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Birding
Vacational Trip Reports
Ghana Tour – January 29th to February 16th.
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<blockquote data-quote="dandsblair" data-source="post: 3183206" data-attributes="member: 107571"><p><strong>Mole and surrounds</strong></p><p></p><p><strong>Footnote to yesterday</strong>. 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.</p><p></p><p><strong>Mole and surround</strong> - 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 <strong><span style="color: Red">White-throated Francolin</span></strong>, 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 <strong>African Harrier Hawk </strong>for a few days, and a <span style="color: red"><strong>Gabar Goshawk </strong></span>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 <strong>Walberg’s Eagle, Vinaceous Dove </strong>and a number of <strong>Senegal Parrots </strong>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.</p><p></p><p>Anyway we carried on birding while Cedo dealt with the local woodsman. There was quite a bit around the river <strong>Red-Headed Lovebirds, Western Grey Plantain-eater, Senegal Coucal </strong>and <strong>Senegal Batis</strong>, then a <strong>Bearded Barbet </strong>and after quite a bit of searching a<strong> Lesser Honeyguide </strong>in a tree which is his regular haunt. <strong>Woodpeckers</strong> included<strong> Grey, Fine-spotted </strong>and <strong>Cardina</strong>l before we got nice views of a <strong>Tropical Boubou</strong>, last colourful bird of the morning was <strong>Yellow-crowned Gonolek</strong>.</p><p></p><p>In the afternoon we went to another area of the park. This area was good for <strong>Red-throated Bee-eaters </strong>with a nesting colony nearby, it was also pretty good for warblers, we had <strong>Melodious, Willow </strong>and <strong>Senegal Eremomela </strong>before a <strong><span style="color: red">African Moustached Warbler </span></strong>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. </p><p>Still, there were <strong>Kingfishers Grey-headed </strong>and <strong>Striped</strong> to lighten the mood and we had a flyover <strong><span style="color: red">Togo Paradise Whydah </span></strong>with its distinctive long tail and perched <strong>Pin-tailed Whydah </strong>and <strong>Yellow-fronted Canary</strong>. </p><p>I should probably have mentioned vultures – round Mole we were seeing <strong>White-necked, White-backed </strong>and <strong>Hooded Vultures </strong>pretty regularly.</p><p></p><p>It was now time to get back to the airstrip. Where I had high hope of night birds, within minutes we had two <strong>White-throated Francolin </strong>by the side of the clearing, then a couple of <strong><span style="color: red">Standard-winged Nightjar </span></strong>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. </p><p>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 <strong><span style="color: red">Greyish Eagle Owl</span></strong> 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 <strong>Pearl-spotted Owlet</strong> in sight and calling in the tree above the viewing platform.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="dandsblair, post: 3183206, member: 107571"] [b]Mole and surrounds[/b] [B]Footnote to yesterday[/B]. 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. [B]Mole and surround[/B] - 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 [B][COLOR="Red"]White-throated Francolin[/COLOR][/B], 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 [B]African Harrier Hawk [/B]for a few days, and a [COLOR="red"][B]Gabar Goshawk [/B][/COLOR]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 [B]Walberg’s Eagle, Vinaceous Dove [/B]and a number of [B]Senegal Parrots [/B]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 [B]Red-Headed Lovebirds, Western Grey Plantain-eater, Senegal Coucal [/B]and [B]Senegal Batis[/B], then a [B]Bearded Barbet [/B]and after quite a bit of searching a[B] Lesser Honeyguide [/B]in a tree which is his regular haunt. [B]Woodpeckers[/B] included[B] Grey, Fine-spotted [/B]and [B]Cardina[/B]l before we got nice views of a [B]Tropical Boubou[/B], last colourful bird of the morning was [B]Yellow-crowned Gonolek[/B]. In the afternoon we went to another area of the park. This area was good for [B]Red-throated Bee-eaters [/B]with a nesting colony nearby, it was also pretty good for warblers, we had [B]Melodious, Willow [/B]and [B]Senegal Eremomela [/B]before a [B][COLOR="red"]African Moustached Warbler [/COLOR][/B]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 [B]Kingfishers Grey-headed [/B]and [B]Striped[/B] to lighten the mood and we had a flyover [B][COLOR="red"]Togo Paradise Whydah [/COLOR][/B]with its distinctive long tail and perched [B]Pin-tailed Whydah [/B]and [B]Yellow-fronted Canary[/B]. I should probably have mentioned vultures – round Mole we were seeing [B]White-necked, White-backed [/B]and [B]Hooded Vultures [/B]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 [B]White-throated Francolin [/B]by the side of the clearing, then a couple of [B][COLOR="red"]Standard-winged Nightjar [/COLOR][/B]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 [B][COLOR="red"]Greyish Eagle Owl[/COLOR][/B] 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 [B]Pearl-spotted Owlet[/B] in sight and calling in the tree above the viewing platform. [/QUOTE]
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Vacational Trip Reports
Ghana Tour – January 29th to February 16th.
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