wetland, coastal, and river habitats in the Banjul/Serekunda area, Gambia.

126. Mediterranean Gull -- 1
     Larus melanocephalus
     England only. An adult seen taking bread in a small pond near Littlehampton near where there apparently is a small, regular wintering population.

127. Common Black-headed Gull -- 1708
     Larus ridibundus
     England only. Everywhere!

128. Black-legged Kittiwake -- 4
     Rissa tridactyla
     England only. Seen during our seawatch at Dungeness.

129. Black Tern -- 55
     Chlidonias nigra
     A few were at Kotu Ponds and the Fajara Golf Course, and most were from the Banjul-Barra ferry, Gambia.

130. Gull-billed Tern -- 6
     Sterna nilotica
     One at Camaloo Corner and five from the Banjul-Barra ferry, Gambia.

131. Caspian Tern -- 25
     Sterna caspia
     At many locations along the Gambia River.

132. Lesser Crested Tern -- 4
     Sterna benghalensis
     All were seen from the Banjul-Barra ferry, Gambia.

133. Roseate Tern -- 1
     Sterna dougallii
     From the Banjul-Barra ferry.

134. Little Tern -- 3
     Sterna albifrons
     Along the Gambia River on the way to Kemoto Lodge.

135. Royal Tern -- 38
     Sterna maxima
     At many locations along the Gambia River.

136. Sandwich Tern -- 23
     Sterna sandvicensis
     Seen at Bund Road, Lamin Lodge, and from the Banjul-Barra ferry, Gambia.

137. Common Murre -- 4
     Uria aalge
     England only. Seen during our seawatch at Dungeness.

138. Dovekie -- 1
     Alle alle
     England only. Seen in the distance during our seawatch at Dungeness. Apparently they were having a significant influx of this species in England this year.

139. Four-banded Sandgrouse -- 3
     Pterocles quadricinctus
     Two were in the trail on our "safari" out of Kemoto Lodge. Another posed nicely for photos in the road near Njau. A gorgeous bird.

140. Rock Dove -- 135
     Columba livia
     Cities and towns in England and Gambia.

141. Stock Dove -- 1
     Columba oenas
     England only. Seen at the Beddington Sewage Lagoons.

142. Woodpigeon -- 123
     Columba palumbus
     England only. Small wheeling flocks over many fields nearly everywhere.

143. Speckled Pigeon -- 62
     Columba guinea
     A few seen daily in Gambia, with a few at most locations. Commonly roosting on our different hotels throughout.

144. Eurasian Collared-Dove -- 10
     Streptopelia decaocto
     England only. Seen at scattered locations.

145. African Mourning-Dove -- 28
     Streptopelia decipiens
     The least common of the collared-dove types in Gambia. Seen daily, usually in low numbers.

146. Red-eyed Dove -- 520
     Streptopelia semitorquata
     Seen in numbers at all locations in Gambia. Also heard constantly giving its "I am a Red-eyed Dove" call, even during the heat of the day.

147. Vinaceous Dove -- 786
     Streptopelia vinacea
     Even more numerous and ever-present than the previous species. One was even heard calling briefly around midnight at Jangjangbureh Camp!

148. Laughing Dove -- 115
     Streptopelia senegalensis
     A few seen at most locations in Gambia. Frequently heard giving its distinctive call.

149. Black-billed Wood-Dove -- 36
     Turtur abyssinicus
     Seen or heard daily at most locations in Gambia. Somewhat of a skulker at Abuko, but more easily seen in open areas.

150. Blue-spotted Wood-Dove -- 9
     Turtur afer
     Seen at Abuko where it was a skulker, and in the rice fields near Lamin where it was more easily seen. The name Red-billed Wood-Dove seems more appropriate as the spots on the wings look black even at fairly close range, while the red bill distinguishes it readily from the previous species.

151. Namaqua Dove -- 78
     Oena capensis
     First seen on the Bund Road, where there was one. Most were around Kemoto Lodge and the water hole near Kauur.

152. Bruce's Green-Pigeon -- 15
     Treron waalia
     Surprisingly, this species was seen more frequently than the next, which is supposed to be more common. Two were near Essau, two were near Kerr Jarga, three were near Kemoto Lodge, and a flock of 8 was along the Gambia River between Georgetown and Sapu.

153. African Green-Pigeon -- 5
     Treron calva
     In a flock along the Gambia River between Georgetown and Sapu.

154. Senegal Parrot -- 29
     Poicephalus senegalus
     A few seen daily in mostly open areas of Gambia. Gives an unusually high-pitched un-parrotlike call, and was seen lower down in vegetation than other parrots we've seen, except in Australia.

155. Rose-ringed Parakeet -- 38
     Psittacula krameri
     Although we saw this species in Florida, this was effectively a lifer, being the first time seeing native wild ones. Most were seen at the Fajara Golf Course with others around Kemoto Lodge and along the Gambia River.

156. Western Gray Plantain-Eater -- 80
     Crinifer piscator
     In behavior, kind of like new-world chachalacas. Seen daily at most locations where there were fruiting trees. Seen in pairs or small family groups.

157. Violet Turaco -- 3
     Musophaga violacea
     Possibly the most beautiful bird of the trip. Two were feeding at eye-level in a tree over the water near the photo blind at Abuko. One was seen flying by briefly at Jangjangbureh Camp.

158. Guinea Turaco -- 2
     Tauraco persa
     Seen in trees near the Crocodile Pool at Abuko.

159. Great Spotted Cuckoo -- 1
     Clamator glandarius
     Seen flying over near Kemoto Lodge.

160. Levaillant's Cuckoo -- 4
     Clamator levaillanti
     All were in the same general location near Yundum on our last morning.

161. Senegal Coucal -- 47
     Centropus senegalensis
     A few seen daily at most locations in Gambia. Most visible and vocal at dawn and dusk. Never seen in the heat of the day even though they feed mainly on lizards.

162. Pearl-spotted Owlet -- 2
     Glaucidium perlatum
     One responded to Tamba's imitation in the rice fields near Lamin, but seemed skittish and was difficult to photograph. One was heard our first morning at Jangjangbureh Camp.

163. Short-eared Owl -- 1
     Asio flammeus
     England only. One seen flying over the marsh at Dungeness.

164. Long-tailed Nightjar -- 4
     Caprimulgus climacurus
     Seen behind the Palma Rima Hotel near Fajara where they are regular. Two seen, including one perched in a snag about 12 feet off the ground calling.

     [European Nightjar
     Caprimulgus europaeus]
     Found dead along the road at Sofanyoma Bolong near Pakaliba, Gambia. What a disappointment! This is the second potential life nightjar found dead this year (i.e., see Oaxaca trip report)!

165. Mottled Spinetail -- 8
     Telecanthura ussheri
     Only seen in the vicinity of Kemoto Lodge, where we saw them over the road and over the swimming pool!

166. African Palm-Swift -- 42
     Cypsiurus parvus
     A few seen at many locations, nearly daily in Gambia, near palms of course. Seen behind our room at the Senegambia Hotel going to roost.

167. Pallid Swift -- 1
     Apus pallidus
     Flying overhead with a flock of Little Swifts at the boat dock in Kerewan.

168. Common Swift -- 110
     Apus apus
     The most difficult swift to identify on the trip, but distinguished by its lack of any distinctive marks, except a slightly paler throat. A flock of 100 over the road east of Essau and a group of 10 with the swifts over the swimming pool at Kemoto Lodge.

169. Little Swift -- 7950
     Apus affinis
     Seen every day at most locations in Gambia. Most abundant near water in cities, near boat docks especially. Seen nesting in a stone shelter near the ferry at Kerewan. Scanning the skyline of Banjul as we crossed on the ferry to Barra revealed thousands over the city!

170. Giant Kingfisher -- 4
     Megaceryle maxima
     Like a giant Ringed Kingfisher. Two were at the Crocodile Pool at Abuko, and two were near their nest at the Red-throated Bee-eater colony near Bansang.

171. Pied Kingfisher -- 60
     Ceryle rudis
     Seen daily in Gambia at all wetland areas visited, and along the Gambia River.

172. Common Kingfisher -- 1
     Alcedo atthis
     England only. Heard only at Beddington Sewage Lagoons in a tangled ditch. Try as we might, we couldn't see the bird.

173. Shining Blue Kingfisher -- 1
     Alcedo quadribrachys
     Seen flying past the boat as we waited to depart from Kemoto Lodge.

174. Malachite Kingfisher -- 2
     Alcedo cristata
     One seen flying by at Kotu Creek. Another seen briefly perched nearby, also at Kotu Creek.

175. African Pygmy Kingfisher -- 2
     Ispidina picta
     One glimpsed flying and one watched perched at length in a dense tangle, both at Abuko.

176. Gray-headed Kingfisher -- 6
     Halcyon leucocephala
     One at Kemoto Lodge, two near Kinteh-Kunda Bah, one near Jangjangbureh Camp, and two along the Gambia River between Georgetown and Sapu.

177. Woodland Kingfisher -- 3
     Halcyon seneglensis
     One seen in the rice fields near Lamin and two in the savannah near Kemoto Lodge.

178. Blue-breasted Kingfisher -- 5
     Halcyon malimbica
     Two were heard near Essau and another was heard at Jangjangbureh Camp, but none responded to a whistled imitation. We finally saw two along the Gambia River between Georgetown and Sapu.

179. Striped Kingfisher -- 6
     Halcyon chelicuti
     Five were heard at various locations in Gambia, mainly in drier scrub on the north side of the Gambia River. One was seen in the savannah near Kemoto Lodge.

180. Red-throated Bee-eater -- 6
     Merops bulocki
     All were seen near the nesting colony that was being excavated by human sand miners near Bansang.

181. Little Bee-eater -- 19
     Merops pusillus
     One was at the Casino Cycle Track near Fajara, one was near Nyanga Batang, and the remainder were near Yundum.

182. Swallow-tailed Bee-eater -- 5
     Merops hirundineus
     Two were at the Gambian National Prison near Banjul, two were at Abuko, and one was at Lamin Lodge.

183. Blue-cheeked Bee-eater -- 115
     Merops persicus
     Seen almost daily in Gambia and always near water where there were high-flying flocks.

184. Northern Carmine Bee-eater -- 1
     Merops nubicus
     Seen in a tree along the Gambia River near Kerewan on our way back from Kemoto Lodge.

185. Abyssinian Roller -- 42
     Coracias abyssinica
     A few seen daily in Gambia, most frequently along the roadsides in open areas. A beautiful bird.

186. Rufous-crowned Roller -- 5
     Coracias naevia
     Singles were seen, mostly near dusk, at the MRC Grounds in Fajara (on the goalpost), near Kemoto Lodge, the savannah near Kemoto, near Nyanga Batang, and near Yundum.

187. Blue-bellied Roller -- 23
     Coracias cyanogaster
     A beautiful West African endemic. Seen on wires near Fajara and Serekunda as we went to and from the Senegambia Hotel. One was near Kerr Jarga and six were seen in trees along the Gambia River between Georgetown and Sapu. The best views were of three in trees in a melon field near Yundum.

188. Broad-billed Roller -- 17
     Eurystomus glaucurus
     Another roller species that appeared mostly at dusk. One was in a tree on the grounds of the Hotel Senegambia. Others were seen in ones and twos daily.

189. European Hoopoe -- 1
     Upupa epops
     Heard calling then seen flying past near Kerr Jarga. This species has been split into European and African and we don't have any information on how to distinguish them. Tamba said it was the European one based on his experience, habitat, range, and season.

190. Green Wood-Hoopoe -- 28
     Phoeniculus purpureus
     Nearly half were in areas around Banjul and Serekunda. Many were around
     Kemoto Lodge and a few were at Jangjangbureh Camp.

191. Black Scimitarbill -- 1
     Rhinopomastus aterrimus
     Seen at a random stop along the road near Kinteh-Kunda Bah. Quite a lucky find!

192. African Pied Hornbill -- 3
     Tockus fasciatus
     All were seen together flying from palm tree to palm tree over the Crocodile Pool at Abuko.

193. African Gray Hornbill -- 33
     Tockus nasutus
     Seen daily in Gambia in small numbers. Frequently in pairs in treetops, and frequently heard giving their high-pitched piping calls.

194. Red-billed Hornbill -- 99
     Tockus erythrorhynchus
     Seen daily in Gambia in all habitats. Frequently seen flying, woodpecker-like, along the roadsides. Many were seen in pairs in treetops giving their clucking call notes as they pointed their bills skyward and flapped their wings alternately. This display is different from southern birds which, along with plumage differences, may result in a future split.

195. Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird -- 6
     Pogoniulus chrysoconus
     Most were heard giving their distinctive calls. Difficult to locate as they sit very still and are quite small. One was seen as it flushed at the MRC Grounds, where we heard this and the next species calling sumultaneously, a good comparison.

196. Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird -- 4
     Pogoniulus bilineatus
     Heard only. All were at the MRC Grounds in Fajara.

197. Vieillot's Barbet -- 14
     Lybius vielloti
     Seen mostly in the drier savannh areas along the north side of the river. Seen on three days from east of Essau to Bansang, usually perched conspicuously high in the top of a bare tree.

198. Bearded Barbet -- 12
     Lybius dubius
     A colorful and really strange bird, being red, black, and yellow with a strange forward-pointing "beard" under its chin. Two were at the Fajara Golf Course, three were in the Lamin rice fields, two were near Ndungu Kebbeh, and five were around Jangjangbureh Camp. Most were in low trees and fairly easily observed.

199. Greater Honeyguide -- 3
     Indicator indicator
     One was heard at Abuko but couldn't be tracked down in the dense vegetation. One was at Jangjangbureh Camp and one was at Brumen Bridge.

200. Lesser Honeyguide -- 2
     Indicator minor
     One was seen flying across the Gambia River on our trip from Georgetown to Sapu and the other was seen near Yundum.

201. Greater Spotted Woodpecker -- 5
     Dendrocopos major
     England only. Seen best at Beddington Sewage Lagoons.

202. Fine-spotted Woodpecker -- 2
     Campethera punctuligera
     One was on the palm tree outside our room at the Senegambia Beach Hotel and one was in a tree in the Lamin rice fields.

203. Cardinal Woodpecker -- 1
     Dendropicos fuscescens
     Seen on the safari at Kemoto Lodge where we got out and walked a short distance.

204. Gray Woodpecker -- 13
     Dendropicos goertae
     A couple seen daily in Gambia. Best views were at Jangjangbureh Camp where they may have had a nest in a palm tree.

205. Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Lark -- 7
     Eremopterix leucotis
     One was near Kerewan, two were along the road east of Kerewan, two, a male and female, were well seen at the water hole near Kauur, and two, also a pair, were seen near Pakaliba.

206. Eurasian Skylark -- 8
     Alauda arvensis
     England only. All were in the marsh near Stiffkey.

207. Red-chested Swallow -- 180
     Hirundo lucida
     The common swallow flying overhead most evenings in Gambia. Like a Barn Swallow without the dark chest band.

208. Wire-tailed Swallow -- 10
     Hirundo smithii
     Seen at Kotu Creek, Lamin Lodge, and near Yundum.

209. Mosque Swallow -- 55
     Hirundo senegalensis
     Most were overhead at Kemoto Lodge. A few were at Safanyama Bolong, flying around the bridge, near Pakaliba.

210. Red-rumped Swallow -- 59
     Hirundo daurica
     Seen overhead most evenings in Gambia, recognized by their strange rasping call notes.

211. Fanti Sawwing -- 3
     Psalidoprocne obscura
     Only seen over the Crocodile Pool at Abuko. A very swift-like swallow, with very long outer tail feathers and narrow, sickle-shaped wings.

212. Yellow Wagtail -- 16
     Motacilla flava
     Two were near Kerewan in a muddy field. Two were near Pakaliba and twelve were near Yundum.

213. Gray Wagtail -- 3
     Motacilla cinerea
     One was near Pakaliba, Gambia. Two were at the Beddington Sewage Lagoons, England.

214. White Wagtail -- 26
     Motacilla alba
     Most were in England. One was on the ferry dock at Barra and one was near Kauur, Gambia.

215. Meadow Pipit -- 13
     Anthus pratensis
     England only. Seen at most locations during our final weekend there.

216. Water Pipit -- 3
     Anthus spinoletta
     England only. All were at the Beddington Sewage Lagoons. A recent split from American Pipit and the next species.

217. Rock Pipit -- 10
     Anthus petrosus
     England only. All were seen in the wetlands around Stiffkey.

218. Common Bulbul -- 178
     Pycnonotus barbatus
     Seen daily in Gambia at most locations. Most common around human settlements or where there was abundant water. Its constant, simple song was easily learned.

219. Little Greenbul -- 15
     Andropadus virens
     All were at Abuko. Most were skulking and difficult to observe, but we eventually got decent looks.

220. Yellow-throated Greenbul -- 4
     Chlorocichla flavicollis
     All were around Jangjangbureh Camp.

221. White Helmet-Shrike -- 30
     Prionops plumatus
     All were in one loosely associated flock along the road near Nyanga Bantang.

222. Brubru -- 2
     Nilaus afer
     Found at a random stop near Sangajorr. Quite a lucky find!

223. Black-crowned Tchagra -- 4
     Tchagra senegala
     One was well seen near Njau. Others were heard singing their beautiful song, somewhat like a Rose-breasted Grosbeak, near Yundum.

224. Common Gonolek -- 18
     Laniarus barbarus
     Seen or heard daily, only occasionally allowing glimpses as they moved around inside the dense shrubbery. A gorgeous Red, black, and yellow bird. Males and females were frequently heard singing their duet.

225. Gray-headed Bushshrike -- 3
     Malaconotus blanchoti
     Heard only. Gives a single, drawn out, hollow whistle that we heard at Abuko, Jangjangbureh Camp, and along the Gambia River near Sapu. A real skulker.

226. Yellow-billed Shrike -- 82
     Corvinella corvina
     Encountered daily in flocks of 4-10. Also known as Long-tailed Shrike, which is an appropriate name in Gambia, but not in the rest of Africa.

227. Woodchat Shrike -- 2
     Lanius senator
     One was at the water hole near Kauur, and the other was at Jangjangbureh Camp.

228. Winter Wren -- 14
     Troglodytes troglodytes
     England only. Seen in a wider variety of habitats than it occurs in the U.S. Also gives a much different call. Maybe it's a different species!

229. Dunnock -- 5
     Prunella modularis
     England only. Most were seen briefly on our weekend there.

230. European Robin -- 17
     Erithacus rubecula
     England only. One or two seen or heard at most areas visited.

231. Snowy-crowned Robin-Chat -- 5
     Cossypha niveicapilla
     Heard at Abuko. Four seen at Jangjangbureh Camp.

232. White-crowned Robin-Chat -- 4
     Cossypha albicapilla
     All were seen at Jangjangbureh Camp.

233. Common Redstart -- 4
     Phoenicurus phoenicurus
     Seen only in Gambia, with three around Kemoto Lodge and one near Yundum.

234. Whinchat -- 4
     Saxicola rubetra
     All were seen around Yundum on our last day in Gambia.

235. European Stonechat -- 7
     Saxicola torquata
     England only. Seen at Pagham Nature Reserve, Dungeness, and Beddington Sewage Lagoons.

236. Northern Anteater Chat -- 2
     Myrmecocichla aethiops
     Found along the road several kilometers east of Essau, Gambia.

237. Northern Wheatear -- 3
     Oenanthe oenanthe
     All were seen around Yundum on our last day in Gambia.

238. European Blackbird -- 21
     Turdus merula
     England only. Seen most areas visited. Not very visible, somewhat skulking.

239. Song Thrush -- 7
     Turdus philomelos
     England only. Most were at the Bedgebury National Pinetorum. One was inside the terminal at Gatwick airport.

240. Redwing -- 42
     Turdus iliacus
     England only. Most were at Bedgebury Pinetorum. Two were near the north Norfolk coast.

241. Mistle Thrush -- 6
     Turdus viscivorus
     One was near Littlehampton and five were at Bedgebury Pinetorum.

242. African Thrush -- 9
     Turdus pelios
     One was resident at the Senegambia Beach Hotel. Others were at the MRC Grounds, Abuko, and the rice fields near Lamin.

243. Blackcap Babbler -- 9
     Turdoides reinwardii
     One was at the MRC grounds, four were continuous companions at Jangjangbureh Camp, and four were near Yundum.

244. Brown Babbler -- 57
     Turdoides plebejus
     Seen most days in Gambia, usually in noisy groups of 5-8 birds, in scrub or occasionally higher in trees.

245. African Reed-Warbler -- 4
     Acrocephalus baeticatus
     All were at Sofanyama Bolong near Pakaliba singing and skulking in the reeds. One was glimpsed briefly by Allen.

246. Melodious Warbler -- 3
     Hippolais polyglotta
     All were seen in the scrub near Yundum on our last day in Gambia.

247. Olivaceous Warbler -- 10
     Hippolais pallida
     Five were found singing (like a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher) at Jangjangbureh Camp. Others were heard along the Gambia River near Sapu and seen near Yundum.

248. Garden Warbler -- 1
     Sylvia borin
     Seen near Yundum on our last day in Gambia.

249. Blackcap -- 2
     Sylvia atricapilla
     Both were in an ornamental tree on the grounds of Kemoto Lodge.

250. Subalpine Warbler -- 1
     Sylvia cantillans
     Found by Nancy and well seen (with effort) by everyone in a small tree near Kotu Creek, Gambia.

251. Willow Warbler -- 22
     Phylloscopus trochilus
     Two were along the road near Kerr Jarga, and about 20 were in the reeds and trees near Yundum, Gambia.

252. Eurasian Chiffchaff -- 3
     Phylloscopus collybita
     One was at Kemoto Lodge and one was near Yundum, Gambia. One was seen from the hide at Beddington Sewage Lagoons, England.

253. Inornate Warbler -- 1
     Phylloscopus inornatus
     Found on our first "twitch" when we arrived in England. An Asian vagrant seen near a golf course in Littlehampton on the south coast of England. Known in most European field guides as "Yellow-browed Warbler." Apparently it has been lumped with this other Asian species.

254. Zitting Cisticola -- 1
     Cisticola juncidis
     Seen briefly in the short marsh grasses at Sofanyama Bolong near Pakaliba, Gambia.

255. Tawny-flanked Prinia -- 21
     Prinia subflava
     Seen daily in Gambia. Frequently heard giving their buzzy call note. A pair feeding tailless fledglings was seen at Jangjangbureh Camp.

256. Red-winged Prinia -- 2
     Prinia erythroptera
     Seen well near Yundum on our last day in Gambia.

257. Yellow-breasted Apalis -- 3
     Apalis flavida
     All were in one group in the forest at Abuko.

258. Gray-backed Camaroptera -- 13
     Camaroptera brevicauda
     Seen or heard daily in Gambia, although most were heard only. A nondescript olive and gray bird.

259. Oriole Warbler -- 10
     Hypergerus atriceps
     A strangely colorful old-world warbler, looking much like a Mourning Warbler from North America. One was heard at Kotu Creek, singing its oriole-like song. Two were watched as they approached their nest on a dangling palm frond at Abuko. Two were watched, then photographed, at close range behind the huts at Jangjangbureh Camp. At least five were heard singing along the Gambia River on our boat trip from Georgetown to Sapu.

260. Senegal Eremomela -- 2
     Eremomela pusilla
     Seen in the grassy edges of a melon field near Yundum on our last day in Gambia. Apparently this species is typically seen more frequently than this.

261. Northern Crombec -- 2
     Sylvietta brachyura
     One glimpsed flying across the trail at Kemoto Lodge. The other was watched as it fed, demonstrating that an older name, Nuthatch Warbler, is more descriptive.

262. Northern Black-Flycatcher -- 5
     Melaenornis edolioides
     One was at the rice fields near Lamin, one was at Jangjangbureh Camp, and three were near Yundum.

263. European Pied Flycatcher -- 1
     Ficedula hypoleuca
     Seen at the Fajara Golf Course, Gambia.

264. Senegal Batis -- 1
     Batis seneglensis
     In the same tree near Yundum as the Northern Crombec.

265. Brown-throated Wattle-eye -- 6
     Platysteira cyanea
     Four were at Abuko where they were well seen, and heard singing their beautiful song. One was heard singing from the mangroves (!) at Lamin Lodge, and one was seen at Jangjangbureh Camp.

266. African Paradise-Flycatcher -- 3
     Tersiphone viridis
     Two were at Abuko and one was at Jangjangbureh Camp.

267. Black-headed Paradise-Flycatcher -- 2
     Tersiphone rufiventer
     Both were together at Abuko.

268. Goldcrest -- 64
     Regulus regulus
     England only. Common everywhere we went.

269. Firecrest -- 1
     Regulus ignicapillus
     England only. An unexpected bonus at the Yellow-browed Warbler twitch near Littlehampton. A beautiful male.

270. Long-tailed Tit -- 3
     Aegithalos caudatus
     England only. Seen at Beddington Sewage lagoons.

271. Coal Tit -- 2
     Parus ater
     England only. Found at the Bedgebury National Pinetorum.

272. Blue Tit -- 16
     Parus caeruleus
     England only. A few seen at most locations.

273. Great Tit -- 2
     Parus major
     England only. Seen at Beddington Sewage Lagoons.

274. Pygmy Sunbird -- 1
     Anthreptes platurus
     A male feeding in a flowering tree on the grounds of Kemoto Lodge.

275. Scarlet-chested Sunbird -- 18
     Nectarinia senegalensis
     One or two seen daily in Gambia. Ten were in one Erythrina tree with other sunbirds near Chamen east of Essau.

276. Variable Sunbird -- 14
     Nectarinia venusta
     Seen at scattered locations throughout Gambia, with more females seen than males. Five were in one tree near Chamen.

277. Copper Sunbird -- 7
     Nectarinia cuprea
     Mostly females. One seen near Fajara, three in the same tree near Chamen, one was at Kemoto Lodge, and two were near Yundum.

278. Splendid Sunbird -- 3
     Nectarinia coccinigastra
     One was at Kotu Creek and two were in the rice fields near Lamin.

279. Beautiful Sunbird -- 12
     Nectarinia pulchella
     One or two seen almost daily in Gambia. Many beautiful (really!) males.

280. Chaffinch -- 6
     Fringilla coelebs
     England only. One was at the golf course near Littlehampton, and five were at the Bedgebury National Pinetorum.

281. Yellowhammer -- 35
     Emberiza citrinella
     England only. Five were at the golf course near Littlehampton, and thirty were at Dungeness Nature Reserve.

282. Common Reed-Bunting -- 3
     Emberiza schoeniclus
     England only. Two were at Dungeness, and one was at the Beddington Sewage Lagoons.

283. Cinnamon-breasted Bunting -- 1
     Emberiza tahapisi
     Seen at the productive water hole near Kauur. This species was formerly called (or lumped with?) Rock Bunting.

284. Corn Bunting -- 4
     Emberiza calandra
     England only. All were at Dungeness Nature Reserve.

285. Yellow-fronted Canary -- 107
     Serinus mozambicus
     A few at scattered locations throughout Gambia. About 100 were at the water hole near Kauur. We saw this species (introduced) in Hawaii in 1994, but these were our first wild ones.

286. Eurasian Greenfinch -- 80
     Carduelis chloris
     England only. Seen at most locations.

287. European Goldfinch -- 13
     Carduelis carduelis
     England only. Four were at the Bedgebury National Pinetorum, and nine were at Beddington Sewage Lagoons.

288. Eurasian Siskin -- 6
     Carduelis spinus
     England only. Seen after a long wait at the Bedgebury National Pinetorum.

289. European Linnet -- 7
     Carduelis cannabina
     England only. All were at the Beddington Sewage Lagoons.

290. Red-billed Firefinch -- 38
     Lagonosticta senegala
     A few seen daily at most locations in Gambia.

291. Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu -- 50
     Uraeginthus bengalus
     A gorgeous bird, seen at most locations in Gambia. About 20 were at the water hole near Kauur.

292. Lavender Waxbill -- 21
     Estrilda caerulescens
     Seen at scattered locations throughout Gambia, usually in groups of 4-8 birds. At least ten were at the water hole near Kauur.

293. Orange-cheeked Waxbill -- 2
     Estrilda melpoda
     Seen briefly in the rice fields near Lamin.

294. Black-rumped Waxbill -- 525
     Estrilda troglodytes
     Seen most days at most locations, sometimes in sizeable flocks. Tamba called these birds Common Waxbills, but according to the Helm guide on finches, that species doesn't occur in Gambia. In addition, photographs taken clearly show an all black tail and rump on most individuals.

295. African Quailfinch -- 4
     Ortygospiza atricollis
     Flyovers at Sofanyama Bolong near Pakaliba, giving their distinctive call notes. Heard and identified by Allen.

296. African Silverbill -- 2
     Lonchura cantans
     Amazingly, two were seen flying into a Casuarina tree on the grounds of the Senegambia Beach Hotel, where they sat motionless for twenty minutes as we scoped them at leisure! The West African field guide doesn't really give a good idea of what this species looks like.

297. Bronze Mannakin -- 163
     Lonchura cucullata
     Seen in flocks at various locations in Gambia, including the Kotu area, near Lamin, and near Basse. Seen first in Puerto Rico as an introduced species, these are our first wild ones.

298. Cut-throat -- 76
     Amadina fasciata
     One was seen near Kerr Jarga east of Essau, which is about all we expected as this is considered a fairly rare species in Gambia. We were quite surprised to find at least 75 at the water hole near Kauur!

299. White-billed Buffalo-Weaver -- 530
     Bubalornis albirostris
     Seen at most locations every day in Gambia, although they were more common in Acacia scrublands. We saw many of their large communal nests.

300. Chestnut-crowned Sparrow-Weaver -- 6
     Plocepasser superciliosus
     Happened upon purely by chance at a random stop along the road near Kinteh- Kunda Bah, Gambia.

301. House Sparrow -- 233
     Passer domesticus
     Seen at most civilized areas in Gambia and throughout England. It was nice to see "real ones" again.

302. Eurasian Tree Sparrow -- 15
     Passer montanus
     England only. All were at Beddington Sewage Lagoons, where they had nest boxes to try and offset the species' decline in England.

303. Gray-headed Sparrow -- 149
     Passer griseus
     Seen daily near many civilized, and not-so-civilized, areas in Gambia.

304. Sudan Golden-Sparrow -- 15
     Passer luteus
     About a dozen males were at the water hole near Kauur. There may have been more females and immatures, but other yellow birds, Yellow-fronted Canaries in particular, were also abundant, and the flocks were constantly in motion as they flew down to the water's edge for only a few seconds at a time. An unexpected species, and a life bird for Tamba. It isn't illustrated in the West African field guide, only a short text description.

305. Black-necked Weaver -- 2
     Ploceus nigricollis
     Seen in low shrubbery near Yundum on our last day in Gambia. Tamba called this species Spectacled Weaver, which is what the West African field guide called it. Weaver taxonomy is confusing, compounded by confusing English names in different parts of Africa, compounded by the 20 year old field guide! The two new field guides due out soon, Gambia and Kenya, will be of great help in the future.

306. Vitteline Masked Weaver -- 9
     Ploceus vittelinus
     One was seen in the savannah near Kemoto Lodge and eight were near Sangajorr, Gambia.

307. Village Weaver -- 2056
     Ploceus cucullatus
     Possibly the most frequently observed bird in Gambia. We saw hundreds (thousands?) of active nests, with flocks flying around everywhere, even behind our room at the Senegambia Beach Hotel. The numerical estimate is likely very low as we had to try and ignore them in order to find other more interesting species!

308. Yellow-crowned Bishop -- 2
     Euplectes afer
     Two males seen flying over the marsh grass at Camaloo Corner near Serekunda, Gambia.

309. Black-winged Bishop -- 1
     Euplectes hordeaceus
     Seen near Yundum on our last day in Gambia.

310. Red Bishop -- 29
     Euplectes orix
     One at Kotu Creek, fifteen at Camaloo Corner, three in the rice fields near Lamin, two at the water hole near Kauur, and eight near Yundum. Most seemed to be males molting into winter plumage, but a few stunning full-plumaged males were seen. Females were inconspicuous and likely under-counted. First seen as an introduced species, and in dull winter plumage, in Puerto Rico. These were our first wild ones.

311. Village Indigobird -- 9
     Vidua chalybeata
     A flock of eight was near Chamen east of Essau, Gambia, and one was near Bansang. Parasitizes Red-billed Firefinch.

312. Northern Paradise-Wydah -- 6
     Vidua orientalis
     All were seen on one day, between Kinteh-Kunda Bah and Njau, Gambia. A couple of males came down to drink at the water hole near Kauur. Ridiculous- looking birds in flight with their extremely long, broad tail feathers.

313. European Starling -- 1040
     Sturnus vulgaris
     England only. Seen at most locations. It was good to observe them "guilt-free" and native.

314. Purple Glossy-Starling -- 6
     Lamprotornis purpureus
     One was in the rice fields near Lamin, and five were in a roadside tree near Ndungu Kebbeh.

315. Greater Blue-eared Glossy-Starling -- 119
     Lamprotornis chalybaeus
     Seen daily from Kerewan and east. A few were also found near Yundum on our last day in Gambia.

316. Lesser Blue-eared Glossy-Starling -- 23
     Lamprotornis chloropterus
     Widely scattered sightings. A few at the Senegambia Beach Hotel, the MRC Grounds in Fajara, and at the water hole near Kauur.

317. Long-tailed Glossy-Starling -- 186
     Lamprotornis caudatus
     A common roadside bird, seen daily at most locations in Gambia. This species was not easy to identify at first, since it doesn't look anything like the illustration in the field guide. The illustration in Newman's South African field guide is more accurate, showing the long, pointed, flowing tail and the wonderful iridescence that all the species in this genus possess.

318. Yellow-billed Oxpecker -- 14
     Buphagus africanus
     Seen near Panchang, near Brumen Bridge, along the road west of Brumen Bridge, and four flyovers at Jangjangbureh Camp.

319. African Golden-Oriole -- 3
     Oriolus africanus
     One was in the rice fields near Lamin, one was near Essau, and one was at Jangjangbureh Camp.

320. Fork-tailed Drongo -- 11
     Dicrurus adsimilis
     One or two daily in Gambia, from the Lamin rice fields where we saw the first ones.

321. Eurasian Jay -- 1
     Garrulus glandarius
     England only. Seen at the Beddington Sewage Lagoons.

322. Black-billed Magpie -- 17
     Pica pica
     England only. A few seen daily at scattered locations.

323. Piapiac -- 100
     Ptilostomus afer
     A fairly common roadside bird, seen daily in open areas, among livestock, in palm trees, wherever. Initially easily confused with Long-tailed Glossy-Starling, but easily distinguished in flight by its shorter, rounder, stiffer tail, as well as its pale bases to the flight feathers.

324. Eurasian Jackdaw -- 67
     Corvus monedula
     England only. Several groups seen daily at various locations.

325. Rook -- 105
     Corvus frugilegus
     England only. Seen only at a couple of locations in flocks on our weekend after Gambia.

326. Carrion Crow -- 96
     Corvus corone
     England only. Small to large groups seen throughout.

327. Pied Crow -- 373
     Corvus albus
     Our first Gambian lifer, with a "kettling" flock at the airport. Seen daily throughout. Much less common on the north side of the Gambia River.

Mammals

• Gambian Fruit Bat -- 18
  Epomorphus gambianus
  A large (2' wingspan) blonde bat seen roosting in a tree on the grounds of the Senegambia Beach Hotel.

• Gambian Sun Squirrel -- 5
  Heliosciurus gambianus
  All were seen at Abuko Reserve.

• Striped Ground Squirrel -- 2
  Xerus erythropus
  One was near Essau and one was near Bansang.

• Common Jackal -- 6
  Canis aureus
  Seen crossing the road near Njau.

• Vervet Monkey -- 15
  Cercopithecus aethiops sabaeus
  Five were seen along the road near Ndungu Kebbeh and ten were semi-tame around Jangjangbureh Camp.

• Patas Monkey -- 30
  Erythrocebus patas
  All were in two groups close together along the road near Jassong.

• Western Red Colobus -- 6
  Colobus badius
  Seen well at Abuko Reserve.

Location Lists

Senegambia Beach Hotel

1. Cattle Egret -- 15
2. Striated Heron -- 1
3. White-faced Whistling-Duck -- 7
4. Gray Kestrel -- 1
5. Black-headed Lapwing -- 10
6. Gray-headed Gull -- 1
7. Speckled Pigeon -- 7
8. African Mourning-Dove -- 1
9. Red-eyed Dove -- 12
10. Vinaceous Dove -- 35
11. Laughing Dove -- 5
12. Western Gray Plantain-eater -- 2
13. Senegal Coucal -- 1
14. African Palm-Swift -- 15
15. Little Swift -- 15
16. Broad-billed Roller -- 1
17. African Gray Hornbill -- 2
18. Red-billed Hornbill -- 2
19. Fine-spotted Woodpecker -- 1
20. Common Bulbul -- 20
21. Common Gonolek -- 1
22. African Thrush -- 1
23. Variable Sunbird -- 1
24. African Silverbill -- 2
25. Bronze Mannakin -- 10
26. House Sparrow -- 3
27. Gray-headed Sparrow -- 2
28. Village Weaver -- 40
29. Less. Blue-eared Gl.-Starling -- 10
30. Long-tailed Glossy-Starling -- 6
31. Piapiac -- 2
32. Pied Crow -- 10

Kotu Creek & Ponds

1. Little Grebe -- 3
2. Long-tailed Cormorant -- 5
3. Cattle Egret -- 20
4. Striated Heron -- 1
5. Western Reef-Egret -- 10
6. Gray Heron -- 2
7. Hamerkop -- 1
8. White-faced Whistling-Duck -- 3
9. Garganey -- 1
10. Palm-nut Vulture -- 4
11. Hooded Vulture -- 45
12. Double-spurred Francolin -- 3
13. Black-winged Stilt -- 50
14. Senegal Thick-knee -- 3
15. Spur-winged Plover -- 40
16. Wattled Lapwing -- 1
17. Black-bellied Plover -- 6
18. Whimbrel -- 2
19. Common Redshank -- 20
20. Marsh Sandpiper -- 10
21. Common Greenshank -- 20
22. Wood Sandpiper -- 20
23. Common Sandpiper -- 23
24. Ruff -- 3
25. Gray-headed Gull -- 15
26. Black Tern -- 2
27. Caspian Tern -- 1
28. Speckled Pigeon -- 4
29. Red-eyed Dove -- 15
30. Vinaceous Dove -- 1
31. Laughing Dove -- 10
32. Senegal Coucal -- 1
33. African Palm-Swift -- 3
34. Pied Kingfisher -- 8
35. Malachite Kingfisher -- 2
36. Green Wood-hoopoe -- 6
37. Red-billed Hornbill -- 4
38. Wire-tailed Swallow -- 4
39. Common Bulbul -- 15
40. Common Gonolek -- 2
41. Yellow-billed Shrike -- 10
42. Brown Babbler -- 12
43. Subalpine Warbler -- 1
44. Oriole Warbler -- 1
45. Splendid Sunbird -- 1
46. Yellow-fronted Canary -- 1
47. Red-billed Firefinch -- 7
48. Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu -- 6
49. Lavender Waxbill -- 6
50. Bronze Mannakin -- 50
51. Gray-headed Sparrow -- 2
52. Village Weaver -- 100
53. Red Bishop -- 1
54. Long-tailed Glossy-Starling -- 25
55. Pied Crow -- 50

Fajara Golf Course

1. Long-tailed Cormorant -- 20
2. Cattle Egret -- 25
3. Western Reef-Egret -- 5
4. Gray Heron -- 5
5. Hamerkop -- 4
6. Hooded Vulture -- 50
7. Shikra -- 1
8. Lizard Buzzard -- 1
9. Double-spurred Francolin -- 2
10. Spur-winged Plover -- 15
11. Black-headed Lapwing -- 12
12. Wattled Lapwing -- 6
13. Whimbrel -- 1
14. Eurasian Curlew -- 1
15. Ruddy Turnstone -- 3
16. Gray-headed Gull -- 75
17. Black Tern -- 3
18. Speckled Pigeon -- 4
19. Vinaceous Dove -- 20
20. Laughing Dove -- 8
21. Black-billed Wood-Dove -- 1
22. Rose-ringed Parakeet -- 25
23. Western Gray Plantain-eater -- 4
24. Senegal Coucal -- 2
25. African Palm-swift -- 5
26. Little Bee-eater -- 1
27. Abyssinian Roller -- 1
28. African Gray Hornbill -- 2
29. Red-billed Hornbill -- 2
30. Bearded Barbet -- 2
31. Red-chested Swallow -- 20
32. Common Bulbul -- 20
33. Common Gonolek -- 2
34. Brown Babbler -- 8
35. Tawny-flanked Prinia -- 2
36. Gray-backed Camaroptera -- 1
37. European Pied Flycatcher -- 1
38. Variable Sunbird -- 3
39. Red-billed Firefinch -- 4
40. Bronze Mannakin -- 15
41. House Sparrow -- 5
42. Village Weaver -- 40
43. Long-tailed Glossy-Starling -- 10
44. Piapiac -- 30
45. Pied Crow -- 25

Camaloo Corner, Serekunda

1. Long-tailed Cormorant -- 2
2. African Darter -- 2
3. Squacco Heron -- 2
4. Black Heron -- 1
5. Western Reef-Egret -- 5
6. Great Egret -- 2
7. Gray Heron -- 3
8. White-faced Whistling-Duck -- 2
9. Osprey -- 1
10. Harrier-Hawk -- 1
11. Spur-winged Plover -- 5
12. Gull-billed Tern -- 1
13. Speckled Pigeon -- 2
14. Red-eyed Dove -- 5
15. Vinceous Dove -- 10
16. Laughing Dove -- 2
17. Pied Kingfisher -- 4
18. Blue-cheeked Bee-eater -- 15
19. Beautiful Sunbird -- 2
20. Bronze Mannakin -- 40
21. Yellow-crowned Bishop -- 2
22. Red Bishop -- 15
23. Pied Crow -- 15

Bund Road, Banjul

1. Pink-backed Pelican -- 11
2. Long-tailed Cormorant -- 8
3. Western Reef-Egret -- 8
4. Little Egret -- 4
5. Intermediate Egret -- 2
6. Gray Heron -- 8
7. Greater Flamingo -- 2
8. Hooded Vulture -- 50
9. Black-winged Stilt -- 1
10. Pied Avocet -- 11
11. Spur-winged Plover -- 30
12. Black-bellied Plover -- 5
13. Black-tailed Godwit -- 50
14. Bar-tailed Godwit -- 200
15. Common Redshank -- 5
16. Common Greenshank -- 10
17. Wood Sandpiper -- 10
18. Common Sandpiper -- 8
19. Gray-headed Gull -- 300
20. Caspian Tern -- 2
21. Royal Tern -- 1
22. Sandwich Tern -- 2
23. Red-eyed Dove -- 15
24. Vinaceous Dove -- 25
25. Laughing Dove -- 5
26. Namaqua Dove -- 2
27. Senegal Coucal -- 1
28. Little Swift -- 15
29. Bronze Mannakin -- 20

Medical Research Center (MRC) Grounds, Fajara

1. Cattle Egret -- 10
2. Black Kite -- 3
3. Hooded Vulture -- 35
4. Double-spurred Francolin -- 2
5. Spur-winged Plover -- 15
6. Black-headed Lapwing -- 4
7. Wattled Lapwing -- 4
8. Black-bellied Plover -- 2
9. Red-eyed Dove -- 10
10. Vinaceous Dove -- 10
11. Laughing Dove -- 5
12. Black-billed Wood-Dove -- 1
13. Rose-ringed Parakeet -- 3
14. Western Gray Plantain-eater -- 12
15. Senegal Coucal -- 10
16. Pied Kingfisher -- 2
17. Rufous-crowned Roller -- 1
18. Green Wood-Hoopoe -- 4
19. African Gray Hornbill -- 2
20. Red-billed Hornbill -- 6
21. Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird -- 3
22. Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird -- 4
23. Gray Woodpecker -- 2
24. Red-chested Swallow -- 50
25. Yellow-billed Shrike -- 15
26. African Thrush -- 3
27. Blackcap Babbler -- 1
28. Brown Babbler -- 10
29. Scarlet-chested Sunbird -- 2
30. Red-billed Firefinch -- 2
31. Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu -- 2
32. Bronze Mannakin -- 15
33. Gray-headed Sparrow -- 3
34. Village Weaver -- 25
35. Less. Blue-ear. Glossy-Starling -- 8
36. Long-tailed Glossy-Starling -- 15
37. Piapiac -- 40
38. Pied Crow -- 10

Abuko Forest Reserve

1. Black-crowned Night Heron -- 3
2. Purple Heron -- 1
3. Black-headed Heron -- 3
4. Gray Heron -- 5
5. Hamerkop -- 6
6. Black Kite -- 1
7. Palm-nut Vulture -- 2
8. Hooded Vulture -- 50
9. Harrier-Hawk -- 1
10. Shikra -- 1
11. Stone Partridge h
12. Black Crake -- 2
13. African Jacana -- 2
14. Spur-winged Plover -- 8
15. Green Sandpiper -- 2
16. Common Sandpiper -- 3
17. Red-eyed Dove -- 5
18. Vinaceous Dove -- 25
19. Laughing Dove -- 4
20. Black-billed Wood-Dove -- 5
21. Blue-spotted Wood-Dove -- 4
22. Senegal Parrot h
23. Western Gray Plantain-eater -- 12
24. Violet Turaco -- 2
25. Guinea Turaco -- 2
26. Little Swift -- 5
27. Giant Kingfisher -- 2
28. Pied Kingfisher -- 2
29. African Pygmy Kingfisher -- 2
30. Swallow-tailed Bee-eater -- 2
31. African Pied Hornbill -- 3
32. Red-billed Hornbill h
33. Greater Honeyguide h
34. Fanti Sawwing -- 3
35. Common Bulbul -- 20
36. Little Greenbul -- 15
37. Gray-headed Bushshrike h
38. Snowy-crowned Robin-Chat h
39. African Thrush -- 2
40. Tawny-flanked Prinia -- 1
41. Yellow-breasted Apalis -- 3
42. Gray-backed Camaroptera -- 5
43. Oriole Warbler -- 2
44. Brown-throated Wattle-eye -- 4
45. African Paradise-Flycatcher -- 2
46. Black-head. Paradise-Flyc. -- 2
47. Beautiful Sunbird -- 2
48. Red-billed Firefinch -- 2
49. Village Weaver -- 20
50. Pied Crow -- 15

Yundum (north and south), near Banjul airport

1. Cattle Egret -- 70
2. Black-shouldered Kite -- 1
3. Hooded Vulture -- 75
4. Harrier-Hawk -- 1
5. Dark Chanting Goshawk -- 1
6. Shikra -- 1
7. Lizard Buzzard -- 1
8. Gray Kestrel -- 2
9. Red-necked Falcon -- 2
10. Peregrine Falcon -- 2
11. Double-spurred Francolin -- 1
12. Temminck's Courser -- 3
13. Spur-winged Plover -- 6
14. Black-headed Lapwing -- 14
15. Wattled Lapwing -- 6
16. Speckled Pigeon -- 2
17. Red-eyed Dove -- 5
18. Vinaceous Dove -- 10
19. Laughing Dove -- 5
20. Black-billed Wood-Dove -- 1
21. Senegal Parrot -- 2
22. Western Gray Plantain-eater -- 3
23. Levaillant's Cuckoo -- 4
24. Senegal Coucal -- 2
25. Little Swift -- 50
26. Striped Kingfisher h
27. Little Bee-eater -- 17
28. Abyssinian Roller -- 1
29. Rufous-crowned Roller -- 1
30. Blue-bellied Roller -- 3
31. African Gray Hornbill -- 2
32. Red-billed Hornbill -- 4
33. Lesser Honeyguide -- 1
34. Wire-tailed Swallow -- 2
35. Yellow Wagtail -- 12
36. Common Bulbul -- 33
37. Black-crowned Tchagra -- 3
38. Common Gonolek -- 1
39. Yellow-billed Shrike -- 2
40. Common Redstart -- 1
41. Whinchat -- 4
42. Northern Wheatear -- 3
43. Blackcap Babbler -- 4
44. Brown Babbler -- 6
45. Melodious Warbler -- 3
46. Olivaceous Warbler -- 2
47. Garden Warbler -- 1
48. Willow Warbler -- 20
49. Chiffchaff -- 1
50. Red-winged Prinia -- 2
51. Senegal Eremomela -- 2
52. Northern Crombec -- 1
53. Northern Black-Flycatcher -- 3
54. Senegal Batis -- 1
55. Scarlet-chested Sunbird -- 6
56. Copper Sunbird -- 2
57. Beautiful Sunbird -- 2
58. Yellow-fronted Canary -- 4
59. Red-billed Firefinch -- 2
60. Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu -- 20
61. Lavender Waxbill -- 2
62. White-billed Buffalo-Weaver -- 40
63. Gray-headed Sparrow -- 11
64. Black-necked Weaver -- 2
65. Black-winged Bishop -- 1
66. Red Bishop -- 8
67. G. Blue-ear. Glossy-Starling -- 10
68. Long-tailed Glossy-Starling -- 6
69. Piapiac -- 10
70. Pied Crow -- 25

Banjul-Barra Ferry Crossing (incl. docks)

1. Cattle Egret -- 20
2. Western Reef-Egret -- 2
3. Gray Heron -- 3
4. Black-bellied Plover -- 1
5. Common Ringed Plover -- 1
6. Ruddy Turnstone -- 8
7. Sanderling -- 11
8. Gray-headed Gull -- 100
9. Common Black-headed Gull -- 5
10. Black Tern -- 50
11. Gull-billed Tern -- 5
12. Caspian Tern -- 20
13. Lesser Crested Tern -- 4
14. Roseate Tern -- 1
15. Royal Tern -- 30
16. Sandwich Tern -- 15
17. Speckled Pigeon -- 3
18. Little Swift -- 5000
19. White Wagtail -- 1

River trip between Kerewan and Kemoto Lodge

1. Pink-backed Pelican -- 10
2. Long-tiled Cormorant -- 1
3. Cattle Egret -- 10
4. Western Reef-Egret -- 11
5. Great Egret -- 5
6. Gray Heron -- 10
7. Goliath Heron -- 1
8. Hamerkop -- 2
9. Wooly-necked Stork -- 1
10. Sacred Ibis -- 2
11. White-faced Whistling-Duck -- 12
12. Spur-winged Goose -- 1
13. Osprey -- 4
14. Black-shouldered Kite -- 1
15. Black Kite -- 3
16. Hooded Vulture -- 30
17. Western Marsh Harrier -- 1
18. Dark Chanting Goshawk -- 3
19. Shikra -- 2
20. Spur-winged Plover -- 6
21. Black-bellied Plover -- 3
22. Whimbrel -- 4
23. Common Greenshank -- 5
24. Common Sandpiper -- 3
25. Caspian Tern -- 1
26. Little Tern -- 3
27. Royal Tern -- 7
28. Red-eyed Dove -- 10
29. Pallid Swift -- 1
30. Little Swift -- 200
31. Pied Kingfisher -- 4
32. Blue-cheeked Bee-eater -- 20
33. Northern Carmine Bee-eater -- 1
34. Abyssinian Roller -- 1

Kemoto Lodge and area

1. Pink-backed Pelican -- 78
2. Cattle Egret -- 60
3. Striated Heron -- 1
4. Black Heron -- 1
5. Western Reef-Egret -- 20
6. Little Egret -- 11
7. Great Egret -- 40
8. Purple Heron -- 1
9. Gray Heron -- 30
10. Hamerkop -- 2
11. Yellow-billed Stork -- 7
12. Wooly-necked Stork -- 14
13. Spur-winged Goose -- 4
14. Black-shouldered Kite -- 2
15. Black Kite -- 1
16. Palm-nut Vulture -- 2
17. Hooded Vulture -- 4
18. Dark Chanting Goshawk -- 2
19. Shikra -- 3
20. Grasshopper Buzzard -- 1
21. Lizard Buzzard -- 2
22. Gray Kestrel -- 2
23. Peregrine Falcon -- 2
24. Double-spurred Francolin -- 5
25. Black-winged Stilt -- 1
26. Spur-winged Plover -- 36
27. Wattled Lapwing -- 4
28. Black-bellied Plover -- 12
29. Common Ringed Plover -- 6
30. Whimbrel -- 1
31. Common Greenshank -- 6
32. Green Sandpiper -- 1
33. Common Sandpiper -- 4
34. Ruff -- 5
35. Four-banded Sandgrouse -- 2
36. Speckled Pigeon -- 5
37. African Mourning-Dove -- 5
38. Red-eyed Dove -- 20
39. Vinaceous Dove -- 50
40. Laughing Dove -- 12
41. Black-billed Wood-Dove -- 10
42. Namaqua Dove -- 14
43. Bruce's Green-Pigeon -- 3
44. Senegal Parrot -- 18
45. Rose-ringed Parakeet -- 8
46. Western Gray Plantain-eater -- 4
47. Great Spotted Cuckoo -- 1
48. Senegal Coucal -- 6
49. Pearl-spotted Owlet -- 1
50. Mottled Spinetail -- 8
51. Common Swift -- 10
52. Little Swift -- 40
53. Pied Kingfisher -- 11
54. Gray-headed Kingfisher -- 1
55. Woodland Kingfisher -- 2
56. Striped Kingfisher -- 1
57. Blue-cheeked Bee-eater -- 10
58. Abyssinian Roller -- 13
59. Rufous-crowned Roller -- 2
60. Broad-billed Roller -- 2
61. Green Wood-Hoopoe -- 12
62. African Gray Hornbill -- 2
63. Red-billed Hornbill -- 12
64. Cardinal Woodpecker -- 1
65. Mosque Swallow -- 50
66. Red-rumped Swallow -- 10
67. Common Bulbul -- 10
68. Common Gonolek -- 2
69. Yellow-billed Shrike -- 2
70. Common Redstart -- 2
71. Brown Babbler -- 4
72. Blackcap -- 2
73. Chiffchaff -- 1
74. Tawny-flanked Prinia -- 5
75. Gray-backed Camaroptera -- 1
76. Northern Crombec -- 1
77. Pygmy Sunbird -- 1
78. Copper Sunbird -- 1
79. Beautiful Sunbird -- 4
80. Red-billed firefinch -- 10
81. Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu -- 2
82. Black-rumped Waxbill -- 100
83. White-billed Buffalo-Weaver -- 50
84. Gray-headed Sparrow -- 10
85. Vitteline Masked Weaver -- 1
86. Village Weaver -- 350
87. Gr. Blue-ear. Glossy-Starling -- 15
88. Long-tailed Glossy-Starling -- 27
89. Fork-tailed Drongo -- 1
90. Piapiac -- 2
91. Pied Crow -- 1

Wetland near Kinteh-Kunda Bah

1. Squacco Heron -- 1
2. Cattle Egret -- 25
3. Western Reef-Egret -- 10
4. Little Egret -- 10
5. Great Egret -- 40
6. Gray Heron -- 5
7. Black-winged Stilt -- 2
8. Spur-winged Plover -- 10
9. Bar-tailed Godwit -- 50
10. Common Redshank -- 20
11. Common Greenshank -- 60
12. Wood Sandpiper -- 10
13. Common Sandpiper -- 5
14. Red-eyed Dove -- 15
15. Vinaceous Dove -- 25
16. Laughing Dove -- 5
17. Black-billed Wood-Dove -- 3
18. Gray-headed Kingfisher -- 2
19. Black Scimitar-bill -- 1
20. Red-billed Hornbill -- 4
21. Vieillot's Barbet -- 1
22. Gray Woodpecker -- 1
23. Common Bulbul -- 5
24. Chestnut-cr. Sparrow-Weaver -- 6
25. Village Weaver -- 50
26. Northern Paradise-Wydah -- 2

Water hole near Kauur

1. Grasshopper Buzzard -- 1
2. Red-eyed Dove -- 3
3. Vinaceous Dove -- 5
4. Laughing Dove -- 3
5. Namaqua Dove -- 10
6. Senegal Coucal -- 1
7. African Gray Hornbill -- 2
8. Red-billed Hornbill -- 6
9. Chestnut-back. Sparrow-Lark -- 2
10. Common Bulbul -- 8
11. Woodchat Shrike -- 1
12. Common Redstart -- 1
13. Cinnamon-breasted Bunting -- 1
14. Yellow-fronted Canary -- 100
15. Red-billed Firefinch -- 3
16. Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu -- 20
17. Lavender Waxbill -- 10
18. Black-rumped Waxbill -- 50
19. Cut-throat -- 75
20. House Sparrow -- 25
21. Gray-headed Sparrow -- 75
22. Sudan Golden-Sparrow -- 15
23. Village Weaver -- 75
24. Red Bishop -- 2
25. Northern Paradise-Wydah -- 1
26. Gr. Blue-eared Glossy-Starling -- 4
27. L. Blue-eared Glossy-Starling -- 5
28. Long-tailed Glossy-Starling -- 5

Wetland near Kauur

1. Squacco Heron -- 1
2. Cattle Egret -- 50
3. Little Egret -- 3
4. Great Egret -- 2
5. Purple Heron -- 1
6. Hamerkop -- 1
7. Glossy Ibis -- 2
8. White-backed Vulture -- 1
9. Short-toed Eagle -- 1
10. Greater Painted-Snipe h
11. Senegal Thick-knee -- 1
12. Egyptian Plover -- 11
13. Spur-winged Plover -- 100
14. White-headed Lapwing -- 2
15. Wattled Lapwing -- 150
16. Black-bellied Plover -- 5
17. Common Ringed Plover -- 5
18. Kittlitz's Plover -- 28
19. Common Redshank -- 5
20. Marsh Sandpiper -- 5
21. Common Greenshank -- 20
22. Green Sandpiper -- 1
23. Common Sandpiper -- 3
24. Red-eyed Dove -- 2
25. Vinaceous Dove -- 5
26. Laughing Dove -- 1
27. Pied Kingfisher -- 4
28. Vieillot's Barbet h
29. Red-chested Swallow -- 10
30. Red-rumped Swallow -- 3
31. White Wagtail -- 1
32. Common Bulbul -- 3
33. Village Weaver -- 50

Near Njau

1. Cattle Egret -- 5
2. Marabou Stork -- 30
3. Brown Snake-Eagle -- 1
4. Four-banded Sandgrouse -- 1
5. Red-eyed Dove -- 10
6. Vinaceous Dove -- 15
7. Laughing Dove -- 2
8. Senegal Coucal -- 1
9. Common Bulbul -- 4
10. Black-crowned Tchagra -- 1
11. Village Weaver -- 75
12. Northern Paradise-Wydah -- 3
13. Gr. Blue-eared Glossy-Starling -- 5
14. Long-tailed Glossy-Starling -- 10

Jangjangbureh Camp and area

1. Long-tailed Cormorant -- 1
2. Squacco Heron -- 1
3. Cattle Egret -- 50
4. Great Egret -- 1
5. Gray Heron -- 3
6. Spur-winged Goose -- 11
7. Black Kite -- 1
8. Hooded Vulture -- 20
9. Shikra -- 1
10. Grasshopper Buzzard -- 2
11. Senegal Thick-knee -- 2
12. Spur-winged Plover -- 8
13. Speckled Pigeon -- 3
14. African Mourning-Dove -- 1
15. Red-eyed Dove -- 30
16. Vinaceous Dove -- 70
17. Laughing Dove -- 10
18. Black-billed Wood-Dove -- 2
19. Senegal Parrot -- 1
20. Western Gray Plantain-eater -- 3
21. Violet Turaco -- 1
22. Senegal Coucal -- 5
23. Pearl-spotted Owlet h
24. Pied Kingfisher -- 1
25. Shining Blue Kingfisher -- 1
26. Gray-headed Kingfisher -- 1
27. Blue-breasted Kingfisher h
28. Broad-billed Roller -- 5
29. Green Wood-Hoopoe -- 3
30. African Gray Hornbill -- 4
31. Red-billed Hornbill -- 8
32. Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird -- 1
33. Bearded Barbet -- 5
34. Greater Honeyguide -- 1
35. Gray Woodpecker -- 4
36. Common Bulbul -- 2
37. Yellow-throated Greenbul -- 4
38. Common Gonolek -- 3
39. Gray-headed Bushshrike h
40. Yellow-billed Shrike -- 6
41. Woodchat Shrike -- 1
42. Snowy-crowned Robin-Chat -- 4
43. White-crowned Robin-Chat -- 4
44. Blackcap Babbler -- 4
45. Olivaceous Warbler -- 6
46. Tawny-flanked Prinia -- 5
47. Gray-backed Camaroptera -- 2
48. Oriole Warbler -- 2
49. Northern Black-Flycatcher -- 1
50. Brown-throated Wattle-eye -- 1
51. African Paradise-Flycatcher -- 1
52. Variable Sunbird -- 1
53. Red-billed Firefinch -- 4
54. Lavender Waxbill -- 3
55. Black-rumped Waxbill -- 50
56. White-billed Buffalo-Weaver -- 20
57. House Sparrow -- 3
58. Gray-headed Sparrow -- 4
59. Village Weaver -- 75
60. Gr. Blue-ear. Glossy-Starling -- 15
61. Long-tailed Glossy-Starling -- 8
62. Yellow-billed Oxpecker -- 4
63. African Golden-Oriole -- 1
64. Fork-tailed Drongo -- 3

Near Bansang

1. Palm-nut Vulture -- 1
2. Hooded Vulture -- 10
3. White-backed Vulture -- 1
4. Harrier-Hawk -- 1
5. Western Marsh Harrier -- 1
6. Dark Chanting Goshawk -- 1
7. Gabar Goshawk -- 1
8. Grasshopper Buzzard -- 2
9. Gray Kestrel -- 1
10. Red-necked Falcon -- 1
11. Green Sandpiper -- 1
12. Red-eyed Dove -- 3
13. Vinaceous Dove -- 10
14. Laughing Dove -- 2
15. Namaqua Dove -- 2
16. Giant Kingfisher -- 2
17. Red-throated Bee-eater -- 6
18. Abyssinian Roller -- 2
19. Vieillot's Barbet h
20. Tawny-flanked Prinia -- 1
21. White-billed Buffalo-Weaver -- 5
22. Village Weaver -- 50
23. Village Indigobird -- 1
24. Pied Crow -- 2

Near Basse

1. Great Egret -- 1
2. Hamerkop -- 1
3. Black Kite -- 1
4. Hooded Vulture -- 150
5. Shikra -- 1
6. Red-necked Falcon -- 1
7. Senegal Thick-knee -- 20
8. Egyptian Plover -- 3
9. Spur-winged Plover -- 4
10. Little Swift -- 100
11. Variable Sunbird -- 1
12. Bronze Mannakin -- 3
13. White-billed Buffalo-Weaver -- 10
14. Village Weaver -- 50

Gambia River from Georgetown to Sapu

1. Long-tailed Cormorant -- 5
2. Black-crowned Night Heron -- 8
3. Squacco Heron -- 3
4. Cattle Egret -- 200
5. Great Egret -- 20
6. Gray Heron -- 3
7. Hamerkop -- 2
8. Marabou Stork -- 4
9. Black Kite -- 135
10. African Fish-Eagle -- 3
11. Palm-nut Vulture -- 4
12. Hooded Vulture -- 60
13. White-backed Vulture -- 20
14. Banded Snake-Eagle -- 2
15. Harrier-Hawk -- 2
16. Western Marsh Harrier -- 2
17. Shikra -- 7
18. Lizard Buzzard -- 4
19. Red-necked Falcon -- 2
20. Double-spurred Francolin -- 1
21. Senegal Thick-knee -- 5
22. Egyptian Plover -- 1
23. Spur-winged Plover -- 35
24. Wattled Lapwing -- 2
25. Speckled Pigeon -- 10
26. African Mourning-Dove -- 10
27. Red-eyed Dove -- 25
28. Vinaceous Dove -- 40
29. Laughing Dove -- 5
30. Black-billed Wood-Dove -- 2
31. Bruce's Green Pigeon -- 8
32. African Green-Pigeon -- 5
33. Senegal Parrot -- 1
34. Rose-ringed Parakeet -- 2
35. Western Gray Plantain-eater -- 15
36. Senegal Coucal -- 4
37. Pied Kingfisher -- 8
38. Gray-headed Kingfisher -- 2
39. Blue-breasted Kingfisher -- 2
40. Abyssinian Roller -- 2
41. Blue-bellied Roller -- 6
42. Broad-billed Roller -- 8
43. African Gray Hornbill -- 8
44. Red-billed Hornbill -- 4
45. Lesser Honeyguide -- 1
46. Gray Woodpecker -- 2
47. Red-chested Swallow -- 20
48. Common Bulbul -- 5
49. Common Gonolek -- 4
50. Gray-headed Bushshrike h
51. Yellow-billed Shrike -- 3
52. Olivaceous Warbler -- 2
53. Oriole Warbler -- 5
54. Black-rumped Waxbill -- 200
55. White-bill. Buffalo-Weaver -- 150
56. Village Weaver -- 75
57. Gr. Blue-ear. Glossy-Starling -- 30
58. Long-tailed Glossy-Starling -- 5
59. Piapiac -- 3
60. Pied Crow -- 5

Sofanyama Bolong near Pakaliba

1. Pink-backed Pelican -- 2
2. Cattle Egret -- 15
3. Western Reef-Egret -- 1
4. Great Egret -- 10
5. Purple Heron -- 1
6. Gray Heron -- 5
7. Hamerkop -- 2
8. Marabou Stork -- 3
9. Hadada Ibis -- 2
10. Black Kite -- 1
11. Hooded Vulture -- 35
12. Harrier-Hawk -- 1
13. Lanner Falcon -- 1
14. Black Crake -- 2
15. Greater Painted-Snipe -- 1
16. Black-winged Stilt -- 2
17. Common Ringed Plover -- 2
18. Common Greenshank -- 1
19. Green Sandpiper -- 1
20. Wood Sandpiper -- 1
21. African Mourning-Dove -- 2
22. Red-eyed Dove -- 5
23. Vinaceous Dove -- 10
24. Laughing Dove -- 1
25. Little Swift -- 10
26. Pied Kingfisher -- 4
27. Red-billed Hornbill -- 2
28. Chestnut-back. Sparrow-Lark -- 2
29. Red-chested Swallow -- 10
30. Mosque Swallow -- 5
31. Red-rumped Swallow -- 25
32. Yellow Wagtail -- 2
33. Common Gonolek -- 2
34. African Reed-Warbler -- 4
35. Zitting Cisticola -- 1
36. Tawny-flanked Prinia -- 1
37. Black-rumped Waxbill -- 50
38. African Quailfinch -- 4
39. Village Weaver -- 25
40. Pied Crow -- 10

Near Pirang

1. Pink-backed Pelican -- 8
2. Yellow-billed Stork -- 4
3. White-faced Whistling-Duck -- 25
4. Black-shouldered Kite -- 1
5. Palm-nut Vulture -- 1
6. Black-winged Stilt -- 5
7. Senegal Thick-knee -- 3
8. Spur-winged Plover -- 50
9. Common Redshank -- 2
10. Common Greenshank -- 3
11. Wood Sandpiper -- 2
12. Common Sandpiper -- 8
13. Red-eyed Dove -- 2
14. Vinaceous Dove -- 5
15. Laughing Dove -- 2
16. Pied Kingfisher -- 6
17. Red-chested Swallow -- 20
18. Village Weaver -- 25
19. Pied Crow -- 10

Copyright 1995 Allen & Nancy Chartier

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