Golden Nightjar – Bird of the Trip (tour participant Paul Gregory) SENEGAL 1 – 17 February 2020 LEADER: CHRIS KEHOE Our recent tour to Senegal was rich in avian highlights. Bird of the trip was the sensational Golden NightJar, seen perfectly at day roosts where they revealed all of their wonderfully intricate plumage details. Further highlights, mostly Sahelian specialities, included the unpredictable and enigmatic Quail Plover, gorgeous Egyptian Plovers, Chestnut-bellied Starlings, the localised Little Grey Woodpecker and Sennar Penduline Tits, delightful Cricket Warblers, Arabian and Saville’s Bustards, Fox Kestrels and spectacular flocks of wonderful Scissor-tailed Kites. A gathering of 107 Black Crowned Cranes was most impressive at DJoudJ NP where the very localised River Prinia showed well and masses of wintering Palearctic waterbirds were amassed. We travelled the length and breadth of the country, visiting the northern border with Mauretania (where we watched recently discovered Horus Swifts), the wetlands of the Atlantic coast, where a White-crested Tiger Heron was a particularly prized find, and the arid interior and Gambia River valley near the Guinea border where a splendid Bronze-winged Courser was an unexpected bonus. Good roads almost throughout, comfortable lodgings and tasty food make this a most enJoyable tour in which some of Africa’s least known and impressive birds are to be found alongside large numbers of more widespread Afrotropical species and numerous overwintering Palearctic migrants. After gathering at Dakar’s new Blaise Diagne Airport, a short drive took us to our overnight base in Thiés where we had dinner and a chat about the tour before retiring for the night. 1 BirdQuest Tour Report: Senegal 2020 www.birdquest-tours.com Just before first light we were on our way north, stopping after about 90 minutes at a couple of sites west of Kebemer where we soon found a host of new birds including local specialities such as Chestnut-bellied Starlings, White-rumped Seedeaters, Yellow-bellied Eremomelas and Speckle-fronted Weavers. A roadside cow carcass attracted several Rüppell’s and White-backed Vultures plus a couple of Eurasian Griffons while nearby a couple of Pearl-spotted Owlets showed well along with overwintering Subalpine and Western Bonelli’s Warblers. We made another stop to view a couple of Northern Anteater Chats and our first Black Scrub Robin before continuing to our lunch stop at Richard Toll. Just east of there we watched roosting Long-tailed Nightjars and Spotted Thick-knee before going in search of Sennar Penduline Tit which gave great views, along with Sudan Golden Sparrows, Senegal Eremomela and Senegal Batis. A chance sighting from the moving vehicles led us to fine views of a pair of Little Grey Woodpeckers attending a nest. We reached the Podor area an hour before dark and after a short search were enJoying fantastic views of our first roosting Golden Nightjar, an amazing haul for what was mainly a travelling day! From here it was Just 15 minutes to our comfortable hotel overlooking the Senegal River and Mauretania beyond. Little Grey Woodpecker and Sennar Penduline Tit – two scarce Sahelian specialities (Chris Kehoe) We spent most of the next morning in the open savanna south of Podor where we quickly found our first sprightly Cricket Warblers. Not long afterwards a busy group of Fulvous Babblers showed well. We checked many Norther Wheatears for the much scarcer Seebohm’s but without success though several Western Orphean Warblers, a couple of scarce Black Scimitarbills and others were found and we eventually tracked down a pair of roosting Golden NightJars for wonderful views. Moving on, we chanced upon a roadside Seebohm’s Wheatear before visiting nearby GamadJi Sare where Horus Swifts were recently discovered breeding along a stretch of cliffs bordering the Senegal River, the Swifts duly appeared and gave great views before we returned to Podor for lunch. During our midday break Booted Eagle and Lanner Falcon appeared overhead along with our first Red-chested Swallows while Sudan Golden Sparrows and others came to drink. As it began to cool down we visited an area of rice cultivation where Red-billed Queleas were abundant, a couple of Short-toed Snake Eagles appeared and we saw the likes of Woodchat and Great Grey Shrikes, Abyssinian Rollers and our first European Turtle Doves. We ended the day back in the savanna where African Collared Doves showed well after earlier brief views, a scarce Black-eared Wheatear was found and we watched many Chestnut-bellied Starling along with a couple of Greater Blue-eared. After dark we tried a couple of areas for Northern White-faced Owl but without success. 2 BirdQuest Tour Report: Senegal 2020 www.birdquest-tours.com The next morning was spent travelling west to DJoudJ though an hour near Richard Toll gave us great views of several Temminck’s Coursers. As we approached DJoudJ we stopped to search some harvested rice fields where we found a couple of Orange-breasted Waxbills and had great scope views of several Quailfinches. A little further on we were watching our first River Prinia and Winding Cisticola, along with a good selection of waterbirds. After lunch we went in search of Arabian Bustard, eventually seeing two, enJoying great flight views of one and decent scope views of the other. Many waterbirds were on the Grand Lac, including thousands of Lesser Flamingos, with a a few Greaters mixed in, many White-faced and a few Fulvous Whistling Ducks, a distantly perched African Fish Eagle and, in one of the hides, a couple of Barn Owls. As we returned towards our base a group of Black-crowned Cranes showed well after earlier much more distant views. Chestnut-bellied Starling (Paul Gregory) We began the next morning near our rooms, where Greater Painted Snipes showed well along with a few responsive Iberian Chiffchaffs, Western Olivaceous Warblers and several others. On the nearby wetlands we watched numerous Palearctic waders plus lots of Eurasian Spoonbills. Further afield we saw a single African Spoonbill, numerous White Pelicans, a couple of Pink-backed Pelicans and many other waterbirds as Red- chested Swallows posed well for the first time. The Journey towards our next base at Bango, near St. Louis, was enlivened by a group of Yellow-billed Oxpeckers on some cattle and an amazing flock of 107 Black Crowned Cranes, an exceptionally large gathering. After a bite to eat and dropping off our bags we set off inland towards the Marigots. Much of the prime habitat for Savile’s Bustard here has recently been cleared and is being converted to cultivation but, perhaps because of this, the small remaining area of accessible habitat proved very productive, indeed we had a total of eight encounters with Savile’s Bustards today, including some excellent views. Also seen where our first Double-spurred Francolins before we pressed on towards the wetland area. Black Crakes were common and easy to see and a couple of confusing Moorhens held our attention for a while, looking close to Lesser Moorhens in some regards but more Common Moorhen- like in others, leading us to ponder whether they were hybrids. After a long search we finally located a single Allen’s Gallinule while additional species seen included several African Pygmy Geese, many African Swamphens, ‘Iberian’ Yellow Wagtails and a couple of Winding Cisticolas. 3 BirdQuest Tour Report: Senegal 2020 www.birdquest-tours.com Savile’s Bustard (Chris Kehoe) We spent the next morning in the St. Louis area, dividing our time between the bridge area and a series of lagoons to the south, access to the coast was prevented by unrest on the island. West African Crested Terns gave a number of good views, eventually settled on the mud as the tide receded, along with Caspian, Sandwich and Gull-billed Terns. Slender-billed Gulls also showed well amongst the more numerous Lesser Black-backed, Black-headed and Grey-headed Gulls and careful searching eventually revealed a couple of immature Audouin’s Gulls and a single young Mediterranean Gull. Shorebirds included numerous Curlew Sandpipers and Little Stints plus a few Dunlin, Sanderling and Turnstones. In the afternoon we returned to the Marigots where Orange-breasted Waxbills evaded us but a couple of Greater Swamp Warblers were enticed into showing themselves and we further pondered the identity of the Lesser-like-Moorhens while enJoying repeat views of many of yesterday’s gathered waterbirds. After breakfast the next day we began the Journey south towards Kaolack. Beyond St. Louis we came across a roadside goat carcass that attracted a good selection of vultures including several each of Rüppell’s and Eurasian Griffon’s, a couple of White-backed and Hooded and a single, highly impressive Lappet-faced. A stop at a carcass dump near Kebemer gave us more of the same vultures, all showing very well, before we turned east towards Touba. Shortly before reaching a small waterhole we stopped to view a locally rare Egyptian Vulture circling overhead. At the waterhole itself a couple of Mottled Spinetails hurtled around, along with our only Mosque Swallows, and after watching a female Green-winged Pytillia we soon located its nest parasite, a stunning male Sahel Paradise Whydah which gave a series of great views. After lunch in Touba a short drive delivered us to an area where the much-wanted Quail-Plover is sometimes to be found and we spread out to search the extensive area of low shrubs and grasses. Several Singing Bushlarks were noted and a couple of Desert Cisticolas were found, but refused to perform well in the somewhat windy conditions. A Savile’s Bustard was flushed too but after much searching there was no sign of any Quail-Plovers until one suddenly flew up, followed shortly after by another.