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
