Bonanza at waste water site

On Saturday September 23th, I set off to the waste water site again. This has become my local patch since F-Nord lake became compromised by water being pumped away.

To the contrary, the waste water site is getting bigger as more tankers turn up to pour their waste water away.

Of course, this site has much dirtier water than F-Nord lake but flies can attract birds too. 

While I was waiting for my driver to take me to the site, I looked over a few trees in my road for the illusive Iberian chiffchaff which had been a target species for me in September.

You may recall that all the population must fly Mauritania to reach their wintering grounds. And yet precious few have been seen anywhere outside spring and summer.

willow warbler outside my house

There were willow warbler but nothing that looked like the chiffchaff.

northern wheatear

I knew it was going to be a good day as there was so much bird activity right where the car dropped me at the waste water site.

There were northern wheatear in the semi desert around the site.

house sparrow

Willow warbler, European reed warbler, garden warbler and house sparrow were making forays out of deep cover into the piles of cut branches. Of course the house sparrow were the least shy.

European turtle dove

This site is clearly very attractive to migrating European turtle dove. Visit after visit during the autumn they have been present in numbers though usually really shy.

southern grey shrike (algeriensis) 

Another less well know migrant is the what I believe is algeriensis sub-species of southern grey shrike. I see a few throughout the winter in the Nouakchott area. These birds are dark like algeriensis but have a slight hint of an eyebrow which is not shown in the major European guidebook. What is certain is they are not the local sub-species which has almost white lower parts.

Namaqua dove

There are very few resident birds at the site. One is Namaqua dove.

spotted flycatcher

Wave after wave of both spotted flycatcher and European pied flycatcher keep coming through.

spotted flycatcher in flight

No obvious atlas flycatcher has been seen. I suspect I will need to wait until the spring to find one. They are more difficult to pick out in non-breeding plumage which they have at this time of year.

European pied flycatcher

It is hard to believe that I failed to see even one garden warbler in my first year in Mauritania. Yet I have been picking them up on every trip to the waste water site since my first one on September 9th. They can be overlooked but not once one makes an effort to look hard at the warblers.

garden warbler

Further on among the walk down the avenue of trees, I got even better views of a spotted flycatcher and a European pied flycatcher.

spotted flycatcher

Not only are the pied flycatcher worth looking at for atlas flycatcher but spotted flycatcher are worth looking for the poorly marked Mediterranean flycatcher. However ebird and Clements do not yet classify the latter as a separate species. It must surely come this way to winter though.

European pied flycatcher

There was a huge number of willow warbler at the site on September 23th. However I was after Iberian chiffchaff which probably migrates through at the same time. I have been searching for this species on every visit during the autumn.

Iberian chiffchaff 1

I was armed this time with a taped call. At one place two birds seemed to come closer when the tape was played. I got photographs of one. The first picture is a bit blurred.

Iberian chiffchaff 2

I submitted the photos to Bird Forum as I had done twice before. The first two times, the verdict was willow warbler. However for this bird the feedback was that it was indeed an Iberian chiffchaff.

This species simply had to be here. It migrates through Mauritania to winter just soth of the Senegal River.

European turtle dove

All of these sightings that day and I still hadn't arrived at the pools. More European turtle dove distracted me.

common redstart

A detour under some trees delayed me further. The flycatchers were sharing the low levels with common redstart.

white wagtail

Finally I arrived at the pools for a first encounter. Yellow wagtail and white wagtail fringed the water on the adjacent wetland.

A very confiding collared pratincole was a pleasant surprise.

collared pratincole 1

This is the first one I have seen in the Noaukchott area.

collared pratincole 2

There is a muddy area on the western edge of the pools. This is usually good for ringed plover.

common ringed plover

Over the water is most likely place to see the few summer-breeding blue-cheeked bee-eater. Back on September 23rd, there was no sign of any passage from north of the Sahara. The behaviour of these birds was residential.

blue-cheeked bee-eater

I got my usual reception from the spur-winged lapwing. They always make me feel unwelcome with their noise and vague attempts to mob me.

spur-winged lapwing

This was the day when I saw the largest number of glossy ibis at the site that I have ever seen.

glossy ibis

After a first pass at the pools, I ventured out into near-by scrub land. There was a wheatear I struggled to identify. It appears to be a Seebohm's wheatear (also known as Black-throated northern wheatear).

male Seebohm's wheatear

Most of the population of Seebohm's wheatear winter in southern Mauritania or northern Senegal. However most birds are likely to be mistaken for a desert wheatear or black-eared wheatear.

male Seebohm's wheatear 2

The bill in a seebohm's wheatear has been described as thin like a hooded wheatear. This is a helpful feature. I also think I can see considerable grey in the back of this bird. The jizz doesn't match the other two species either.

sedge warbler

I don't particulrly enjoy seeking out rare warblers on days when there are so many about or when it is hot. It's seriously hard work looking through many tens to find the Iberian chiffchaff or in the case of sedge warbler looking for aquatic warbler. The Senegal River delta is a major wintering place for European-breeding aquatic warbler so some must come this way. I studied this sedge warbler for several minutes. This was not least because its central crown had paler and stronger streaks than most sedge warbler. However I could n't make these into a single strong pale crown stripe. The overall upper parts colour was too dark for aquatic warbler as well.

willow warbler

I continued to search the willow warbler not realising I had already found a probable Iberian chffchaff.

Before I returned to the car, I made one more pass by the pools.

whinchat

I picked up a whinchat near the water.

dunlin

Good views of some dunlin didn't lead to an identification of anything rare.

sub-alpine warbler

At a bush near the water was sub-alpine warbler.

wood sandpiper

Once again a review of the female and juvenile ruff didn't lead to spotting any similar looking American vagrants.

dunlin (l) and ruff (r)

The pools are getting larger. If this continues and the cover keeps growing this place is going to be extremely good birding into the future.

the pools

Species seen at the waste water site on September 23rd

Grey Heron 

Purple Heron  

Glossy Ibis

Western Marsh Harrier  

Black-winged Stilt  

Spur-winged Lapwing  

Kentish Plover  

Common Ringed Plover  

Whimbrel  

Ruff  

Curlew Sandpiper  

Dunlin  

Little Stint  

Common Snipe  

Common Sandpiper  

Common Greenshank  

Wood Sandpiper  

Common Redshank  

Collared Pratincole  

European Turtle Dove 

Laughing Dove  

Namaqua Dove  

Eurasian Hoopoe  

Blue-cheeked Bee-eater  

Lanner Falcon  

Southern Grey Shrike  

Black-crowned Sparrow-Lark  

Crested Lark  

Willow Warbler  

Common Chiffchaff
Iberian Chiffchaff

Western Olivaceous Warbler  

Sedge Warbler  

Eurasian Reed Warbler  

Eurasian Blackcap  

Garden Warbler  

Western Orphean Warbler  

Subalpine Warbler  

Spectacled Warbler  

Spotted Flycatcher  

Common Nightingale  

European Pied Flycatcher  

Common Redstart  

Whinchat  

Northern Wheatear     

Western Yellow Wagtail  

White Wagtail     

Tree Pipit  

Ortolan Bunting  

House 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  

Westward walk in September

Last Friday afternoon I walked out to the fish market on the coast. As usual I chose a route which took me past Central Nouakchott Lake. This is not to be confused with F-Nord lake which is purely freshwater. Central Nouakchott Lake is brakish though not totally saline.

It is also in an embassy area and discrete birding is recommended or else the authorities will take an interest in you.

I tend not to linger in the area but try to pick out anything unusual quickly.

Sadly as a result of landscaping it is more saline than in the past and reed beds have died. Nevertheless it still has diversity.

pied avocet (right)

The water level is very attractive to black-winged stilt and this time there were over 30 present. A much less common bird was a pied avocet which is a related bird.

mostly black-winged stilt

All waders can swim but nearly all the ruff there were swimming last Friday. 

northern shoveller (behind)

Again while searching for the exceptional bird on site, a lone northern shoveller was an obvious one.

Mediterranean gull

There were five black-headed gull present. However there was also an exception among the gulls. It was a Mediterranean gull.

little stint

No rare waders were observed though one little stint was still not approaching winter plumage and it stood out from the others.

spur-winged lapwing

The more I watch spur-winged lapwing the more I appreciate that they are thuggish. They don't just mob larger birds but they harass small waders too.

ruff

There is a dried out section next to the main water body which held some interest. Ruff were easier to see than the long distance swimmers on the lake.

common redshank

A small number of common redshank were in the same area.

dunlin

Most dunlin seen in Nouakchott at this time of year are the short billed sub-species arctica. However a few have longer bills. The one above has a bill long enough to be alpina. Though they aren't supposed to winter as far south as West Africa. Only this sub-species gives me difficulty in separation from the similar curlew sandpiper.

curlew sandpiper

Two obvious curlew sandpiper were seen a few metres away.

blue-cheeked bee-eater

Blue-cheeked bee-eater don't need water but there always seems to be a higher concentration of them near water in Nouakchott while they are here (July-December).

Just over half an hour's further walk west, provided one isn't distracted by birds, is the fishing port.

I bird watch just south of it as it is quieter than the port itself and has a couple of good birding spots.

mostly Audouin's gull

Audouin's gull have arrived in umbers.

A few lesser black-backed gull have arrived too though a few less healthy ones stay all summer.

lesser black-backed gull (left)

I will admit, I don't get the greatest enjoyment out of gulls. However, over the past year, I have taken pleasure at seeing both Franklin's gull and kelp gull here. Given my lack of general enthusiasm, I find it difficult to understand why people go to so much effort to ring gulls. 

first year Audouin's gull

Noteably, a significant proportion of Audouin's gull that I see here are ringed. Surely we now know many of them winter in southern Mauritania. I wish more attention was paid to ringing birds like Iberian chiffchaff which nobody really knows where it goes. 

Iberian chiffchaff is supposed to pass through here and then to winter in Senegal and Western Mali. Ringing them in siginifcant numbers would help me separate them from willow warbler too.

another ringed Audouin's gull

Down at the man-made lagoon by the beach, there was some interesting activity. However constant walk-bys of the fishermen made birding tough.

little tern

As always, I look for the single birds. I saw my first little tern since returning from my summer break.

dunlin and sanderling

Dunlin and sanderling were far from singles. Large numbers are here at present.

Given the disturbance at the lagoons and my lack of time before sunset I chose to move on to the rubbish dump. This is where poor quality fish are discarded. It smells really bad but always has a good variety of birds.

black tern

This time I was rewarded with excellent and prolonged views of a flock of around 18 black tern. They were so busy eating flies over the dump or resting that they virtually ignored me.

whimbrel and common sandpiper

Other birds around the dump included the expected yellow wagtail and common sandpiper. However whimbrel was more surprising.

ruddy turnstone

Ruddy turnstone weren't so much turning over stones as small items of rubbish.

black tern (l) and dunlin (r)

As at the lagoon, there was another mixed flcok of sanderling and dunlin. It was worth holding my nose at the dump for the close views of all these species.

Central Lake on Friday 17th September

Northern Shoveller  

Black-winged Stilt  

Pied Avocet  

Spur-winged Lapwing  

Kentish Plover  

Common Ringed Plover  

Black-tailed Godwit  

Ruff  

Dunlin  

Little Stint  

Common Greenshank  

Marsh Sandpiper  

Wood Sandpiper  

Common Redshank  

Black-headed Gull  

Mediterranean Gull  

Laughing Dove  

Blue-cheeked Bee-eater  

House Sparrow  

South of fish market on Friday 15th September

Cattle Egret (Western)  

Common Ringed Plover  

Whimbrel  

Ruddy Turnstone  

Curlew Sandpiper  

Sanderling  

Dunlin  

Little Stint  

Audouin's Gull  

Yellow-legged Gull  

Lesser Black-backed Gull  

Little Tern  

Caspian Tern  

Black Tern  

Royal Tern  

Laughing Dove  

Blue-cheeked Bee-eater  

Southern Grey Shrike  

Crested Lark  

Willow Warbler  

Cricket Longtail  

Common Redstart  

Western Yellow Wagtail  

House Sparrow