F-Nord lake: not dead yet

So F-Nord lake isn't completely pumped out. I went there on Friday to see what remained of the best and only fresh water birding site in the city.

The authorities had started pumping it out. The level had reduced and I had assumed it would all be gone as part of the drive to remove standing water throughout the city.

Whether the heavy rain last week (when 40% of a year's rain fell in one day) has topped the water up or the authorities have decided to allow the lake to remain at the new lower level, I still don't know. I can see that the three low lying houses have already repainted their walls suggesting they believe levels will never rise again.

Either way, I enjoyed the birding while I could.

squacco heron

Large birds are generally the most easily seen and there was some variety of heron family members. Three squacco heron may not sound many but it is the largest number I have observed at this site.

little egret

There are often a reef heron or two on site but rarely do I see its close cousin, little egret.

glossy ibis

Two glossy ibis and a single grey heron were the other members of the extended heron family present.

coot chicks

This may be the only place south of the Sahara in West Africa where coot are present all year round and where they regularly breed. There doesn't seem to be a set breeding season. I have seen young chicks in February, other spring months and now again at the beginning of September. 

It is not the only place in sub-Saharan Africa where they have bred. I am told that they have bred in Northern Senegal though I don't know the scale or regularity. I wonder if sub-Saharan breeding is actually wider spread. It would be interesting to know whether any of the pools off the Niger river in Mali support them too. It is a known wintering ground and I would imagine the conditions are similar.

several coot

There is a high probability that the coot seen at this time of year where born here.

little grebe (left)

Little grebe prefer water at least one metre in depth. I predict they will be the first of the four breeding water birds to leave here if the water goes lower.

African swamphen

None have left yet. African swamphen can still be seen in or close to the reeds.

garganey (left) and moorhen (right)

Moorhen are still present in seemingly their usual numbers too. The one above was swimming next to a garganey. Indeed the garganey was not the only duck on site.

northern pintail

There was also a northern pintail. Before I left for the summer in June, one of each of these species had been seen during that month and I speculated whether they would over-summer. I don't know whether this were the same two birds or not. However, I saw neither species on my first visit back after the summer.

marbled duck

One duck that is definitely new was a marbled duck. The lake had up to six in the early winter last year so this species wasn't a surprise though the timing was. There again no two years are the same.

mostly little stint

Given the lower levels of the lake, a larger number of waders was expected this cycle. There were certainly larger numbers of little stint and even wood sandpiper than I have seen before.

common ringed plover

Several common ringed plover and the odd common sandpiper added to the mix.

common greenshank (left)

Common greenshank and ruff are not observed so commonly at the lake. This is particularly true of ruff.

ruff

Woodchat shrike was expected and seen. Southern grey shrike was much less expected. This one looked like the sub-species algeriensis. As I observed last winter, a few seem to migrate across the Sahara to here. 

southern grey shrike

There were a small number of terns and gulls present. Three black tern were hawking over the water. This is by far the most common marsh tern to migrate along the coast near Nouakchott.

black tern

I was most surprised to see two juvenile black-headed gull.

black-headed gull 1

Last year it was four weeks later until I noticed the first one.

black-headed gull 2

I spotted four types of warbler. More than half were willow warbler. These were mostly out in the open.

first year willow warbler

Deep in one of the few trees that overhang the water I found a western olivaceous warbler. In some reeds I fleetingly saw a European reed warbler.

sedge warbler

I got prolonged views of two sedge warbler albeit from distance and in two quite different parts of the lake. Last winter I saw one or two all winter long. I study them all for aquatic warbler but I have always drawn a blank. I think I deserve one for the effort especially as thier main wintering ground worldwide is only 200 kilometres way on the Senegal River delta.

In birding, everything comes in the end if you are patient and persistent enough.

Species seen at F-Nord lake on September 2nd

Garganey  

Northern Pintail  

Marbled Duck  

Little Grebe  

Grey Heron 

Little Egret  

Squacco Heron  

Glossy Ibis  

African Swamphen  

Common Moorhen  

Eurasian Coot  

Spur-winged Lapwing  

Common Ringed Plover  

Ruff  

Little Stint  

Common Sandpiper  

Common Greenshank  

Wood Sandpiper  

Black-headed Gull  

Black Tern  

Speckled Pigeon  

Laughing Dove  

Little Swift  

Blue-cheeked Bee-eater  

Southern Grey Shrike  

Woodchat Shrike  

Willow Warbler  

Western Olivaceous Warbler  

Sedge Warbler  

Eurasian Reed Warbler  

Western Yellow Wagtail  

House Sparrow  

Early March around Nouakchott

This blog looks at visits to three different sites in the Nouakchott area over last weekend. It starts with North Nouakchott Lake.

As I have said before the lake is under considerable environmental pressure. One pressure is the large scale fly-tipping of household and building waste. The other main one is that the area of reeds looks set to be pumped out and replaced with landfill.

I actually wrote to Wetlands International for advice but received no reply.

Despite this pressure I discovered solid proof of local breeding of African swamphen for the first time on Sunday.

family of African swamphen

One adult African swamphen was observed with four juvenile swamphens. They were eating the reed for several minutes.

African swamphen

The colour of the bills suggests the birds are very young.

Juvenile African swamphen

This observation is well north of what had been thought was the breeding range in West Africa. 

little grebe at the lake

There are young Eurasian coot there too. That species seems to have no set breeding season here as I have seen very young birds every time I have visited over a four month period. 

I am less certain about the breeding times of little grebe and common moorhen. Both birds appear to keep their young better hidden.

three greenshank

After last week's discovery of a marsh sandpiper among the plentiful waders, I was on the look out for this species there again. My hopes were raised when three waders appeared but on closer inspection, they proved to be greenshank. At distance these two species can appear very similar particularly when there is no other wader near by to offer a size comparison.

yellow wagtail

Elsewhere on the site, I can report that yellow wagtail now out number white wagtail. The long standing Baillon's crake was also still present.

I had had more success with marsh sandpiper two days before at West Nouakchott pools. This salt water site provided me with a second marsh sandpiper in the space of a week having seen none all winter.

marsh sandpiper (l)

Marsh sandpiper are not common in West Africa. They breed much further east from central European Russia eastward. So it is a very westward route they have to take to winter here.

marsh sandpiper (r)

This bird gave me much better views than the previous observation.

marsh sandpiper (l)

Most Kentish plover are now in breeding plumage.

two Kentish plover

The pools are not as saline as the sea as can be shown by the presence of several wood sandpiper which don't like heavily salty water.

wood sandpiper

Actually this site is good for attracting both waders that prefer salt water and those which prefer fresher water.

grey plover

Larger waders (as well as smaller ones) such as greenshank, redshank and grey plover have been usually seen.

The final area reported here is the Riyadh district at the southern edge of the city. I went there on Saturday with Mohamed Vall. There are two main sites there. One is the water works to the east and the other is the city rubbish dump to the west of the main road.

The main news from the water works, which has about 80 metres of artificial river, is the rapid grown in the red-billed quelea population. We estimate there were over 400 present. Last time we saw about 40 and the time before none at all. We suspect this new water site is attracting them to the north of their natural range.

red-billed quelea

A booted eagle may have been interested in them but was mobbed by a pied crow and moved on.

namaqua dove

Namaqua dove may be a bird of arid open woodland but it is very attracted to water bodies. There were plenty scattered around the site.

I had hopes of seeing red-throated pipit there but these were dashed once again though both yellow wagtail and white wagtail were observed.

Waders included little ringed plover, common ringed plover, little stint and wood sandpiper.

The only larks were black-crowned sparrow lark.

The city rubbish dump in the same district was a let down once again and we decided it is scarsely worth a visit.

hoopoe lark

The only notable view was a hoopoe lark which provided a distraction display presumably to take us away from its young.

Overall though the weekend was very interesting especially taking into account the visits to the fish marker area as well as the sites in this blog.

Two types of lake

I visited two quite different water bodies in the city over the last weekend. The first, on Friday afternoon was West Nouakchott pools. This is a set of salty pools with no covering vegetation. However it does attract a signifacant number of waders.

I soon noticed a grey heron of the sub-species monicae. This is otherwise known as pallid heron because it is paler than any other grey heron.

monicae grey heron

It only breeds on Banc d'Arguin in Mauritania. It has a population of no more than 2,500. Some birds are known to migrate southward as far as Senegal but Mauritania is by far the best bet to see this bird. If it ever becomes a full species, I know some birders would feel compelled to come here just for it.

A few minutes into my visit the waders became very agitated as a lanner falcon swooped down.

very distant view of lanner falcon

It circled two or three times but was mostly into the sun. That and it's sheer speed prevented me once again getting a good photo of this species.

It is rather common in Mauritania. I wonder how common it would be in the Gulf if falconers had n't taken so many out of circulation over the generations.

West Nouakchott pools

None of the publically-accessible birding sites in the city are pictureque but they can be rewarding.

West Nouakchott pools is only 250 metres away from the edge of Cinquieme Gardens. The gardens are fresh water with much tree cover. They are fresh water because of the way the aquifers work in the city. They are supplied by the sea and by human waste water. The ground does a very effective job of cleaning the water up. Hence the fresh water nature of the two water bodies furthest away from the sea. The problem with Cinquieme is it is not safe mostly because of the hiding places for bad men. This is even though the city as a whole is very peaceful and basically safer than most others in sub-Saharan countries.

Returning to the pools, once again ruff were present. I haven't visited these pools often but every time this species has been there.

ruff

Since some of the pools are relatively deep, they attract some of the longer-legged waders. Greenshank is usual here.

sleeping greenshank

Little stint and common ringed plover were arguably the commonest waders. Indeed in nearly all water bodies, whether salt water or fresh, around the city these two waders are extremely common in winter.

grey plover

In contrast only one grey plover was seen.

white wagtail

Plenty of white wagtail make it this far south in winter and are most easily seen next to water.

The second water body visited last weekend was North Nouakchott Lake on Saturday morning and breifly again on Sunday evening.

I am persistently visiting this lake which is my local patch within walking distance of my house.

I don't expect it to change every day but I do want to observe any change when it does occur.

While there were no great changes on Saturday since visits within the previous seven days, I did notice that the little grebe are getting more territorial. I expect the breeding season to start soon.

two little grebe fighting

Fights between little grebe are very common at the moment. By the way, a wintering black-necked grebe was still present.

northern pintail

Duck numbers have fluctuated downwards over the past three weeks. Only one female pintail remained on Saturday and none at all on Sunday.

I can't believe they have headed north given the colder than average winter in southern Europe this year. That only leaves south.

soiled European spoonbill

Two European spoonbill were present. Unfortunately one has been heavily soiled.

Young coot

Unlike the little grebe which appears to have a discrete breeding season here, coot of all ages can be seen. These vary from day old chicks to young birds and adults. This bird and its sibling were very confiding.

squacco heron 1

There has been a single squacco heron on site for the past ten days. It has been scared easily but on Saturday it was more relaxed and finally allowed me reasonable photographs.

squacco heron

African swamphen are seen on almost every trip. Like the coot and moorhen they are confiding. There is no sign of hunting and shooting at the lake. This has clearly effected these birds' attitude towards people.

African swamphen

On Sunday late afternoon, I return to the lake. The idea was to look for crakes again. I tried more spots and worked hard.

Baillon's crake

The Baillon's crake was seen at the same spot and time as last time. It is a good bird anytime. However there was no hint of any other crake. The passage season may well be different.

The other piece of good news from Sunday was the sighting of a sedge warbler. My last one at the lake was in late November. I suspect it has wintered here but early passage is possible. The first barn swallow, sand martin and house martin that evening tells me the passage has begun for some brave birds.