Gambia

The start of a two week holiday in the Gambia. Birding will be lower on our agenda than it was during last years visit during February. However, birds are an abundant feature of the region and we expect to see many exotics and variety with little effort; particularly as our choice of hotel (the Senegambia Beach Hotel), is itself renowned for its extensive gardens and Vulture feeding!

We certainly had an enjoyable week long visit last year which prompted our choice of the same hotel this year as Brenda and I return with our family and friends to get married in the grounds of the hotel on the 3rd April.

Arriving late in the afternoon, we quickly settled ourselves and five children across our three allocated rooms. Minutes later we were busy reaquainting ourselves with our excellent bird guide (Modou Jarju), and various birds seen last year: Speckled Pigeon, Broad-billed Roller, Laughing Dove, White-crowned Robin-chat, Yellow-crowned Gonolek, Yellow-billed Shrike, Cattle Egret, Hooded Vulture, Black Kite, Grey-headed Gull, Palm Swift, Common Bulbul, Pied Crow, Bearded Barbet, African Thrush, Long-tailed Glossy Starling, Red-billed Hornbill, Little Bee-eater, Western Grey Plantain-eater, Piapiac and Blue-bellied Roller.

Shellness and Capel (Kent): Quick visit to Shellness: Brent Goose (400) and Marsh Harrier (2) after which we popped into Capel Fleet: Fieldfare (250), Little Egret (1) and Marsh Harrier (6).

Dungeness (Kent): Very cold north easterly winds. Marsh Harrier (1 female), Smew (2 female), Tree Sparrow (2) and Goldeneye (10). Later in the afternoon moved onto Sandwich Bay for the KOS E&RC Meeting from where on the route home we saw a single Woodcock fly over the road near dusk.