Birding for a Lark: 2018

Tuesday, 2 October 2018

Robert Tovey

For those who have not heard, I am afraid I have some bad news to share. Rob, my brother, died suddenly at home in Mauritania from a heart attack on the 9th September.

It is my intention to leave this blog as a memorial to his passion for birding

James

Monday, 3 September 2018

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

Saturday, 1 September 2018

More August passage at the waste water site

Last Sunday I returned to the waste water site, just north of the city. 34 species were seen but that was actually slightly down on the bumper week before. It was down slightly both in terms of species and overall numbers of warblers. Sunday August 19th had been special.

Highlights were:

Four very early European roller which reminded unphotographed
Green sandpiper which is surprisingly uncommon in the Nouakchott area especially compared with common sandpiper and wood sandpiper
Plenty of western Bonelli's warbler. It is very much an August bird in Nouakchott though it winters not much further south.
Four great white pelican flying over head, thinking about landing and then wisely not doing so. I have seen this played out several times now.
A full list of species is at the bottom of the blog.

western olivaceous warbler

partially hidden western Bonelli's warbler

green sandpiper

ruff

another ruff

spur-winged lapwing, little stint and common redshank

little stint

dunlin

little stint retaining summer plumage

34 species at the waste water site

Laughing Dove

Namaqua Dove

Little Swift

Black-winged Stilt

Spur-winged Lapwing

Common Ringed Plover

Whimbrel

Ruff

Dunlin

Little Stint

Common Sandpiper

Green Sandpiper

Wood Sandpiper

Common Redshank

Great White Pelican

Glossy Ibis

Eurasian Hoopoe

Blue-cheeked Bee-eater

European Roller

Woodchat Shrike

Crested Lark

Barn Swallow

Western Bonelli's Warbler

Willow Warbler

Common Chiffchaff

Western Olivaceous Warbler

Melodious Warbler

Eurasian Reed Warbler

Common Whitethroat

Spotted Flycatcher

Common Nightingale

European Pied Flycatcher

House Sparrow

Sudan Golden Sparrow

Friday, 31 August 2018

A walk near the fish market

Last Saturday, I went for a walk with a new work colleague near the coastal fish market. This was not a full blown birding session. My colleague is not a birder and birding was not the main objective.

However, there were some sightings:

A European cuckoo was seen for the second week running in the Nouakchott area
Many black tern are obviously migrating south. Unlike the other marsh terns, they primarily migrate along the coast
a nice flock of little egret were earnestly flying south over the sea
In contrast a larger flock of great white pelican were flying north. There is much movement all year of resident great white pelican moving back and forth between Banc d'Arguin and the Senegal River Delta
Very few gulls near the lagoon.

blue-cheeked bee-eater

black tern

sanderling

dunlin

migrating little egret

black tern. Immature left

great white pelican

Laughing Dove

Namaqua Dove

Common Cuckoo

Whimbrel

Sanderling

Dunlin

Common Sandpiper

Common Redshank

Audouin's Gull

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Black Tern

Royal Tern

Great Cormorant (White-breasted)

Great White Pelican

Little Egret

Blue-cheeked Bee-eater

Crested Lark

Barn Swallow

Sudan Golden Sparrow

Wednesday, 29 August 2018

Heavy passage and a lifer

My first birding in the Nouakchott area since returning from my summer break was at the waste water site.

It was on August 19th and was much better than expected.

there was a large warbler passage: western Bonelli's warbler, willow warbler, common chiffchaff, western olivaceous warbler, melodious warbler, sedge warbler, eurasian reed warbler, common grasshopper warbler, spectacled warbler
western olivaceous warbler, western Bonelli's warbler and melodious warbler were early passage last year.
common grasshopper warbler was a target bird. It is known to winter in West Africa and even south west Mauritania. However, it was lifer for me and number 306 on my Mauritanian list.
Though seen by me in country before, I photographed a European cuckoo for the first time here.
There was a good cross section of early waders including a curlew sandpiper
A full list of species seen is at the bottom of the blog