Sheraton Hotel, Lagos, Nov 2011

If this were to be a perfect day, it would have to be sometime next week. Next week, my exams would be over and with any luck this hangover will be gone too! I had left the big camera at home as I knew that if I brought it to Lagos, it would draw the attention of the Security Manager and I would be distracted from my revision.

As it happens, the revision was going fairly well until I noticed ripples coming from a puddle on the flat roof outside my window. Luckily I had packed the small camera and some binoculars, ‘just in case’. The bird hopped up onto the wall and showed itself to be a Shikra. This was just the distraction that I needed and I dropped my books and took myself out to the gardens for a quick once round before dusk.

In the area beyond the razor-wired wall a Double-spurred Francolin stood atop a cinder block wall. Peter told me of the francolins’ habit of burying their eggs, but leaving one above ground to remind them where the nest is. I can’t find any supporting evidence for this, but if anyone has any special knowledge of this bird, it would be interesting to know.

Peter was the security guard who had been tasked to keep an eye on the gardens and he joined me for a lap around the path that serves as a jogging track to some of the more active guests. He did not object to the camera, so I assumed that its smaller size was acceptable.

Birds stayed high and silhouetted, out of range of the Nikon, but some dragonflies stayed put just long enough to have their pictures taken. The one above is a Lucia Widow and below is a potential Red Basker, Urothemis assignata.

Bird Species; 10

Cattle Egret 2, Black Kite 4, Shikra 1, Double-spurred Francolin 1, Red-eyed Dove 2, Laughing Dove 3, Rose-ringed Parakeet 2, Western Grey Plantain-eater 4, Common Bulbul 4, Splendid Glossy Starling 1.

Sheraton Hotel, Lagos, Nigeria, LOS,

Other Lagos posts can be found at the links below;
http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2010/05/sheraton-hotel-lagos.html
http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2011/05/sheraton-hotel-in-lagos-just-one-lap.html
http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2010/04/to-pish-or-not-to-pish-dire-warnings.html

Visit the dedicated Africa Page for more posts from Nigeria, West Africa and the continent

Sheraton Hotel, Lagos.

The “gardens” at the Sheraton Hotel in Lagos consist of a few ornamental shrubs, some lawn and a small sewage facility. A jogging track tours this Eden in under 300m. Much of the ground area is taken up with 2 tennis courts.

Nonetheless, this weary, beery birder managed to find a few local favourites to keep him entertained. The first birds of the morning were a small flock above the machine sheds adjacent to the gardens. I have mentioned in the past that trying to take pictures of swifts is a thankless task, but I seldom listen to myself or take my own advice. On this occasion, I was pleased to capture the spines on the tail of this Mottled Spine-tail.

I had attracted the attention of a guard and soon enough the Security Manager turned up and needed to be reassured that I was not using a video camera. A pair of Bar-breasted Firefinches hopped between a bush and the fence of the tennis court, but on-going discussions with the Security Manager prevented me getting a picture.

A Splendid Glossy starling was perched on the tennis court lights.

Beyond the razor-wired wall of the gardens is a tantalizing expanse of coarse grasses with a wooded gulley beyond.

This area is sadly out of bounds, but from where I was, I could still see a Senegal Coucal perched up on a small bush while a Tawny-flanked Prinia called just to his left.

Common Bulbuls used the razor wire as a vantage point from which to pounce on insects in the grass. 2 birds raced down to grab this dragonfly and squabble over it.

The effluent tanks used to be screened by some large casuarina trees, but these have been cut down and are being replaced by a sterile fence. A couple of the trees that did not form part of the screen are still there and were holding a Splendid Glossy Starling and a Western Grey Plantain-eater.

Bronze Munias were collecting nesting material and seemed to be building a number of nests in the same thickly leaved tree. Are Bronze Munias communal nesters? Anyone?

For the second time I was challenged about my camera and told that I would need to get permission from the Public Relations Manager before I could use it, So I packed up for the day not wishing to be hot, hung-over and interfered with anymore.

I was feeling better later on, so I tried to get permission to go for another walk in the gardens. The Duty Manager decided that I should be accompanied by the Security Manager. He got bored very quickly and passed me on to Edim, a security guard, who diligently followed me round the gardens to ensure that I only took pictures of birds. He was very good, seeming to take an interest while being quiet and unobtrusive.

I had hoped to get the picture of the Bar-breasted Firefinch that I missed this morning, but could not find them again. One nice find though was a pair of Broad-billed Rollers hawking from a lamppost on the road beyond the wall. They were horribly silhouetted and I took a while to make sure that they were not the Blue-throated Roller.

An African Thrush sat high in a palm.

A very obvious feature of the gardens are the lizards. I believe the big ones with the orange heads are Agama lizards.

As for the others, I am sorry, I don’t know.

Bird species; 16

Cattle Egret 8, Yellow-billed Kite 12, Common Kestrel 1, Red-eyed Dove 5, Laughing Dove 1, Western Grey Plantain-eater 4, Senegal Coucal 1, Mottled Spine-tail 14, Broad-billed Roller 2, Common Bulbul 12, African Thrush 3,Tawny-flanked Prinia 1, Collared Crow 5, Splendid Glossy Starling 4, Bar-breasted Firefinch 2, Bronze Mannikin 20