Hard work in West Africa

Here is a quick resume of my recent trip to Ghana. There are many species found in West Africa which cannot be found elsewhere, but the region as a whole isn't easy to access. Many countries have little or no tourist infrastructure, several are downright dangerous to visit, and others are horrendously expensive. Gambia used to be the first African country to visit, and indeed is still a top destination, but many specialities don't occur there, Rockfowl (or Picathartes to prove I can spell it) being one. There are only two countries in the world where the two species in the genus can be found, until recently Cameroon, where Grey-necked occurs, was the only option, but the country has suffered political instability and most tour companies no longer offer tours there.

 

Jonathan and I were given a "heads-up" about Ghana last year by a mothing friend, and he advised us to use the services of a top guide, Kalu Afasi. I had long wondered about visiting the country and eventually ended up with somewhat over a hundred new species. Most wanted for me was Forbe's Plover, which to my mind, despite field guides depicting it as very similar to Three-banded, looked quite different, and had a different jizz and behaviour. It was my last African Plover, again not an easy species to pin down due to its mainly West African range. We didn't see many waders, but two Rock Pratincoles obliged by flying on to the rock just below where we stood, enabling good photos. This is a different race (liberiae) to the ones Ann and I had seen in Uganda, the chestnut rear collar being distinctive. This leaves me with just one pratincole to see, Grey, unfortunately another difficult bird to pin down due to problems visiting areas where it occurs.

 

The majority of birding in Ghana is in rainforest, and it is here that our guides, Kalu and Cobby, proved invaluable, picking up many species on call. Whilst passerines are not personally my most sought-after birds, there was also the matter of twelve species of Kingfisher, a highlight of the trip. Many African kingfishers are easily seen, Blue-breasted, Woodland and Grey-headed, but the smaller forest species can be a nightmare. Only one was new for me, White-bellied, which I missed in Ethiopia, but being able to photograph that, Shining Blue, Dwarf, Chocolate-backed and Pygmy was kingfisher heaven. The only one we struggled with, Giant, was restricted to a flypast on our penultimate day, but we had both seen them previously. Raptors and owls are always of interest, but very much in the lap of the gods. After several attempts we finally got decent views of Long-tailed Hawk, not an easy bird to see as it watches you and moves as soon as you look in its direction. Black Sparrowhawk and African Cuckoo-Hawk obliged the camera, and Bataleurs were frequently seen overhead. I also got my best shots ever of a European Honey-buzzard.


I will publish a trip report on my website in due course, but would like to thank everyone we came in contact with, Ghana is a very friendly country and well worth visiting. Here the children (and many adults) seem genuinely happy if you wave as you drive past, or speak to them whilst in their village. They seemingly want nothing in return, the two offers of marriage that JT received were definitely tongue-in-cheek, and whilst service in the hotels was slow it seems to be due to a laid-back outlook on life, as there is little tourist infrastructure. Hotels tend to be typically African in that they are excellent when built, but maintenance is an alien concept, and if that extends to the aircon you may have a problem. If you're a birder you're probably used to these issues, the birding isn't easy in the heat and humidity, but definitely worth the effort. Best of all was not being bombarded by Christmas in November!

Several tour companies now run trips to Ghana, and they seem very good, but they can miss some species. However, whilst not the fault of the tour companies, we did discover that the Pangolins everyone seems to see are "put there" by local guides who keep them overnight. At least no harm comes to them, but we were quite happy to find a West African Potto, which was just luck during an evening owl excursion. Other non-avian species included Dwarf Crocodile (the world's smallest croc), numerous butterflies and a Puff Adder.

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