Om fredagen, 11/11, tog mine forældre, Johanne og mig med vores guide, Alieu Cesay, til Abuko, som er en lille rest oprindelig regnskov med masser af gode fugle. Jeg havde en aftale med et par arter, som jeg missede i Abuko i 2009 særligt Western Bluebill og Grey-headed Bristlebill. Begge arter sås rigtig fint, selvom især Bristlebill'en voldte lidt bøvl inden den lod sig beskue.
Indgangen til Abuko.
Min far, mig, Johanne og Alieu mens vi kigger efter Snowy-crowned Robin Chat.
Snowy-crowned Robin-Chat, Abuko, 11/11-2011.
Min far, mig, Alieu og Johanne ved Darwin Field Station/Crocodile Pool.
Giant Kingfishers, ssp. maxima, hun (til venstre) og han (til højre), Crocodile Pool, Abuko, 11/11-2011.
Crocodile Pool, Abuko, 11/11-2011.
Black-crowned Night Heron, adult, Crocodile Pool, Abuko, 11/11-2011.
African Harrier Hawk, adult, Abuko, 11/11-2011.
Violet Turaco, Abuko, 11/11-2011.
På rejser er det ikke så dudet at konsultere bøger, mens man birder! Her dog udelukkende fordi jeg skal vise Johanne et eller andet....
Brown-throated Wattle-eye, male (left) and female (right), Abuko, 11/11-2011.
Ca. kl. 13 var vi tilbage på Bakotu Hotel, hvor resten af dagen gik med afslapning ved poolen, stranden samt fuglekig på hotellet. her sås bl.a. et meget tillidsfuldt par af Northern Puffbacks.
On the 5th day I had a relaxing morning with breakfast and just a small walk with my girlfriend, Johanne, down to Kotu Bridge to make an appointment with our guide Alieu. Here we bumped into my brother-in-law, Mads, who had just returned from his morning run.
Mads was training for an ironman and therefore had to stick to his programme - even on vacation...
...and due to the lack of proper training facilities he had to be quite inventive....
My father enjoying life in Bakotu Hotel with cigarettes, cola, nice weather and loads of birds. Here Mads is seen reading in a book on training for an ironman...
View from Bakotu Hotel towards Fajara Golf Course and the mangroves of Kotu Stream. My sister, Sine her boyfriend, Mads, and my father are seen on the picture.
After having releaxed in the morning all of us walked northwards along the beach and had a nice lunch in a hotel run by a danish couple.
Lecturing my father about the joys and challenges of identifying sub-saharan cisticolas while having ckicken yassa.
Pied Crow, Kotu Beach, 10/11-2011.
Yellow-billed Kite ssp. parasiticus, Kotu Beach, 10/11-2011.
Mads, Johanne and Sine (my sister) watching a Hooded Vulture having a feast on the beach.
Hooded Vulture, close-up, Kotu Beach, 10/11-2011.
Variable Sunbird, male, Kotu Beach, 10/11-2011.
In the afternoon my father and I went for some birding in the Kotu area with Alieu. At first we went to the Sewage Ponds where we saw two nice Black Crakes. After that we went to a place to look for Painted Snipes but failed to see any but instead had another Black Crake and an obliging African Pygmy Kingfisher in the fading light.
Alieu and my father at Kotu Sewage Ponds.
Black Crake, Kotu Sewage Ponds, 10/11-2011.
African Jacanas (two adults and one 1cy) with a Black-necked Stilt, Kotu Sewage Ponds, 10/11-2011.
In the evening we had dinner on the beach where the fishermen/beach bums had prepared the fish that Mads had caugth the day before.
A gambian party without drums would be like having a shrimp-cocktail without shrimps.
It tasted better than it looks. Actually the fish was some of the best I've ever had but the athmosphere might also have contributed to this....
Danes eating gambian cuisine with their fingers. From left to right: My father, sister, brother-in-law, girlfriend, myself and my mother.
The fourth day my father and I went a bit inland with our guide Alieu Cesay. We started from the hotel at 07.15 in the morning and drove towards Brikama.
Gambian village near Brikama early in the morning.
Grey Kestrel, near Brikama, 9/11-2011.
Long-tailed Glossy Starling, near Brikama, 9/11-2011.
First stop of the morning was the ricefields at Mandina Ba east of Brikama where we without luck looked for Hadada Ibis. But we had nice views of e.g. African Pygmy Kingfishers and Beaudoiun's Snake Eagles.
Western Plantain-eater, Mandina Ba, 9/11-2011. A common species in The Gambia.
Black-headed Heron, adult, Mandina Ba, 9/11-2011.
When we had finished birding at we went to the Pirang Marshes - a big area of saltmarsh and shrimp-farms. Loads of birds were here and we had nice views of several species of swallows.
Northen Red Bishop, male in breeding plumage, Pirang Marshes, 9/11-2011.
After Pirang we went to Faraba Banta Bushtrack to look for raptors, Greyish Eagle Owl and other good stuff. Alieu had engaged a local guide called "Owlman" that knows all there is to know about the whereabouts of the local pair of Greyish Eagle Owl. After half an hour drive on small dirt-tracks we were at the rigth place and quickly saw an owl.
My father watching a Greyish Eagle Owl in the scope.
"Owlman" (have forgot his real name) and Alieu at the bushtrack just after we have seen the owl.
After having seen the owl we found a shaded shelter where we sat, drinked some cola and waited for raptors to appear. After some time a Bateleur flew across the sky at some distance - an amazing moment that really smelled of safari on the savanna - something both my father and I yet have to experience.
We also walked around the The first of this species we have seen after having heard several. In the same tree a Senegal Batis, a male Violet-backed Sunbird and a Red-winged Warbler suddenly showed in our scope. So four new species in the same tree within a few minutes was definitely on the higlights of the day.
