Senegal Tailor-made Cederlund 13th to 25th January 2020 (13 days) Trip Report Mali Firefinch by David Hoddinott Trip Report compiled by Tour Leader: David Hoddinott Trip Report – RBL Senegal – Tailor-made Cederlund 2020 2 Tour Summary After arrival near Dakar, we all met up at the airport and transferred to our comfortable guest house nearby. Over a cold beer and delicious fish and chips dinner, we chatted about our exciting upcoming adventure. We then settled down for a good night’s sleep. Early the following morning we enjoyed superb views of Yellow-crowned Gonolek before enjoying breakfast with a superb sea view, whilst our driver, Abdulai sorted out our car battery. Thereafter we continued north towards Richard Toll. En route, we made several stops in the productive Acacia woodland. Here we found a superb selection of birds including Great Spotted Cuckoo, African Collared Dove, Black-headed Lapwing, Temminck’s Courser, Rüppell’s, Griffon and Lappet-faced Vulture, male Montagu’s Harrier, our first of many Western Red-billed Hornbill, Purple Roller, Striped Kingfisher, Piapiac, Western Bonelli’s and Cricket Warbler by David Hoddinott Subalpine Warbler, Chestnut-bellied Starling, White-billed Buffalo Weaver, Speckle-fronted Weaver, Cut-throat Finch, African Silverbill and Tree Pipit. A further stop at wetlands around St. Louis saw us enjoying several waterbirds including Pied Avocet, Dunlin, Slender-billed and Lesser Black-backed Gull, Gull-billed, Caspian and Royal Tern, Eurasian Spoonbill and Western Reef Heron. We then continued to Richard Toll for a two-night stay. Our comfortable hotel overlooked the mighty Senegal River with views into neighbouring Mauritania. The following day we enjoyed a full day exploring the sandy scrub around Richard Toll. Our first stop was to search for the tricky and much sought after Little Grey Woodpecker. Amazingly it was one of the first birds of the morning and so delighted and with the pressure off, we set about enjoying more birding in the area. Other species seen here included strikingly marked Brubru, tiny Sennar Penduline Tit and Yellow-bellied Eremomela. In another area, we located Senegal Coucal, migrant Eurasian Stone-curlew, Gabar Goshawk, Blue-naped Mousebird, Eurasian Hoopoe, Great Grey and Woodchat Shrike, Glossy-backed Drongo, lovely Cricket Warbler, a flock of Fulvous Babbler, Western Orphean Warbler, superb Black Scrub Robin and Anteater Chat. After lunch, we visited some wetland areas which produced camouflaged Greater Painted-snipe, White-winged Tern in full breeding plumage and stunning Orange-breasted Waxbill. In the evening we enjoyed great views of Western Barn Owl. Little Grey Woodpecker by David Hoddinott Rockjumper Birding Tours View more tours to Senegal Trip Report – RBL Senegal – Tailor-made Cederlund 2020 3 The next day we continued east to Podor. En route, we birded another wetland and found Black Crake, African Swamphen, Kittlitz’s Plover, African Fish Eagle, Greater Swamp Warbler and several flocks of the beautiful Sudan Golden Sparrow. At another stop, we enjoyed several Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse, Black Scimitarbill and Green Bee-eater. Near Podor we located Horus Swift – only recently discovered in Senegal and a superb Vieillot’s Barbet whilst enjoying a scrumptious chicken and chips lunch. In the late afternoon we found numerous European Turtle Doves and at dusk a splendid Golden Nightjar which was seen hovering just a few metres above us, a real treat indeed! From Podor we travelled west to the famous wetlands of Djoudj for a two-night stay. Here we observed tens of thousands of White-faced and several Fulvous Whistling Duck, Spur- winged Goose, Knob-billed Duck, and a bunch of migrant ducks including Garganey, Northern Shoveler and Northern Pintail. Orange-breasted Waxbill by David Hoddinott Whilst exploring the network of roads and flooded pans in the area we also located the fabulous Black Crowned Crane, Little Grebe, hundreds of Black-tailed Godwit, Ruddy Turnstone, Ruff, Curlew Sandpiper, Common Snipe, Common and Spotted Redshank, Marsh Sandpiper, Collared Pratincole, Yellow-billed, Black and White Stork, White-breasted Cormorant, African Darter, African Sacred and Glossy Ibis, Eurasian Spoonbill, Intermediate Egret, Black Heron, Great White and Pink-backed Pelican, Western Osprey, Short-toed Snake Eagle, Montagu’s Harrier, Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, Black-crowned Sparrow-Lark, Crested Lark, Greater Short- toed Lark, thousands of Sand Martin, River Prinia, African Stonechat, Isabelline Wheatear and Tawny Pipit. Mammals were also evident here and we saw Patas Monkey, Golden Jackal, Common Warthog and Scrub Hare. In the evening we enjoyed good views of a splendid male Long-tailed Nightjar. From Djoudj we travelled east to Kaolack picking up a superb Savile’s Bustard en route. In the afternoon we visited the roost site for Scissor-tailed Kite and Lesser Kestrel. It was an incredible spectacle to observe over ten thousand birds coming to their roost, most of which were the dainty and much sought-after Scissor-tailed Kite. From Kaolack we continued east to Wassadou. En route, we found Green-winged Pytilia and Sahel Paradise Whydah in full Sudan Golden Sparrow by David Hoddinott breeding plumage. We enjoyed two nights at Wassadou, one each side of our stay at Kedougou. This well-situated riverside camp netted us a fabulous array of birds. During our walks through the Guinea woodland and a boat trip on the Gambia River, we found Double-spurred Francolin, a fabulous male Standard-winged Nightjar, Mottled Spinetail, Four-banded Sandgrouse, localized Adamawa Turtle Rockjumper Birding Tours View more tours to Senegal Trip Report – RBL Senegal – Tailor-made Cederlund 2020 4 Dove, Black-billed Wood Dove, Bruce’s Green Pigeon, splendid African Finfoot, Senegal Thick-knee, African Wattled and White-crowned Lapwing, lovely Egyptian Plover, Woolly-necked Stork, Hadada Ibis, Black-crowned Night Heron, Hamerkop, African Harrier-Hawk, Palm-nut Vulture, Bateleur, African Hawk-Eagle, Green Wood Hoopoe, Broad-billed Roller, Grey-headed, Blue-breasted and Giant Kingfisher, Red- throated and a large flock of Northern Carmine Bee-eater, Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird, Fine-spotted Woodpecker, Grey Kestrel, Senegal Batis, Brown-throated Wattle-eye, stunning Yellow-crowned Scissor-tailed Kite by David Hoddinott Gonolek, White-crested Helmetshrike, Yellow-billed Shrike, quaint Piapiac, African Blue Flycatcher, Western Olivaceous Warbler, Senegal Eremomela, confiding Brown and Blackcap Babbler, tricky Bronze-tailed Starling, Northern Black and Swamp Flycatcher, White-crowned Robin-Chat, European Pied Flycatcher, Scarlet-chested and Beautiful Sunbird and African Pied Wagtail. From Wassadou we travelled further east to Kedougou. This is another rich birding area with a mixed habitat of Guinea woodland and wetlands. Here we found the handsome Violet Turaco, Spotted Thick- knee, Grasshopper and Red-necked Buzzard, Pearl-spotted Owlet, beautiful Blue-bellied Roller, Bearded Barbet, sought-after Beaudouin’s Snake Eagle, Wahlberg’s Eagle, Lizard Buzzard, Dark Chanting Goshawk, Lesser Honeyguide, Grey-headed Bushshrike, Black-crowned Tchagra, Sun Lark, Singing Cisticola, Neumann’s Starling, African Thrush, Blue Rock Thrush, White-crowned Cliff Chat, Whinchat, cracking Mali Firefinch, Lavender and Black-rumped Waxbill, Bronze Mannikin, Pin-tailed Whydah and Gosling’s Bunting. Whilst in Kedougou we did a day trip to Dindinvelo where we had awesome views of Stone Partridge, a superb juvenile Dwarf Bittern, smart Guinea Turaco, Blue-spotted Wood Dove, Klaas’s Cuckoo, Yellow- rumped Tinkerbird, scope views of a perched Willcock’s Honeyguide calling – only the second record for Senegal, Cardinal Woodpecker, hunting Red-necked Falcon, male Narina Trogon, Senegal Parrot, Orange- breasted Bushshrike, Red-shouldered Cuckooshrike, African Paradise Flycatcher, Egyptian Plover by David Hoddinott Rock Martin, Yellow-breasted Apalis, Northern Yellow White-eye, Yellow-bellied Hyliota, Snowy- crowned Robin-Chat, Familiar Chat, Western Violet-backed and Green-headed Sunbird, Black-necked and Red-headed Weaver, Orange-cheeked Waxbill and Yellow-fronted Canary. Rockjumper Birding Tours View more tours to Senegal Trip Report – RBL Senegal – Tailor-made Cederlund 2020 5 Leaving the Kedougou and Wassadou areas we travelled south to the Saloum Delta, near Tambacouta. Our boat trip here yielded a brief White-crested Tiger Heron, Goliath Heron, Swallow-tailed Bee-eater, Wire-tailed Swallow and numerous Village Weavers. And so, ended this real adventure! We travelled to Dakar airport to catch our international flights home. Thanks, must go to our wonderful, enthusiastic and fun guests and a superb ground operations team. We hope to see you on another fabulous adventure soon! Blackcap Babbler by David Hoddinott Violet Turaco by David Hoddinott Rockjumper Birding Tours View more tours to Senegal Trip Report – RBL Senegal – Tailor-made Cederlund 2020 6 Annotated List of species recorded Note: Number in brackets ( ) indicate number of days on the tour the species was recorded. List powered through the report generator of our partner iGoTerra. Birds (318 in total: 316 seen, 2 heard) Nomenclature and taxonomy follows Gill, F and D Donsker (Eds). 2019. IOC World Bird List (v 9.2). Status codes: E = Endemic, NE = Near-endemic, I = Introduced IUCN codes: CR = Critically endangered, EN = Endangered, VU = Vulnerable, EW = Extinct in the Wild, NT = Near Threatened, DD = Data Deficient Guineafowl Numididae Helmeted Guineafowl