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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Ghana Tour – January 29th to February 16th. (1 Viewer)

I don't know what I was thinking - clearly not Cuckoo Hawk.
Looking at it on screen now it looks like Gabar Goshawk but from memory it doesn't occur at Kakum and we didn't see one day photo was taken I'll need to look at the field guide and notebooks when I get home.

Looks like Gabar to me too. Not one I caught up with on this trip.
 
In search of the Pacathartes

This was the big day as far as Sarah was concerned, the Yellow-headed Picathartes was the reason she picked Ghana, so today she was really excited about seeing it but also worried. After talking to a few people about how difficult the bird(s) would be to see, one person saw them in almost pitch dark for only seconds, whilst Victor had told us about the smaller back-up cave that when the birds haven’t turned up at the prime sight, he had used that as a fall back for a torchlight view, good news was that he had never failed to catch up with at least one bird. She was also worried about whether the last uphill section was going to be more of a climb than a walk.

However first we had the little matter of our last planned visit to Kakum (more on that later), where we were still missing a large number of birds that we were really hoping for. We arrive early to make the most of our time in the Aboabo / Abrufo areas and go deeper into the forest in search of some some birds we missed last time and at Ankasa, main targets were Hornbills, Chocolate Backed-Kingfisher and the Turaco that Sarah had missed.
First new bird of the morning was Grey-headed Bristlebill, then it was familiar birds like Blue-billed Malimbe, Yellow-mantled Weaver, Grey,crowned Negrofinch, Green Pigeon and Naked Faced Barbet, Chestnut-Capped and Red-bellied paradise flycatcher amongst other species but no sign off Tessman’s flycatcher although from photos and notes we did get a Cassin’s Flycatcher at Ankasa which I forgot to mention.
It was while watching a tree with the Barbet that we heard the Kingfisher, it was quite distant and in some really thick scrubby growth, so I put the lens cap back on the camera to protect it (you can guess what is about to happen) and then for 10 or 15 minutes we scrambled through the growth some of it really thorny before Victor could feel the bird close, a little bit of playback and suddenly the bird was sitting on what was a bare branch, Sarah was looking at it and Victor was pointing but I couldn’t see it, this just doesn’t happen usually I’m first on the bird with Sarah struggling, anyway after Victor used a laser pen I finally got on the bird Chocolate-backed Kingfisher exactly matched its title. Having looked at the bird well I went for the record shot, damn it, lens cap on, took it off focused and fired away but all I got were a couple of perfectly focused shots of a bare branch. I need to do better this afternoon I thought if we get the Picathartes in view. Still I didn’t stew on it for long a couple of very large hornbills flew over and we were off back to the main track to get one of the Black-casqued Hornbills in the scope. This bird and one other then flew in and out of view for the next 15 minutes but at no time did it come totally out into the open, then into the same tree came a Yellow-billed Turaco and while it was partially obscured Sarah was now happy to tick it off having both a flight view and a look at the head. The rest of the morning was nice without being spectactular with the birds including Slender-billed Greenbul, Little Grey Greenbul, Little Grey Flycatcher, Forest Wood-hoopoe and Forest Penduline Tit. It was soon time to head to Bokro via a lunch stop at a strange place called Hollywood (it was fitted out like an Indian Palace) and we tried and enjoyed some of the local food.
It was around 14.30 when we arrived at Bokro and plan was to be at the Picatharthes site before 16.00. When you go up you take a guide from both local villages with you, but only one came with us (Rasta-man) the second joined us at the top. Before going into the forest. The forest round here is good and with a guesthouse now within an hours drive it would certainly be worth getting here for a mornings birding. Top bird apart from the obvious is probably Wattled Golden Cuckoo- Shrike which Victor has only seen here (we didn’t see it) but we did see Fire-bellied Woodpecker, White-crested Hornbill and Yellow-bearded Greenbul on the way up. It is also meant to be good for Owls although we didn’t stick around to try.
We were there by 15.30 walking slowly with Sarah thinking that we still had the last bit of the climb to do when we arrived, so not too bad at all, although in the rain I’m sure it would be much slippier. It was pretty overcast and humid today but when we sat on the benches the sun suddenly broke through and for a few minutes illuminated one of the two areas where Victor said the birds were likely to appear. Come on out birds we thought, no such luck they were not going to come out early today, after about an hour Rasta-man pointed behind us into the forest – there on the ground was a Yellow-headed Picathartes but it was terribly obscured by all the vegetation and we couldn’t see the head, Sarah said that’s not countable, then about 15 minutes later one showed briefly to the left of the cliffs, again not acceptable. Despite being just after 5 it was getting really dark and Victor thought it might rain – bad thoughts started to enter my head (Sarah told me later she was convinced that she was going to miss a good view) when out of trees on the left came a superb Yellow-headed Picathartes a much more apt name IMO than White-necked Rockfowl. Light was not great as you can see from the video clip on Flickr (https://www.flickr.com/photos/126796979@N05/16539411169/), almost completely dark but with a very high ISO 12800 and long shutter speed, I think I got some reasonable record shots of this bird and another that emerged from the right onto the rocks and the branches near the nest cliff, a third bird also showed up and we enjoyed their antics for half an hour. Victor said it is definitely going to rain so being well satisfied with our views we headed back down to the village. I don’t think we saw a single bird as we drifted back down. We had no sooner got on the bus than the heavens opened and it rained heavily all the way to Kumasi – so our luck had held.
When we got to Kumasi at after 9 – we found the Royal Basin hotel deserted, they had sent the kitchen staff home due to the rain, but they were able to fetch us a couple of beers and we had some cereal bars for dinner. Victor and Appiah went somewhere else to find some food but we were happy. When compiling our most wanted Sarah had the Picathartes as #1, whilst it wasn’t in my top 5 - I thought it was too easy and bit of a tarts tick (Sarah just punched me when I wrote that) but now it was certainly in my top trip birds too
 

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On to Mole

Today was a slightly later start, so it was just first light as we headed out for breakfast and we disturbed two Northern White-faced Owls in the tree right outside reception. Over breakfast Victor suggested that we might want to think about dropping Attewa Range and spending an extra night back here in Kumasi with one early start to do Offinso forest more thoroughly and get two evening and a morning visit to Bobiri to try for Owls and other forest birds. He told us that after rain the slog up Attewa was hard and that with the exception of one flycatcher all the other birds at Attewa could be found at Offinso with the main target Blue-moustached Bee-eater being much easier here. I’m in interested in Rob’s report as by the sounds of things with logging in the lower levels there isn’t much to see in the early part of this day and on the way back down.

Kumasi to Mole is the longest drive of the trip so we have a stop at Offinso Forest on the way up but only spend an hour and a half there. The habitat looked pretty good and it was mainly flat with good paths into the forest / scrub. Birding was good with African Cuckoo Hawk, Grey Kestrel, African Pygmy Kingfisher, Rufous Crowned Roller, African Grey Hornbill, Pied Hornbill, the last Malimbe Red-crested, Yellow-throated Tinkerbird, Little Green Woodpecker, Fraser’s Forest Flycatcher, Collared Sunbird and Grey Longbill all suggesting that a longer visit would be productive.
After our brief stop at Offinso we agreed that dropping Attewa sounded sensible and that we should cancel accommodation at Kofa and add an extra night in Kumasi (now two nights here) on the way back. Ashanti did the changes with no additional charges.
On the way to Mole we stopped for lunch at Kintampo Falls (the central point of the country), despite the heavy rains that had fallen over the south and central parts of the country in the last week, beyond this point it was hot and very dry with most wildlife congregated around any source of water. So it was that we started stopping at water holes as we headed further North, the first stop got us Shikra (I wrongly called it Lizard Buzzard – obviously hadn’t got me eye in for Savanah birds), then the first of many Grasshopper Buzzards, with a Dark Chanting Goshawk and then some Long-tailed Glossy Starlings before we finally got a Lizard Buzzard. It was also noticeable that the common Bee-eater on every wire or bare tree was now Red-throated rather than White-throated which was now scares
.
Nearer Mole we started stopping more regularly best birds were Blue-breasted Kingfisher and albeit a little distant an Abyssinian Roller and just before Larabanga, Appiah filled up with fuel shaking every little drop he could into the tank and rocking the bus so that it was completely full, he didn’t want to run out over the next 4 days. On arrival we checked into the Mole Hotel which we expected to be pretty full as it was a week-end and we had been told that it was always full at week-ends, however there were only about 20 guests and by Monday less than 10. Tourism in West Africa is really down and availability for last minute breaks is excellent even places that usually need advance booking are available and willing to negotiate on price (based on overhearing a conversation with some fellow guests).

The Mole hotel, which is the only accommodation in the area, although another lodge is being built by some American’s. It is situated on a 250 meter high escarpment over- looking the 4840km² park, it offers great views and from our balcony it is an amazing feeling to be sitting watching African elephants bathing in the two nearby watering holes. On the ground are Helmeted Guinea Fowl, Hadada Ibis and Cattle Egret, whilst in the air we see a Western Banded Snake eagle
It’s been a long day and we settle for just a leisurely night with some food and beer rather than going out tonight, also didn’t want to go to Mole air strip as the Malimbe groups we saw earlier are saying here tonight and are off to the air strip tonight.

Over dinner Victor tries to persuade a member of the kitchen staff to do breakfast at 5.30 we eventually settle for 5.40. We will have an armed guard (Cedo) with us when we are out walking and in the bus over the next few days.

D.Chanting Goshawk; Elephants; Grasshopper Buzzard; Red-throated Bee-eater; Abyssian Roller
 

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. I’m in interested in Rob’s report as by the sounds of things with logging in the lower levels there isn’t much to see in the early part of this day and on the way back down.

Just about to start my account of the main and most successful Atewa day. The following day we did have a wander around some of the logged area at the forest edge and the surrounding grassland. We hadn't had any rain and William thought a bit of rain at least might make the birding a little easier.

That said I enjoyed Atewa and it will be interesting to compare to Mole. From your last passage, there are several birds I didn't see during my tour but none that I hadn't already seen in Gambia. Three birds I would really have liked which William said were available at Mole were Pel's fishing owl, Forbe's plover and Saddle billed stork...

Loving those Elephant shots too.
 
First full day at Mole

Up bright and early, there is no one about, so Victor goes over to the staff quarters and drags someone out to get breakfast started, he effectively did half of the preparation and serving himself so that we have finished breakfast by 6.10, the other group are still waiting for any sign of breakfast as we get off and head down into the main part of the park. Today we walk around the woodland that surrounds the main waterholes in the cooler early morning and then visit a hide to sit watching the birds and animals come down. In the first bit of scrub we see a good assortment of firefinches, Bar-breasted, Red-billed and Black-bellied Firefinch all seen well with Red-cheeked Cordon Bleu and Black-rumped Waxbill. We then see Snowy-crowned and White-crowned Robin Chats and a Yellow-crowned Gonolek, it is noticeable that these birds are much more wary and thus harder to see and photograph than in other parts of Africa where we have seen them.
From the hide we see Black Crake, Hadada Ibis, Jacana and Hammerkop; while on the water there are White-faced Whistling Ducks and in the nearby trees Yellow-breasted Apalis, Northern Puffback, and both Swamp and Lead coloured flycatchers, apart from one small group of Swallow-tailed Bee-eaters all the Bee-eaters are Red-throated. Birds of prey include Bateleur, Lanner Falcon and Grasshopper Buzzard
Other wildlife includes Elephant, which are really approachable on foot at Mole, Nile Crocodile, Buffon Kob, Reedbuck, Warthog and Patas Monkey.

During the heat of the afternoon, we could have gone to nearby Larabanga and the 14th century mud and stick mosque, but we decide not to and have a swim and bird around the hotel grounds but it over 40C so we don’t do much, only trip birds are a pair of Martial Eagles and two Saddle-bill Storks.

Once the sun cools a little we set off looking for more species, the first really good bird is Sulphur-breasted Bush-shrike, then Lesser Blue-eared Starling, big problem though is the heat and the flies, particularly for Sarah who is getting eaten through her shirt by large horse flies, the bites took ages to clear, on then to a plains type area where we find Flappet Larks and then a couple of Sun Larks (should be called sunset larks as that is only time we saw these birds active) but bird we are looking for is Forbes’s Plover which is target for the afternoon, we search lots of burnt areas with Victor going off on foot to one area and Appiah driving around another. We see a distant bird from the bus and get reasonably close to it, there are 7 others in the area Victor is in, in the failing light the diagnostic red eye-ring of the Forbes’s Plover seems to glow.

We were staying out around the pounds until the early evening to search for night birds – not hugely successful as we miss Sandgrouse at the pools and there is no sign of Pel’s Fishing or Greyish Eagle owl (not too bothered about Pel’s as we saw this well on a previous trip) but finally we did get a few good birds; the remarkable Standard-winged Nightjar (at first Sarah thought it was being mobbed by two smaller birds – the Standards) and a nice African Scops Owl that posed for a photo but wouldn’t come out from behind a shadow of a leaf.
 

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Yes, be good to look at what we saw in same places

That said I enjoyed Atewa and it will be interesting to compare to Mole. From your last passage, there are several birds I didn't see during my tour but none that I hadn't already seen in Gambia. Three birds I would really have liked which William said were available at Mole were Pel's fishing owl, Forbe's plover and Saddle billed stork...

Loving those Elephant shots too.

We got Plover and Stork but not the Pel's Fishing Owl - but we didn't try too hard as that wasn't a lifer for us.
 
Mole and surrounds

Footnote to yesterday. When we got a back the African Cup of Nation final between Ghana and Ivory Coast had started (Appiah and Cedo would have liked to have been back earlier) but they still saw plenty of football anyway, as it went to extra time and penalties before Ivory Coast won (Victor was later teased by his partner who comes from the Ivory Coast). Ghana have not won for a considerable time.

Mole and surround - Today saw us try to start at the same time and Victor once again had to drag someone to the kitchen to get breakfast started, today we were off the Mole airstrip (start and end of day) and then to Mognori Forest an area with eco development nearby. The first bird we were trying for was White-throated Francolin, around the airstrip then on the roadside we looked but it just wouldn’t play ball, the bird would call then scuttle into dense vegetation, it took us an hour or so to finally get a decent view of the little Francolin (that is not what I called it at the time). We also saw the first African Harrier Hawk for a few days, and a Gabar Goshawk which I thought was new, but that I had obviously seen and photographed on the road between Kakum and Ankasa a week earlier. Then we saw a Walberg’s Eagle, Vinaceous Dove and a number of Senegal Parrots before heading to Mognori where we finally saw the guide / ranger in action up until this point he had dropped his rifle once and just followed us around but he broke into a trot and chased an illegal wood-cutter forcing him to drop his load. I did ask Victor about whether the rangers / guides were any help but he said that the ones who knew anything about birds had all been switched out after some sort of scandal and those left were only interested in showing people the elephants and bigger creatures rather than struggling on foot to find birds. A great pity.

Anyway we carried on birding while Cedo dealt with the local woodsman. There was quite a bit around the river Red-Headed Lovebirds, Western Grey Plantain-eater, Senegal Coucal and Senegal Batis, then a Bearded Barbet and after quite a bit of searching a Lesser Honeyguide in a tree which is his regular haunt. Woodpeckers included Grey, Fine-spotted and Cardinal before we got nice views of a Tropical Boubou, last colourful bird of the morning was Yellow-crowned Gonolek.

In the afternoon we went to another area of the park. This area was good for Red-throated Bee-eaters with a nesting colony nearby, it was also pretty good for warblers, we had Melodious, Willow and Senegal Eremomela before a African Moustached Warbler a lifer started calling, I managed to get on the bird without too much difficulty but 15 minutes later Sarah still hadn’t seen it and she was getting annoyed – she couldn’t follow the laser pointer – couldn’t take my directions to get on the bird, which admittedly was in a very deep tangle of bushes, then another bird called on the other side of the track, Victor and I saw it immediately and we went over to look at that one but we couldn’t get her on that either, it was the only time I think Victor was close to losing patience and Sarah was telling me to stop trying to help after firstly asking me to get her on it, fortunately before she totally lost the plot the first bird broke cover and then landed in the same bush, Sarah finally saw it and said “oh its much bigger than I thought, I don’t know how I didn’t see it” – yes thought I.
Still, there were Kingfishers Grey-headed and Striped to lighten the mood and we had a flyover Togo Paradise Whydah with its distinctive long tail and perched Pin-tailed Whydah and Yellow-fronted Canary.
I should probably have mentioned vultures – round Mole we were seeing White-necked, White-backed and Hooded Vultures pretty regularly.

It was now time to get back to the airstrip. Where I had high hope of night birds, within minutes we had two White-throated Francolin by the side of the clearing, then a couple of Standard-winged Nightjar showed well, then we waited and waited and nothing – no more Nightjars and no Owls so it was just as well we saw most of the Nightjars earlier in the trip. Victor reckons he often has to repeatedly stop the vehicle to move the nightjars on as they are on every track, who knows where they were tonight.
Over dinner I talk to Victor about chance of Greyish Eagle Owl elsewhere, there is a chance but Mole is by far the best place, so we decide that we will go for a walk to a place where Appiah has seen a pair on our first night, Victor then suggests he get Appiah back and we drive around to the area. 10 minutes later I’m videoing a Greyish Eagle Owl through an open window without even leaving the bus. I’m glad we made the effort here as it was only one we saw. On walk back to the room there was a Pearl-spotted Owlet in sight and calling in the tree above the viewing platform.
 

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Definitely feeling like I should have made time for Mole too. Can you clarify White-necked vulture? White headed?
 
Drive back to Kumasi and Bobiri

Drive to Kumasi – After a hearty breakfast, we set off for Kumasi retracing our journey of a few days earlier. We had missed one of our target birds in Mole; a Beaudouin’s Snake Eagle, so for the first 30 miles we were stopping for every likely bird of prey trying to find one. We saw loads of Lizard Buzzards, Yellow-billed Kites, Grasshopper Buzzards, Kestrel, Shikra and Marsh Harrier, but we didn’t see the Snake Eagle, consolation came by way of Northern Carmine Bee-eater, Blue-throated Kingfisher, and Red-chested Swallow.

Just to complete some of the birds we saw at Mole we should add, Slender-billed Weaver, Little Weaver, Black-necked Weaver, White-billed Buffalo Weaver, Bush Petronia, Grey-headed Sparrow, Fork-tailed Drongo, Double-spurred Francolin, Tawny Eagle, African Thrush, Black-crowned Tchagra, Laughing Dove. And Pygmy, Beautiful, Scarlet Chested and Splendid Sunbirds were all seen regularly, while we also had Blackcap and Brown Babbler and on the slope just by the viewing platform we had White-fronted Black Chat one lunchtime.

We would no longer stop at Offinso forest on the way back instead we would drop our stuff at Kumasi place our order for dinner and head to Bobiri to try for some late afternoon birds. Bobiri Forest Reserve which is actually a butterfly sanctuary has a great bird list, but we didn’t see a great deal on our first visit, we had Velvet-mantled Drongo, Broad-billed Roller, Pied Hornbill, European Honey Buzzard, Speckled Pigeon, African Hobby, before we got our first new bird a Yellow-throated Greenbul and we tried a couple of places for Owls (Wood which would have been nice but seen before, and Akun which I we really wanted) but nothing was heard or seen despite trying a few places. As we were late Victor and Appiah just dropped us off and headed on to their lodgings and we did get a Northern White-faced Owl in the tree we had seen a pair in before. Victor reckons that the hotel grounds back on to some forest attached to the University (unfortunately we couldn’t visit) and that is probably where these owls and some Straw–coloured Fruit Bats also in the grounds come from.
 

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Offinso Forest Reserve and Bobiri

Offinso Forest Reserve – before this trip I had heard absolutely nothing about Offinso but a little research flagged it up as an exemplar of regenerating degraded forest

from 2009 study extract “…. to a degraded forest reserve in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. The influence of over story species composition on natural regeneration of single exotic (Cedrella odorata and Tectona grandis) and mixed stands (Khaya grandifoliola,…. Anopyxis klaineana) of native species was assessed. In general 52 saplings of native tree species were identified and counted in the forest stand types in the study area…… They strongly recommend mixed species plantations for restoration as they show higher proficiency in accelerating the restoration process. Where monoculture plantations are employed they recommend intensive management practices such as thinning and weeding to facilitate native species regeneration”
In summary, variety wins over mono culture even when that is a native tree like teak and that variety is what is now planted at Offinso; with what appears to be good results.

If I heard right Ashanti came here after being told that someone had discovered African Pitta while doing some survey work, they came and Blue Moustached Bee-eater, Narina Trogon, a large number of Greenbul species were found, in fact a mix of Savannah and Forest species are here so great diversity. We knew what we could have seen but how did we do.
We set off before first light and arrive about 07.00 just as the birds were becoming active but too late for any night birds. We get out of the bus in an area for Capuchin Babbler, we hear some distant calls but only birds we see are Green Pigeon and Blue-spotted Wood Dove before Appiah suddenly calls us to get in the bus. 5 minutes up the track he had seen the Blue-moustached Bee-eater, so quickly in and we are parked and walking towards a bare tree within an open area. The birds is quickly seen although the light isn’t great we get really good views of this beautiful forest bee-eater. A couple of record shots attached. We also see a Western Nicator on the ground in this area (Victor said that is most unusual) and then there was a really nice Greenbul group obviously some ants or termites must have hatched to provide some food, we had Ansorge’s, Little Grey, Icterine, Western Beaded Greenbul and Red-tailed Bristlebill all at low level and all seen really well – unlike a few other birds of this group that were really hard work on the trip. We then had a Grey Longbill (but still no Kemp’s despite trying to turn it in to one before we saw it properly), it was then time to go back to try for the Capuchin Babbler we tried two places where Victor had seen it before but despite a distant call we didn’t get close, I think we probably would have got it if we had stuck with it earlier this morning but as we had made the Bee-eater our number one target we had to really go for it, any way we did see a Bioko Batis which I wasn’t even aware was in this area so that made up for missing the Babbler and as a bonus we saw a Yellow-legged Honeyguide another of the Upper Guinea Forest Endemics. We then drove up the road and surprise, surprise the bee-eater was still there, as we were having a closer look, Sarah must have heard a Trogon without realising it, as she said to Victor “ is this a good spot for Trogon” Victor said what did you just mention and then we all heard a Trogon call. Anyone who had read our previous trip reports will know that Trogons are one of Sarah’s favourite birds and how upset she was when she missed one that I saw well in the Philippines, well was history about to repeat itself. I saw the Narina Trogon and pointed to Victor he was already on it but before Sarah could get on it, it flew, fortunately it circled round and landed right above us in a tree. I dare not move to take a photo until Sarah had seen it well and unfortunately by the time she had it was a little higher albeit right above us but just giving a silouhette view (lots of birds are very inconsiderate like that), anyway with a few exposure tweaks at least I got a record or two. This wasn't a lifer but previous bird seen in South Africa was a scope view of the back of a bird so it felt like one.
The rest of the morning flew by, new birds for the day were African Blue Flycatcher, Chestnut Capped Flycatcher, Blue-throated Brown and Olive Sunbird before we got our next lifer a Buff-throated Sunbird (I saw a female that I called as a possible at Kakum but not well enough to record it as lifer), then Yellow-mantled Weaver, Grey-headed and Chestnut-fronted Negrofinches were the icing on the cake.
We headed back to Lunch in Kumasi (I stopped at a Barclays Bank to get some cash for tipping and to pay for things at the beach - it is worth noting that apart from main branches the limit at ATMs is a ridiculous £30 per day with a huge queue in branch to change money I decide that tips would be in dollars which I had plenty of from our last trip).
In retrospect for us switching from Attewa to Offinso was certainly the right call.

Late afternoon it was back to Bobiri, but weather was looking very poor, a very weird dry season this one. We had just set off up the trail when the heavens opened, we waited under some trees but things didn’t look promising so we headed back to wait in the bus where Appiah was listening to the football, while we waited for the rain to stop we caught up on the local scores. Kumasi who everyone apart from Kumasi fans hate (described by Appiah as like Man Utd at home) were losing 2-0 to some team from a mining town. Anyway rain finally eased and so off we went, it was too warm to put on waterproofs so we accepted a bit of dampness, hope was that birding would be good after the rain but it wasn’t brilliant, first birds were Red-billed Helmet-shrikes, then a fly-over Black-Cuckoo, then Velvet-mantled Drongo, Pied Hornbill and finally Johanna’s Sunbird before the rain really started we only saw a bedraggled White-throated Bee-eater as we headed back to the bus. We waited a while but as it was starting to get dark and the rain showed no sign of easing we gave up on our last real chance of Akun Eagle Owl (as none of the guys at Bobiri had seen a bird during the day).
 

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Bobiri then to the Coast

Bobiri then to the Coast - this was planned to be our final day birding. We get off early to visit Bobiri Forest Reserve for the last time. After yesterday’s heavy rain we hope that the birds will be active today. Not a bad start as we see Afep Pigeon sitting out in the open, then hear and see flight view of Bronze-naped pigeons, it is then Hornbill time first a White crested hornbill, then a difficulty to see small Hornbill but eventually we get good scope views of Black Dwarf Hornbill, then after a really good view of two Thick-billed Cuckoos who circle around us for some time, Victor spots a Dwarf Red-billed Hornbill, the birds it is sitting out on the open on a broken branch but before we can photograph it something spooks it and it flies into the very lush forest, how frustrating, as we didn’t make a sound our move, still it was a great if brief sighting. We quickly add Blue Cuckoo Shrike, then Golden greenbul, Naked-faced Barbet, Blue Malkoha and Klaas’s Cuckoo but birds of prey are disappointing with only Ayre’s Hawk Eagle and Cuckoo hawk, and yet again no sign of Long-tailed Hawk or Red-thighed Sparrowhawk but things do look up with Cassin’s Honeybird and final bird of the morning a Least Honeyguide.

After an early lunch near Kumasi we set off for Coconut Grove Hotel (near Cape Coast) for our 3 night extension. About 45 minutes before we get to the coast we pass the turning for Kakum, I say to Sarah “we could always come back here for a morning or evening session”, “no chance – I’m ready to relax” she said. Anyway, I had planted the seed. After we had arrived at the Resort and checked in we returned to the reception area to make our arrangements for our airport pick-up. Victor suggests to us that we might want to come out Saturday morning as after spending a full day chilling tomorrow, we are sure to be bored. I told him I had already raised the suggestion with Sarah but she wanted to relax, after a few minutes discussion she had a change of heart and said well if it is the full team rather than just us going by a taxi and having to take a local guide OK(guide is mandatory at NP) but we must be back by lunch time. It was Valentine’s Day and we were going to relax by the sea like it or not before having a special dinner. (Sarah has just read this over my shoulder and says it makes her sound horrible and not very birdy, I actually think it makes her seem extremely reasonable). So we agreed 5.15 pick-up for Saturday morning, I would just pay the Kakum charges and give Victor and Appiah something for their trouble to cover the additional half day of guiding / driving.

A quick walk around the edge of the Resort got us Yellow-wagtail, Cattle Egret, White-throated Bee-eater, Yellow-billed Kite, Hooded Vulture and Little Swift but we would leave a full bird watch for later days.
 

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[B]Last visit to Kakum[/B]

Rather than a day by day account I’ll post a bit about Coconut Grove Resort in Elmina later – as the resort would make a good base for someone with a non-birding partner who wanted to do days out at Kakum, Brimso, Brenu beach and at a push with a long drive a trip to Bokro for the Picathartes but first our trip to Kakum. The morning report gives an idea of what you could get in half day with visiting the nearby trails.

Last visit to Kakum – so after a day with just a couple of local walks and relaxing by the pool we were ready for our last proper birdwatch of the trip. We left at 5.15 and were spotting our first bird a Long-tailed Nightjar just outside Kakum an hour later. The information desk and the gate to the walkway were still closed, so while we started up the trails, Appiah was sent off to get the key. Not much to see on the way up as activity was still slow, so we were quickly on the walkway. As we got to the second platform Victor pointed to the left, in the bare tree were some large hornbills but you couldn’t really see them unless you walked halfway across to the final platform, on the tree was 10 Large Hornbills, 3 Brown-Cheeked Hornbill’s - the ones we were really hoping for, 4 Yellow-casqued and 3 Black Casqued Hornbills. I signalled to Sarah to come but she wasn’t up for stopping on the swaying walkway to look, she was happy on the platforms but just wanted to get to a firm footing on the platforms, we tried to get a decent view from all the platforms but the tree just wasn’t visible, then after about 10 minutes the birds took flight but not to a good position, from the first platform you could just about see two of the Brown-cheeked moving around in the canopy and having seen then well earlier I was Ok with that but Sarah never did count this one as she couldn’t be sure she was seeing the right Hornbill. She wasn’t too disappointed as we saw Black-capped and Sharpes Apalis, Blue Cuckoo Shrike, Little Grey, Grey-throated and Fraser’s Forest Flycatcher, Violet-backed Hyliota, Fire-bellied Woodpecker and then finally a Kemp’s Longbill, then some Blue Malkoha, Bristle-nosed, Naked-faced and Yellow-billed Barbet before our only Pallid Swift of the trip flew over. It was now 9.30 and huge parties of church youth groups started coming through, for the next 45 minutes we saw nothing but having gone and quite resumed we then had Yellow-mantled Weaver, Rosy Bee-eater, Little Green Woodpecker, Red-tailed Greenbul (surely to be split as this subspecies doesn’t have a red-tail – see photo), Grey-headed Bristlebill and finally Sabine’s Puffback.

On the way down from the walkway we decided to try to for a day- light view of Rufous-sided Broadbill but although the bird responded to calls it wouldn’t come out for a photo. So last birds were Lemon-bellied Crombec, Copper Sunbird, Green Hylia, Willow Warbler and a Red-chested Swallow.

On the way out we settled up the charges for Kakum NP – it is around £13 per person for access to the canopy walkway and trails are £1 per hour for time spent up there. So if you are going twice in a day reckon on £20 per person (100 cedi each)

It was then about an hours drive back to Elmina for lunch.
 

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Coconut Grove Resort

Coconut Grove Resort – this resort near Cape Coast was an excellent place to spend a few days unwinding with just a little bit of incidental birding. Guests get free access to the Golf Course to play or walk (hire for clubs $3), a Gym, Pool and nice grounds and beach. The golf course is little used so it was a very good quiet place to wander around and get good views of local birds. You are also quite close, a 20 minute walk to some Salt Pans and a Lagoon where most of the common species could be found. For those who want culture there is a local fort and it is just an easy 15 minute taxi to Cape Coast.
The food was really excellent and good value albeit a little more expensive than other places in Ghana, to give an idea of cost; Valentines dinner full seafood feast Lobster, King Prawns, Grouper, etc with drinks would have been £40 for 2 but we were luckily upgraded to full board from Bed and breakfast so only had to pay for drinks.

Birds in the grounds included, Splendid Sunbird, Yellow Wagtail, Rosy Bee-eater, White-throated Bee-eater, Woodland and Pied Kingfisher, Cattle Egret, Yellow-billed Kite, Little Swift (nesting in the water tower), Hooded Vultures, Palm Swift, Village Weavers, and although not meant to occur in this area a Pearl-spotted Owlet spent our first night directly outside our windows calling and making his presence known. I also suspect that a Fraser’s Eagle Owl frequents the grounds as we heard what sounded like one and the next morning a load of weaver and swift nest were on the ground (behaviour I’ve seen from a Verraux’s Eagle Owl)
We also had out last new bird late one afternoon when a Mottled Spinetail joined other swifts over the golf course, whilst superficially like a Little Swift it is very different when seen well.

Victor insisted in coming to the airport with us on the last day to see us off Appiah was going to pick up another group, and we had time to stop and enjoy a final beer in the bar right next to the airport.
Fortunately the flight back was without incident or delay, we tried hard to get an upgrade to business to make up for our missed day on the way out but despite lots of trying we had to settle for flying back Premium Economy and getting an upgrade to UK Business, that at least got us priority boarding and access to the lounge - so a little compensation for the delays in the snow that seemed so long ago.

Summary: In all we saw 375 birds another 12 heard (10 would have been lifers if we saw them but we don’t record heard on our life lists – this is most heard only new birds we have ever had on a trip).

We didn’t totally clean up, we didn't expect to, but we did see more lifers over 140 than we expected, largely due to numbers of Greenbuls, Sunbirds and Flycatchers and we only missed 4 target birds out of our top 30 wish list.
Highlights were the Picathartes, Rufous-sided Broadbill, Nkulengu Rail, the 9 Hornbills, 4 Nightjars and the two Eagle Owls.

We would highly recommend Ashanti African Tours for their flexibility and pricing and most importantly knowledge of the difficult to get birds and sites.


I’ll attach a single version of the total report in case anyone wants to use information to plan a trip from it and also a list of all birds seen and heard.

As Rob said in his report between the two of us we have covered off most of Ghana, I guess only question for people considering a trip, is whether to go up beyond Mole to Bolgatanga area for Egyptian Plover and other arid area species. We decided not to as we had seen this bird in Gambia but having seen photographs of this bird from some others I wonder whether we should have added a day here and for anyone wanting the Plover it is probably worth taking on the heat and the bumpy drive.
 

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Summary version of report and trip list

In case anyone wants the trip report in a single file.
Trip list also attached.
 

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Just run through your list, you saw 93!! species I didn't see 34 would have been lifers. By my maths that means I saw 68 species you didn't see.

Just shows that a couple of weeks is really just a snapshot and there is so much more available in this amazing country.
 
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