Nouadhibou allotments

Google earth shows a green area in the north of Nouadhibou right on the border with Western Sahara. Zooming in, you can see that it is a set of allotments.

I am not sure any one has birded there before but we gave it a try last Saturday morning before moving on to more tradtional sites.

The birding wasn't brilliant but that, in part, was because the best allotments were generally the ones with the highest walls. However birds don't totally respect walls.

young turtle dove

Given that Nouadhibou is in a desert zone, any greenery is bound to encourage birds. One such species attracted to this site is European turtle dove.

adult turtle dove

There were at least eight birds scattered around the allotments. However this is unlikely to be their final wintering grounds.

whinchat

One early identification headache was this highy streaked bird found half asleep when we first arrived. It was eventually identified as a whinchat though its unusual pose didn't help.

There were warblers as expected. Most were willow warbler though there were small numbers of chiffchaff, reed warbler and western olivaceous warbler too.

I suspect this is a good site for rare northern passerines in mid-winter such spainsh sparrow, stonechat and black redstart. They don't have much choice of habitat if they take this most westerly route.

Unfortunately we didn't see any rarities but we kept adding species to the site list as we went round.

greater short-toed lark

One greater short-toed lark in a garden was the only lark we saw on the whole peninsula. Apparently this is the most accessible place for thekla lark in Mauritania though we saw none.

wryneck

A wryneck was a good bird and shows the potential of the place.

European pied flycatcher

Otherwise we had to make good with house sparrow and a common trio of migrants at the moment: common redstart, spotted flycatcher and European pied flycatcher.

A final short walk outside the allotments gave me a pair of white-crowned wheatear.

After the allotments, Mohamed Vall and I moved on to site we had visited before. This is the sea inlet just east of the airport. This had many hundreds of birds and is an obvious hotpsot. One species was an addition to my country list. The birding there was very satisfying and I will blog about this next.

Around Chami

Mohamed Vall and I took a long weekend in Nouadhibou last week. We started out on Friday afternoon.

It was only our second birding trip to Nouadhibou but it was eventful. I added four species to my Mauritanian list and one was on the way up.

We drove up on the main road through the town of Chami. There was some good birding either side of this town though not in the town itself.

Our first good species was spotted while driving. Two stone curlew were sitting under two separate trees trying to evade the seering heat.

stone curlew

A few kilometres further on, we saw two cream-coloured courser doing the same thing.

Our next stop was at a large service station called Gare du Nord. This is the closest place I have seen in all Mauritania to a western style service area.

house sparrow

There were two types of sparrow on the buildings and in the near-by tree. One was house sparrow.

desert sparrow

The other was the much more sought after desert sparrow.

In the one main tree there were also four western olivaceous warbler along side the desert sparrow.

brown-necked raven

The single most numerous bird was actually brown-necked raven. This place is clearly very attractive to them. I presume they scavenge plenty of waste there.

The mosque also has water run off and water is a scarce commodity in the desert.

Indeed near the very small pool created by it, we saw a pied flycatcher and a common redstart. In the shade of one of the walls we also came across a yellow wagtail.

Our best site on the way up was still to come. It was north of Chami at a wadi just two kilometres south of the turn off to the gold mine.

common kestrel

The wadi was a little unusual as there was tall dry grass but it was patchy. There were also scattered trees. It was a large flat wadi surrounded by flat pure desert. 

There were another two stone curlew there and a common kestrel. However the big find were four Dunn's lark.

Dunn's lark 1

I have been searching for this bird for years and failing to find it in the Middle East. I wonder if I now know its preferred type of habitat.

Dunn's lark 2

The African sub-species does not show such strong facial markings as illustrated in the Collin's guide for the Arabian sub-species.

Dunn's lark 3

This was the addition to my Mauritanian list. I am not sure the Dutch Bird Association is wise calling the African sub-species Moroccan Dunn's Lark. First they appear to be taking sides in an unresolved international territorial dispute. This is since most birds in "Morocco" are in Western Sahara. Second I suspect there are a lot more of this species in Mauritania than in Morocco however you define the boundaries of the latter.

southern grey shrike

Examining the few scattered trees immediately exposed a southern grey shrike. However close up you could see several warblers, mostly willow warbler. There were also common redstart and pied flycatcher. All were desperate to avoid the heat.

This was our last major stop as we tried to get to Nouadhibou quickly, ahead of too much night driving.

The birding the next day in Nouadhibou was eventful. I will blog about that next.

Another addition at the waste water site

Two weeks ago, I made another trip to the waste water site just north of the city. It has been a migrant trap all autumn. That day was no exception. 

It was also the second visit running when I managed to add another species to my country list.

I have learned by now to loiter at the very beginning of any session there near where the car drops me off.

young European turtle dove

Almost immediately I found a young European turtle dove. It was quite relaxed for its species. I suspect it has never heard the sound of a gun.

blue rock thrush

Soon after, I came across a blue rock thrush. This is towards the southern edge of its wintering range and there are no hills for two hundred kilometres. The area around Nouakchott is flat. I understand some make it to cliffs in north west Senegal. I hope this one finds them.

European pied flycatcher

And still another wave of pied flycatcher was observed. The numbers are seemingly endless.

first common redstart

Common redstart started passing through about two weeks after the first pied flycatcher but they keep coming too. Actually, a few winter in the far south of the country. I have seen them there too.

another common redstart

Once more there were ducks at the pools and once more they avoided going into the water.

northern pintail

This time there were common teal and northern pintail.

ruff

There have been subtle changes in the types of waders over the past two months.I am seeing my first black-tailed godwit and no more redshank for example though this might not be a pattern. Little stint, wood sandpiper, ruff, dunlin and ringed plover have been most predictable.

glossy ibis

The variety from the heron family was the lowest for a while. Only a purple heron and a glossy ibis showed this time.

pintail in flight

I had been trying to work out for the past few weeksif any of the five or six blue-cheeked bee-eater  had included passage birds. I concluded the behaviour of all was residential. It looks like I had been right.

migrant blue-cheeked bee-eater

While I was there that Sunday, about 30 blue-cheeked bee-eater arrived from the north in two waves. They stayed a couple of hours each and then carried on south. These were true passage birds.

dunlin

With one last look at the deeper pools, I moved on to the east side of the site.

This side has only very shallow water and mud flats but it has much more cover close to the water. It is proving to be the best area for passerines.

European reed warbler 1

A European reed warbler was uncharacteristically out in the open and close to me for a while. it was a pleasurable few minutes.

European reed warbler 2

White wagtail and a much smaller number of yellow wagtail were darting over the muddy areas.

white wagtail

The odd barn swallow rested on the bushes.

barn swallow

I finally managed to photograph some ortolan bunting. This was the third time I had seen some at the site recently.

October is the autumn month to see them in Mauritania.

ortolan bunting

I don't see many little ringed plover in the Nouakchott area, certainly when compared with common ringed plover but there was one at the shallow pools. By its almost white eye ring, this was a first year bird.

little ringed plover

I spent some time trying to get better pictures of the ortolan bunting before returning to the lake on my way back.

ortolan bunting

Two marsh harrier had been around all session. One had taken an interest in the blue-cheeked bee-eater without success.

marsh harrier

These pools are attracting more birds of prey than ever as the pools and surrounding cover mature. I do hope that a big contaiminated delivery doesn't occur. Another few months and this site will be very good indeed. If reeds start to grow the existng water quality could improve too.

the pools

Another bird of prey landed for a short while and it was a short-toed snake eagle. They are passage birds through Nouakchott though very large numbers winter along the Senegal River Valley.

short-toed snake eagle

The new addition to my country list came late. As usual I walked under the canopy of avenue of trees in the shade on my way back to the car. It was here I flushed a European scops owl. I saw it clearly a second time towards the top of swaying trees. Unfortunately the swaying branches didn't allow for pictures. Nevertheless it was very welcome.

Species seen at the waste water site on October 14th 2017

Northern Pintail  

Eurasian Teal  

Purple Heron  

Glossy Ibis  

Short-toed Eagle  

Western Marsh Harrier  

Spur-winged Lapwing  

Kentish Plover  

Common Ringed Plover  

Little Ringed Plover  

Black-tailed Godwit  

Ruff  

Dunlin  

Little Stint  

Common Snipe  

Common Sandpiper  

Green Sandpiper  

Wood Sandpiper  

European Turtle Dove  

Laughing Dove  

Namaqua Dove  

European Scops Owl  

Eurasian Hoopoe  

Blue-cheeked Bee-eater  

Eurasian Wryneck  

Lanner Falcon  

Southern Grey Shrike  

Crested Lark  

Barn Swallow  

Red-rumped Swallow  

Common House Martin  

Willow Warbler  

Common Chiffchaff  

Western Olivaceous Warbler  

Sedge Warbler  

Eurasian Reed Warbler  

Cricket Longtail  

Spotted Flycatcher  

Bluethroat  

European Pied Flycatcher  

Common Redstart  

Blue Rock Thrush  

Whinchat  

Northern Wheatear  

Western Yellow Wagtail  

White Wagtail (alba)  

Tree Pipit  

Red-throated Pipit  

Ortolan Bunting  

House Sparrow  

Sudan Golden Sparrow  

Road to Akjoujt

On Sunday 8th October,Mohamed Vall and I took the Atar road out of Nouakchott. Our main target destination was a woodland about 30 kilometres south west of Akjoujt.

There, in April, we had seen a vagrant skylark.

On the way to it the main interest turned out to be birds of prey. The first one seen was a very young black kite resting next to the road.

young black kite

It allowed close approach until a heavy lorry travelling in the opposite direction to us disturbed it.

Further on down the road, we came across a lanner falcon. This is probably the most common falcon in the drier areas of Mauritania. One wonders how common they would be in the Gulf countries if falconers and traders stopped taking them out of circulation.

lanner falcon

A few kilometres on, a lesser kestrel was observed resting on a low bush.

lesser kestrel

When we finally arrived at the woodland in the blistering heat, it wasn't as good for birding as we hoped. Strangely there were hardly any migrant warblers. I know from experience that they can be very patchy on migration. You can get a windfall one day and very few or none on another. We had clearly chosen the wrong day for this site.

greater short-toed lark

Greater short-toed lark were present and seemingly desperate to keep out of the sun. The best place to see them was under bushes.

red-necked nightjar through the haze

We accidently flushed a red-necked nightjar. Unfortunately, it was very timid in the same way as those seen the week before at the waste water site. We simply couldn't get close to it.

European pied flycatcher

One European pied flycatcher was exhausted. I doubted it would survive to fly on. The Sahara to the north can be punishing at this time of year for migrants. Choosing a lucky day to cross is so important to them.

bar-tailed lark

We saw bar-tailed lark again at the site as we had in April. It may be one of very few residents.

African collared dove

Another candidate resident is African collared dove.

common redstart

Common redstart is a broad front migrant so it was no surprise to see it in the woodland.

Bouet's agama

Once again, it was not just birds we saw. A Bouet's agama (a.k.a Mali agama) gave very good views.

greater short-toed lark

On the way back we found a smaller woodland. It actually held more warblers. A windfall of willow warbler had taken place. There was also one sub-alpine warbler. However the biggest interest there was a flock of around 40 greater short-toed lark. They were really suffering in the heat. So were we. We were happy to finish our birding early. There is a physical limit to what one can do.

Woodland 30 kms south west of Akjoujt

African Collared Dove  

Namaqua Dove  

Red-necked Nightjar  

Greater Hoopoe-Lark  

Bar-tailed Lark  

Greater Short-toed Lark  

Spotted Flycatcher  

European Pied Flycatcher  

Common Redstart  

Northern Wheatear  

Yet another success at the waste water site

On Saturday October 7th, the previous record number of species at the waste water site was beaten by one. There were 51 species observed. This is a very large number for a small site away from the sea. It speaks volumes for what a migrant trap the place has become.

Almost straight from the start, there was good birding. As well as warblers foraging in the dead branches near where the car dropped me, I soon spotted the first of two wryneck.

wryneck

I lingered at this western edge of the avenue of trees for a long time. White wagtail and northern wheatear were present in the more open areas away from the cut branches.

white wagtail

Yet again for the fourth week running in the Nouakchott area, there were European pied flycatcher passing through in numbers.
.

European pied flycatcher

I don't normally photograph the ever-present crested lark but finding one with such a juicy catch was too good an opportunity to miss.

crested lark

Also for the fourth week, spotted flycatcher were also still coming through.

I have no idea whether some of these flycatchers linger or whether these are new birds each time.  Mauritania is still well north of both species' wintering grounds so they may well be fresh birds on each occasion.

spotted flycatcher

The story is different with hoopoe. Nouakchott is at the northern edge of their wintering range and the birds I am seeing may well stay.

hoopoe

Common redstart numbers started low in late September but became numerous by early October. Most of them prefer to keep close to the avenue of trees.

common redstart 1

Going inside the mini woodland created by the avenue is where I am most likely to see them.

common redstart 2

Once again there were large numbers of European turtle dove present. I can't really count the exact number as they are so flighty and sometimes fly to the far end of site when approached.

European turtle dove

As is my routnie now, I don't get to the water until I have comprehensively looked at the western side of the avenue of trees. On October 7th that was two hours after I arrived.

dunlin

The types of waders were still pretty much the same as they had been for the previous month.

marsh harrier

However, the birds of prey at the site were a little different. At one stage there were five marsh harrier. Three of them moved on southward rapidly but two remained all session. In the distance I picked out an osprey. I think it was just passing and the pools were of no consequence to it.

A common buzzard was more significant. It hovered over the pools for a short time before moving on. Common buzzard are quite rare in Mauritania. The only other one I have seen was at the same place and at the same time of year, last year.

ruff 1

Near the water, I reviewed the ruff as has become a habit over the past few weeks at this site.

I couldn't make any of the young female ruff into anything more exotic.

ruff 2

Close to the ruff, I found another bird of prey. This time it was a kestrel and it was sitting on a small bush right over the water. Kestrel are not resident to Noaukchott or most of Mauritania further south. Indeed I have seen a few more lanner in the country than kestrel. So this was passage bird. This must be a good spot for tired migrants and potential food sources though I didn't see any predatory action from the kestrel.

kestrel

I moved away from the water briefly to track a common redstart with odd behaviour. It was away from trees in very short scrub. It was out in the open much more than is typical. 

common redstart 1

However, I simply could not make it into anything else.

common redstart 2

After this short detour I returned to the water.

marsh harrier

A female marsh harrier was flying ominously overhead.

purple heron

It wasn't just small birds that bolted. A purple heron went up.

European spoonbill

Three European spoonbill which I hadn't noticed before, reacted as well.

A glossy ibis joined them. Indeed ibises often have a preference to associate with spoonbills when theirown kind aren't around. For one moment, I thought the foursome were going to fly straight at the marsh harrier by mistake. They survived their mistake.

teal

Though duck won't take to water here. It's too polluted for them. Nevertheless, they are still attracted to the site on passage.

This time there were garganey and teal.

common snipe

Common snipe was the last of the more interesting waders I saw before I finally moved away from the main pools.

At the eastern end of the site are some minor pools which have more cover near them than the main pools. They tend to be rich in warblers. However on walking towards the minor pools, I observed a whinchat.

whinchat

In one small corner of the minor pools, I decided to just stand still for half an hour or so and see what would come out.

I saw three European reed warbler, a western olivaceuos warbler, a sedge warbler and two ortolan bunting without moving.

garden warbler 1

However my favourite sighting at this spot was a garden warbler. It was fearless and came up right close two or three times. Sometimes, there are advantages in doing nothing but staying still.

garden warbler 2

It is the closest and longest I have ever managed to see one.

garden warbler 3

Like the common redstart mentioned earlier, I found its behaviour out in the open and foraging low rather odd but I am not complaining.

garden warbler 4

I was out in the sun for well over four hours and as normal I walked back westward to my car pick up point under the avenue of trees. Not only does this give me relief from the heat, it gives me more birding possibilities with a final change of habitat.

This time it was especially successful. I flushed two red-necked nightjar. They were tricky birds. They simply would not allow me to get close but identification was relatively straightforward. They are bigger than European nightjar and the white flashes are the wing are even more pronounced. When they land the red neck is easily apparent too.

This was an uplifting end to the session. It was also an addition to my country list.

Species seen at the waste water site on October 7th 2017

Garganey  

Eurasian Teal  

Grey Heron  

Purple Heron  

Little Egret  

Glossy Ibis  

Eurasian Spoonbill  

Osprey  

Western Marsh Harrier  

Common Buzzard  

Spur-winged Lapwing  

Common Ringed Plover  

Whimbrel (European)  

Black-tailed Godwit  

Ruff  

Sanderling  

Dunlin  

Little Stint  

Common Snipe  

Common Sandpiper  

Wood Sandpiper  

Common Redshank  

European Turtle Dove  

Laughing Dove  

Namaqua Dove  

Red-necked Nightjar  

Eurasian Hoopoe   

Blue-cheeked Bee-eater  

Eurasian Wryneck  

Common Kestrel  

Southern Grey Shrike  

Black-crowned Sparrow-Lark  

Crested Lark  

Sand Martin  

Barn Swallow  

Willow Warbler  

Common Chiffchaff  

Western Olivaceous Warbler  

Sedge Warbler  

Eurasian Reed Warbler  

Garden Warbler  

Spotted Flycatcher  

Bluethroat  

European Pied Flycatcher  

Common Redstart  

Whinchat  

Northern Wheatear (Greenland)  

Northern Wheatear (Eurasian)  

Western Yellow Wagtail  

White Wagtail 

Ortolan Bunting  

House Sparrow