Friday 10 September 2010

Suzanne’s month in Ghana – bad photos of birds, plus a few extras…

I think David was mildly impressed by how well thumbed my Birds of Western Africa book was when I got back. Mostly I was just thinking about what I might see next time when I take David back there but I did see a few things and some of them are even one up on David! They’re not in any particular order…

Laughing Dove in AccraP1000805_edit

African Pied Wagtail at AximP1010716_edit 

Cattle Egret at the Botanical Gardens, AccraP1010090_edit 

African Wattled Lapwing at the Botanical Gardens in Accra – I got attacked by ants for these shots… P1010103_edit P1010105_edit 

Cattle Egret at the Botanical Gardens in Accra P1010108_edit 

The first of many. Pin-tailed Whydah in OsinoP1010140_edit 

Northern Grey-headed Sparrow at the project site in AdabazeP1010217_edit 

Yellow-mantled Widowbird at The Sabre Trust’s long term project siteP1010240_edit 

Firefinch sp. at Cape Three Points – can’t decide which one!P1010485_edit 

Bronze Mannikin at Cape Three Points  P1010493_edit 

Woodland Kingfisher at Cape Three Points P1010535_edit

P1010548_edit

Another Pin-tailed Whydah at Cape Three Points P1010545_edit P1010546_edit 

Water Thick-knee at Cape Three Points P1010552_edit 

Plantain Eater at Cape Three Points P1010561_edit 

Sunbird sp. at Cape Three Points – I think Copper but David wasn’t convincedP1010563_edit 

Vieillot’s Black Weaver at Cape Three Points P1010591_edit 

Orange-cheeked Waxbill at Cape Three Points P1010595_edit 

Common Bulbul at Cape Three Points P1010601_edit 

Definitely a Copper Sunbird at Cape Three Points P1010604_edit 

Black-necked Weaver at Cape Three Points P1010619_edit 

Senegal Coucal at Cape Three Points P1010626_edit 

Very distant African Green Pigeon at Cape Three Points P1010634_edit 

African Pied Hornbill at Cape Three Points P1010639_edit

Do you see why I was oh so smitten with Cape Three Points. It was heaven. If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend the Ecolodge we stayed at, which is run by Akwasi and Ketty. Their website is http://www.escape3points.com. They are interested in the local birds and butterflies and would love someone to go out and do a three week project surveying and photographing their birds to give their guests an idea of what they can expect to see during their stay. Does anyone know someone who might be interested??? It’s a cracking spot. The rainforest comes right down to the beach so there is a great variety of birds just on their land. I didn’t stray too far and was thrilled with what I found in just a day and a half.

 

Bats at Wli waterfalls rudely awoken for the tourists’ satisfaction… Mind you, it was quite a spectacle and the noise was unreal.P1000865_edit P1000866_edit

Lizards in various locationsP1010436_edit P1010208_edit P1010209_edit

I really couldn’t hold myself still enough to get a focussed photograph of this ScorpianP1010203_edit 

Finally, Mona Monkeys at Tafi AtomeP1000938_edit

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wonderful bird photos - you obviously have patience and a steady hand! Several years ago, I drove some birding friends through much of Ghana and was astounded at the rich selection to be found everywhere in the country. Because of that trip, I am much more aware and am thrilled by the number of different birds I can see even from my balcony in Busua, the veranda of the house in New Edubiase (Ashanti) and when staying with Akwasi and Ketty at Cape Three Points. Hope to see you back again in Ghana, and see more photographic examples.
Cheers, Nana

Escape3points said...

Well Dave we haven't met yet but if you're more of a fanatic birder I should tell you that Suzanne looked pretty serious around here! It's so great to see how many different species Suzanne found while she was in Ghana and especially here at Escape...
I look forward to the day the two of you are here finding even more species! Until then happy birding!!!