University of Ghana Botanic Gardens, Accra, August 2014

I reached the University of Ghana’s Botanical Garden in Accra after taking more than an hour to travel about 8 miles. There are better ways to do it, so check the logistics section at the bottom of the post.

It was quickly obvious that this was not the manicured version of botanical garden that I had pictured in my head. A row of Royal Palms may once have graced a grand walkway, but it was now overgrown and under-maintained. The road leading from the gate was rutted and a narrow strip of grass had been roughly mown to either side. The slightly unkempt look of the area encouraged me to think that it would be more productive for birds.

The loud throaty call of the Red-eyed Doves could be heard over the softer chuckling of Laughing Doves and a Rose-ringed Parakeet screeched over as we (I was joined by my taxi driver, Samuel) entered.

A Senegal Coucal rose from the grass and watched from a tree as we tried to track down a coarse, three-syllabled chirp which proved to be from a Yellow-billed Shrike.

There are no signs in the gardens and I was not sure where we had started from, so we just felt our way round. Google Earth shows a roundabout in the middle of the gardens, but it was not as obvious in real life. The Royal Palms walk is to the right (east) and now we headed west. We chose the right fork when we encountered a junction. A hot spot stopped us for a short while with Green-headed Sunbird, Double-toothed Barbet and Black-billed Wood-Dove coming in quick succession and a greenbul sp escaped identification.

Does anyone else see Audrey Hepburn?

After a short while we came upon a fence which enclosed a number of water reservoirs. They had the look of sewage settling tanks, but there was none of the other accoutrements or sensory offences associated with water treatment. We followed the fence around until we found an open gate. Samuel seemed fairly sure that we were allowed in, so we took a look.

Common Sandpipers and Wood Sandpipers roosted on piers that jutted out into the largest reservoirs on the second tier. A view from above at Google Earth ref; 5 39 46.85N 0 11 35.29W shows 12 reservoirs with the third one down on the left (west) having a slightly lower level. This held true today and provided the most productive spot of the day.

Spur-winged Plovers and Senegal Thick-knees roosted on the paths but unfortunately they flushed before we saw them. At the edges were White-faced Whistling-Duck, Cattle Egret and a Black Heron.  A Little Grebe was caring for its brood of three chicks on the middle pond.

We returned via the experimental fields where the botany department of the university tests new strains of corn, and turned left along an avenue of what I took to be mango trees, but Samuel did not recognise the fruit. We returned to the roundabout and took the north exit which led us to a small pond that I had seen on Google Earth at ref; 5 39 56.84N 0 11 16.68W and had hoped to make the main focus of my walk.

There was a small Cattle Egret colony with young birds still not keen to fly. Reed Cormorant were seen fishing and a Malachite Kingfisher waited patiently on the far bank. This small section of picnic area and lake are separate from the gardens and are subject to a GC 5 fee. On my next visit, I will start from here as access may be had at any time and it is easily accessible for the taxi.

 Bird list for Ghana University Botanic Garden; 40

White-faced Whistling-Duck 8, Little Grebe 6, Long-tailed Cormorant 2, Black Heron 1, Cattle Egret 50, Striated Heron 1, Black Kite 1, Hooded Vulture 6, Shikra 1, Senegal Thick-knee 10, Spur-winged Plover 3, Common Sandpiper 8, Wood Sandpiper 3, Red-eyed Dove 8, Laughing Dove 25, Black-billed Wood-Dove 2, Rose-ringed Parakeet 1, Western Plantain-eater 5, Senegal Coucal 4, Mottled Spinetail 1, Little Swift 2, African Palm-Swift 2, Malachite Kingfisher 1, Green Woodhoopoe 4, African Grey Hornbill 5, Double-toothed Barbet 2, Black-crowned Tchagra 1, Yellow-billed Shrike 15, Piapiac 12, Pied Crow 40, Common Bulbul 25, Zitting Cisticola 1, Brown Babbler 3, African Thrush 3, Splendid Glossy Starling 12, Purple Glossy Starling 2, Green-headed Sunbird 3, Northern Grey-headed Sparrow 2, Black-winged Bishop 8, Bronze Manikin 6.

I started the day with no currency and the exchange desk didn’t open until 10.00am. So I had to visit a nearby hotel whose forex clerk was an earlier riser. Mind you, this was a Saturday morning. My first choice of entrance to the University grounds was blocked by a closed road and the second was manned by a guard who sent us back to the first. Eventually we entered via Freetown Ave. and stopped at the security post opposite the stadium. Here we sought permission to visit the gardens and it was readily given, but Samuel, my taxi driver, was not allowed to stop inside the university. I had booked him to wait for 2 hours, but he was not allowed to wait for me. We compromised and parked his taxi at the security point and took a security vehicle to the gate of the gardens. The security guard expected a small donation for this service, but he did come and pick us up again afterwards.

To avoid this rigmarole next time, it is possible (and my guess is that it would be much easier) to enter the gardens through the private entrance on Haatso Atomic Road, 1km west from the junction with Legon East Rd. This entrance opens onto the pond and picnic area and there are no barriers to the rest of the gardens. At some point someone will ask for 5 Cedis per person which equals about £1 at the time of writing.

Samuel is a taxi driver hailed from the street. We negotiated a price of 80 Cedis to get to the gardens and for him to wait for 2 hours. He was very helpful in talking with the guards and organising a lift from the security driver. He gave me a number to contact him if I wanted to visit the gardens again and I am sure he wouldn’t mind me passing it on;   +233 (0) 244 175232

Malaria exists throughout Ghana and you are advised to take precautions. Parmaceutical precautions are not 100% effective, so the best advice is to avoid getting bitten. Use Deet and cover up. 

Visit the dedicated Africa Page for more posts from Accra, including; The canopy walkway at Kakum National Park and Winneba Plains.

Birding, Birdwatching, Accra, Ghana.

Kakum National Park, Canopy Walkway, Accra, March 2014

This week’s trip to Accra, Ghana, was proving to be very productive. 22 life ticks had been seen on the full day off and I was still close to the forest as the second morning began, but flashes of lightning and rolls of thunder, made my heart sink. Should we venture up onto a canopy walkway during a thunderstorm I wondered, but Yow and Kalu, my driver and guide for the trip, were up and ready, so after a very early breakfast, we set out for Kakum National Park and the Canopy Walkway there.

Again, I must give credit to Kalu who was able to identify the calls and find the birds for me. Without him I would have been frustrated by small, distant birds with little to distinguish them from the other small distant birds. Just beyond the entrance we encountered a Sabine’s Puffback, our first red-crayon bird of the day.

Out on the walkway, the lifers came thick and fast with Fraser’s Sunbird, Icterine Greenbul and Speckled Tinkerbird were seen from the first platform. The walkway runs in a circle with 6 solid platforms constructed around sturdy trunks, connected by swaying, netted rope bridges. It looked a bit rickety, but it held our weight well enough. 

We were lucky to have been allowed early access, so the walkway was quiet, but as the morning progressed, it became rather busier. Apparently Mondays through Thursdays are the better days to visit as Friday, Saturday and Sunday can be very busy.

From the third platform (assuming that you are travelling in a clockwise direction) Black-capped Apalis, Violet-backed Hyliota and Yellow-browed Camaroptera were added.

We spent more time at Platform 5 which is said to be good for hawks as the day warms up and hornbills as dusk closes in. From here we added Lemon-bellied Crombec, Brown-throated Sunbird, Grey-headed and Chestnut-breasted Negritas.

Kalu does not like heights and he became very quiet for a while as a party of school kids passed through, but as soon as the platform stopped shaking and their shrieks died away, he was back pointing out Tit-Hylia, Crested Malimbe and Brown-throated Sunbird.

We decided to move on as the walkway became busier, but Kalu pulled another couple of sweet birdies for me to end our visit on a high. I was quite proud to recognise the call of the Green Hylia and Kalu called them out of the thick bush with a quick playback. We had seen them on the previous day, but my sighting had been so poor that I elected not to count them, so I was pleased to have them on the list for today. Then as we were just about to leave, Kalu suggested that if we took a little look around the reception area, we might find the stunningly gorgeous, Black Bee-eater which rounded out a morning of 21 red-crayon birds.

Bird list for Kakum National Park and the Canopy Walkway; 44

Cattle Egret 3, Black Kite 3, Blue-spotted Wood-dove (heard only) Yellowbill 1, Woodland Kingfisher 1, Black Bee-eater 2, White-throated Bee-eater 5, African Pied Hornbill 7, Naked-faced Barbet 1, Speckled Tinkerbird 5, Least Honeyguide 1, Chestnut Wattle-eye 3, Large-billed Puffback, Blue Cuckoo-Shrike 1, Black-winged Oriole 1, Velvet-mantled Drongo 5, Pied Crow 15, Lesser Striped-Swallow 6, Tit-Hylia 3, Swamp Greenbul 3, Grey Greenbul 5, Lemon-bellied Crombec 1, Wood Warbler 1, Black-capped Apalis 1, Sharpe’s Apalis 3, Yellow-browed Camaroptera 1, Rufous-crowned Eremomela 2, Green Hylia 4, Violet-backed Hyliota 1,  Little Flycatcher 3, Chestnut-winged Starling 1, Scarlet-tufted (Fraser’s) Sunbird 5, Collared Sunbird 3, Blue-throated Brown Sunbird 1, Splendid Sunbird 1, Johanna’s Sunbird 1, Crested Malimbe 1, Red-headed Malimbe 2, Yellow-mantled Weaver 5, Maxwell’s Black Weaver 1, Grosbeak Weaver 2, Grey-headed Negrita 2, Chestnut-breasted Negrita 1.

Malaria exists throughout Ghana and you are advised to take precautions. Parmaceutical precautions are not 100% effective, so the best advice is to avoid getting bitten. Use Deet and cover up. Climbing through the canopy as the sun comes up is another good way to freak out your malarial advisor.

You will need private transport. Yow and his car cost US$110 for a day’s hire plus petrol. Kalu’s fee is US$50 per day. If you stay overnight, you will also pay for their accommodation and food. Kalu can make arrangements for driver and car hire when you enlist his services.

Contact him at; kalu_afasi@yahoo.com

Visit the dedicated Africa Page for more posts from Accra, including; Aburi Botanical Gardens and Labadi BeachLagoon.

Birding, Birdwatching, Bonkro Village, Accra, Ghana.

Bonkro Village, Accra, Ghana, March 2014

This afternoon’s visit to the West African forests was one of the most hotly anticipated trips that I have done in a long time. I was going in search of a White-necked Picathartes and had asked a local guide, Kalu Afasi, to help me. To my mind, Picathartes are birds of legend, seen only by the luckiest, most dedicated bird-spotters. They are endangered and shy, but there is a knack to finding them. They return to their nests each evening and can reliably be seen by waiting quietly for dusk within sight of the nest. It has been shown that whilst they are secretive during the day as they forage deep in the forest, they are bolder around the nest sites and one such place exists near Bonkro Village. Kalu was familiar with it and was confident that we would see the birds. The drive from Accra, had been punctuated by a couple of hours on the coastal plains near Winneba and lunch in Assin Foso before we arrived in the area in the early afternoon.

We still had a couple of hours to spare, so Kalu took me for a saunter down a side track to employ the time usefully. The forest here has been logged and logging continues, but it is growing back thickly and there were tall mature trees with a lot of low growth too.

African Emerald Cuckoo could be heard, but it would not respond to Kalu’s playback. Klaas’s Cuckoo and Black Cuckoo however, were curious enough to make a fly past in response to their respective recordings. I am not usually a fan of playback, but without it the forest would probably have given up very few sightings despite us being surrounded by songs and calls.

Pictures were very thin on the ground again and in an attempt to bring something home, I took to shooting butterflies and dragonflies that surrounded every puddle on the road. It had been raining recently and the road was very wet, so I had plenty of opportunity to catch some of the more delicate wingéd creatures of the forest.

Identifying silhouetted birds high in the trees or ones with little contrasting features in the darkness lower down was difficult and I have to acknowledge Kalu’s familiarity with size, shape and movement and his expertise in matching dull-coloured greenbuls to their calls. I had to take on trust some of his identifications as I was unable to see any distinguishing fieldmarks, but he gained my confidence quickly and easily, so we had very little occasion to argue over an identification.

When I did manage to catch a picture of a bird, the camera (which had been set to pick up as much light as possible), brought out the green which was not apparent in the Grey Longbill as we watched it.

Many of the birds gave mere glimpses with Slender-billed Greenbul, Honeyguide Greenbul and Red-tailed Greenbul staying partially hidden. Naked-faced Barbet and Velvet-mantled Drongo were clearer, but high. White-faced Woodhoopoe flashed across the road. An African Pied Hornbill sat out on a dead branch and gave a nice profile for a silhouette shot.

It was nearing Picathartes time and I kept checking with Kalu that we were good for it and he constantly reassured me that we were, so my confidence in him took a knock as we neared the stake-out site to find two birders coming the other way saying that the birds had been and gone.

We had driven on to Bonkro and enlisted the services of a guide from the village. He led us through an agricultural area of cassava, banana and cocoa before cutting into the forest on a walk that took about 25 minutes. We met the two Spanish birders just before we reached the rocky outcrop. They looked pleased with their sighting, but the birds had moved off and they had waited for an hour before giving up on seeing them again and heading out of the forest. I was worried that I might have missed them, but again I was reassured that the birds would show.

If you can picture the Millenium Falcon, having nose-dived into a jungle, you pretty much have the scene as I saw it. A large slab of rock jutted from the ground at about the same angle that an out of control spaceship would have come to rest and an earthen nest, similar to a swallow’s but bigger, hung from the underside. The approved method of White-necked Picathartes watching is simply to sit quietly and wait for the birds to return to their night roost, so I picked a comfortable looking spot and sat. After 40 minutes or so, it became clear that the spot was not as comfortable as it first appeared, but the birds did show as promised and gave a very close fly by. The guides tapped my toe and pointed into the undergrowth in the opposite direction from which I had been expecting the birds to come.

After a while, one came out for a full view while the second lagged behind in the tangles. The bolder one flew past, between us and the rock and stopped just beneath the nest. It looked back for its mate which stayed behind and seemed reluctant to come out into the open. Kalu suggested that it was un-nerved by our presence, so we moved on to allow them to settle down for the night.

I was delighted with the sighting, but getting a picture had proved a bit tricky. The light was already fading and the area was in heavy shade, so I had had to bump up the ISO rating and open the aperture as much as possible to get enough light for a decent exposure. Truth be told, as I waited for the birds to show up and the evening grew progressively darker, I would have settled for virtually anything, so I am pleased with what I managed to get.

Bird list for Bonkro Village; 25

Grey Kestrel 1, Blue-spotted Wood-dove (heard only), Red-chested Cuckoo (heard only), Klaas’s Cuckoo 1, Black Cuckoo 1, African Emerald Cuckoo (heard only), Mottled Spinetail 3, White-headed Woodhoopoe 2, African Pied Hornbill 4, Naked-faced Barbet 2, Hairy-breasted Barbet 1, Chestnut Wattle-eye 1, Blue Cuckoo-Shrike 1, Black-winged Oriole 1, Velvet-mantled Drongo 3, White-necked Rockfowl 2, Slender-billed Greenbul 2, Honeyguide Greenbul 2, Red-tailed Greenbul 1, Grey Greenbul 2, Sharpe’s Apalis 4, Collared Sunbird 1, Western Olive Sunbird 2, Red-headed Malimbe 2, Yellow-mantled Weaver 5.

15 life ticks were found in the vicinity of Bonkro Village bringing the day total of first sightings to 22! Preuss’s Swallow was seen en-route and would not otherwise get a mention.

The drive took us through towns and villages, each of them charming in its own unique way. The people were friendly and approachable. I am not able to place Bonkro Village exactly on a map. I didn’t drive and Google Earth resolution in the area is very low. eBird has a Hotspot locator in the general area, but I cannot guarantee its accuracy.

Malaria exists throughout Ghana and you are advised to take precautions. Pharmaceutical precautions are not 100% effective, so the best advice is to avoid getting bitten. Sitting in the forest around dusk is probably a good way to freak out your malarial advisor. Use Deet and cover up.

You will need private transport. Yow and his car cost US$110 for a day’s hire plus petrol. Kalu’s fee is US$50 per day. If you stay overnight, you will also pay for their accommodation and food. Kalu can make arrangements for driver and car hire when you enlist his services.

Contact him at; kalu_afasi@yahoo.com

Visit the dedicated Africa Page for more posts from Accra, including; Aburi BotanicalGardens and Labadi Beach Lagoon and Winneba Plains from earlier in the day

Birding, Birdwatching, Bonkro Village, Accra, Ghana.

Winneba Plains, Accra, Ghana, March 2014

This trip gave me a full day off in Accra and I had enlisted the help of a guide, Kalu Afasi, to visit the west African forests in search of a White-breasted Picathartes. The picathartes are best seen in the evening when they return to their nest under a rocky overhang, so we made best use of the morning by taking a look around the Winneba Plains, an hour and a bit (approx 80kms), to the west of Ghana’s capital city.

I should have taken more pictures to help give you an impression of the coastal savannah. I could also have taken pictures of the lifer birds that skitted in and out of the grass and scrub in response to Kalu’s calls. A few common birds were seen on the journey, including Cattle Egrets, Black-shouldered Kites and Pied Crows, but the red crayon birds began as soon as we stepped from the car with an African Moustached Warbler.

Car hire in Ghana had seemed very expensive, until it became clear that the price included a driver, in our case, Yow. Yow dropped us and drove on ahead as we birded the gravel road that led south from the main road, towards the coast. Left to my own devices, I may have ignored the cisticolas (tricky warblers of grass and scrubland) but Kalu was able to separate them by call and drew them close using playback from his phone. This brought Red-faced Cisticola, Siffling Cisticola and Singing Cisticola.

An African Pygmy Kingfisher and Wattled Lapwings were flushed as we walked while Mottled Spinetails flew above. Three species of Sunbirds included Green-headed, Splendid and Copper. Blackcap Babbler was seen as a small flock flouncing through the scrub and Blue-spotted Wood-dove and Vinaceous Dove flashed across the road.

The last of 6 lifers for the morning came in the shape of a Simple Greenbul, or Simple Leaflove if you prefer.

The only birdy picture from the morning that is worth sharing was of a White-throated Bee-eater that was found down a side track along with more Bar-breasted Fire-finches and a couple of Jacobin Cuckoos.

Bird list for Winneba Plains; 34

Black-shouldered Kite 4, Black Kite 15, Wattled Lapwing 2, Red-eyed Dove 1, Vinaceous Dove 1, Laughing Dove 4, Blue-spotted Wood-Dove 5, Western Plantain-eater 2, Pied Cuckoo 2, Mottled Spinetail 3, White-rumped Swift 4, African Palm-swift 5, African Pygmy Kingfisher 2, White-throated Bee-eater 2, Common Gonolek 3, Pied Crow 25, Simple Greenbul 3, Common Bulbul 20, Moustached Warbler 2, Red-faced Cisticola 1, Singing Cisticola 1, Siffling Cisticola 4, Blackcap Babbler 3, Whinchat 2, African Thrush 2, Purple Glossy-Starling 1, Green-headed Sunbird 1, Splendid Sunbird 1, Copper Sunbird 6, Northern Grey-headed Sparrow 2, Black-necked Weaver 1, Yellow-shouldered Widowbird 5, Bar-breasted Firefinch 12, Bronze Mannikin 3.

The road carried a little traffic, but we were still able to wander freely down the middle. I felt quite comfortable as we walked and did not feel threatened at all. Kalu made no mention of any unpleasantness in the area apart from a story about being challenged by a landowner when he strayed from the road. He saved this story for when we had strayed from the road in search of a Sulphur-breasted Bush-Shrike. We passed an area of the plains which was being developed and this may draw in some itinerant workers. It may be as well to visit in company or ask your driver to stay close.

Malaria precautions are advised for all areas of Ghana. On this itinerary, we encountered very few mosquitoes, but it would be prudent to follow the advise just the same.

Yow’s driving services and his car cost US$110 for a day’s hire plus petrol. Kalu’s fee is US$50 per day. Kalu can make arrangements for driver and car hire when you enlist his services.

Contact him at; kalu_afasi@yahoo.com

Visit the dedicated Africa Page for more posts from Accra, including; Aburi Botanical Gardens and Labadi Beach Lagoon.

Birding, Birdwatching, Winneba Plains, Accra, Ghana.

Lots of lifers in Ghana, Accra, March 2014

If you should venture into the forests of West Africa, you might want to bring a guide. I found one through Birding Pal and he showed me how absolutely incompetent I am at this bird-spotting lark. Without him, I doubt that I would have found even a third of the birds that graced my trip list. To my eyes and ears, the forest seemed empty, but Kalu Afasi was able to pull birds, as if from a hat, name them and point them out to me.

A White-necked Picathartes (Picathartes gymnocephalus) was served on a plate and a Black Bee-eater was teed up for me. More than forty other life birds were seen on this trip to Accra, Ghana and I have to give credit to Kalu for pretty much all of them.

Picathartes are birds of legend, shy and range-restricted, but a reliable site can be reached from Ghana’s capital city in an afternoon. With a whole day off in Accra, this was too good an opportunity to miss, so I contacted Kalu who suggested we visit the Winneba Plains on our way to Bonkro Village to find this odd-looking bird. After dark, we drove down to the Cape Coast and stopped overnight before calling in at Kakum National Park and the Canopy Walkway.

I do not have the time to write up at the moment, but hope to make at least 4 posts from this visit. In the meantime, if you need a guide to lead you through the avian treasures of Ghana, I can recommend Kalu and he can be reached at; kalu_afasi@yahoo.com