The Yellow-Crowned Gonoleks were really quite common but seemed to absolute hate the sight of a camera and refused to let me stalk them.
This was a really frustrating missed oppurtunity. Its an amazing looking bird but to be quite honest I'm not really sure of it's true identity. The African Paradise Flycatcher and the Red-Bellied Flycatcher look pretty similar and commonly hybridise. I think this one may be a hybrid.
Despite these Black Kites being one of the most common birds I came across I just couldn't get them in the right light. This bird is of the Yellow-Billled variety and is the resident sub-species of Black Kite.
There were three or four Black-Crowned Tchagra around our beach hut but they always remained distant and seemed to enjoy hiding behind bushes.
I think this is a Red-Bellied Flycatcher but I gave my borrowed field guide back so I could be entirely wrong.
This Common Wattle-Eye couldn't be tempted out from the shade of a toilet block and the proximity of a cess pool quickly dampened my enthusiasm for Wattle-Eye photography.
The African Thrush above was a bit subtle lookswise and was clearly a bit shy about it! These are the reasons to revist somewhere. All the above are birds I didn't manage to get a decent picture of despite having more than ample oppurtunity! But then I really could have spent weeks playing with each species individually and then I'd never have come home.
The juv. Bewick's Swan at Broom today was a very welcome addition to my Beds List although I have to say it made the saddest noise I've ever heard as it paddled around with its Mute relatives. The whole sitiuation was a bit melancholy really- a bit too much like seeing Bambi lose his mum.
Broom, UK- April 2010
Kotu Bridge, The Gambia- March 2010
The Yellow-Crowned Gonoleks were really quite common but seemed to absolute hate the sight of a camera and refused to let me stalk them.
This was a really frustrating missed oppurtunity. Its an amazing looking bird but to be quite honest I'm not really sure of it's true identity. The African Paradise Flycatcher and the Red-Bellied Flycatcher look pretty similar and commonly hybridise. I think this one may be a hybrid.
Despite these Black Kites being one of the most common birds I came across I just couldn't get them in the right light. This bird is of the Yellow-Billled variety and is the resident sub-species of Black Kite.
There were three or four Black-Crowned Tchagra around our beach hut but they always remained distant and seemed to enjoy hiding behind bushes.
I think this is a Red-Bellied Flycatcher but I gave my borrowed field guide back so I could be entirely wrong.
This Common Wattle-Eye couldn't be tempted out from the shade of a toilet block and the proximity of a cess pool quickly dampened my enthusiasm for Wattle-Eye photography.
The African Thrush above was a bit subtle lookswise and was clearly a bit shy about it! These are the reasons to revist somewhere. All the above are birds I didn't manage to get a decent picture of despite having more than ample oppurtunity! But then I really could have spent weeks playing with each species individually and then I'd never have come home.
Little Swift
African Palm Swift
Pied Kingfisher
Pic'n'mix: African Spoonbill, Sacred Ibis, Cattle Egret.
GWE
Cattle Egret
Long-Tailed Cormorant
Squacco Heron
African Jacana
All the above were photographed at a small pond near Kotu Bridge in The Gambia. The pond can't of been much bigger than the average village duck pond and supported more than it's fair share of the country's flora and fauna. It was a little microcosm of the Gambian ecosytem. I could have wasted away the whole day there had it not been for the unbearable heat, unbearable persistence of an overly friendly local "guide" and the unbearable lack of a Fanta Tropical!
