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

https://youtu.be/FXvyWvBfKy8

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

Yellow-billed Stork



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



West African Crocodile

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Males and Females in a small flock.


You can see how they got their name!


This was a totally unexpected surprise and made my day!

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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



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

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


Male African Paradise Flycatcher


Male Red-bellied Paradise Flycatcher


Female Red-bellied Paradise Flycatcher


Male Red-bellied Paradise Flycatcher (Short tail)


Looks like a hybridization candidate.

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

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

What a gorgeous little jewel he was!

When walking through the Savannah it’s very important to avoid standing in one spot for any length of time, especially where livestock are present because in this hot and dry environment Ticks are prevalent. These horrible parasitic arachnids attach themselves to these animals and embed into their skin, especially where skin folds or overlaps or around the eyes. They then drink the blood of these animals and sometime infect them with very nasty diseases.
They will readily do the same to humans given the chance, and if the Tick is carrying ‘Lymes’ disease e.g. unless treated quickly there can be very serious life changing consequences. Wearing good quality socks and tucking your trousers into them is fundamental.
Livestock cannot remove these Ticks themselves and as a result they can become really distressed if a Tick is near their eye or in their inner ear. This is where nature has provided a solution in the form of the Yellow-billed Oxpecker, these birds remove Ticks from animals all day long and are tolerated around ears, eyes and udders etc. because the animals know they are being helped.



If the birds are disturbed by someone they just fly up into the air, circle around and come back down to the same animal to resume their Tick removal.

Rose-ringed Parakeets fly around in small parties, they are noisy, comical and very attractive. They are quite shy and are easily spooked but when they are up in at tree they feel safe and you can approach them.

Then you can see how attractive they are!

No visit to this part of the world would be complete without seeing Ospreys. These magnificent birds winter in the Gambia and Senegal in numbers and cruising up the river which borders these two countries will produce numerous sightings, however, most sightings are in flight as the birds fly away after spotting a boat coming.
These birds are very nervous and nearly always fly away at the sight of people. There are some times though when this is not the case and this is when the birds have caught a big fish and are tired after the effort of catching and flying with it. This is when you have a chance to approach nearer, but care is still needed because you must not spook the bird and spoil its feeding.
I managed a few shots when this happened and it shows what lovely birds they are!