No bino's but a Smashing Time.

                                                                    Lizard Buzzard.

 

Above a Lizard Buzzard stands his ground whilst being harrased by a brave Piapiac

and below a Shikra hiding in the tree tops.

below Palm-nut Vulture.

 

above is a African Harrier Hawk shading under the tree canopy. Below a Beaudouin's Snake Eagle record shot taken whilst the bird was soaring in direct sunlight.

The day didn't start of well i had made a journey to the Lamin rice fields in The Gambia and i had forgot my binoculars, but for me that sort of thing is normal i forget alot of things.  What made matters worst was! while i was a Kotu bridge the previous day i had dropped my Nikon D5000 camera and smashed that. I was now down to my D60 for both digiscoping and photography and for today bino's aswell. But then a morning trip gaining 34 lifers! soon made me smile and reminded me how thankful i was to be having this experiance in life.

Kotu Bridge with Will Smith.

 

Kotu Bridge is a must !! a great location for any birdwatcher wanting to add new birds to there holiday list,well then this is the place!. The bridge itself is patrolled by an army of Bird guides. I was lucky, my guide Yankuba Jammeh, his business card is pictured below was recommended by Modou Colley. In a four hour visit to Kotu Bridge my guide and a Will Smith lookalike had notched up a impressive 60 species of birds.

 

Crocodile Bird.

 

 

 

 

 

One of the Gambia's most sort after ticks for birdwatchers is the Egyptian Plover. This uniquely patterned wader was seen on the North bank road between Jane kunda and Panchang. It is also known as the Crocodile bird, due to the myth that they clean the decaying meet from the crocodiles teeth  as the crocs lay on the waters edge. Just a shame the Speckled pigeon wanted to get in the picture.

Baobolong Camp.

                                       Baobolong Camp.

               Crossing the Gambian river at Janjanbureh.

After an overnight stay at the Baobolong camp in Janjanbureh. I went for breakfast and found Modou Colley my guide busy changing a tyre on the 4x4 due to a puncture we had gained. Not the start to the day i wanted. And knowing that the Carmine bee-eaters only stayed around Wassu for a couple of hours each morning, i was anxious to spend as much time there as i could. But after a worrying start i was rewarded with the sighting of 3 birds. All thanks to Modou's speedy pit stop style wheel changing and expertise knowledge of the Gambian birds.  This is the link to Modou's website and contact details.
  http://www.gambianbirds.com/

Little Beauty.

This Little Green Bee-eater didn't want to miss an opportunity to have his picture taken. So decided to join the Red-throated Bee-eater in the photo. What a beauty !! another target bird pictured.

Colourful colony.

I stood shocked on the upper deck of the Banjul to Barra ferry. The wave of colour was incredible as passengers disembarked. And then later in the day i was once again gifted with the wonderful colours of the Red-throated Bee-eater colony at Wassu on the North bank of the River gambia.

Monkey Business.

                                                 
                            

My first trip out with a guide was to Bijilo national park, locally known as Monkey park. Yankuba Jammeh was my guide and he defiantly knew his stuff and very reasonable with the price. He is the secretary of the Gambian bird club and can be contacted by email - jammehyanks@yahoo.com 

Jammeh as he is known, knew the main object during my holiday was to photograph the Bee-Eater Family and soon found me this Swallow-tailed. I however was more amused by the local green vervet monkeys playing around.

Butterfly Eater.

My holiday to Gambia had started, and although it was overcast on the first morning the Little Bee-Eaters were happy catching Butterflies around the hotel Grounds. This gave me some opportunities to photograph them. In the afternoon the light was better and the top picture was my favourite on the day.