RSPB

OUR indoor season concluded on June 10 with a talk by Jonathan Forgham on the birds of Gambia.

Jonathan visited in April last year, right at the end of the dry season, and chose to stay in Sanyang village, away from the usual tourist trail.

In the six days he spent there he managed to see 227 species of bird, many new to him.

Apart from a couple of days in the area around Kotu Bridge, most of the time was spent within easy walking distance of his accommodation.

Temperatures of up to 43C meant that birding had to be done early and late in the day, resting in the hottest period from 11.30am to 2.30pm.

The beach outside his room held large groups of terns and gulls, including African royal tern, Caspian tern, lesser Crested and gull-billed terns and sleek grey-headed gulls.

The area around Kotu Bridge is famous for birdwatching and produced 80 species in one morning, including a range of gorgeous kingfishers — giant and pied kingfishers, as well as the tiny striped kingfisher and the blue-breasted kingfisher.

One unusual sight was the African sacred ibis, which puts its wings over its head to provide shade enabling it to see fish in the water.

The forested areas nearby were very productive with species ranging from Verreaux’s eagle-owl, the largest African owl, to the tiny pearl spotted owlet.

As Jonathan’s excellent photographs showed, the various species of sunbird and glossy starlings had plumages in dazzling metallic colours. The forest area also held the greater honeyguide which is known for its ability to guide other birds and honey badgers to bees’ nests. The badgers break up the nests and they and the birds then feed on the grubs and honey inside.

Jonathan’s enthusiasm for the country and the huge variety of species he showed us certainly whetted a few appetites for this small African country.

On Sunday, June 15 we went on a minibus trip to Nagshead RSPB reserve in the Forest of Dean. The weather was perfect and the mixed woodland provided a beautiful setting. We started at the lower hide which overlooks a pool in a clearing and were pleasantly surprised to see two kingfishers sitting on the ground allowing us good views, rather than the normal flash of blue as they fly past.

We also had good views of spotted flycatcher in the trees around the hide.

After lunch, we tried very hard to find pied flycatchers and redstarts but they had dispersed into the forest after breeding.

We went on to Cannop Ponds and half of us walked along the stream where we had a great view of a dipper sitting on a rock. A delightful day with 33 bird species recorded. Next time we’ll go a few weeks earlier to see the pied flycatchers and redstarts at the nest.