Forty three species at the waste water site

Yesterday I went to the waste water site again. It is my "local" patch these days since the demise of F-Nord lake. The lake was pumped dry by overzealous city planners and a large fresh water magnet for birds was lost in a city in the semi-desert.

North Nouakchott waste water site does its best. Yesterday was a good day.

• No fewer than ten types of warbler were seen:
  Western Bonelli's Warbler, Willow Warbler, Common Chiffchaff, Western Olivaceous Warbler, Melodious Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Eurasian Reed Warbler, Common Grasshopper Warbler, Western Orphean Warbler, Spectacled Warbler. All are migrants.
• Other migrants included roller, nightingale, rufous bush-robin and  European turtle dove
• Three different sedge warbler were photographed near each other.
• A grasshopper warbler shown about 20 metres from where I saw one two weeks earlier
• One of the European reed warbler felt so secure it was asleep during daylight. This presumed after a long migratory flight.

melodious warbler 1

melodious warbler 2

back of European reed warbler

juvenile woodchat shrike

partially hidden spectacled warbler

crested lark

grasshopper warbler

spotted flycatcher

namaqua dove

sleepy reed warbler

now alert reed warbler

young yellow wagtail

European turtle dove

western orphean warbler 1

western orphean warbler 2

European pied flycatcher

first sedge warbler

second sedge warbler

third sedge warbler

glossy ibis

blue-cheeked bee-eater

little stint

kentish plover

Species at Waste Water site. 2nd September 2018

European Turtle Dove  

Laughing Dove  

Namaqua Dove  

Black-winged Stilt  

Spur-winged Lapwing  

Kentish Plover  

Common Ringed Plover  

Whimbrel  

Curlew Sandpiper  

Dunlin  

Little Stint  

Common Sandpiper  

Green Sandpiper  

Wood Sandpiper  

Common Redshank  

Grey Heron (Grey)  

Glossy Ibis  

Eurasian Hoopoe  

Blue-cheeked Bee-eater  

European Roller  

Great Grey Shrike (Sahara)  

Woodchat Shrike  

Crested Lark  

Sand Martin  

Barn Swallow  

Western Bonelli's Warbler  

Willow Warbler  

Common Chiffchaff  

Western Olivaceous Warbler  

Melodious Warbler  

Sedge Warbler  

Eurasian Reed Warbler  

Common Grasshopper Warbler  

Western Orphean Warbler  

Spectacled Warbler  

Spotted Flycatcher  

Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin  

Common Nightingale  

European Pied Flycatcher  

Common Redstart  

Western Yellow Wagtail  

House Sparrow  

Sudan Golden Sparrow  

Lots of early warbler passage

While F-Nord lake is dying as a birding site due to drainage, the waste water site just north of the city is currently thriving. However, it needs to make sure that one large container of very contaminated waste doesn't poison the water as has happened before.

This site doesn't have the reeds of F-Nord Lake but it does have rows of non-endemic trees planted as sand breaks sometimes in the past and it does have water water itself. For many birds it is the first greenery having crossed the Sahara. In short it is a migrant trap.

It also attracts several local species too.

Even as early as August 6th, the autumn migration was strongly in evidence. Indeed I had to fight the e-bird database by adding no fewer than 6 species than the database felt shouldn't be here yet.

woodchat shrike

Barely out of the car, I spotted my first migrant and it was a juvenile woodchat shrike.

Namaqua dove

After nearly two months peace, the resident birds such as Namaqua dove are sharing the water and trees again.

western bonelli's warbler 1

I was surprised just how many warblers have already arrived. I counted eleven different western bonelli's warbler in different parts of the site.

western bonelli's warbler 2

There was cluster of four melodious warbler in one area. They were easy to see as they favoured a couple of leafless bushes.

first melodious warbler

All these birds were adults.

second melodious warbler

It was pleasure watching this species for five or ten minutes.

third melodious warbler

I first saw a spur-winged lapwing at the site in early Jume,. Their numbers have steadily grown. They appear to be colonising the site though I haven't seen any chicks.

spur-winged lapwing

I observed my first hoopoe of the autumn migration. It will not be the last.

hoopoe

Blue-cheeked bee-eater is a rainy season bird to southern Mauritania up to Nouakchott but not too far further north. This site is one of their furthest northern outposts south of the Sahara.

two blue-cheeked bee-eater

There is some evidence they may be experimenting with breeding at the site. A major breeding site for them south of the city was destroyed last winter by quarrying.

possible blue-cheeked bee-eater holes

There were more warblers as I moved round the site and not all were in or around the main avenues of trees.

The first willow warbler of the season were observed.

young melodious warbler 1

The only first winter melodious warbler I saw was out in the open and on a wire fence.

young melodious warbler

Birding the main water body was tricky. A flock of common redshank made it so. They were so flighty they went up with any movement. They managed to scare the other waders with them. The best was a single whimbrel.

wood sandpiper

True to form, wood sandpiper was the least easily scared of the common waders.

crested lark

I was at the lake in the morning when it was still relatively cool. I find that on morning vistis I often see very few larks. Crested lark is guaranteed though. On hotter days and in the afternoons, other larks are more prevalent as they come to drink.

laughing dove

I have on occasions seen up to twenty speckled pigeon on site. This time there were none. Instead larger numbers than usual of laughing dove were flocking.

reed warbler

It was good to see a reed warbler. Having no reeds to gravitate to it was easier to see than often is the case.

desert grey shrike

One of the last birds seen on site was a young desert grey shrike. It had a reddish hue to the tail which led me to give it more attention than usual but I couldn't make it into anything else.

The follwing Saturday, I went to the site again. This time the passage was very large and even more varied. I will blog about this next.

Species seen at the waste water site on August 6th

Common Ringed Plover  

Whimbrel  

Little Stint  

Common Sandpiper  

Green Sandpiper  

Wood Sandpiper  

Common Redshank 

Laughing Dove  

Namaqua Dove

Hoopoe  

Blue-cheeked Bee-eater  

Desert Grey Shrike  

Woodchat Shrike  

Crested Lark  

Barn Swallow 

Willow Warbler  

Western Bonelli's Warbler  

Western Olivaceous Warbler
Eurasain Reed wWrbler  

Melodious Warbler    

A cool afternoon at the lake

The weekend before this one was very cool for late May. I normally don't bird on Friday afternoons except during mid-winter but the cool weather was too good an opportunity to pass.

So I walked out to North Nouakchott Lake where I birded in comfort for over two hours.

The birding was good. It started well with the sighting of a very late northern pintail. It has been a month since I last saw a duck at the lake.

northern pintail

I look very hard at all gulls and terns these days and have had some success with rarities. In the summer months there are less around but spotting an odd one is that much easier.

black-headed gull

However, all the gulls I identified at the lake were black-headed gull. Most looked in under average condition.

spur-winged lapwing

I spent two hours making just one circle round the lake. The weather was a rare opportunity to bird intensively. I caught the attention of the resident spur-winged lapwing on a number of occasions. They are territorial at the moment though I saw no nests.

Sudanese golden sparrow

Sudanese golden sparrow are not always present but when they are they often mix with house sparrow and other finches or weavers. It is the possibility of small numbers of these finches and weavers that makes me look at these groups intently. Last time there were a few yellow-crowned bishop which was a real surprise so far north.

barn swallow

I have little doubt that hirundine migration is late this year. It reached its maximum though Nouakchott last weekend. At the lake there were ten or so barn swallow but twice that number of sand martin.

sand martin

In the reeds I spotted a European reed warbler and in near-by bushes, two melodious warbler.

European reed warbler

There is a large dump of rubbish near one bank of reeds. I suspect the flies in the rubbish and the cover afforded by the close-by reeds is a good combination for certain types of warbler as this spot has given me several good warblers this season.

black-headed gull

As I moved round the lake I came upon one black-headed gull which is attaining some degree of summer plumage unlike the others. However its tail feathers were still not in good condition. No fully fit black-headed gull appear to stay in Nouakchott over the summer.

red-billed quelea

My care with observing the sparrow flocks paid dividends again. This time the minorty member was a red-billed quelea.

African swamphen

I wasn't particularly looking to photograph the resident African swamphen as I have done so many times in the past but when one walks out in front of me I thought I might as well do it.

We rarely get birds of prey at the lake so a marsh harrier was a big surprise. It's entrance was announced by some very loud spur-winged lapwing. They then proceeded to mob it.

arrival of marsh harrier

It was not only the first I had seen one at the lake but also the first time anywhere near the city.

marsh harrier

It didn't stay long. I presume it was migrating.

squacco heron

With my session near finished, I spotted a squacco heron. I have seen one on and off for several omnths though I have no idea whether it is the same bird. Only once have I seen two there.

Melodious warbler

On one of the last bushes on the edge of the lake I finally managed to photograph a melodious warbler at the site. It was good end to a good session.

The next day, Saturday May 20th was also a very cool day for the time of year. I took the opportunity to walk all the way out to the coast. This time, unlike the weekend before, there were many birds and the mix was different from that which I have encountered before.

List of species seen at North Nouakchott Lake on 19th May
Northern Pintail  

Little Grebe  

Cattle Egret 

Squacco Heron  

Western Marsh Harrier 

African Swamphen  

Common Moorhen  

Eurasian Coot  

Spur-winged Lapwing  

Black-headed Gull  

Speckled Pigeon  

Laughing Dove  

Little Swift  

Blue-naped Mousebird  

Woodchat Shrike  

Crested Lark  

Sand Martin  

Barn Swallow  

Red-rumped Swallow  

Common House Martin  

Melodious Warbler  

Eurasian Reed Warbler  

Spotted Flycatcher  

Western Yellow Wagtail  

House Sparrow  

Sudan Golden Sparrow  

Red-billed Quelea