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The weather forecast was not promising for today, fine early on but yet again more rain coming in later. I needed a break from some computer work I was doing so I left home at 08.00 and walked up onto a local hill named Allt yr Esgair which is not far from my house. It was a bit of a slog because the track leading up was very soft and muddy but at last I was up on the open hill. Although winds were very light lower down, by the time I reached the top there was a full-blown gale and I had a job to stand up. I took my baseball cap off otherwise it would have been lost, but I had a hood on my jacket so that was OK.
I was carrying a Canon R5 Mk2 and a Canon Rf 100-500 lens – a light and very portable combo. There was no point lugging anything heavier up there, it’s too awkward and the risk of damage by the wind is very likely. There were a few spots of rain in the air but nothing too problematic.
In order to get out of the really fierce and nagging wind I sat down between a large rocky outcrop and a few well positioned gorse bushes. At least this provided some respite from the elements.
I was just looking out across the Usk valley towards the village of Talybont on Usk when a bird suddenly appeared from beneath the rocky outcrop, hovering on the wind. I could see it was a Kestrel – the consummate hoverer. Kestrels have become an uncommon bird here in the Brecon Beacons, where once, in the not too distant past they were quite an easy bird to see - It's a great shame because they are such an attractive little raptor.
It didn't see me because it was facing into the wind, as they do when hovering. It was only there for about thirty seconds, but this little photographic combination I was carrying is perfectly suited for these impromptu situations. The in-body image stabilization in the Canon R5 Mk2 coupled with the image stabilization in the Canon 100-500 lens keeps the image very still. If I had more time I could even have shot hand-held video in that wind - remarkable technology!
On closer inspection I could now see it was a female and I watched her, marvelling at the way she was handling the wind, although being buffered by really strong gusts she remained perfectly still.



Her body was motionless but here head was moving looking for prey some fifty feet below in the rough grass.

Suddenly she obviously saw something.



I could tell by her reaction, remarkable eyesight to spot prey from that distance in that wind.

She banked over, opened her wings and swooped down.



I don’t know if she was successful, I couldn’t see. I waited but she didn’t return, I hope she found some food;
What a bird!
The predicted rain looked more likely by the minute and the skies looked more and more threatening, so I left and dropped back down to the more sheltered tree-lined path, reaching home in about an hour just as the rain came in.

The Yellow Fronter Tinker Bird is a member of the barbet family. However, unlike most barbets which sing out in the open it sings from cover, and is therefore, more heard than seen.
These birds provide the backdrop sound of these woodlands, consisting of an onomatopoeic Tink Tink Tink which is repeated about once a second.
Resident breeders over much of Africa, south of the Sahara Desert, they usually inhabit broad leafed riparian woodland where they nest in hollowed out dead tree branches and trunks.
They feed on insects, and also mistletoe fruit which they swallow whole, the swallowed mistletoe seeds are then regurgitated and the sticky regurgitations are wiped on tree branches and as a consequence tinkerbirds are probably the biggest disperser of mistletoe within their range.



Sometimes they appear out in the open.

The African Scops Owl is a widespread and strictly nocturnal bird of Sub-Saharan Africa. It is slightly smaller than its Eurasian cousin, but in almost all other aspects is very similar.
The main differences being a different call; the Eurasian Scops Owl has a repeated clear call resembling the five beeps preceding the old BBC speaking clock. The African species has a less clear Prrp Prrp call, much more difficult to locate.
Some of the African birds are also a slightly warmer brown, unlike the overall greyish appearance of most Scops Owls.



They roost like most Owls close to tree trunks, becoming active at night feeding on small prey like moths, beetles, spiders and grasshoppers etc. They swoop down to the ground on prey, but also hawk flying insects.

The Black Heron, is colloquially named the ‘Umbrella Bird’ because of its hunting style of using its wings to form a canopy which attracts fish to the subsequent shade provided.



This clever technique also helps the birds by making it easier for them to see down into the water. This method of hunting is therefore, unsurprisingly called ‘Canopy Feeding’
These birds inhabit shallow open waters around lakes and ponds; they sometimes fish in numbers, up to fifty birds have been recorded using this method.



They also roost communally like many other herons.

The diminutive Senegal Batis is a species of bird in the’ Wattle Eye’ family. These flycatcher - like birds are arboreal foragers, probing tree foliage for insects but also flying up into the air to catch some insects on the wing.
Their nest is built by both sexes and is a typical Batis nest, made of dried grass and strips of bark, decorated with leaves and lichen and bound together with spider webs. It is a small neat cup, attached to the fork or thick stem of a bush or tree also with spider webs. The nest is often in quite an exposed situation but the above-described decoration seems to act as effective camouflage.
They are very busy birds and this coupled with their very small size, about three inches, makes them a difficult subject to photograph. However, they are quite attractive and worth the effort.



The females below have a conspicuous rusty breast colouration

No, not my current account balance!

Overnight this website, with has ostensibly a narrow subject matter, (basically documenting my personal birding and photography efforts) received its 5000000th view. I never in my wildest expectations thought that a number of this magnitude would be achieved. I obviously must be doing something right LOL, and although, in all seriousness, it's far from easy maintaining people's interest in a website of this nature, excuse the pun.
It's far easier to post on a social media platform which covers the general area where you operate because your photographs are viewed almost by default when people are looking at the general area's wildlife posts. That's not detracting from the quality of peoples images, it's just pure logic.
This is not just a case of posting sightings from your local area, that's easy, even the mundane repetition is seen as acceptable! There are a few people 'I know locally' who think that way, and sniff at someone as just a photographer.

I'd like to invite some of them to have a try at something like this and see how far they get!

There are two main areas of difficulty;

One is getting the images to back your dialogue up. "A picture paints a thousand words!" as the saying goes. Of most relevancy is that you can't rely on other people's images to illustrate your writings!!

The second is attempting to write a blog post in an entertaining style that carries the reader along with you during your efforts to photograph these birds. It's no good just attaching a 'One Liner' to a photograph, that doesn't work. It appears that I have intermittent success in this area - based on viewers comments!

To finish, I'd like to thank the people who regularly look at this website and especially for the very kind comments I receive - it matters.

I intend to carry on for as long as I can hold a camera and lens, and look forward to spring arriving with plenty of nice birds.
Many thanks,
Steve

In contrast to the Rufous Crowned Roller, the Abyssinian Roller is a very conspicuous bird. It perches openly in various habitats and breeds across tropical Africa in a belt south of the Sahara known as the Sahel. This is another roller, like the Blue Bellied Roller, which is attracted to bush fires, dashing fearlessly into the blaze to predate displaced small animals.
These are elegant looking birds with their turquoise blue colouration and long tail streamers and are always nice to photograph.

The largest Roller found in The Gambia, growing up to sixteen inches. These birds are the least encountered roller for me personally and probably for anyone else. Unless observed out in the open on a a post or wire their colouration offers them, unlike other rollers, a degree of camouflage. However, on closer inspection they are a rather beautiful bird.
Their preferred habitat is dry open country where they spend long periods perched at the top of thorn trees watching for food items such as insects, spiders, scorpions and small lizards on the ground.



These bird are quite unobtrusive because of the above mentioned behaviour and plumage and it is always nice to come across one.

A widespread colourful Kingfisher, with a pale grey head, black mantle and back, bright blue rump, wings and tail, chestnut underparts and a large red beak. It grows to around eight inches.
These birds are found across large parts of Africa and southern Arabia.
Typically from Mauritania, through Senegal and The Gambia in the west, to Ethiopia and Somalia in the east, and south all the way to South Africa. It is also found off the African coast in the Cape Verde islands and Zanzibar.
Present in the Arabian Peninsula e.g. in Yemen, Oman and Saudi Arabia.
A dry-country kingfisher of scrub and woodland, often found near water, but is not aquatic. Perches on a branch, unmoving for long periods while watching the ground for signs of insects or small lizards.
Although widespread, it remains, personally an uncommonly found kingfisher. I just encounter the odd bird here and there.

A widespread and adaptable raptor found in tropical regions of West Africa becoming less common in the east of the country.
An unusual trait of this species is the double-jointed ankles it possesses, which enable it to reach into otherwise inaccessible holes and cracks for prey. It also has the ability to climb using its legs and feet as well as its wings.



The African Harrier Hawk is also uncommonly omnivorous, eating the fruit of the Oil Palm tree as well as hunting small vertebrates.

This is a common bird of warm open country with some trees. These rollers often perch prominently on trees, posts, or overhead wires, like giant shrikes, whilst watching for the grasshoppers and other large insects on which they feed.
These birds are also highly attracted to bush fires, waiting for the inevitable displacement of small animals and insects.
When they fly they exhibit a striking blue wing colouration.

All sunbirds are colourful, but some are both colourful and elegant and the Pygmy Sunbird certainly fits both those categories. This bird is pictured next to a brightly coloured Tulip Tree flower.

Dextrous and elegant in flight, White Throated Bee Eaters breed in semi- desert habitats on the Southern edge of the Sahara and migrate to Equatorial Africa in the winter. Their diet consists typically of bees, wasps and hornets, they nest communally with both parents feeding the young with help also provided by non-breeding adults.
They are the only Bee Eater with a black crown; they can often be located by their high pitched and far carrying rattle-like call.

These African Glossy Starlings are remarkable to see, and when you first do so you can hardly believe such birds exist. They look as if they’ve been beaten out of metal by some skilled craftsman.



They look even more spectacular in flight, so it’s well worth the effort to try and capture them then.





Purple Glossy Starlings.

There are numerous Sunbirds to see in The Gambia. However, I don’t actively seek any particular species out, I just stop to look when passing any suitable habitat – a bush or tree with any flowers, and just take a look. They are so small and active that they are difficult to pin down for a photo and you could be somewhere for an hour waiting for the right situation, so it’s just best to observe, take a few shots and move on.

They are definitely worth a few minutes’ effort though.


Variable Sunbird


Scarlet Chested Sunbird


Beautiful Sunbird


Pygmy Sunbird

Driving along a quiet road early morning we stopped alongside a small seasonal wetland about half the size of a football pitch. After walking down to the water’s edge, I could immediately see a Blue Breasted Kingfisher perched in some bushes about fifty yards away. These birds are very brightly coloured with a bright blue breast and a large red beak and they are about a foot in length, so therefore quite conspicuous, but sometimes, however, reasonably tolerant.
They can usually be found in dense humid forested areas like mangroves and swamps across equatorial Africa in the dry season, having moved there from secondary forests, plantations, and savannah where they feed on insects etc.

Many African Kingfishers live in dry habitats feeding on insects e.g. Woodland, Pygmy, Striped, Grey Headed and the above birds. These birds all adapt their behaviour and habitats because they have to in order to survive. These birds, unlike our Common Kingfisher e.g. cannot rely on a year round supply of water, so they are all much more versatile and therefore different to what our perception of a Kingfisher should be.

I thought I’d try my luck and walk towards it, stopping every five yards to take a shot. Quite remarkably this lovely bird allowed me to approach to within ten yards at which point I stopped and took my last shot because I didn’t want to disturb it.



I was backtracking when Mass, our friend and Susan who had been watching me shouted ‘Steve, behind you’!
I turned around to see an Osprey swooping in to check out the water for fish, but it was far too shallow there to hold anything of a size that would interest it. It made a couple of passes and then flew off and disappeared, but not before I managed to take a few shots.



This is what I meant in my previous blog post about Ospreys turning up anywhere in The Gambia.

You have to be careful about becoming complacent with Ospreys in The Gambia, because they are numerous in winter. I know this seems ridiculous because back home it's a great sighting, but like anything, being numerous takes away the excitement. However, when one flies reasonably near to me I always take a shot.

I always will because it may be a ringed bird, however, most Ospreys we see there are not ringed.

These birds are common throughout sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia from Turkey to India to China. They are resident, and most birds do not migrate, other than short-distance seasonal movements.
A medium sized kingfisher with a striking black and white plumage, anyone travelling in these countries would expect to see these birds.
From a paddy field in China, an African watering hole or alongside a fisherman on the Nile, these birds will be present.



Being ubiquitous doesn't make you unattractive though.

The biggest heron, five foot tall and with a wingspan of up to seven feet, dwarfing other herons like grey and purple, being almost twice their size. These giants are very closely tied to water, hardly ever moving away, even when moving around they always use water courses.
They are quite shy of humans, keeping to quiet backwaters where they live on an almost exclusive diet of fish.

You sometimes encounter these animals when walking forest tracks. These were part of a much larger troop, the rest were hiding in the bush to the side. They are quite shy animals who generally avoid contact with people, barking like dogs when they are uneasy.



There is only one alpha male in any one troop, along with numerous females and playful youngsters.
Although shy, it wouldn't be advisable to back that male into a corner, I think you'd have your hands full!!