Thailingo

Mohamed Vall and I made our last stop along the Senegal River south west of Tekane at a place called Thailingo.  It was just 42 kilometres east of Rosso on the Boghe road.

There was a woodland with both a small lake and a bank on to the Senegal River itself. It was rich in birds.

little bee-eater

Having not seen little bee-eater in Mauritania before the weekened trip, this became the third stop where they were present.

Among the first cluster of trees was a black-crowned tchagra, another first for me in Mauritania and an indication of the good birds to come.

red-cheeked cordonbleu

Red-cheeked cordonbleu was the estrildid finch of the area.

spotted flycatcher

Spotted flycatcher and common redstart were the main representatives of wintering migrants.

However it was local residents which were the main attraction here.

Two black heron were seen at the small lake along with a little egret.

black heron

Black heron was another addition to my country list.

Both the black heron and little egret flushed at one stage only for us to spot them a while later sitting in a tree over the other side of the river in Senegal.

malachite kingfisher

Three weeks before we had spotted a malachite kingfisher in a flooded wood about 50 kilometres further east (nearer Boghe) at Dar El Barka. In very similar habitat we found another one. This time it stayed still long enough for us to photograph it.

striated heron

Likewise we had found a striated heron an hour before near Dagana. This time another gave us better views and also pictures.

Sudanese golden sparrow and black-headed weaver

Sparrows and weavers can form combined flocks. We saw one at Thailingo made up of Sudanese golden sparrow and black-headed weaver.

Senegal thick-knee

Very near-by was a Senegal thick-knee resting under a bush.

grey-backed camaroptera 1

A grey-backed camaroptera was moving around a low bush.

grey-backed camaroptera 2

Two yellow-crowned gonolek were loudly calling to each other.

All three birds: Senegal thick-knee, grey-backed camaroptera and yellow-crowned gonolek were additions to my Mauritanian list. This spot was a treasure trove of new birds.

yellow-crowned gonolek (courtesy of Mohamed Vall)

I am grateful to Mohamed Vall to be to allowed to reproduce one of his photos of the gonolek.

black-headed lapwing

As we walked back to the car, we found two black-headed lapwing. This is the tamest species of lapwing that I have ever met. It tends only to slowly walk away if you get too close.

This was our last stop on New year's Eve. On New Year's day we travelled back to Nouakchott but managed some interesting birding on the way. I will blog about that next.