Late April in Nouakchott

I managed to snatch a visit to the waste water lake in Nouakchott in late April despite it being a very heavy time for work.

It was worth the effort. The prize bird was a short-eared owl. I almost walked into it where it had been roosting in a tree. I had time to recognise it but not to get a photo as it actually flew right at me before veering late. Two hours later I once again walked into it. This time it seems to have been resting on the ground in a completely different part of the site. I am pretty upset about not getting a photo. It became species 304 on my Mauritanian list.

Altogether, it was a peak time for passage. No bird was there in great numbers but there was great variety.

spotted flycatcher

Birds included spotted flycatcher and common redstart. These are staples of the two palearctic migration seasons around Nouakchott. Common nightingale and Rufous bush-robin are less numerous. All were seen on this trip.

rufous bush-robin

Warblers were varied and quite numerous on their way north although I see fewer in spring than in autumn.

blackcap

Blackcap were probably the most numerous.

willow warbler

There were several willow warbler and at least two western olivaceous warbler. There was a solitary western bonelli's warbler. The latter bird in particular has larger numbers in autumn. However, you have to come early as so many come back through in August and early September.

garden warbler

Blackcap's close cousin is garden warbler. It can be easily over-looked with its lack of really distinctive features. It's grey collar is quite apparent, though, in the bird on the left.

female blackcap

This spring has been unusually cool and some warblers have ventured out of the shade more than last year.

European reed warbler

There are no reeds on this site but European reed warbler has to land somewhere and so this is an excellent place to see them quite openly.

wood sandpiper (l) and little stint (r)

I have been disappointed in the main water body itself over recent visits. The variety of waders has been lacking. Throughout the winter wood sandpiper and little stint were the mainstays along with the seemingly resident spur-winged lapwing. However, on this visit the former two birds' numbers had started to dropped off.

spur-winged lapwing

Dunlin aren't very common in spring for some reason. Indeed the one bird below, I veer towards curlew sandpiper. It has a broad supercilium and a long bill though I can't tell the leg length.

probable curlew sandpiper

Some of the ruff had begun to show some summer plummage.

ruff

All the waders were alert and easily spooked. This is almost certainly because two marsh harrier were lingering at the site on their northern passage.

one of the marsh harrier

Most harriers of which ever type don't normally hang around. They move on fast.

the other marsh harrier

All white wagtail had gone by late April. Yellow wagtail were still coming through.

yellow wagtail

Just where do all those woodchat shrike go. They appear incredibly numerous in both passage seasons. They also winter barely 100 kilometres further south so I wonder if the numbers aren't as great as they first appear. I wonder instead if they use the Nouakchott area as a staging most in late autumn and in spring. In other words, could I be seeing the same birds time and again?

woodchat shrike

In this visit, it was the first time for six weeks that I hadn't seen a European bee-eater. Just before I left, one turned up. It was a bumper season for them this spring.

European bee-eater

The next blog will report what I saw at the same site three week's later.

Species seen at the waste water site, Nouakchott
Western Marsh Harrier  

Spur-winged Lapwing  

Kentish Plover  

Common Ringed Plover  

Little Ringed Plover  

Ruff  

Curlew Sandpiper  

Little Stint  

Green Sandpiper  

Spotted Redshank  

Common Greenshank  

Wood Sandpiper  

Speckled Pigeon  

Laughing Dove  

Namaqua Dove  

Short-eared Owl  

Little Swift  

European Bee-eater  

Southern Grey Shrike  

Woodchat Shrike  

Black-crowned Sparrow-Lark  

Crested Lark  

Barn Swallow  

Red-rumped Swallow  

Common House Martin  

Willow Warbler  

Common Chiffchaff  

Western Bonelli's Warbler  

Western Olivaceous Warbler  

Eurasian Reed Warbler  

Eurasian Blackcap  

Garden Warbler  

Spotted Flycatcher  

Rufous  Bush Robin  

Common Nightingale  

Common Redstart  

Northern Wheatear  

Western Yellow Wagtail  

House Sparrow  

Sudan Golden Sparrow  

Winter ebbs away at the waste water site

I had only seen four European bee-eater over a period of 18 months until last Saturday. I visited my local patch which is the waste water site. It is here that I had seen all four previous birds.

This time I saw no fewer than 17 albeit in three waves throughout the morning.

European bee-eater with bee

It would appear that more migrate through Nouakchott in spring than do in autumn though it might take me another annual cycle to confirm that.

two European bee-eater

Barn swallow are crossing the country in vast numbers at the moment. However, they sometimes rest when they have fed well and that normally means next to water.

barn swallow

Occasionally, the main body of water holds something interesting. However, the other parts of the site near the water are usually more so. It is important to look though.

ruff

There were plenty of ruff present in a bewildering array of plumages and sizes as is typical of this species at this time of year.

black-winged stilt

Black-winged stilt aren't regular at the site though this time one was present. The poor bird got mobbed the spur-winged lapwing ever time it flew.

Namaqua dove

Kentish plover was the most numerous of the small plovers this time. The best bird at the main water this time was a passing male pallid harrier which flew over briefly before continuing north. 

little ringed plover

Once again, little ringed plover were seen away from the main water body and on mud in the eastern corner of the site.

young southern grey shrike

Yet again, this corner produced several of the best birds. A young southern grey shrike looked on.

tree pipit 1

Another tree pipit was passing through.

tree pipit 2

This one was far more lively than the one seen at Keur Macene the week before. The cooler weather probably helped.

The area with bushes next to a water's edge has been providing common chiffchaff, Iberian chiffchaff and various sylvia warblers all winter. 

This time there were also the first sedge warbler and western olivaceous warbler at the site since last autumn.

first sighting of the western olivaceous warbler

Western olivaceous warbler can be distinctive with its long bill and seemingly stretched body.

western olivaceous warbler

I moved round to a different position to get better views. Luckily, it stayed out while I did so.

western olivaceuos warbler

It is easily separated from eastern olivaceous warbler by its lack of tail flicking alhough eastern olivaceous warbler doesn't venture as far west as Nouakchott. The one bird it is close to is European reed warbler.

chiffchaff

I spent much of the early winter separating Iberian chiffchaff from common chiffchaff at the site. The former is actually more common than the latter. I didn't spent enough time on this bird to tell.

woodchat shrike

On the way back to the car I observed my fifth woodchat shrike.

stone curlew

On the last stretch, I took a short cut through the sandy areas and benefitted by accidentally flushing a stone curlew.

The next day, on Sunday I visted the coast for the first time in three weeks. Here I achieved my milestone of 300 species in Mauritania. I will blog about this next.

Species seen at the waste water site

Pallid Harrier  

Stone-curlew  

Black-winged Stilt  

Spur-winged Lapwing  

Kentish Plover  

Common Ringed Plover  

Little Ringed Plover  

Ruff  

Little Stint  

Common Snipe  

Green Sandpiper  

Wood Sandpiper  

Laughing Dove  

Namaqua Dove  

Eurasian Hoopoe  

European Bee-eater 

Southern Grey Shrike  

Woodchat Shrike 

Crested Lark  

Barn Swallow  

Common Chiffchaff  

Iberian Chiffchaff  

Western Olivaceous Warbler  

Sedge Warbler  

Eurasian Blackcap  

Subalpine Warbler  

Common Whitethroat  

Common Redstart  

Northern Wheatear  

Western Yellow Wagtail  

White Wagtail 

Tree Pipit  

House Sparrow 

Sudan Golden Sparrow

European bee-eater at the waste water site

It was back to my local patch today. These days this means the waste water site just north of Nouakchott.

There was some passage but no warblers yet.

The most notable passage bird was a single European bee-eater. I have only seen four in 18 months in Mauritania and all of them have been at the same place.

European bee-eater 1

It stopped briefly to catch dragonflies before continuing north.

European bee-eater 2

Once again much of the best birding came from the smaller pools to the east of the site rather than the main lake.

first yellow wagtail

There was a small of flock of yellow wagtail feeding near where the bee-eater was seen.

second yellow wagtail

This was undoubtedly a passage group as only rarely are single birds seen at the site in winter. Nouakchott is just north of its normal wintering range.

woodchat shrike

Three woodchat shike were scattered around the site outnumbering the local southern grey shrike.

white wagtail

Similarly yellow wagtail outnumbered white wagtail. This is a spring phenomenon.

Meanwhile back at the main lake, the spur-winged lapwing were even noisier and aggressive than usual.

spur-winged lapwing

The wintering common teal are now a distant memory.

common redshank

Among the waders, I observed my first common redshank this year.

wood sandpiper

The habitat is very good for wood sandpiper and they only go missing in summer.

five grey heron

Five skittish grey heron kept flying away from me.

mostly kentish plover

Common ringed plover, kentish plover and little ringed plover were on site in significant numbers.

barn swallow

As with the trip up north last weekend, barn swallow are flying through in large numbers at the moment. I also saw my first sand martin of the year and two presumably local little swift.

Mohamed Vall and I are trying our luck at Amzela tomorrow. This is the closest place with a decent number of natural trees to the south of the city. I will blog about this next.

Species seen at the waste water site on March 10th

Grey Heron  

Spur-winged Lapwing  

Kentish Plover  

Common Ringed Plover  

Little Ringed Plover  

Ruff  

Little Stint  

Wood Sandpiper  

Common Redshank  

Laughing Dove  

Namaqua Dove  

Little Swift  

Eurasian Hoopoe  

European Bee-eater  

Southern Grey Shrike  

Woodchat Shrike  

Crested Lark  

Sand Martin  

Barn Swallow  

Common Chiffchaff  

Iberian Chiffchaff  

Spectacled Warbler  

Common Redstart  

Northern Wheatear  

Western Yellow Wagtail  

White Wagtail  

House Sparrow  

Sudan Golden Sparrow  

Very big passage once again at the waste water site

I am very behind with my blogs. This is almost entirely due to increased responsibility at work.

I have five blogs in the pipeline and have added three species to my country list during that time. This blog recounts what I saw four weeks ago at the waste water site just north of Nouakchott. 

At the time, I thought the passage was very big and yet on two later visits, the day list increased further both times. On Saturday 16th September, I saw 41 species. It was much higher still three weeks later.  The waste water site is proving to be a tremendous migrant trap.

European bee-eater

It remains the only place in Mauritania where I have observed European bee-eater. That Saturday I saw one again.

Blue-cheeked bee-eater

The picture concerning blue-cheeked bee-eater at the site is confused. There must be both summer rainy season visitors and migrants coming south during the autumn. It is difficult to know one type from the other though behaviours are different. Having said this, I believe that day there were only local birds.

ruff

I am always on the look-out for rare waders and especially American ones. I spent a long time observing a young female ruff to ensure there was no chance it was a buff-breasted sandpiper. I am pretty confident that one day again, this site will deliver another American vagrant.

dunlin

I seem to have seen many more dunlin coming through this year than last. it is probably only due to the types of sites I am visiting this year. I still find trouble with separating some birds like the one above from the less common curlew sandpiper.

European turtle dove

The weather was very dusty and visibility was poor. It didn't matter with most birds but the European turtle dove is the shyest of them all. What's more it is proving quite numerous at this site despite its plight in western Europe from whence these birds probably came.

European pied flycatcher 1

That weekend saw a very large number of pied flycatcher coming through. This bird is everywhere in Muaritania in September and early October. The first of the common redstart appeared too.

European pied flycatcher 2

Birds that feed beside water rather than in it, are attracted to this site. The water is too contaminated in most places to encourage those who forage in deep water or swim.

I suspect this is the reason that I am continually seeing glossy ibis which forages at the water's edge.

glossy ibis

The one garganey on passage was very careful not to go into the water.

garganey

Sometimes you see odd combinations when birding.

European turtle dove (l)

A European turtle dove and blue-cheeked bee-eater closely sharing perches on a sodom's apple was one such occasion.

tree pipit

Once again I looked closely at the pipits. Both were tree pipit this time.

spotted flycatcher

Spotted flycatcher is not as common as European pied flycatcher but it is regular.

European reed warbler 1

I know my observations particularly at this site are helping with dating the passage of several warblers. For example western bonelli's warbler passes through Nouakchott mostly in August while willow warbler is concentrated in September and early October. Some warblers seem to be less focussed on a certain time. European reed warbler is one of them.

I have regularly been seeing at least two or three on every visit to the site all Autumn since late August.

European reed warbler 2

Of course they have no reeds to hide in. 

I don't really understand why I haven't seen a great reed warbler in the country yet.

European reed warbler 3

I have a lot more to write about in future blogs. At this site alone I have added two more species to my Mauritanian list since mid-Spetember. Please bear with me to find out more.

Waste water site on Saturday 16th September
Garganey  

Purple Heron  

Glossy Ibis  

Black-winged Stilt  

Spur-winged Lapwing  

Common Ringed Plover  

Whimbrel  

Black-tailed Godwit  

Ruff  

Curlew Sandpiper  

Dunlin  

Common Snipe  

Common Sandpiper  

Green Sandpiper  

Common Greenshank  

Wood Sandpiper  

Common Redshank  

European Turtle Dove  

Laughing Dove  

Namaqua Dove  

Eurasian Hoopoe  

Blue-cheeked Bee-eater  

European Bee-eater  

Southern Grey Shrike  

Woodchat Shrike  

Eurasian Golden Oriole  

Black-crowned Sparrow-Lark  

Crested Lark  

Barn Swallow  

Willow Warbler  

Western Olivaceous Warbler  

Sedge Warbler  

Eurasian Reed Warbler  

Cricket Longtail  

Fulvous Babbler  

European Pied Flycatcher  

Common Redstart  

Whinchat  

White Wagtail 

Tree Pipit  

House Sparrow