Crocodiles, Terns & Paradise Beach (Gambia Day 3)

Abyssinian Roller

Crocodiles sit with mouths open to cool down

Just a few of the crocs

Paradise beach

Lesser Crested Terns

I do love a nice Tern

Plenty of waders in beach pools 

Tanji Beach

Tanji Beach

Boys with Moses (Big & small)

Our third day in the Gambia would be spent visiting three different places shown to us my our local guide Moses (introduced by a friend in the UK). As always the bins and camera were firmly by my side in case of any additional sightings.

First stop was the Kachikally Museum & Crocodile Farm. After learning about the different tribes & history of Gambia we walked round to the Crocodile pool where over 100 crocodiles lived. The crocodiles had always lived here and the population increased as habitats vanished around the park. The parks manager explained how its difficult to feed so many crocodiles with stretched resources. We duly left a donation on top of our entrance fees. The crocodiles could be seen at close quarters and we were even persuaded to stroke one. Lets hope the reputed healing powers sort my dodgy hernia's out.

Above the crocodiles I saw my first Hammerkops that were nest buiding. The pre-historic looking bird is one you first notice in the field guide but they are fairly common in the right habitat. As we drove to Paradise Beach I picked up a number of lifers including Black Egret, Spur-winged Plover, Rufous-crowned Roller and the stunning Abyssinian Roller which was a species I was desperate to see. Its always more satisfying when you find a bird like this yourself.

After a couple of hours chilling on the stunning Paradise Beach we headed to the village of Tanji to see the fishing boats return. Now this was a site we will all remember. There were thousands of people catching fish, landing boats, selling fish, you had to be careful where you stood. Bird wise it was very good with Lesser Crested, Caspian, Common & Royal all hunting for food above us plus thousands of terns. In addition there were Turnstones, Greenshanks, Pied Kingfisher, Wood Sandpiper, Sanderling the list goes on. After registering my first Skira on a wire on the journey home the trip list had moved to 69. Not bad for a non birding day.